Rizal Shrine, Dapitan City ....... A Trip to the Heroes Place.

The Rizaliana Museum is a modern concrete building constructed in 1972 which houses all Rizal books, periodicals and all sorts of historical exhibits and part of it also serves as the Office of the Rizal Shrine Curator.

I've been there last April 12 to 13, 2011 with my friends in the community of the Couples for Christ of the CFC Global Foundation when the group participate the Mindanao Leaders Conference held in Tangub City for the last 3 days from April 10 to 12 the same year. And after that wonderful event we had, we went to Rizal Shrine in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. I can surely remember this place as one of our favorite place every Sunday when I was still studying at Andres Bonifacio College in Dipolog City, it took us only 20 to 30 minutes to be in this place riding the known Superstar mini-bus before from Dipolog City. I knew all the corners of this place to include climbing the top of the mountain overlooking the shrine with our classmates and a special friend, and that was 14 years ago.

When you are in Dapitan City you can’t just stand around and not see the beauty of the many tourist attractions, which has definitely draw them to keep on coming back to this glorious city.

 

There are also places where tourists love to see when in Dapitan City and this most visited attractions include the Relief Map of Mindanao which is located across the St. James Church with a total lot area of 900 sq meters created by Dr. Rizal purposely as a motivating device for teaching history and geography to the townsfolk and further beautifying the plaza.

The Relief Map of Mindanao..

 On our way to Dapitan City I was very excited to experience the beauty of this park where Jose Rizal our national hero exiled more than a hundred years ago. Again I will be able to see his art and works that he personally made with the help of the native Dapitanon during those days.

Dr. Jose Rizal is not just a doctor and engineer but also a poet and artist...

Some of Dapitan City century old house preserved by its owner.....

St. James Church and Catholic Rectory which most of the religious individuals and groups also visit in order to witness the architectures which until now was retained and has withstood the test of time.

 

Mindanao map made by Dr. Jose Rizal himself.

Inside the relief map....

Our hero.... in the picture.

On our way to Dapitan City I was very excited to experience the beauty of this park where Jose Rizal our national hero exiled more than a hundred years ago. Again I will be able to see his art and works that he personally made with the help of the native Dapitanon during those days.

According to the Zamboanga del Norte provincial government that Dipolog City will soon have four flights daily from Manila and other flights that connect other cities in the country this will boast tourism in the province who wanted to visit the famous Rizal Shrine like us that really tried to be here even the distance we travelled from Polomolok, South Cotabato. At present, there are two major air carriers plying the Manila-Dipolog City route and vice-versa. Also, Dipolog City is just three hours by boat from Dumaguete City and four hours from Cebu City. The ferries traveling to the two cities in the Visayas region have a 24-hour trip. Dapitan City is where the country's National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal spent fruitfully his last four years in exile from 1892 to 1896. The original estate of Dr. Rizal in Dapitan has been declared a national shrine and is being administered by the National Historical Institute.

Casa Cuadrada – Rizal’s Home together with members of his family who came to visit him.  It has been faithfully reconstructed in its original light, native materials

 

A post inside the Rizal Shrine in Dapitan City

Rizal at 150 years...

The board used by Dr. Jose Rizal while teaching his students in Dapitan City.....

Some of his memorabilia inside the museum..

The book which inspires the Filipino.... the Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo..

Casa Redonda is an octagonal dwelling which served as a dormitory to some of his pupils and was later converted to a clinic and it was here where George Taufer, the foster father of Josephine Bracken was operated on his eyes.

 

This is Rizal code of ethics while living and no wonder why he became the National Hero..

The art inside the Rizaliana Museum..

 A month after Rizal landed in Dapitan, a Spaniard from Manila brought lottery tickets to Dapitan to sell it. Dr. Jose P. Rizal, politico-military Governor Ricardo Carcinero and a Spaniard from Dipolog bought a ticket which fortunately won for them P20,000. Rizal share was about P6,200. He gave P2,000 to his beloved father and P200 to his friend in Hongkong named Basa. He invested the remaining money in business, bought lands and built houses in Talisay which is now popularly known as the Rizal Shrine.

The heroes favorite coat

All about Dr. Jose Rizal...

This city also celebrates HANDURAW FESTIVAL every December just to commemorate Rizal’s contribution in the city. Handuraw is a visayan word which means "to remember". It is a term we address to that festival which highlights the commemoration of our patriotic leader named Dr. Jose Protacio- Rizal who had once resided in this community within four years of his heroic life. This is Rizal's Kitchen shows the natural and simple Filipino living...

Casitas de Salud are two intended as tea houses but which our national hero converted into clinics to accommodate patients from far flung municipalities.

Beside the water dam constructed by Rizal himself together with the local villagers..

Positive Attitude...

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

                       

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. Then I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complained or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life”.

                      

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

           

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood”.

                       

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

                       

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.

           

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins, do you want to see my scars?"

                       

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

                       

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

                       

"What did you do?" I asked.

                       

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'. Over their laughter, I told them, I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

                       

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

                       

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

                       

After all, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

                       

Then, you have two choices now………….. IT’S YOUR CHOICE……

Disclaimer…. Thanks for this unknown author for a very inspiring story.