While composing the decision of this bipartite column. I caught a narrative on CNN sing a new hurdle for prospective immigrants to the United States. Aside from an English proficiency trial. they now have to go through an unwritten history trial before they are granted US citizenship.
Americans were non comfy with the history dad quiz. sing this better suited for Jeopardy than the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. A reappraisal category was shown with the instructor reminding the pupils about the colourss of the American flag. While most cognize it was ruddy. white and blue. person added xanthous into the mix. Knowledge of history. it was argued. made a better citizen. We are ruled by many Torahs. yet we seldom read these if merely to derive an grasp of their spirit and purpose. Republic Act 1425. better known as the Rizal Law. was passed to learn Filipino pupils patriotism or love of state as expressed in the life and Hagiographas of Jose Rizal.
The preamble provinces that it is the responsibility of schools to develop moral character. personal subject. civic scruples. and to learn the responsibilities of citizenship. On those general footings. there is nil controversial except that one of the agencies to that terminal was to do Rizals Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo required reading in schools. Sing the novels. in portion. anti-Catholic. the Church could non accept these as a changeless and animating beginning of nationalism with which the heads of the young person. particularly during their formative and decisive old ages in school. should be suffused. as the jurisprudence provinces.
Traveling through the novels with a fine-tooth comb. specific transitions were deemed violative to the Catholic religion. Church spokesmen argued that Catholics could read selected transitions from Rizal’s work. but to oblige Catholics to read Rizal’s novels in its unexpurgated or uncensored version was to coerce unorthodoxy on them and go against their freedom of scruples. Catholic schools put up a good battle and even threatened to shut down if the Rizal measure was passed. Claro M. Recto calmly told them to travel in front so the province could so nationalise all the schools and learn what it wanted.
The people who would extinguish the books of Rizal from the schools would blot out from our heads the memory of the national hero. This is non a battle against Recto but a battle against Rizal. Now that Rizal is dead and they can no longer try at his life. they are trying to blot out his memory.
Section 1 of RA 1425 provinces: Courses on the life. plants and Hagiographas of Jose Rizal. peculiarly his novels. shall be included in the course of study of all schools. colleges and universities. public or private ; Provided that in the collegiate classs. the original or unexpurgated editions or their English interlingual renditions shall be used as basic texts.
It is clear from this that pupils are to read either the original Spanish or interlingual renditions of these. and that they should be read whole and unedited. yet a via media is besides found in the jurisprudence: The Board of National Education is hereby authorised and directed to follow forthwith steps to implement and transport out the commissariats of this Section. including the authorship and printing of appropriate primers. readers and text editions. The Board shall proclaim regulations and ordinances. including those of a disciplinary nature. to transport out and implement the ordinances of this Act.
The Board shall proclaim regulations and ordinances supplying for the freedom of pupils. for ground of spiritual belief stated in a pledged written statement. from the demand of the proviso contained in the 2nd portion of the first paragraph of this subdivision ; but non from taking the class.
