In his letter, Rizal explained to Hidalgo why he had chosen “Noli Me Tangere” as the title for his novel. He said the book contains things which no one has spoken up; they are so delicate that they cannot be touched by anybody. He continued, “I have unmasked hypocrisy which, under the guise of religion came to impoverish and to brutalize us, I have distinguished true religion from the false, from superstition, from that which traffics with the holy word to extract money, to make us believe in sortileges, of which Catholicism would be ashamed if it were aware of them.”
This excerpts from the biography of Dr. Jose Rizal written by Palma highlighted to us the philosophico-religious views and the alleged retraction of our national hero before his execution. It depicted the kind of character he had. He was a keen observer, and minds the condition of the people and the society he inhabited. He was not contented with the things he witnessed, with the kind of system he was born to. He studied more, analyzed more, compared and discerned truth from hypocrisy and by his efforts, from the very truth he had found, made a heavy mallet, destroyed the walls of injustice and pulpit of hypocrisy and successfully freed his countrymen.
The youth of today, and all people who still witness this modern era, it will not be useless to take some ideas from this man we considered hero of our own race and reflect from him the kind of society we have, the precepts we have been under to since the time we were born. It would not be futile to ask ourselves, are we on the kind of society deserved by one who’s living in democracy? Are the nation’s resources not exploited by foreign countries? Are we not deprived of our rights as human beings? Are we free to express ourselves and our own ideas? Are we not deprived to speak? Are we not deceived by political manipulations? Do we exercise our minds to think critically if things being imposed on us are of concrete basis? Or just be stagnant with the kind of views, beliefs, traditions passed to us by our ancestors? Maybe it is high time already for Filipinos especially to our youth to reflect on the mind setting we have, with the kind of mind, attitude, virtues and character exhibited to by our national hero. He did not live just for his own life and well-being. He thought of the welfare of his family, his community, and his country. And did not just thought of the present, but of the future. We would also admire his self-esteem and great courage to stand for truth even he knew he was to stand alone. When he knew very well he was on the right track, he hold his principles tight until the end of his life.
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