Darvy Ong
PI 100
2012-15776
Mr. Naval REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425
Republic Act No. 1425, more commonly known as the Rizal Law, is an act that requires all public and private schools, colleges, universities un iversities to include in their curricula a study of Jose Rizal’s life, works, and writings, namely Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. The author or main proponent of the Rizal Bill was Senator Claro M. Recto. The bill was also sponsored by the then Chairman C hairman of the Committee of Education, Senator Jose P. Laurel. With the goal of instilling upon the Filipino people a sense of nationalism, the bill was passed and signed by President Magsaysay on the date of our independence, June 12, in the year 1956. During those times, the Filipino people lacked morale, what with having just been freed from the occupation of the Spanish, there was a need for motivation, for something that would help the people to once believe in their own country and to have a sense of national identity once more. The Rizal Bill faced dire opposition from members of the senate, the congress, and the Roman Catholic Church from the moment it was presented. Senator Francisco Rodrigo, a former Catholic Action President, Senator Mariano Cuenco, and Senator Decoroso Rosales, brother of Julio Rosales, an archbishop opposed the passing of the bill. Some of the oppositors in the Lower House are as follows: Congressmen Ramon Durano, Marciano Lim, Jose Nuguid, Manuel Soza, Godofredo Ramos, Miguel Cuenco, Lucas Paredes, Carmen Consing and Tecia San Andres Ziga. Several religious organizations, organizations, such as the Holy Name Society of the Philippines, Catholic Action of the Philippines, Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, and Daughters of Isabela joined league with the Roman Catholic Church to stand in opposition to the signing of the t he bill into a law. The main argument against the bill was that it goes against the freedom of conscience and religion. Another argument was that the novels were outdated and that using them as teaching materials will lead to misrepresentation of the current situation in the country. Yet another argument then was that Rizal not only spoke badly of the friars who acted deceptively in the novels, that he was attacking the catholic faith as a whole. The opposition proposed that the law use works by Rizal containing patriotic philosophy, excluding the two aforementioned novels, and also use writings about Rizal from other sources. They wanted to remove the use of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo on the grounds that they contain depictions of the
church as something other than holy, and by doing so, endangers the faith of the people. In light of the opposition, a compromise was reached. On May 12, 1956, the bill was revised such that reading unexpurgated versions of Rizal’s novels would not be required, but would be up to the reader to decide. It was also changed so that students who feel that their faith would be badly affected by reading Rizal’s novel could excuse themselves from doing so by getting a written statement or affidavit. The Catholic Church agreed to this revision, and thus on May 17, 1956, the bill was finally passed by the senate, and was signed into law as Republic Act 1425 on June 12, 1956.
Sources: [1] https://teamcrisostomo.wordpress.com/what-is-the-rizal-law/ [2] http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Republic_Act_No._1425 [3] http://www.gov.ph/1956/06/12/republic-act-no-1425/
