Jose Rizal: While a people preserves its language, it preserves the marks of liberty.

My Fil-Ams: Teach your kids tagalog.

Who Was Dr Jose Rizal, the National Hero of the Phillipines?

Learn Filipino Holidays - Rizal Day

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda^[7] (Spanish: [xoˈse riˈsal], Tagalog: [hoˈse riˈsal]; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national hero (pambansang bayani) of the Philippines.^[8][9] An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement, which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain.

Moments before his execution on December 30, 1896, by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish Army, a backup force of regular Spanish Army troops stood ready to shoot the executioners should they fail to obey orders.^[58] The Spanish Army Surgeon General requested to take his pulse: it was normal. Aware of this the sergeant commanding the backup force hushed his men to silence when they began raising "vivas" with the highly partisan crowd of Peninsular and Mestizo Spaniards. His last words were those of Jesus Christ: "consummatum est" – "it is finished."^{[21][59][note 10]}