INTRODUCTION
A hundred years ago — on the 31st of July 1896, to be exact — Jose Rizal left this place en route to Cuba via Spain. He had been exiled here in Dapitan by the Spanish government for four years.

That voyage was never completed, because he was sent back from Spain to the Philippines, subjected to a trial, and finally executed for holding on to his ideals and principles of freedom, justice and truth in behalf of our beloved Philippines.

His departure and eventual execution accompanied the birth of our nation. Rizal’s vision has guided us today in our continuing quest for peace, development and freedom.

A novelist, poet, historian, linguist, scientist, educator, doctor, painter and sculptor, Rizal was an extraordinary man. Each of whose achievements may have been a lifetime’s work for others.

That all those talents came together in this one man seems remarkable enough. That he achieved all these before reaching the age of 35 is doubly astounding. But what is truly admirable about Jose Rizal — and what humbles us, and endears him to us — is that he gave up all of these endowments and his bright future to the cause of the Filipino people’s freedom, ultimately yielding his own life.
HONORING RIZAL
Rizal was thought to have died as a traitor to the Spanish colonial regime. But in one of history’s ironic turnabouts, no less than Spanish royalty would do him honor at his grave in 1978 and in 1995 by no less than the King and Queen of Spain.

All around the world, many countries have continued to pay tribute to this truly remarkable man, this truly global citizen — a book of praise on Rizal by a Spanish author, an international meeting on this great Malayan sponsored by the Malaysian government, a street in his name in Germany, a statue in Spain, and many more.

This ceremony we are holding today adds to those praises. But since it comes from his own people, it must be more special, more heartfelt, more immediate in its impact on our thoughts and on our lives.

Today we commemorate the centennial of his exile, and fittingly enough — and again, in an ironic reversal of history — we are doing so by bringing him a gift of 10,000 young companions. These are the Boy Scouts of the Philippines who will spend their 1996 National Jamboree with the special mission of rediscovering Rizal in these hallowed grounds, of imbibing the spirit of service and patriotism that Rizal so nobly exemplified.

These scouts represent the next generation of Filipinos to whom we will pass the mantle of freedom we now enjoy. They are the young Filipinos whose basic foundation in values, citizenship and competitive skills we will strengthen here in Dapitan.

Upon my suggestion, we chose this place — this place called Dapitan — for a gathering of Filipino youth. Dapitan had been Rizal’s home in his last years, and here Rizal found some happiness and many moments for reflection and also for action.
RIZAL: THE MAN OF ACTION
Very few of us remember that Rizal was an eminently practical person — a citizen with an active interest in the life and the progress of his immediate community. Here, he demonstrated the undiminished liveliness of his mind, as well as the power and the creativity of his hands.

Neither an architect nor an engineer, he built pipes that brought water to the town from a live spring two kilometers away. He made a machine that increased brick production from 600 to 6,000 units a day. He helped clean the swamps. He tilled the land. He also helped abaca planters gain more value for their product through better quality control. He attended to patients and he taught school.

He even classified flora and fauna in the area, and compiled a dictionary of the myths and legends of Dapitan. In other words, he worked and lived every waking minute of his life in Dapitan to the fullest — and typically, he did this not only for his own comfort and satisfaction, but for the interests as well of the community at large.

Today we know Rizal more as a patriot who fought for liberty and justice, a hero who made the supreme sacrifice for his country.

But let us not forget that Rizal was also a man who applied himself with equal diligence to the daily tasks of peace and the livelihood of ordinary Filipinos — a man for whom no chore was beneath his dignity, for as long as it served the good of his fellow man.

Today we are called upon once again by the circumstances of our history to reflect upon the needs of our national community — indeed, to reaffirm our ties to one another, to reaffirm our nationhood, for which Rizal offered his life.
THE WELFARE OF THE MOTHERLAND
We stand on the threshold of a lasting and comprehensive peace with our Muslim brothers and sisters in Mindanao — on the brink of unprecedented prosperity for all of us who can find our way through the darkness to the light of peace.

Let me take this opportunity to underscore the kind of resolve that made our people-power revolution at EDSA possible — the kind of unity, solidarity and teamwork we forged among all of us those crucial days.

I refer to our Special Zone of Peace and Development (ZOPAD) in Mindanao which will be promoted by a Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCPD). This program for ensuring peace and sustainable development is conditioned on the achievement of lasting peace, indeed, not only for Mindanao but for our entire country.

By taking the bold steps to cross the bridge to peace, we put ourselves firmly on the road to sustained progress and social development.

We can choose to fragment and divide in the largely self-willed tragedy of bloody internal conflict — or we can decide, once and for all, to offer the hand of reconciliation and friendship to all, to lay down our arms, and to talk and work together for a just and fruitful peace.
THE POWER TO ACHIEVE PEACE
If our heroes such as Dr. Jose Rizal were here with us today, I have no doubt that he would ask us to rise above our differences and our fears, and to trust one another.

In a speech he delivered in Madrid 105 years ago, Rizal spoke of the need for self-sacrifice and for unity in the service of the nation. He declared, “let us maintain firmly union and solidarity among us; let the good of the mother country be our only cause; and let us prove to everyone and make it clear — that if a Filipino wills, he can.”

“Let this be our only motto,” Rizal wrote his friend Mariano Ponce, “for the welfare of the native land.”

These words are as true today as they were then. We have it in our power to achieve peace, development and greatness as our nation has not seen in its 100 years.

We can do this together — through the spirit of partnership, cooperation, unity, solidarity and teamwork. It is our best guarantee against disunity and decline, and against the return of the unwanted politics of patronage, warlordism and bloody strife.

As our gift to the nation on the forthcoming centennial of its independence, let us all promote unity in diversity — and achieve a peaceful and prosperous community of united and empowered Filipinos.

In his final moments, he wrote in Mi Ultimo Adios:

“When my death is forgotten, my grave unmarked, let the plow turn the earth where i lie. May my dust make fertile the fields. Where the grass grows thickly, there i dwell.

“When night comes and my grave in darkness lies, break not the peace, kneel before the mystery. If you hear the sound of music, be not afraid. It is i.”

Let us tell Jose Rizal: “we, your grateful people, have not forgotten your sacrifice. We now use the plow to turn the earth of your grave, so that enduring peace and sustained development may reign in this land. We hear your music, which inspires us and strengthens us in our labors.”

I have the highest hopes that the Filipino youth will prove worthy of Rizal’s examples — the best of them are with us today in the scouting movement as members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. “Where are the youth,” Rizal asked, “who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land?”

They are here, and what Rizal asks them to do, I am certain that they can — and that they will. Here are 10,000 young hearts and minds, prepared and eager to meet the challenges of nation-building. Here is the Filipino future.
CLOSING
May this jamboree kindle the spirit of Rizal in all of you. And may that spirit move us to seek and to cherish peace, freedom and justice for all Filipinos.

Mabuhay ang kabayanihan ni Jose Rizal!

Mabuhay ang scouting spirit!

Mabuhay ang Mindanao!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Mabuhay tayong lahat!