I am Mass Communication student.

I alot at least 2 hours a week to study for each subject that I

am in plus I have to go to class. I am eager to go to class that to know what’s beyond my course.

I don’t need an extra subject that could not help me be a better professional. I want to learn the

subjects that will impact my profession the most. Joao Coutinho once said, “There is no neutral

education. Education is either for domestication or for freedom.”

Good morning sir Lincong, classmates and dear speakers. Before I put forward our case

today I would like to define today’s motion, this house believes that the readings of our honored

hero, Dr. Jose Rizal such as the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibustersmo shall not be made

compulsory to all students, schools, colleges and universities in the Philippines.

It is true that Rizal’s two of t Rizal’s works indeed is able to instil within us our sense of

Filipino nationalism and his martyrdom enforced a great deal to us Filipinos. However, our

motion today is defined as these honorable writings of the late Dr. Jose Rizal need not to be

obligatory for reasons that it demands certain drawbacks.

First of all, it is a necessity that the opposition side think that it creates a big confusion

between faith and patriotism. It’s just that every Filipino is wavering as to weighing their love to

their country and as to what religion they practice. In today’s modern world, it is very difficult to

establish Christian growth to students in their early and formative years.

In relation to my first argument, compromise. Do we have to compromise our faith?

That is because “Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, were written to directly attack

and ridicule the Catholic Church. It states, that it violates the Canon Law of 1933.
2. Books of any writers defending heresy or schism, or tending in any way to undermine the very

foundations of religion;

… 6 Books which attack or ridicule any of the Catholic dogmas, or which defend errors

condemned by the Holy See, or which disparage divine worship, or strive to overthrow

ecclesiastical discipline, or which have the avowed aim of defaming the ecclesiastical hierarchy

or the clerical or religious states..

In addition, not only that, they argue that among the 333 pages of Noli Me Tangere, only

25 passages are patriotic while 120 passages are anti-Catholic according to the letter of the

CBCP. Rizal admitted before that in these passages he did not only attack the friars that acted

falsely on the Filipinos but also attacked the Catholic Faith itself. Rizal himself included in his

last will the retraction of his statements about the Church in his two novels.” Furthermore,

certain parts of these two novels were directing against the Christian dogma. For the sake of

everybody, a dogma is Doctrine taught by the Church to be believed by all the faithful as part of

divine revelation. All dogmas, therefore, are formally revealed truths and promulgated as such by

the Church. They are revealed either in Scripture or tradition, either explicitly such as the

Incarnation or implicitly like the Assumption. This, in short displays a far-reaching effect in the

Church that can result to a grievous penalty. Philippines is known to be a very active country in

terms of Christianity, and ourselves must take a look back and reconsider this issue.

Third, yes essentially having students to read these works of Rizal is truly a privilege.

However, in a wider perspective it is a distraction and the urge to reinforce this is insignificant

among other courses once a student started to go to college. In elementary, we get to know him

and our brave heroes who freed us all and embrace independence once and for all. Now we
graduated elementary school, again, consider those college students who take up courses such as

engineering or medicine, even they themselves just like some of us now question the relevance

of the Rizal subject to their careers. Imagine all the workloads they have from their major

subjects, and the fact that they have to consider another prerequisite subject implies another load

from their schedules. Forcing a student to go to a class session without a tad of an interest within

is unhealthy. This we think downgrades and destroys the purpose of quality education. Yes, we

can say if you’re a history major student, definitely it is compulsory no question to that matter at

all.

Fourth, poverty is strikingly evident in the Philippines. Now, let us view both ways. For

colleges and universities, other will urged to take up and pay another course or subject for a

semester. Furthermore, aside from the tuition we have the different materials needed for example

books and other visual materials to elaborate the topic. Philippines has been struggling with this

issue and considering the data that the Philippine Statistics Authority released the

Multidimensional Poverty Index this November 2018 that among the four dimensions which

include education, housing, water and sanitation; health and nutrition; and employment-

education has the biggest contribution to the overall deprivation of Filipino households. 36.5% in

2016 and 36.9% in 2017 respectively. Ladies and gentlemen, this simply indicates that

something is cutting the line towards the quality education we want to perceive. Before taking a

huge and risky step, consider those that might be stepped on and strive for a clearer future ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, hence, we believe that this is only applicable not for all, rather

those who have the need to take up the subject. Let us be sincere and straightforward. In today’s

time, if one’s a true Filipino who loves his motherland and the people who died before him for
his gratification, for a Filipino’s appreciation and patriotism cannot be strengthen with a book

alone.

https://www.scribd.com/document/269965254/Effects-of-the-Rizal-Law

https://teamcrisostomo.wordpress.com/noli-filirizal-bill-one-of-the-most-controversial-

bills-in-phil-history/

https://www.raissarobles.com/2011/08/11/rizals-novels-would-be-banned-today-if-

catholic-church-succeeded-in-1956/

http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2018/11/15/multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi-

education-psa.html