Perla del Mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido eden,

A darte voy, alegre, la triste, mustia vida;

Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida,

Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien...

One hundred years ago, on the eve of December 30, 1896, Jose Rizal wrote his Ultimo Adios, replete with pathos and patriotic devotion, a masterpiece of 19th century Spanish verse. At early dawn the following day, he faced a military firing squad and died, a martyr to the Filipino quest for justice during the Spanish regime.

Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal was born in Calamba, Laguna, to a prosperous landowner and sugar planter of Filipino-Chinese descent on June 19, 1861. His intellectual and moral development was powerfully influenced by his mother, Teodora Alonso, and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

At an early age, he demonstrated a prolific talent for poetry, writing his first poem at age eight. In 1877, at age 16, he graduated with highest honors from the Ateneo de Manila. In 1882, he went to Spain to pursue medical studies which he had started at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. At age 24, he was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Letter

The area of Spanish domination that Rizal attacked was the religious order. The Franciscans and Dominicans used their religous authority to take control of goverment politics. The friars had control over tax collection, education, and the land. Their main abuse was their racism towards the Filipinos. The friars felt and believed the Filipinos were just beasts and wild creatures, so the people need not be educated--just controlled. With this feeling of subordination, Jose Rizal had to take a stand.

On the La Liga, he claimed that it "died stillborn" since he was exiled to Dapitan shortly after its founding. He denied that it was a subversive organization since some members "had to abandon it in order to organize the Katipunan. "He denied the accusations of those who have testified against him since the founders of La Liga were not the same founders of the Katipunan. In fact, the persons who visited him in Dapitan were "persons totally unknown" to him.

fiction, drama, opera, dance, and film, has been and continuous to be enormous. The vivid characters and the harsh situations depicted still ring true today.

Noli Me Tangere is Latin for "touch me not," an allusion to the Gospel of St. John where Jesus says to Mary Magdelene: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father." In this modern classic of Filipino literature, Jose P. Rizal exposes "matters... so delicate that they cannot be touched by anybody," unfolding an epic history of the Philippines that has made it the most influential political novel in that country in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The writing and publication of "Noli me Tangere," the Annotations to Morga's History of the Philippines, "El Filibusterismo," and the various articles which criticized the friars and suggested their expulsion in order to win independence. The Fili was dedicated to the three martyr priests "who were executed as traitors to the Fatherland in 1872 because they were the moving spirits of the uprising of that year."

Today, we close an incident as we rekindle an old friendship. The incident was the execution of a Filipino patriot falsely accused of being an enemy of Spain. The truth is that Rizal, a product of the Spanish academes and a friend to many of Spain's most respected republicans and social democrats of that period, had nothing but goodwill for the Spanish Crown and the Spanish people. As summed up by the eminent Spanish writer, Miguel de Unamuno, ``Rizal's regard for Spain was one of moderation and serenity, of deep sympathy and affection ...'' And so, as we gather here in the bosom of this great Spanish capital to unveil this magnificent monument of Rizal, we can truly say that Rizal is once more in Spain and mother and son are reunited after a hundred years. This monument symbolizes the reunification of Spain and the Philippines. It is the strongest testimony, set in enduring granite, of Spain's nobility in recognizing a great Filipino whom Unamuno once described as ``una perla de hombre.'' Rizal does not only belong to my country. He belongs also to Spain and to all freedom-loving nations. We cannot deny our Spanish heritage because we cannot erase history. And Rizal was the most precious of Spain's treasures in the Philippines. Rizal could not have excelled, could not have written his novels, could not have reached out to his people and to the world if he did not receive the benefit of a Spanish education.

Yo muero, cuando veo que el cielo se colora,

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Approximate Word count = 2647
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)