Why Jose P. Rizal is Not My National Hero

Don't get me wrong. Jose Rizal accomplished a lot of great things worthy of acknowledgement and admiration. And even respect. He is a genius, well-traveled, well-rounded, and world-famous. However, after studying about his life more back in college, I feel that our reverence of him is a little bit undeserved. Jose Rizal being declared as the National hero is just another proof how messed up our history is written. Glossing over some gruesome events (Fil- American war, other countries' occupations, EDSA 3) and glorifying others (American occupation, Giving thanks to Spaniards for “making us civilized,” EDSA I and EDSA II) in order to serve a certain group of people, more often than not the petit bourgeoise and the people in government office.

1. He is the hero endorsed by the Americans
   Yes, he was declared a national hero during the American occupation. Why him? Because among all the candidates, he is the one who is not aggressive and bloodthirsty and did not ask for freedom exactly. He is not the brave, I will die for the Philippines, fight for my people's freedom kind of hero. He, at most is a great writer of books which inspired Bonifacio and his Katipunan to revolt. So he is the perfect choice, the Americans didn't want us to get any more (revolutionary) ideas.
   
   
2. He did not want freedom from Spain.
   He is a reformist. He just wanted the Philippines to become a province of Spain and not to be completely independent from the Spanish rule. At best, he is, to use Leon Maria Guerero's words, a “reluctant revolutionary.” Oh and he wrote a letter during his imprisonment retracting all of his anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish doings. It might be because he was being threathened, and he broke under the pressure of his living conditions at that time, we may never know.
   
   
3. He wrote his famous two books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo in Spanish
   No, I am not saying he didn't display his nationalism by writing his books in a language that is not Filipino. Let's think, who in the Philippines at that time knows how to speak, much less read, the language apart from the Spanish themselves? The illustrados. Did these illustrados bother to share with the indios? No. so what I am saying is, to credit him alone for a national uprising is nothing short of ridiculous.

Jose Rizal have achieved all of these magnanimous feats because he had the means to do so. He had access to great education and experiences. Maybe because of the priviledged life he was raised into, he was not able to clearly see the strife of the Indios and his idealism is not as radical as what Bonifacio and the other revolutionaries share.

*I am not a historian nor am I claiming to be one. If you find corrections to this, please feel free to inform me through comments. I do not intend to disrespect anyone, much less the memory of a great person that is Rizal. I only aim to make the little audience that I have learn how to be be skeptical before merely accepting everything presented to them as facts. This is because I am a firm believer that our understanding our history is important for our elusive identity and success as a people.

Flirting Tips Assessment: What works, will work, won't work. Vol II - Flirtexting

So, my blog's been silent for a whole month.  Unfortunately it's not because of a status change.  I've just been lazy  busy lately.

In this new age of technology and digital chuvaness (hehe, pardon my code- switching), face time is very limited.  It is an option most do not choose due to busy-ness, much to my dismay  Nowadays, it's not uncommon for romantic relationships to develop via digital means: texting, e-mailing, IM-ing, poking (you know, the Facebook kind...or is that also already obsolete?).  So even though I'd rather much prefer the traditional courtship which includes real dating, times seems to have changed.  And who am I not to adapt to the times?
                                                  


As I have said, real dating where both are physically present  is much more appealing to me.  Being able to see the other person's face, and being able to hear how he speaks unedited will give me clues for gauging sincerity and vice versa.  I am fairly fluent in non-verbals and I have come to depend on it over time.  So Flirtexting (yeah, I coined the term and I'll have it copyrighted, too) is a bit awkward for me and also:  1. I don't like texting that much and I do not like the idea of typing short messages throughout the day.  2.  It's more time consuming as a conversation that will take about five minutes face-to-face can take hours when done via texting, 3.  I have the annoying wrong-send syndrome so texting sweetie-pacutie messages to my parents or my boss is highly probable. 4. I try to stay away from mobile phones lately because I heard constant exposure can cause some form of cancer.   Not joking on the last one.  But of course, I gave it a try.

I am very fluent in sarcasm, one thing that proved to be a setback.  I was wrong in assuming everyone speaks the language as fluently as I do.  I found myself constantly explaining my replies such as "masaya maghintay ng one hour, try mo" or " I really love getting sick on rest days, don't you?"  or "yehey! baha na naman!."  Sometimes I get embarrassed, frustrated, or troll-y whenever someone had to clarify with me what I actually meant (in my defense, some were totally dripping in sarcasm).   So now, I just text what I literally mean.

Another setback:  because I don't like texting that much, I tend to be short, abrupt, and direct to the point with my messages.  I usually neglect putting smileys and lols (WHO among us really LOLs when we type LOL?).  So as a result, I have been called "mataray" in more than one occassion.  And since explaining myself isn't one of my favorite activities to do, I consciously try to remember to put the oh-so-necessary smileys, hahahas, and LOLs.  On hindsight, it really takes a lot of guesswork to know the tone of the message  so maybe these smileys are indeed necessary.

On a positive note, flirtexting can buy you time to think and decipher what a message means and consult your more knowledgeable friends as to what would be the most appropriate reply.  I learned early on that sending the first message that pops into my mind unedited is not necessarily the right thing for me to do (given that I am dismal at these kind of stuff).  Another good thing about flirtexting is that I can keep some messages.  The sweet ones if I need a dose of "kilig,"  and the intended-to-be-sweet-but-ended-up-being-hilarious ones to be shared with my girlfriends...haha...oops.  Sorry, women really  tend to do that. One really good thing I can say about flirtexting is that it is rather time-efficient. It allows me to get to know several people at once.

The verdict? It works.  Well at least for broadening my horizon.   But I do hope I  have not gained only textmates.  Texting may be effortless, non-risky, budget-friendly (especially for the unli texters), and convenient but seriously, guys,effort is what women want to see from you.  Making an effort to spend time with someone in person earns you 100- 150 pogi points. And more if you make it a regular thing.  Hint* Hint*  (Yeah I'm shameless like that. Hahaha!)

Edit:
So I wasn't the first one to use the term "flirtexting" and apparently, there's already a book about it entitled, well, "Flirtexting."  Fine.  But I thought of it all by myself. :P