The
CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly de Oro
Volume 4 | No. 49 | Cagayan de Oro City | June 26 - July 2, 2017
THE MAKING OF A HERO
Hiscom Chair Erlinda Burton with Ana Maria Villaranda & Henry Lasola . Mrs Villaranda did the English translation while Mr Lasola did the Bisayan translation of the original Spanish dedication of the Rizal monument.
J
By Erlinda M. Burton, Ph.D.
une 19th is the birthday of our national hero—Dr. Jose Rizal— who turned 156 years old.
His life was snuffed off at the prime of his life when he was 37 years old. However, despite the briefness of his life on earth, yet he had so many accomplishments for his country to marvel and be thankful because his Mayor Oscar Moreno and Hiscom Chair Erlinda Burton heroism had stirred and unveils the centennial marker at the Rizal Monument awaken his countrymen’s at Plaza Divisoria 19 June 2017
consciousness to fight for justice and freedom. Jose Rizal was hailed as a hero in this country but also admired and adulated by other countries— Spain, Mexico, Peru, Germany—for what his heroism stood for. What made him a
hero? What are the fundamental principles and pre- disposing factors of becoming a hero? The word hero has varied interpretations and meanings: one is hero because he saved the life of another; or he has done significant feats that saved a group of people during conflict; or he gave his own life to save mankind, e.g. Jesus Christ. Perhaps to really understand what made Jose Rizal a hero, we
should backtrack a bit to his origin—where is from? Who were the people in his life; how was he raised or inculturated? Birth and early childhood José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He was baptized after three days in the Catholic Church in town. He was the 7th child of hero/PAGE 7
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