For many years we have known Jose Rizal to be our national hero, the death that led into a revolution, the man of great knowledge and used it to fight for the freedom for our motherland through his timeless works such as Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, but where does these put his personal views and thoughts? Obviously he could not speak to us about it since it’s been more than a century from his passing, but here lays my own personal views based on his works and his acts, my observations and opinions.

  Jose Rizal, in my opinion is a REVOLUTIONARY REFORMIST in a way that his works and dedication sparked something in us that caused us to have a strong sense of nationalism and fought for our freedom. As a reformist, Rizal aimed and made a vision that the Spanish government give us recognition as a part of their country, under their rule but for Filipinos to run the country in order to achieve equilibrium and peace as compared to how the government then ran the Philippines. In a way, it’s an aim to keep economic stability under the wing of the Spanish government whilst the government’s being ran by Filipinos themselves. This of course was a long shot but it goes to show how broad the mind of Rizal in the lines where the gain and stability of our country was concerned. As a revolutionist, subconsciously or not, Rizal invoked the Filipinos’ hearts with the flame of justice upon releasing his two novels, both which showed how the Spanish government in the Philippines took our country for granted, demanding change and reform, angst and propaganda against their rule. It was through his works that our ancestors’ eyes were opened and realized that there was more to the Spanish rule, that there was freedom which can be achieved through change. This of course was somehow misunderstood by many but in a way was a great part of finally achieving freedom for our country. To summarize my work, Rizal is both a reformist and a revolutionist that of which his works inspired the thousands who were oppressed and degraded to take a stand and fight for what was and will be truly ours, our motherland, the Philippines.

-Yvann Esteva

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