Luneta: Rizal's Final Steps

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Monday morning was cool and cloudy at the Charter House in Manila, though strangely, I had a dream that Duke lost their Saturday game against Virginia Tech 55-50, after blowing a first half lead.

Today was a day of historical visits to the Spanish colonial period and through the recent political history of People Power. We traveled past the Mall of Asia, the largest mall in all of Asia. I was worried that the Mall was built so close to the shore that it would be reclaimed by an inconvenient truth. We continued along Macapagal Highway to a brief stop at the Philippine Film Center where, it is rumored several workers were buried in the concrete as Imelda Marcos rushed to finish its construction; the place is now said to be haunted.

We passed the US Embassy which was along the coast, as well as the Manila Hotel where General Douglas MacArthur stayed during his time in Manila. We arrived at Luneta (Rizal Park) to honor the final resting place of that great Philippine intellect and national hero, Jose Rizal. Rizal's tomb is watched over by two soldiers. Luneta was also the field where Cory Aquino announced her victory in the snap elections of 1986 (though Marcos announced his victory as well in a separate ceremony). All of Luneta was being prepared for the 400th Anniversary of the Black Nazarene, a sculpture brought from Spain during the colonial period that is venerated by Filipinos in the Quiapo Church.

Beyond Rizal's tomb and to the left is Bagumbayan field, where Rizal was executed by firing squad. In the area marking his execution site is a tree and the beautiful poem he composed in his cell at Fort Santiago the night before his execution, "Mi Ultimo Adios" (My Final Farewell), a poem of patriotism and selflessness, etched in stone at the site in the original Spanish, as well as English and Tagalog translations. We also saw the site of the hangings of three Filipino priests in 1872, a famous event referenced by the characters of Noli Me Tangere; these three priests were accused of inciting rebellion.

I was reminded of the parallel of Pushkin, the father of Russian literature, also died at a young age (though in a duel). The world is left to wonder what great works we were deprived of by those bullets that slayed them both.

We departed Luneta for the last place where Rizal lived, Fort Santiago, within Intramuros.

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