Marcos to Filipinos on Rizal Day: Imitate Rizal, show genuine love of country

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday remembered Jose Rizal's martyrdom and urged Filipinos to imitate the national hero and show genuine love of country.

“On the 127th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal, I thus enjoin all of you to keep emulating the timeless values we can learn from his life and works,” Marcos said in his message for Rizal Day on December 30.

“I also call on everyone to let the genuine love for the country that he lived out and later died for propel us to have a deep and personal sense of ownership for our land and our future," he added.

Marcos said even in this day and age and more than a century since his death, Rizal's influence could still be felt.

He urged Filipinos to strive to walk with the same purpose, passion, and nationalism in “our every endeavor so we may overcome all the challenges that stand in our way towards achieving a brighter tomorrow.”

“With our meaningful commemoration, may the ideals and spirit of Dr. Jose Rizal live on as we fully realize the Philippines that he and his contemporaries fought hard for,” Marcos said.

Rizal's martyrdom consolidated the Philippine independence movement which later led to the birth of the nation, he added.

The national hero's patriotism started even while he was young, Marcos pointed out.

“It began in his youth and childhood, when he embraced the wisdom of his family, teachers, and peers then, later on, embarked on a lifelong pursuit of excellence for a greater goal,” he said.

Before 7 a.m. on Saturday, Marcos laid a wreath at the monument of Rizal in Luneta Park in Manila.

The military band played the "Pilipinas Kong Mahal" hymn as Marcos walked toward the monument.

A gun salute then followed.

The event was attended by the First Family, Cabinet members, Armed Forces chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. and other military officials, local officials led by Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, and members of the diplomatic corps.

Saturday, December 30, Rizal Day, is a regular holiday.

Rizal, an ophthalmologist by profession, wrote the novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo as he advocated for political reforms during the Spanish occupation.

He was convicted for the crime of rebellion and was executed in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park or Luneta) on December 30, 1896. —KG, GMA Integrated News