Jose Rizal statue to be installed in Canberra in 2012

The Department of Foreign Affairs said a statue of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal will be installed in Canberra, Australia next year. In a news release, the DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Canberra, the Consulate and the Rizal Park Movement are working with the Campbelltown City Council in installing Rizal's statue. The DFA said the statue, donated by renowned Filipino sculptor Eduardo Castrillo, will be erected before the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal ends on June 19, 2012. The Rizal Park Movement, led by its president, Rey Manoto, is currently raising funds for the pedestal of the statue of Rizal. Rizal (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), was a Filipino polymath, patriot and advocate of reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. His execution by the Spanish on December 30, 1896, a date commemorated annually as "Rizal Day," is believed to have sparked the Filipinos fight for freedom from the Spaniards. Rizal was born to a rich family in Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh of eleven children. He went to the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts, and later enrolled in medicine at the University of Santo Tomas. He later studied at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Madrid, Spain, earning a Licentiate in Medicine. He also attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. - VVP, GMA News