Jose Rizal is now standing tall and proud.
It’s been said that national hero Jose Rizal was not very happy with how short he was. He may not even have been 5’3″, as commonly believed—the clothes he left behind indicate that he could be only 4’11”.
Cement barbells were discovered in his home in Dapitan , where he was exiled. He was supposed to have started lifting weights to appear bigger. Not that it matters, for what got him acclaim was the size of his brain.
Still, we suppose that if he were around today, Rizal would not be displeased by the recent unveiling of a new bronze statue, in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, not far from his hometown of Calamba. It’s the tallest of all Rizal monuments at a gigantic 25 inches and 11 feet high, and was constructed in time for the opening of the Palarong Pambansa.
The statue stands on a flight of stairs, the monument’s pedestal, all 1,000 square meters wide. The hollow underneath will be developed into a museum and a library about Laguna and Rizal’s history.
Aside from its height, the statue is unique as it is the only one depicting the hero as “eskrimador.”
“Eskrima” is a Filipino martial art. Says Delto Michael Abarquez, Laguna tourism chief and committee chair of the national sports competition, “Normally, Rizal is depicted as a scholar, doctor and philanthropist. It’s about time we give importance to his (inclination for) sports.”
We imagine Dr. Jose Rizal flexing his muscles.
