One of my real heroes is also the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, who stayed in Germany from 1886 to 1887. It was in Berlin, where he published his novel NOLI ME TANGERE, which inspired the Philippine revolution of 1896. I am glad to have NOLI ME TANGERE in English, Spanish and German in my library.
Since then in 1896 the Philippines has enjoyed long and close relations with Germany. Of course, Germany has become one of the Philippines' major trading partners and biggest sources of foreign investment and development aid.
"The dawn is not far. Spain opens the east for her beloved Philippines, and times are changing and I am positive that more are being done than we imagine." (Jose Rizal).
The existence of a German community in the Philippines during the years before 1836 was impossible, as my mentor Professor Dr. Hermogenes E. Bacareza wrote in his book about Philippine-German Relations, published 2007 in Manila (UST Publishinghouse). The Royal Decree of February 2, 1800 prohibited foreigners to reside in the Philippines. Other similar decrees were issued in 1807 and 1816. In 1844, another royal decree prohibited foreigners to travel to the Philippines under any pretext wath so ever. It was evident that Spain wanted to keep foreigners out of the Philippines soil, believing in some way that the Philippines a dollar gained by a foreigner was one taken from the Spaniards.
During his second administration the former President Marcos said, "No redemption is possible without the solid foundation of virtue." In EL FILIBUSTERISMO Jose Rizal said, 'Redemption presupposes virtue; virtue means sacrifice, sacrifice means love ... it means existing reason and the dignity of the individual, loving whatever is just, good and noble."
Dr. Jose Rizal is indeed the initiator of Philippine-German Cultural Relations. He was one of the first Filipinos who admired the Germans in the Philippines and abroad. More than anybody else, it was he, "initiated the cultural relations between Germany and the Philippines and German speaking scholars. Dr. Cecilio Lopez, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Oriental Studies at the University of the Philippines, wrote in his article "Rizal and the Beginning of German-Philippine Cultural relations," that: "With his inquisitive nature and thirst for knowledge, particularly in what concerned his country, Dr. Rizal sought out these scholars, exchanged ideas with them, and nurtured friendship to the end." (Quotation from "The Joint Enterprise", Manila: Rizal Publishing House Co, page 33).
In "One Hundred Letters of Rizal", page 24, one can read what he wrote to his parents:
"With respect to my studies about diseases of the eye, they are progressing well. I know how to perform the operations. I shall have to train in studying the ocular fundus which needs much practice. In Germany, I am told that they teach this well. I am going to Germany with nearly $100 which will be reduced to $75 after deducting the transportation fare. If I find that the cost of living is cheap I shall matriculate and it may not be necessary to help me in two or three months. In six months, I hope to speak german, study and follow my specialty... ."
I also learned from my mentor Professor Dr. Monsignor Hermogenes 'Gene' E. Bacareza, that Rizal even translated Friedrich Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell" (William Tell), which his compatriots in Spain asked him to do. In his letter to Blumentritt dated October 2, 1886 Rizal wrote:
"Meine Landsleute haben mir tagalische Übersetzungen von Schiller's Werken verlangt. Wie schwer muss diese Arbeit für mich sein, dass können Sie sich leicht einbilden, welche einer sehr verschiedene Ausdrucksart als die die Deutsche hat. Ich muss erst eine Phrase lange besinnen und betrachten, und dann suche ich den entsprechenden Ausdruck in Tagalisch, die Umschreibungen und die Germanismus sorgfältig vermeidend. Ich tröste mich mit dem Gedanken, dass ich die Ehre haben werde, den grossen Schiller die Philippinen in Tagalisch vorzustellen.
My countrymen asked me for a Tagalog translation of Schiller's work. You can easily imagine how difficult I shall find this task, as the modes of expression are very different in German. First, I have to study and examine a phrase for a long time, then I try to find a corresponding expression in Tagalog, carefully avoiding paraphrases and Germanism. I console myself with the thought that I have the honor of presenting the great Friedrich Schiller to the Philippines in Tagalog".
Sometimes we want to see in every Filipino "another Rizal". I agree with Father Gene, that, surely not every Filipino can equal Rizal in intellectual endowments and in heroic grandeur. But in the facts of his or her personality, every Filipino has within him- or herself the capacity to be "another Rizal". With a citizenry such as that being developed in the new Society and in accordance with the mandate of the new Constitution of the Republic, the Filipino people could move on without trepidation and face with courage and confidence the hazards and challenges of the future.
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