A hero's footprints
TBy
here was a huge tree that caught my attention as we arrived at the gates of Rizal Shrine in Calamba, Laguna. The shrine was almost packed that Tuesday morning, mostly with young people. The curator of Rizal Shrine, Zarah Escueta, said that most of the visitors are millennials probably because they are required by their schools.
“It is important for the youth to know the value of commitment, the importance of family and strengthening one’s patriotism and personal sacrifice to ensure the good of the country. These are values that we hope would be inculcated in the young when they visit Rizal Shrine,” Escueta said.
The 3,704-sqm compound is a modernized museum that recaptures the era of Rizal’s childhood and his travels across the world. It has six galleries located inside a bahay na bato and at a building beside it.
The shrine houses several visual artworks, facsimiles, photographs, replicas and authentic artifacts from Rizal’s younger days to the national hero we now know as Dr. Jose Rizal.
as a young boy
The light green painted on the exterior of the house is a reference to their family name coined from the Spanish word which means “field.” On the first floor are collections of stories about his siblings and a depiction of Pepe sitting on the lap of his mother, Teodora Alonzo, while she reads a story to him.
The authentic ledger book used by the family for their businesses is also on display along with Rizal’s birth certificate, drawings, and writings.
In the middle of the house is a grand staircase going to the second floor where one can find one of the most prized pieces of the museum: Teodora’s Singer sewing machine that’s placed inside the room of Rizal’s sisters.
Also on the second floor is the formal dining area where one can see a collection of authentic family dinnerware stored in an antique cabinet.
From the dining room, an access door opens to the where visitors can find traditional bathrooms and a wooden pail hung above the well that served as the family’s primary water source.
as a travelling man
Beside the bahay na bato is a building where galleries 5 and 6 can be found. These galleries focus on Rizal’s travels from 1882 to 1892. Gallery 5 features Rizal’s travels in Europe and a look back into the process of writing one of his famous novels,
The highlight of the gallery is a lifesize statue of Rizal sculpted by Julie Lluch with a backdrop of old Europe, a favorite selfie backdrop.
Meanwhile, the sixth gallery traces back the stories of Rizal’s return to Europe and to the Philippines, the peak of his propaganda activities and the stories about the creation of his novel,
At the shrine’s lawn, one can see an example of an iconic In the middle of the lawn are bronze statues of young Rizal and Tagpi, his dog, created by Dudley Diaz in commemoration of the centennial celebration of Rizal’s death. This is also where the remains of Rizal’s parents, Teodora and Francisco, are buried.
As a millennial trying to reconnect with our National Hero, the tour gave me a chance to discover what made Dr. Jose Rizal who he was. We came across to the colossal tree again as the tour finished. I entered the gates full of questions and now they were answered. His verses, words, and hardship were seeds that bore the fruit that everyone is now enjoying: Independence.
The Jose Rizal monument in Daet is the country’s first which was erected in honor of our national hero. It is quite far from the known haunts of Dr. Jose Rizal hero but I hopped on a bus bound for Daet in Camarines Norte to visit this monument because of its significance.
The monument was built in 1898, two years after Rizal’s death. Today, the people of the province take much pride in this historic achievement that the shrine is part of the Camarines Norte seal.
When I did the Rizal@150 heritage trail back in 2011, the Daet Monument is part of the important sites to visit. According to Atty. Vivencio F. Abano, the site of the historic monument was where the April 1898 revolt of the people against Spanish rule started in the province.
The three sided monument is made from coral stones that came from the demolished
(jail) where many native revolutionaries were imprisoned, tortured, and killed.
The inscriptions, found at each side, bear Rizal’s works:
and his translation and annotation, with a patriotic fervor, of Antonio de Morga’s
The monument, as indicated in the historical marker, was unveiled on Dec. 30, 1898 which was built with voluntary contributions from the people of Camarines Norte led by Lt. Col. Ildefonso Alegre and Lt. Col. Antonio Sanz of the Revolutionary Army.
The former Daet Municipal Hall, now the Daet Heritage Center, is just across the street from the first Jose Rizal Monument