Watch for the coming editorial 

Paras, Paris, Pera: 

(the problem that will not go away)

On Rizal's 146th Birth Anniversary

Marcelo H. del Pilar's great grandson speaks on solidarity; calls for a new mandate and a new beginning for the OKR!

Sir Venancio Del Pilar Faundo, KCR Commander, Ajax Chapter,  

Ontario Canada

(click photo to view gallery)

Also:

Remembering an "American Idol" who himself idolized the Filipino hero and loved the Philippines so much he asked to be burried there!: a tribute to Rizal by Francis B. Harrison(contributed by historian par excellence Sir Joe Luzadas, KGOR)

Editorial

The Spirit of Rizal lives on!  

For those who truly share in what motivated him to write and do the things he did when he was crusading for his native land many years ago, the spirit of Dr. Jose P. Rizal lives on.

That motivation is nothing more and nothing less than his love for his people and his country which he longed to see enjoy the benefits of a free, morally upright and economically progressive society.

Since his execution in 1896 dramatic changes in the Philippines have no doubt transpired and great strides have undeniably been made, but many of those are the result of unstoppable world events and finding its present place in the international economic map is simply on account of its becoming part of a great global community.

Looking inwardly however, one cannot escape noticing that a sad reality continues to hold the Filipino people at bay – the reality that even after one hundred one (101) years since that fateful day we have not matured. The struggle goes on. Day in and day out.

Against the backdrop of its share of technological advances many uses of which are financed to a large extent by a steadily increasing inflow of dollar remittances from displaced family members abroad, the Philippines has not yet really freed itself from the bondage of backwardness and self-destructive institutions, traditions and practices.

What Rizal, his friends in La Solidaridad, La Liga and those with the Katipunan started remains basically unfulfilled.  Unless one closes his eyes and ears and deliberately shuts himself off from what is going on around him, or unless one is simply oblivious because he is too busy looking after his own personal needs and cares not for others, he would not know that the struggle of the Filipino people Rizal and company championed continues to this day. The struggle for and against continues:

a) against tyranny by a repressive government that has presently condoned if not perpetrated the silencing of political activists, critical journalists, broadcasters and other crusaders in the media and in the House of Congress;

b) against endemic corruption in all places that has both directly and indirectly supported the prevalence of poverty;

c) for liberation from the shackles of colonial feudalistic mentality evidenced for instance by the merciless killings of poor peasants in Negros Occidental who dared to claim their rightful ownership of legally-given parcel of land.

A similar struggle, ironically, can also be found within the organization of the Order of the Knights of Rizal. This brotherhood that bears the hero’s name, this society of Rizalists that is supposed to be the frontrunner for the Rizalian cause – exemplifies the worst of what it is mandated by law no less. Its members struggle to be heard, to have proper and fair representation, to seek redress for blatant wrongs, violations and abuses, to put an end to “padrino politics”, to wake the Manila-based leadership up to a new “world order” of multicultural/multiracial membership and to encourage an honest, truthful, fair and efficient management of its affairs.

Again, for those who truly share in what motivated him to write and do the things he did when he was crusading for his native land many years ago, the spirit of Dr. Jose P. Rizal lives on – in the country of the Philippines and in what originally was called “Orden de Caballeros de Rizal”.

(comments are welcome: please email them to the editor)

WELCOME

The Order of the Knights of Rizal Scarborough Chapter is a proud member of some 10,000 civic-oriented international brotherhood serving in various communities around the world. This website is intended to (a) inform the general public about this Chapter’s part as well as those of other Chapters' in promoting the ideals and cause of Dr. Jose Rizal, Philippines' national hero and "Pride of the Malay Race". It is also intended to (b) serve as a platform for progressive thoughts and ideas espoused by Rizal. Lately, the brotherhood has been struggling with what may be described as "maturing pains" - it will be 96 years old this year (1911-2007). At the beginning of the new century the Order began to manifest itself as a truly international organization and as a consequence of present-day information and communications technology, a clash of cultures and mentalities among various chapters in different Continents became inevitable.  And yet as history attests, the Rizalian spirit will remain strong and - under an evolving new organizational structure - will enable the true Rizalists to overcome its trials and take the illustrious fraternity to greater heights of glory !

"Rights of Man"  by Thomas Paine

(Link to Wikisource)

Paine wrote Rights of Man to defend the French Revolution against Edmund Burke's criticism in Reflections on the Revolution in France. Part One appeared in early 1791 and Part Two in early 1792. The text here is that of The Writings of Thomas Paine, Collected and Edited by Moncure Daniel Conway (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894), minus Conway's notes.

Copyright 2007 Knights of Rizal Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

editor and webmaster: junzerrudo@hotmail.com