The Rizal-Sun Yat-Sen Tandem: Ideals for Today

I had come to know about Rizal and Sun Yat-Sen almost at the same time, in grade school. Being enrolled in a Chinese school certainly has its advantages. It offers you the study of two cultures at once. Studying in Saint Jude Catholic School introduced me to not only Rizal but Sun Yat-Sen as well.

We all know that Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines. We have been taught of that since time immemorial. We are all very familiar with his life, his works and his deeds. Numerous movies had been made to depict his life, who can forget the award-winning movie of Marilou Diaz-Abaya. In high school we spend two years for his two great novels, the Noli and the Fili, one year for each. In college we still continue to study the life of Rizal, a more detailed one including his philosophy, morals, and who can forget the controversies regarding his life. But most important of all, we study his ideals, his goal and objective. We study them because we know that he is a great man and that his ideals, though a hundred-years old still apply to our modern society. A lot of people know that the solution to our problem lies with the ideals set by Rizal. So what are these ideals? Rizal’s ideals are broad which encompass a lot of things. But let us just focus on two, nationalism, and quest for freedom. We all know that Rizal is a nationalist. In his works, he valued the the use of Tagalog, (we don’t have a committee on the national language then and it wasn’t called Filipino then). One of his famous lines is dedicated solely on language, “Ang taong hindi magmahal sa sariling wika ay mas masahol pa sa malansang isda”. He too is a scholarly man. Being a doctor, he likes the sciences and works hard in promoting them. He was a pacifist, he wanted change but in a peaceful way. But nonetheless he wanted change.

Sun Yat-Sen on the other hand is no different from Rizal. Sun Yat-Sen himself is a doctor, a physician. He is known as “the Father of the Republic”, “the Father of the Revolution” Kuo Fu as my Chinese teacher would like it to be. I came to know him in one of the stories we took up in Chinese. The story was about his childhood with the Manchu dynasty and his determination to uplift his country. He based his life’s work on three principles, nationalism, democracy, and equalization. As history will tell you, China then was not a republic. The government is centered on the huang ti having all the power. Those who do not hold office and are not with royal blood are called ping min and most certainly don’t control their lives. Sun Yat-Sen strived for equality much like what Rizal did. He stirred up the nationalistic spirit suppressed within the people. He led the famous shuang shi, Double Ten Revolution to strive for democracy.

Never even once did I compare Rizal and Sun Yat-Sen. This is the first time I saw their similarities. I had always viewed the Filipino and Chinese culture as separate and have no relation at all. I am quite surprised really that Rizal and Sun Yat-Sen have a lot in common, even their principles are people centered. It is good to commend the People who started the Jose Rizal- Sun Yat-Sen Society because they saw what no other people saw. They saw the likeness of two persons of different cultures and continue to serve by the principles they started.

We really need the ideals of two great persons now. It should not simply be left written on the pages of history books. Those principles need to be brought out and implemented. They do not only address the problems of the last century. We need the spirit of nationality more than ever especially right after our national elections. For sure the country would be in a state of unrest of undecision. We should start thinking more about the good of the country. Equality should also be addressed. Racial discrimination is a big hindrance in the prosperity of the Philippines. Let’s do away with the hua na, intsik things and use chinoy and pinoy instead. We should strive hard to maintain the freedom the both Rizal and Sun Yat-Sen fought for a century ago. We should promote the welfare of the youth for it is with them that the backbone of the country would lie in a few years time. I am sure that these principles are able to address the harsh reality we live in now, that we live in a dog-eat-dog world. Rizal and Sun Yat-Sen had already laid the foundations, all we need to do is build the walls so that a generation from now they would just simply add the furbishing.