Dr. Jose Rizal remembered around the world

As the country commemorated the 115th death anniversary of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal last Friday, Filipinos in other parts of the world also paid tribute to him.

At the United States Library of Congress, an original manuscript of Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” is on display until January 5, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The rare exhibit, which opened on December 27, is part of the US library’s commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal last year.

Written in Spanish, Noli Me Tangere depicts the injustices committed against Filipinos by the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines. Published in 1887, the novel was followed by its sequel, El Filibusterismo, published in 1891.

The novels were smuggled into the Philippines and were credited with inciting Filipinos to revolt against Spain. They were later translated into several languages.

The DFA said also on display were transcripts of the trial of Rizal, books on Fort Santiago where Rizal was incarcerated, and newspaper accounts, mostly from Spain, of Rizal’s execution in Manila on Dec. 30, 1896.

At the Philippine consulate in Milan, an exhibit of posters on Rizal and a display of books on his life marked the commemoration of his death.

Philippine Embassy officials in Manama, Bahrain, marked Rizal Day with a program highlighted by the reading of Rizal’s “Huling Paalam.”

The movie “Jose Rizal,” starring Cesar Montano, played the whole day in the embassy lobby.

Rizal was only 35 when he was executed. Aside from being a writer and author, he was a medical doctor, an artist, a teacher, a scientist and a linguist.  Tina G. Santos