Rizal honoured as planner and development manager in “Parangal kay Gat Jose P. Rizal”

Not only was our national hero an illustrious writer and a noble statesman, he was also an innovative environmentalist-scientist-manager—always ahead of his time.

Dr. Jose P. Rizal, as a planner and a manager, was recognized and, indeed, honoured during the “Parangal kay Gat Jose P. Rizal” which was held at the DAP Building in Pasig last Friday, June 17, in commemoration of our national hero’s sesquicentennial.

Organized by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), the Parangal served as a venue where notable academicians and scholars gathered to honour Dr. Rizal as a trailblazer in the field of environment, planning, and development management, and whose ideas are currently used especially in the field of management.

Present in the occasion were scholars in the field of history and political science, guests from other countries like Indonesia and the U.S, Knights of Rizal, relatives of Dr. Rizal, and students who are inspired by Rizal’s erudition, patriotism, and fervent love for learning.

  

Professor Jose David Lapuz, UNESCO commissioner, former UST professor, and Grand Knight of Rizal, talked about Rizal as development and human security professional.  He recalled how Rizal had high hopes for Filipinos, believing that “Filipinos can inspire the world.” Dr. Jose Rizal, according to Lapuz , has always believed in cooperation-- in the interrelationship of two units—as a key ingredient to national development, and as instrument to achieve national freedom which we, Filipinos, deserve.

“Rizal was a precursor, a pioneer in his field” was the testimony by historian and National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chairman Dr. Maria Serena Diokno as she spoke of Rizal’s legacy in the field of Development Management. She said that Rizal, through his writings, has been ahead of his time as he already knew the concepts in development management that are widely used and practiced in today’s corporate world.

Dr. Diokno also echoed what Rizal pointed as cause of Filipinos’ backwardness during the Spanish regime, saying that “laziness, inhumane education from the colonizers, and lack of sense of nationhood” were all the roots of backwardness and lack of development on the part of the Filipinos then. While nobody realized these ills that caused political and personal lethargy amongst Filipinos, Rizal had. And it was also our national hero who was able to identify the solution to these ailment;  he said that to transcend from the dismal situation Filipinos were in, they have to “have a sense of nationhood, understand the situation they are in, and act as wisely as they can in every situation.”

The Parangal was an occasion where Rizal’s genius was not only remembered but also reinforced for the younger generations to emulate and use as inspiration. The event is just one of many slated this year in celebration of Dr. Jose Rizal’s 150^th birth anniversary, and his immortal image and influence as a national hero.

The Parangal is in partnership the NHCP, Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, and the city of Dapitan.