Who was the true love of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, our foremost national hero? After reading the article “Scholars divided on Jose Rizal’s true love” (Inquirer, 2/12/12) by Pablo S. Trillana III, a supreme commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal, the more I’m convinced that Rizal’s true love was his “motherland.” Following Balagtas’ poetic words in which I quote: “O, pag-ibig na makapangyarihan, hahamakin ang lahat masunod ka lamang,” Rizal could have heeded the warnings of his family and the Riveras that his satirical “Noli Me Tangere” electrified Filipinos but angered Spanish authorities who had branded him as a “filibuster.”
While it was true that when Rizal received Leonor Rivera’s news of her forthcoming marriage, “he wept like a child,” such emotional reaction could be normal for deeply frustrated lovers.
On the other hand, taking Josephine Bracken as his wife did not necessarily mean a sign of true love, considering that people normally seek companionship when in solitary exile. Rizal could have issued the retraction the Spaniards wanted him to make had he wanted to legitimize his union with Bracken before the Catholic Church since there was no civil marriage at the time.
Without any retraction as history tells us, Rizal accepted defeat with a smile by facing a firing squad of Spanish civil guards at Bagumbayan, now called Luneta or Rizal Park, on Dec. 30, 1896.
—GODOFREDO O. PETEZA,
trustee, Order of the Knights of Rizal,
Daet Chapter,
Daet, Camarines Norte