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STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___
10
CHAPTER X:
JOSE RIZAL AND PHILIPPINE NATIONALISM:
BAYANI AND KABAYANIHAN
MODULE OVERVIEW
Jose Rizal can serve as a sensible model and inspiration to every Filipino. If one is looking for
someone to imitate, then Rizal is a very viable choice.
Our national hero's philosophies, life principles, convictions, thoughts, ideals, aspirations, and dreams
can be a good influence to anyone. As a man of education, he highly regarded academic excellence, logical and
critical thinking, philosophical and scientific inquiry, linguistic study, and cultural research. As a person, he
valued respect for parents, love for siblings, and loyalty to friends, and maintained a sense of chivalry. He
manifested versatility and flexibility while sustaining a strong sense of moral uprightness. And as a Filipino, he
valued nationalism, patriotism, and heroism (or kabayanihan).
MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the module, you should be able to:
1. Interpret views and opinions about bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine history and
society;
2. Assess the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine society.
LEARNING CONTENTS
Bayani vs. Hero
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines "hero" as -a mythological or legendary figure often of divine
descent endowed with great strength or ability; an illustrious warrior; a person admired for achievements and
noble qualities; one who shows great courage."
The Filipino counterpart bayani has a basically similar meaning but with some contextual distinctions. The
Vicassan's Dictionary (Santos. 1978) provides the following meanings for bayani:
“…hero, patriot ("taong Makabayan”) cooperative endeavor, mutual aid, a person who volunteers
or offers free service or labor to a cooperative endeavor, to prevail to be victorious, to prevail
("mamayani'), leading man in a play (often referred to as the "bida"---from the Spanish word for life,
contrasted with the villain or "kontrabida" from the Spanish "contra vida,” against life). [These words
help us better understand the word for the lifesaver, the inflatable rubber tube or the Spanish
"salvar vida," to save life].” (as cited in Ocampo, 2016).
On the other hand, the UP Diksiyionaryong Filipino (2001) gives three meanings for “bayani”: “(a) a person of
extraordinary courage and ability; (b) a person considered to possess extraordinary talents or someone who did
something noble (“dakila”); (c) a leading man in a play" (Ocampo, 2016).
The reference adds that heroes (mga bayani) in the context of mythology refer to those who had the qualities
of the gods, extraordinary strength, bravery, or ability.
The Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala by the Jesuits Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar (1754 & 1860)
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lists these meanings for bayani: "someone who is brave or valiant, someone who works toward a common task
or cooperative endeavor (“bayanihan”)" (as cited in Ocampo, 2016).
History professor Ambeth Ocampo sees it significant that bayani comes a few words under bayan, which is
also defined as: "the space between here and the sky. Bayan is also a town, municipality, pueblo, or nation, and
can refer to people and citizens (mamamayan) who live in those communities, or to those who originate or
come from the same place (kababayan). Bayan also refers to the day (araw) or a time of day (malalim ang
bayan) or even to the weather, good or bad (masamang bayan) (Ocampo, 2016).
Ocampo, thus, concludes that "hero" and bayani do not have the same meaning. Bayani is a richer word than
hero because it may be rooted in bayan as place or in doing something great, not for oneself but for a greater
good, for community or nation" (Ocampo, 2016).
The Changing Forms and Definitions of Bayani and Kabayanihan
Especially when anchored on the definitions given by old dictionaries, mga bayani may historically (and
profoundly) refer to those who contributed to the birth of a nation. However, the modern-day bayani may refer to
someone who contributes to a nation in a global world.
One case in point is our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)—Filipinos who are working in foreign countries.
They basically travel abroad in pursuit of better employment to provide for the needs of their respective families
in the Philippines.
OFWs are often referred to as mga bagong bayani. Working abroad is a form of taking risks
(pakikipagasapalaran) for them as it entails sacrifices and likely dangers, such as loneliness, anxieties, trauma,
fatigue, culture shock, and even exploitation. All of these they are willing to endure just to make a living and
grant a better future for their respective families. from whom they are separated for years.
OFWs also play a vital role in the progress of the Philippines' economic status. By remitting their savings back
to the country, they help the government in pulling up the country's economic status with the overall dollar
reserve. The money they send provides the much-needed hard currency, saving the country from defaulting on
foreign debt obligations. In the process, OFWs also help stabilize the Philippine peso in relation to peso-dollar
exchange and also contribute to the country's GNP growth. In recognition of their contributions to the national
economy. OFWs are, thus, called "Bagong Bayani” (Modern-day Heroes) and the Philippines celebrates
December as the Month of Overseas Filipino Workers.
This only goes to show that our concept of kabayanihan and bayani do shift and evolve. To have a better
understanding of how these concepts change, let us compare the notion of OFWs as modern-day bayani to
earlier meanings of bayani. The online article, "Ang Salitang Bayani sa Pilipinas" explains its etymology:
“Ang salitang "bayani" ay isang Austronesian na salita na dinala ng ating rnga katutubo sa ating bayan.
Ang mga bayani ay ang mga mandirigma kung saan sila ay nagununa sa pagtatanggol ng
pamayanan laban sa mga kinahaharap na mga kaaway at mga panganib. Ang ilan sa mga
diribatibo ng salitang bayani ay bajani, majani, bagabnim, bahani.
Sa kultura nating mga Pilipino ang pagiging bayani ay nasusukat sa katapangan at sa bilang ng
napapatay na kaaway. May ibat-iba itong antas. Ang mga antas na ito ay kinikilala bilang: (a)
Maniklad ang pinakamababang uri ng bayani na nakapatay ng isa o dalawang kaaway, karaniwang
siya ay nakasuot ng putong na pula at dilaw; (b) Hanagan naman kung tawagin ang nasa ikalawang
antas, siya ay sumasailalim sa ritwal na kung saan ay dapat siyang sapian ni Tagbusaw, ang
diyos ng pakikidigma at kainin ang atay at puso ng mga kaaway. Karaniwang nagsusuot ang mga ito
ng pulang putong; (c) Kinaboan naman kung tawagin ang makakapatay ng dalawampu
hanggang dalawamput pito at karaniwang nakasuot ng pulang pantalon; (d) Luto naman kung
tawagin ang makakapatay ng limampu hanggang 100 na kaaway at karaniwang nagsusuot ng
pulang jacket; (e) Lunugum naman ang pinakapaborito ng diyos na si Tagbusaw dahil dito
maipakikita niya ang kanyang katapangan sa pakikipagdigma kung saaan napatay niya ang
kanyang kaaway sa sarili nitong tahanan. Itim ang karaniwang suot ng mga ito.” (“Ang Salitang
Bayani sa Pilipinas,” n.d.)
Filipino historian and proponent of Pantayong Pananaw offers another sense of the term bayani and believes
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that mga bayani are different from “heroes:” For him. "ang mga bayani ay mga taong naglalakbay at bumabalik
sa bayan… ang mga bayani ay lumalaban ng may kooperasyon [samantalang] ang mga hero (western concept)
ay lumalaban mag-isa… Ang bayani ay hindi kailangang mamatay upang maging bayani, kailangan niya lang
gumawa ng magagandang impluwensiya at gawain sa bayan upang tawaging bayani (“Ang Salitang Bayani sa
Pilipinas,” n.d.). This definition gives us hope that anyone of us can be a bayani too in our respective
communities.
Who Made Rizal Our Foremost Bayani
Esteban A. de Ocampo's article, “Who Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero, and Why?” has become
well-known in defending Jose Rizal's being the Philippine's foremost hero. Essentially, it denies the claim that
Rizal is a made-to-order national hero manufactured by the Americans, chiefly by then Civil Governor William
Howard Taft.
Ocampo believes, and thus, justifies that Rizal is our foremost and greatest national hero. Ocampo uses as
basis the meaning of the term hero by the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language: (a)
a prominent or central personage taking admirable part in any remarkable action or event; (b) a person of
distinguished valor or enterprise in danger; and (c) a man honored after death by public worship, because of
exceptional service to mankind.
Referring to the first definition, Rizal was said to have taken an “admirable part" in the Propaganda Campaign
(1882-1896) and his Noli Me Tangere (Berlin, 1887) was said BIOGRAPHY. LEGACIES to be far superior and
greater than those published by Pedro Paterno, Marcelo Del Pilar Graciano Lopez Jaena, and Antonio Luna. In
fact, Rizal's Noli (and the Fili) resulted in the enactment of a law now known as RA 1425.
In 1902, Cong. Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin delivered a eulogy of Rizal and even recited the hero's last
poem at the U. S. House of Representatives to justify the capacity of the Filipinos for self-government. In part,
he said: “… so Sir, I say to all those who denounce the Filipino indiscriminately as barbarians and savages,
without possibility of a civilized future, that this despised race proved itself entitled to their respect and to the
respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the character of Jose Rizal.” The appeal resulted in the
approval of what is popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902.
Using the second quoted meaning of “hero," De Ocampo claims that no Filipino has yet been born who can
equal or surpass Rizal as a "person of distinguished valor/ enterprise in danger, fortitude in suffering." De
Ocampo uses as justification the description by Rafael Palma and Dr. Frank C. Laubach (an American
biographer of Rizal) of Rizal's noble self-denial heroism, moral courage, and complete abandonment of his
personal interests to think only of those of his country.
Anchoring on the third quoted definition of "hero: De Ocampo proposes that Rizal “is a man honored after
death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind." The following is De Ocampo's long
justification in part:
"We can say that even before his execution, Rizal was [the] already acclaimed by both Filipinos and
foreigners as the foremost leader of his people." Writing from Barcelona to the Great Malayan on March
10, 1889, M. H. del Pilar said: "Rizal no tiene aun derecho a morir: su nombre constituye la mas
pura e immaculada bandera de aspiraciones y Plaridel los suyos no son otra causa ma que
immaculada unos voluntarios que militan bajo esa bandera." Fernando Acevedo, who called Rizal
his distinguido amigo, companero y paisano, wrote Rizal a letter from Zaragoza, Spain on October 25,
1889: “I see in you the model Filipino; your application to study and your talents have been placed on a
height which I revere and admire…”
Among the foreigners who recognized Rizal as the leading Filipino of his time were Blumentritt, Napoleon M.
Kheil, Dr. Rheinhold Rost and Vicente Barrantes. Prof. Blumentritt told Dr. Maximo Viola in May 1887 that "Rizal
was the greatest product of the Philippines and that his coming to the world was like the appearance rare comet,
whose rare brilliance appears only every other century. Napoleon Kheil of Prague, Austria wrote to Rizal and
said: “admiro en Vd.[a] un noble representante de la Espana colonial.” Dr. Rost, distinguished Malayologist and
librarian of the India office of London, called Rizal “una perla hombre,” while Don Vicente Barrantes had to admit
that Rizal was the first among the Filipinos…
Even before the outbreak of the revolution against Spain in 1896, many instances can be cited to prove that
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this country here and abroad recognized Rizal’s leadership. In the early part of 1899 he was unanimously
elected by the Filipinos in Barcelona and Madrid as honorary president of La Solidaridad. In January 1891, Rizal
was again unanimously chosen Responsable (chief) of the Spanish-Filipino Association. He was also the
founder and moving spirit in the founding of La Liga Filipina in Manila on July 3, 1892. History tells us that the
revolutionary society known as Katipunan, likewise, acknowledged Rizal's leadership and greatness by making
him its honorary President and by using his family name Rizal as the password for the third-degree members.
A year after Rizal’s execution, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and the other revolutionary chiefs exiled to Hong Kong
held a commemorative program there on December 29, 1897 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the
hero's execution and martyrdom… Of utmost significance in the public's appreciation for Rizal;s patriotic labors
in behalf of his people were the tributes paid by the revolutionary government in his memory. In his opening
address at the congress assembled in Malolos, Bulacan on September 15. 1898, Pres. Aguinaldo invoked the
spirits of the departed heroes of the fatherland [primarily Rizall. Then on December 20, 1898 at the revolutionary
capital of Malolos, Pres. Aguinaldo issued the first official proclamation making December 30 of that year “Rizal
Day.” The same proclamation ordered the hoisting of the Filipino flag at half-mast from “noon on December 30.
189”* and the closing of “all offices of the government- during the whole day of 30 December. Actually, the
impressive Rizal Day program, sponsored by the Club Filipino, was held in Manila on December 30 1898
The Filipinos were not alone in grieving the untimely death of their hero and idol, for the intellectual and
scientific circles of the world felt keenly the loss of Rizal, who was their esteemed colleague and friend. Dr.
Camilo Osias and Wenceslao E. Retana both spoke of the universal homage accorded to Rizal immediately
after his death.
Among the scientific necrological services held especially to honor Rizal, the one sponsored by the
Anthropological Society of Berlin on November 20, 1897 at the initiative of Dr. Rudolph Virchow, its president,
was the most important and significant. Dr. Ed Seler recited the German translation of Rizal's “My Lost Farewell”
on that occasion. The newspapers, magazines, and some other periodicals throughout the civilized world in
Germany, Austria, France, Holland, London, the US, Japan. Hong Kong and Macao, Singapore, Switzerland,
and Latin American countries— published accounts of Rizal's martyrdom to render homage to his greatness,
(De Ocampo, n.d.).
De Ocampo also comments that Andres Bonifacio, and not Jose Rizal, deserves to be acknowledged as the
Philippine's first national hero. Related to this claim is the argument that the foremost national heroes of some
other countries are soldier-generals while Rizal never held any gun, rifle, or a sword in fighting for the liberty and
independence of our country De Ocampo explains that "our people in exercising their good sense, independent
judgment, and unusual discernment, have not followed the examples of [many] other nations in selecting and
acknowledging a military leader, for their greatest hero" (De Ocampo, n.d.). He then quotes Rafael Palma's
comment specifically on the "Rizal versus Bonifacio' debate,” Palma said in part:
“Whereas generally the heroes of occidental nations are warriors and generals who serve their cause
with the sword, distilling blood and tears, the hero of the Filipinos served his cause with the pen,
demonstrating that the pen is as mighty as the sword to redeem a people from their political slavery. It is
true that in our case the sword of Bonifacio was after all needed to shake off the yoke of a foreign power;
but the revolution prepared by Bonifacio was only the effect, the consequence of the spiritual
redemption wrought by the pen of Rizal. Hence not only in the chronological order but also in the
point of importance the previous works of Rizal seem to us superior to that of Bonifacio, because
although that of Bonifacio was of immediate results, that of Rizal will have more durable and
permanent effects. (as cited in De Ocampo, n.d.)”
As a conclusion, De Ocampo writes:
“Who made Rizal the foremost hero of the Philippines? The answer is: no single person or groups of
persons were responsible for making the Greatest Malayan the No. 1 Hero of his people. Rizal
himself, his own people, and the foreigners all together contributed to make him the greatest hero
and martyr of his people. No amount of adulation and canonization by both Filipinos and
foreigners could convert Rizal into a great hero if he did not possess in himself what Palma calls
excellent qualities and merits. (De Ocampo. n.d.)”
Directly answering the opinion that Rizal was an “American-made hero,” contemporary non-Filipino historian
Norman Owen in Ouora.com explains. thus:
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"But many Filipinos had already made Rizal a national hero; even before the Americans arrived. The
Katipunan itself venerated Rizal, and Reynaldo Ileto's research reveals how deeply this veneration -
verging on worship had penetrated the peasantry, especially in the Tagalog region. So it could be
argued that what the Americans were doing was simply confirming officially a decision the Filipino
people had already made unofficially, that Rizal was the greatest Filipino, and the one who most
completely embodied the national dream. (Owen, n.d.)”
Perhaps the following quotation from Professor Owen, a non-Filipino who has passion in studying Philippine
history is appropriate here as a conclusion. He wrote, thus:
“I have to say that as an outsider who has studied Philippine history for nearly 50 years I find Rizal to
be far and away the most admirable Filipino, worthiest to be the national hero (if we must single out one
of many). He is/ was perhaps the country's greatest novelist and among its greatest essayists,
historians, and poets, and he dedicated his life - and eventually his death - to the welfare of "Filipinas" at
a time when many of his countrymen scarcely aware of the "nation" as such. He had his flaws -
who doesn't? - but his combination of intelligence/creativity and patriotism has rarely been equaled in
any country. The Philippines should be proud of him." (Owen, n.d.)
LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
1. Read Ricardo Nolasco’s “Ang Pinagmulan ng salitang Bayani” (2001).
2. Assessment:
Divide the class into groups. Each group will choose its own bayani according to its member’s
standards and present it to the class.
LEARNING ACTIVITY 2
Essay
1. Give your own definition of a “bayani or hero.” Justify your definition.
2. Do you agree that Rizal deserves the title “The Philippine National Hero?” Why or why not? Do you
have any suggestions on who deserves the title? Who and why?
3. Cite one individual who can be a perfect epitome of a hero and justify why.
4. What do you think are the reasons the concept of bayani or kabayanihan shifted and evolved through
time?
5. Do you agree with Dr. Zeus Salazar that one does not need to die to become a hero?
REFERENCES
Eugenio, Damiana. Philippine Folk Literature: The Epics. QC: UP Press, 2001.
Revel, Nicole, ed. Literature of voice: Epics in the Philippines. QC: ADMU Press, 2005.
Nolasco, Ricardo Ma. D. "Pinagmulan ng Salitang Bayani" sa Diliman Review, vol 45, no. 2-3, 1997, pp. 14-18.
Salazar, Zeus A. "Ang Bayani bilang sakripisyo: pag-aanyo ng pagkabayani sa agos ng kasaysayang Pilipino"
in Kalamidad, Rebolusyon, Kabayanihan: Mga kahulugan nito sa kasalukuyang panahon. QC. ADHIKA
ng Pilipinast 1996.
De Ocampo, Esteban. "Who Made Rizal our Foremost National Hero, and Why?" in Jose Rizal: Life, Works, and
Writings of a Geniust Writer, Scientist and National Hero, edited by Gregorio Zaide. 1984.
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