Prof Lim's review of E. San Juan's radical interpretation of Rizal in SISA'S VENGEANCE (amazon.com) focuses on Rizal's view of women as actual/potential agencies in the national liberation struggle of the Philippines from Spanish colonialism and U.S. imperialism. Dec. 30 marks the anniversary of Rizal's execution by the Spanish colonial govt., making him the national hero of the Filipino people.
REMEMBERING JOSE RIZAL AND SISA, THE ANTI-POSTCOLONIAL DIFFEREND (tags)
June 19 this year marks the 53rd anniversary of the Philippines' national hero Jose Rizal's birthday. In Nov 1884, Rizal joined mass demonstrations in Madrid to protest the government's repressive policies. He wrote to his family:"Filipinos are dishonored, entrapped, debased, opposed and tyrannized," so he had to disguise himself three times. The following review centers on Rizal's ideas and Sisa, the character in Rizal's novel, who symbolizes the "wretched of the earth," discussed in E. San Juan's book, SISA'S VENGEANCE (available at amazon.com & createspace).
JOSE RIZAL & PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY (tags)
JUNE 12, marking the independence of the Philippines from the Spanish empire, would not have been realized without the martyrdom of countless Filipinos foremost of whom is Jose Rizal. Andres Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan rebellion, honored Rizal's memory by using his name as a shibboleth. But the neocolonial politicians today have only fulfilled Rizal's nightmare that the slaves of yesterday will be the tyrants of today. This essay pays homage to Rizal on the 150th anniversary of his birth.