Filipino educator Dr. Floro Quibuyen will hold a symposium in Sydney, Australia about the life of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal during his exile in Dapitan exile.

According to a report of The Filipino Australian, the symposium will be held on June 23 at the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney.


In the report, Quibuyen said:  “We need to rectify the distortions, misrepresentations, even outright lies about Rizal being perpetuated in the academe as well as the mass media.” 

 

Quibuyen described these distortions as "cobwebs of history" that may be preventing people from having a fuller understanding of Rizal.

 

Quibuyen said it was important to study the four years (1892 – 1896) that Rizal spent as an exile in Dapitan, Mindanao.

 

“They have not been fully explored for the light they can shed on contemporary issues in community development and education,” The Filipino Australian quoted Quibuyan as saying.

 

Organized by the Sydney Chapter of the Order of the Knights, the symposium is part of the activities of the Rizalian group in commemoration of the 151st birth anniversary of Rizal.

 

Jose Rizal

Rizal was born to a rich family in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861. He was the seventh child in the family which had 11 children.

Rizal was a Filipino polymath and patriot who advocated for reforms during the Spanish colonial era.

He attended various schools: 

• Ateneo Municipal de Manila (earning a Bachelor of Arts);
• University of Santo Tomas (medicine);
• Universidad Central de Madrid in Madrid, Spain (Licentiate in Medicine);
• University of Paris, and
• University of Heidelberg.

Rizal was a polyglot who was conversant in 22 languages.

A poet and novelist, his two most famous works were the "Noli me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo."

On December 30, 1896, Rizal was executed by the Spanish in Bagumbayan.

The date of his death is remembered every year as "Rizal Day." - VVP, GMA News