This First International Conference on Rizal Confronts the Youth of today, was held at the Salle Chasseloup, Paris on 21 June and organised by the Knights of Rizal Dimasalang ile de France Chapter with the Philippine Chaplaincy in Paris and the Franco-Philippine Cultural Association.

Today José Rizal confronted the elders Parisian residents, citizens of the Philippines. And perhaps the elders are just as ‘rebellious’ as their younger counterparts.


« I am not a Filipino » says Esteban Magannon, ethnologue « I am a Kalinga. I can not accept being called a Filipino, as that term refers to the Spaniards born in the Philippines during the colonial times. I am not one of them. And that goes for the over ninety minority societies in the Republic of the Philippines. Yes, we are citizens of the Philippine Republic, but we are not culturally or ethnically ‘Filipinos.’ »

All four orators of today’s conference, José Rizal Confronts the Youth of Today, broke the myths long held by many about Rizal, about nationalism and even history. Magannon’s point of view was further strengthened by Sir Bernard Pot, KCR, ethnologue and historian, who said « During the colonization, the term Filipino referred to the Spanish creoles ; the masses were called indios. Thus at this time, the word Filipino connoted race and elitism. Filipino also connoted ownership of land and a Spanish education and culture. »  Thus, Filipino, historically speaking, was a history-bound and a culture-bound word.


A further nuance introduced by Pot was the divergence in the Katipunan, the revered society that brought about the revolution. In it were many of the ‘Filipinos,’ then also known as Ilustrados, the educated, who lent form to the brute ideas of the revolutionary ideology of the times, but who themselves were caught in the ‘comfort’ of their own society and could seek little more than greater comfort in the status quo. The revolutionary fighters who rose from the masses, like Andres Bonifacio, however, saw independence as the break from Spain, the only way to achieve human liberty and equality.


In this ambivalence, Rizal was not a revolutionary, but rather a reformist. He could not accept armed revolution, as he believed the people were not ready for this, neither materially in terms of arms, nor intellectually in terms of an evolved ideology. Meanwhile Spain held the military advantage. And yet, through his writings, the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo, Rizal did spread his ideas and philosophy on reform to the educated elite in the provinces, many of whom became the local leaders of the revolution.

Dr Hélène Goujat, Maitre Conferencier de l’Université d’Angers, spoke of Rizal’s sejour in Dapitan. It was not quite an exile, as Rizal did many positive things there. She urged a broader viewpoint, seeing this period in Dapitan as one of many scientific expeditions, linking it to potential advantages for the metropole and the colonizer, seeing it in the context of the rich galleon trade of those times, and even in terms of smaller Chinese merchants and traders dotting almost all the islands of the Philippines. In this larger context, Rizal’s work on dams and water canals, local dispensaries, and examination of eyes for glaucoma and blindness took on much more profound meaning and impact.


Having visited so many times the city of Romance, as Paris is also known, many ask if Rizal was a ‘palikero’ and womanizer. This was not the theme of Maria-Pilar Luna Magannon’s paper, but a surprise question evoked by her recounting of the travels of Rizal in Europe and especially in Paris. Maria-Pilar, or Boots, as she is better known, put down her paper and references, and spoke directly as a woman. « If you were a woman and met such a richly educated and spontaneous person, such as Rizal, someone who spoke to you as if he really respected you and the equality of men and women, wouldn’t you be attracted to such a person ? Perhaps it is less a question, ‘did Rizal ran after women ?’ than ‘were women so attracted to Rizal ?’


Also if you read his works closely, you will notice that he always remained faithful to Leonora Rivera, even though he did not marry her. Some interpretations try to insinuate that he had romances or ‘relations’ with many women. Most of it is conjecture, while his love for Leonora is documented in his own writings.


Rizal’s appreciation for women is also very eloquently expressed in his letter to the women of Malolos, the 21 women aged from 12 to 63 who served in the revolutionary was as courriers, nurses, messengers and providers of supplies and who sent an audacious letter to the then Governor requesting the authorization to teach Spanish in their local private school. In keeping with the revolutionary themes proposed by Esteban Magannon and Bernard Pot, Spanish was seen in colonial times as the instrument for conveying ideas of reform and revolution. Rizal’s letter is a tribute to these women.

But when the youth are not around, how is José Rizal to confront them ? Only a dozen or so young people participated in this conference. It was difficult to compete with buying Cd-roms of Michael Jackson on the Champs ! Hopefully, the young of our country, even though resident here in Europe, will come to meet José Rizal and realise that there is a lot to learn from history and from his own teachings and life.