Rizal's Exile vs our isolation: my reflections while reading Meaning & History: The Rizal Lectures by Ambeth Ocampo

WARNING: This is not about what I think about the book because I always love the collected PDI columns of Ambeth Ocampo because they leave morsels of some historical facts. Nevermind all of his side thoughts on them. Thus,  Rizal Without Overcoat by same author will be my next reading companion after this book and I think I need some time to breathe in between and this includes expressing my thoughts on Rizal while reading Ambeth Ocampo's lectures. 

A lot has been said about Rizal which praised him as our national hero and demeaned him because he should not be our national hero, but of course, both extreme polars left me to decide for myself why Rizal deserves to lead our rooster of national heroes, and does not deserve to be demeaned or doubted or compared to others. 

My own measure was my take on When Rizal was exiled in Dapitan where he lived a fruitful life. I likened his exile to our present quarantine and isolation. During his exile, Rizal did not spend his time wantonly. He exercised his profession as a doctor (though he was licensed opthalmologist, he did not study to become a doctor, as I uncovered by reading the book), he beautified the town plaza and created a map relief of Dapitan, he sent specimens to Germany for the naming of some species which resulted in many "rizali" scientific names. He also helped in constructing irrigation and in short, he made himself a useful human being, if the word "useful citizen" is not yet applicable to him and he should not to be insulted by being called "useful subject." He did not ask for money from friends to make himself comfortably rich in Dapitan, but in fact, when he won from lottery, he bought some land in Dapitan. There was no report or record of him being lazy or acting entitled. He mentored students and wrote a lot of correspondence.

If we reflect it with our attitude regarding the inconveniences caused by the pandemic, we act as if we are entitled and as if we're deprived by conveniences available to us (because we deserved it!) before the pandemic. And we tend to blame others for this pandemic instead of facing it squarely.

Also, Rizal was a naturalist, a word applied for someone with deep interest or love for nature. How many of us had asked ourselves what we gave up to give favor for our nature's need, now that global warming and this pandemic are here? Being a plantita or plantito or plantparents are not enough. We need to care. Live by Reuse, reduce  recycle, upcycle etc. Support nature care projects. Plant trees and greens. Do this even after the fad fades. 

For me, how Rizal lived in exile in Dapitan is enough measure of his strength and natural intelligence. 

At some point, I was teary-eyed while reading this book because I realized that we are nearing the end of this pandemic year while Rizal's death anniversary was also nearing and he was braving then during these period more than a century ago the tides leading to his death. As I revise this entry today, 24th of December, that was the date the court marshall assigned to Rizal's case took a christmas break before giving out the verdict which we now know what.