Literature and José Rizal

As of 2026-08-30 · Updated 2026-08-30 · Section: Culture, Religion & Language · 日本語版

0. Six things to know first

Philippine literature is not "the literature of a single language." Oral epics, Spanish, Tagalog (Filipino), English, and regional languages form layered strata. Any account that treats it as a single linear literary history is bound to break down.

José Rizal (1861–1896) is a rare case of "a novelist who became a national hero." Moreover, he wrote in Spanish, and today almost all Filipinos read him in translation. This is the single most important thing to grasp about this field.

Two banned books became mandatory nationwide reading by law 70 years later. The Noli and the El Fili, banned by the Spanish colonial authorities in 1887 and 1891 respectively, became required material at every university under the Rizal Law (RA 1425) of 1956. This reversal is a microcosm of modern Philippine history.

注 No law exists that formally designates Rizal as the "national hero." The NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) itself states plainly that no Filipino has ever been officially declared a national hero by law, executive order, or proclamation.

In 2025, the Philippines was the Guest of Honor country at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The theme was a quotation from Rizal's Noli. This is a moment of rapidly increasing international exposure.

注 Readership is declining. The share of adults reading non-textbook material fell from 61% in 2007, to 54% in 2012, to 42% in 2023 (NBDB National Reading Survey, conducted by SWS). Talk of "rising literary enthusiasm" applies to the industry and the international stage — the general reading public is shrinking. Do not conflate these two, contradictory realities.

1. The overall picture — five strata

Because public education switched to English under American rule, Spanish-language literature became "a classic that lost its readers." The major 19th-century works, including Rizal's, are now treated as foreign-language literature in their own homeland.

2. Oral literature and epics

Darangen — the great epic of the Maranao

The Darangen is not merely a story. It is a "source of law" embedding customary law (adat), ethics, and concepts of governance, and elders still consult the epic today in applying customary law. Literature and law remain undifferentiated here, alive as one.

注 The reality of the crisis: archaic vocabulary understood only by specialists and elders; objections that it "conflicts with Islamic faith"; and the displacement of residents caused by the Siege of Marawi (2017) have combined to sharply reduce opportunities for performance. Transcription has been carried forward by the folklore division of Mindanao State University (now the Mamitua Saber Research Center), and 8 volumes have been published. In recent years, attempts have also been made to pass the tradition to younger generations through short-form video on platforms such as TikTok.

Hinilawod — Panay Island

• A cycle of epics handed down among the Panay Bukidnon of the interior of Panay Island. It tells the story of the demigod brothers Labaw Donggon / Humadapnon / Dumalapdap. The language is archaic Karay-a.
• Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano made recordings in 1956–57 from the chanter "Ulang Udig" (of Lambunao, Iloilo) and the woman chanter Narcisa "Fuganan" Lingaya (of Tapaz, Capiz).
• On May 8, 2024, at the 10th MOWCAP General Meeting held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, it was decided that Hinilawod would be inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register (MOWCAP). The Doctrina Christiana was inscribed at the same time.
• 注 (Corrected in the second cross-verification pass, 2026-08-25) The earlier draft's claim that "this was the first such inscription for the Philippines" is incorrect. The Philippines already had prior Memory of the World inscriptions.
  • International Register: the Philippine ancient scripts (Hanunoo/Buid/Tagbanua/Pala'wan), 1999; the radio broadcasts of the People Power Revolution, 2003; the José Maceda Collection, 2007; the papers of President Manuel L. Quezon, 2011.
  • Asia-Pacific Regional Register (MOWCAP): the Quezon presidential papers, 2010; the Culion leprosy records, 2018; the Doctrina Christiana, 2024; the Hinilawod recordings, 2024.
  • Written correctly: "the 2024 MOWCAP inscriptions were the Philippines' third and fourth regional inscriptions." If you write "first," always specify first of what. (Source: UNESCO Memory of the World's list of Philippine inscriptions.)
• The recordings themselves: of 22 open-reel tapes, 19 contain Hinilawod material, totaling 35 hours 32 minutes. They include 15 epics (2 of which have been published); the UP Center for Ethnomusicology (UPCE) took custody of them in 2013 and digitized and organized them. Related materials also exist at Central Philippine University (Jocano's alma mater).
• The inscription gives it Grade I status under the National Cultural Heritage law, making it a priority target for protection and preservation.

Hudhud — Ifugao

• Narrative songs chanted in the rice-terrace region of Ifugao in northern Luzon, during planting, harvest, and wakes. There are more than 200 chants, and a full performance takes several days. The form is a call-and-response between a female lead singer and a female chorus. The best-known is Hudhud ni Aliguyon.
• Declared a UNESCO "Masterpiece" in 2001 → inscribed on the Representative List in 2008. Hudhud and Darangen are the only two Philippine traditions to have received the "Masterpiece" declaration.

注 The term "Hinudun," sometimes seen in Japanese-language sources, is in most cases a spelling variant or misspelling of either Hudhud or Hinilawod. The two are distinct traditions (Ifugao vs. Panay).

3. The Spanish colonial period — print and verse

Francisco Balagtas's Florante at Laura

• Francisco Balagtas (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862). Born to a blacksmith's family in the village of Bigaa, Bulacan (now the town of Balagtas in the same province). Known as the "Prince of Tagalog Poets" (Prinsipe ng Makatang Tagalog), and often called "the Shakespeare of the Philippines."
• 注 The reason his surname appears in two forms is that, in accordance with Governor-General Claveria's 1849 decree (which required residents to adopt fixed surnames), his legal surname became Baltazar. Both names refer to the same person.
• Florante at Laura (published 1838). An awit in 12-syllable quatrains said to have been written while he was imprisoned in Manila (around 1835–36). Set in the fictional foreign Kingdom of Albania. Dedicated to his former lover, María Asunción Rivera ("M.A.R.," known as Celia).
• The injustice and tyranny, ostensibly written as belonging to a distant foreign land, was read as colonial Philippines itself. It pairs the Muslim princess Flerida with the Persian Aladin as lovers, carrying the theme that religious difference should not be grounds for discrimination.
• Balagtasan — an improvised poetic debate form. It was first held in Manila in April 1924, pitting Jose Corazon de Jesus against Florentino Collantes. It survives today as a school activity, though local officials have voiced concern that it is "being forgotten."
• April 2 is "Balagtas Day" (Proclamation No. 1249, 1974). In some years, Bulacan and Bataan provinces declare a special holiday (in 2025, Bataan declared a special non-working day on March 13).

4. José Rizal — his life

The connection with Japan — the core content for Japanese readers

• En route to Europe for the second time, he arrived in Yokohama on February 28, 1888. What was meant to be a stopover of a few days stretched to about two months, during which he stayed at the Spanish legation and at the Tokyo Hotel in Hibiya. He was 26–27 years old at the time.
• He became close with "Osei-san" — Usui Seiko (1866–1947) — whom he had seen near the legation. She came from a former shogunate-retainer family and understood English and French. It is said the two watched kabuki together and traveled as far as Nikko and Hakone (her name is sometimes rendered with slightly different kanji). Rizal reportedly never spoke of this relationship to anyone during his life, and a photograph of her is said to have been found among his effects after his death.
• In Hibiya Park (near Shinji-ike pond), there is a Rizal memorial marker (erected June 19, 1961, inscribed "He stayed at the Tokyo Hotel on this site in 1888") and a bust (1998, commemorating the centennial of Philippine independence). It is the most accessible Philippines-related historical site in central Tokyo.
• Aboard the ship from Japan, he met Freedom and People's Rights Movement activist Suehiro Tetcho, and the two traveled together as far as London. According to an anecdote, Tetcho could not speak English and communicated through Rizal, who understood Japanese, and Tetcho titled his account of the journey Oshi no Ryoko ("A Mute's Journey"). In 1891, Tetcho published the political novel Nan'yo no Daiharan, whose protagonist "Takayama Shun" was modeled on Rizal. 注 However, its ending — "the Philippines, after independence, comes under Japan's protection" — is itself the southward-expansion thinking (nanshin-ron) of the era, making it simultaneously a story of Asian solidarity and a story of Japanese expansionist ambition. Leaving this out and telling only "a heartwarming tale of Japan-Philippines friendship" would be a misreading.

5. The two novels

Major works besides the novels

Facts surrounding My Last Farewell

• The original poem had no title. The title "Mi último adiós" was given to it by Mariano Ponce.
• It is said he handed his sister Trinidad an alcohol lamp, inside which the poem was smuggled out (he reportedly told her this in English so the guards would not understand); within days it had been copied and circulated widely.
• Andrés Bonifacio produced a Tagalog translation, "Pahimakas ni Dr. José Rizal." Its form was the awit, one that reached the ordinary people of the time. 注 Some researchers point out that certain passages appear to have been deliberately altered in translation for agitational purposes. The very fact that the poem of a man who rejected armed revolution was translated by the supreme leader of that revolution illustrates the complexity of how this nation understands its heroes.
• It has been translated into 46 Philippine languages (including Philippine Sign Language), and by 2005 more than 35 English translations alone had been published. Tagalog translations by Jose Corazon de Jesus, Pascual Poblete, and Guillermo Tolentino, among others, also exist alongside Bonifacio's.

6. Execution and the making of a national hero — three pitfalls

注 Pitfall 1: No law designates a "national hero"

• The NCCA states explicitly that "no Filipino historical figure has ever been officially declared a national hero by law, executive order, or proclamation."
• What actually exists is a series of individual commemorative measures. On December 20, 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimed December 30 a National Day of Mourning. In 1901, the American Taft Commission's Act 137 renamed the district of Morong as Rizal Province.
• In 1995, a technical panel of the National Heroes Committee recommended nine figures including Rizal and Bonifacio, but the executive branch never acted, leaving the matter in limbo.
• Historian Renato Constantino, in his 1969 lecture "Veneration Without Understanding," argued that installing the peaceful reformer Rizal — rather than Bonifacio, the leader of armed revolution — as the hero suited American colonial rule. This point remains as relevant as ever.

注 Pitfall 2: The "retraction" controversy

• In 1935, a document dated December 29, 1896, in which Rizal purportedly renounced Freemasonry and returned to Catholicism, was discovered in the archives of the Archdiocese of Manila. A controversy over its authenticity has continued ever since.
• In an Inquirer column dated December 31, 2025, "Rizal's retraction is authentic," historian Ambeth Ocampo stated that he himself had seen the original document at the archdiocesan archives and that "the document exists," while also criticizing both camps by saying it was pointless to have undergraduates debate its authenticity. His position is that the real question has shifted from authenticity to "what Rizal meant by it" — a question only Rizal himself could answer.
• 注 What is publicly displayed is a facsimile; opportunities to view the original are limited. This is an area where any categorical statement is sure to draw counterarguments.

注 Pitfall 3: a "work of Rizal's" that is not by Rizal

• The poem "Sa Aking Mga Kabata" ("To My Fellow Children") is very likely not the work of Rizal. Ocampo, Nilo Ocampo, and National Artist Virgilio Almario have disputed its attribution on the grounds that: (1) it uses a Tagalog orthographic "k" that did not exist in Rizal's time; (2) Rizal did not become familiar with the word "kalayaan" (freedom) until around age 20; and (3) unlike his other poems, no manuscript draft exists. It is thought to be the work of either Hermenegildo Cruz or Gabriel Beato Francisco.
• 注 This poem still circulates in school materials and on social media as "a poem written by Rizal at age 8." It also appears in Japanese-language articles. Always question its attribution before citing it.

7. The Rizal Law (Republic Act No. 1425)

The Catholic Church's opposition (a matter of historical record)

  The Church organized opposition to the bill, calling it "heretical" and "anti-Catholic"
  Manila Archbishop Rufino Santos proposed accepting an "expurgated" version →
    Recto refused, saying it was meaningless unless unabridged
  The Church argued it violated freedom of conscience and religion,
    and warned that if passed, it would even close Catholic schools
  The three senators who opposed it were Francisco Rodrigo, Mariano Cuenco,
    and Decoroso Rosales (younger brother of Archbishop Rosales)

In the end, it passed as a compromise that included an "exemption on grounds of conscience" clause. The key practical point is that the design is "mandatory, but with a path to apply for exemption." 注 Saying "every Filipino is forced to read Rizal's works in full" is an oversimplification.

2026's biggest flashpoint — CHED's General Education (GE) reform, and its retreat

A law that had barely moved in 70 years is now being shaken by an administrative process — and has been pushed back. This is the single biggest story to know in this field for 2026.

注 Secondary education reads it differently

Apart from the college-level Rizal course, the novels are also read in secondary-school Filipino-language subjects. Under the MATATAG curriculum, formulated in 2023, the Noli Me Tángere is explicitly placed in Grade 9 and the El Filibusterismo in Grade 10, both designated as "obra maestra" (masterpieces) (piloted from school year 2024–25). The rumor that "Rizal was cut from MATATAG" is false. What was reduced was the sequencing of other subjects.

8. Postwar English-language literature

The Solidaridad Bookshop's generational handover (2025)

• The Solidaridad Bookshop, opened by F. Sionil José in 1965 on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila, has been called "the best small bookshop in Asia." It was also a literary salon that jointly ran the magazine Solidarity.
• In June 2025, its sale was announced, citing the absence of a successor to take it over; it marked its 60th anniversary in July. On November 23 of the same year, its sale to Batangas Representative Leandro Leviste (son of Senator Loren Legarda) was formally announced. This was not a closure but a transfer on condition of continuity, with the family continuing to advise. Legarda was also a driving force behind the Frankfurt Guest of Honor project, giving rise to a picture in which a political family is buying up and supporting the country's literary infrastructure.

Contemporary and diaspora writers

• Miguel Syjuco: won the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize for Ilustrado (the still-unpublished manuscript had already won the Palanca Award Grand Prize).
• Gina Apostol: Insurrecto (2018), which treats the memory of the Philippine-American War through a multilayered narrative.
• Mia Alvar: the short-story collection In the Country (2015), about overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families.
• Elaine Castillo: America Is Not the Heart (2018) — its title is a response to Bulosan.

9. Filipino-language, regional-language, and popular literature

• Amado V. Hernández: poet and novelist who was also a labor movement leader. National Artist, 1973.
• Lualhati Bautista (1945–2023): her Dekada '70 is the definitive novel of the martial-law era. Other works include Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, 'GAPÔ, and Desaparesidos.
• Critic Bienvenido Lumbera argued that the work's achievement lies not so much in being "a martial-law novel" as in breaking the mold of the Pasyon-derived Madonna figure — long-suffering but intellectually shallow — that had dominated the image of mothers in Filipino literature.
• Regional-language literature: 注 "regional-language literature" does not mean "minor." The Palanca Awards established a regional-language category (initially Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Ilocano) at the 48th awards in 1998. In Western Visayas, notable figures include Magdalena Jalandoni, the line associated with National Artist Ramon Muzones, poet Merlie Alunan (Cebuano and English), and Hiligaynon writer Peter Solis Nery. In Bicol, Ateneo de Naga University Press and the bookshop Savage Mind support Bicolano-language publishing.
• The reality of popular literature:
• Precious Hearts Romances: a Tagalog romance paperback imprint launched in 1992, which has also been adapted into a TV drama slot.
• Jonaxx (Jonah Panen Pacala, born 1991, from Cagayan de Oro): the most-followed writer on Wattpad in the world. She has published more than 40 books, founded her own publishing imprint, Majesty Press, in 2017, and in 2022 her own app, "Jonaxx Stories," reached No. 2 in the free-books category of the domestic App Store (behind Wattpad). Her Montefalco series was featured in the 2025 Frankfurt Guest of Honor program — the moment popular romance was folded into the country's literary diplomacy. 注 Her follower count is reported anywhere from 5 million to over 10 million depending on the source, and a firm figure should be avoided.
• Bob Ong: an author whose true identity remains undisclosed. Writes essays/novels in colloquial Filipino.
• Komiks: Komiket, which grew from a fan-convention-style market into a publisher and international liaison, has more than 15 events planned for 2026 (including regional editions in Bacolod, Baguio, and elsewhere). A distinctive rule reserves 70% of exhibitor tables for original work, capping fan art at 30%. PICOF (Philippine International Comics Festival) 2026 will be held July 10–12 in Pasig City, and it has a mechanism for officially selecting 10 graphic-novel projects each year and nurturing them through to publication. In 2025, Adarna House and Anino Comics took part in the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France.

10. Awards and institutions

The Order of National Artist (Orden ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining)

注 The most recent conferral was in 2022 (8 awardees). A call for nominations toward a 2025 conferral (deadline June 30, 2024) was carried out, but as of August 2026 no new proclamation could be confirmed (unconfirmed). Some reports state that no conferral has yet occurred under the Marcos administration. In 2009, President Arroyo added names not on the nomination list, prompting Supreme Court review — a precedent showing this award is prone to becoming politically contentious.

The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature

• Known as "the Philippines' highest literary award." The 73rd edition was held on November 26, 2025, at the Manila Polo Club in Makati.
• A record 2,359 entries were submitted; 57 judges took part; 58 works by 54 winners were recognized, of whom 36 were first-time winners. There were 20 categories in all. The youngest winner was 15, the oldest 64.
• Because of a two-year pandemic hiatus, the awards are counted as "75 years since founding, but the 73rd edition." The 2025 guest of honor was poet and translator Ruth Elynia D. Mabanglo.
• Prize money is generally around ₱10,000 for essays, short stories, poetry, and similar categories, somewhat higher for plays and screenplays. The amounts are not large — this award rests on prestige, not money.

The National Book Awards

• Administered by the Manila Critics Circle from 1982 → jointly run with the NBDB from 2008 → currently held under the name of the Filipino Critics Circle.
• The 43rd edition (March 14, 2026, at SM Megatrade Hall, the venue of the Philippine Book Festival): 385 entries were submitted, 139 reached the finalist stage, and 30 works won across 30 categories, including works in Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a in addition to Filipino and English.
• Notable winners: the English-language novel Isabela (Kaisa Aquino); the Filipino-language novel Antimarcos (Khavn); the English short-story collection Sojourner, Settler, Seer (Charlson Ong); in the translation category, a Philippine-market translation of Galdós's Doña Perfecta (translated by Wystan dela Peña); and in the history category, James F. Warren's Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines.
• Ateneo de Manila University Press was named "Publisher of the Year" for the eighth consecutive year (22 finalist titles, 7 wins). A structure in which a university press dominates the literary awards is something very different from Japan.

11. Developments in 2025–2026

Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 — Guest of Honor: the Philippines

The framing repeatedly invoked was: "holding up a line from the Noli, written in Germany in 1887, 138 years later as the Guest of Honor — in Germany."

The concrete substance of the results is the "translation subsidy." In early 2024, the NBDB launched a Translation Subsidy Program aimed at foreign publishers, and in its first two cycles, translation rights for 66 titles into 24 languages were sold. Priority languages include German, Spanish, French, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese. Domestically, there is also a translation subsidy of up to ₱150,000 per title, prioritizing Ilocano, Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon, Maranao, Tausug, and Kinaray-a. In 2025, 20 projects, including one by National Artist Ricky Lee, were selected. The NBDB says it will invest ₱60 million over the next five years in translation and rights support. 注 At the same time, local critics say the Guest of Honor role is "only an entry point" and that "it has not translated into benefits for domestic readers." Flashy figures do not equal an improved domestic literary environment.

The Philippine Book Festival (PBF)

• The venue was arranged as a rainforest across four zones: Aral Aklat (textbooks/teaching materials), Booktopia (general books), Kid Lit (children's), and Komiks.
• The Lifetime Achievement Award went to National Artist Virgilio Almario. National Artists Kidlat Tahimik and Gémino Abad, among others, also attended.
• PhilPost (the postal corporation) partnered with the NBDB and pledged to issue a commemorative stamp. The opening was led by NBDB Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade and Education Secretary Edgardo Angara. Claudia Kaiser, a vice president from Frankfurt, also attended.
• For reference: cumulative PBF attendance stands at more than 120,000 visits and roughly ₱80 million in retail sales (NBDB).

注 The headwind of declining readership

The 2023 National Reading Survey (commissioned by the NBDB, conducted by SWS, November 14–20, 2023, with 2,400 adults and 2,400 children):

The NBDB's own reading is that this reflects "not that people don't want to read, but that books and libraries are out of reach" — not a lack of desire to read. 注 The NBDB itself treats the 2017 survey (adult figure: 80%) as an outlier with different methodology. Do not mix this 2017 figure in when citing the numbers above.

Recent Rizal-related events

• December 30, 2025: the 129th Rizal Day. President Marcos laid a wreath at the Rizal Monument in Luneta. This year's theme was "RIZAL: Sa Pagbangon ng mga Mamamayan, Aral at Diwa Mo ang Tunay na Gabay." Against a backdrop of public pressure over anti-corruption efforts, the President said, "choose the nation over private gain," and in Cebu the day became a gathering that questioned corruption and moral decline. Rizal is invariably drawn into "the politics of the moment."
• June 19, 2026: the 165th anniversary of his birth. A lecture titled "Nasaan ang Rizz ni Rizal?" ("Where Has Rizal's 'Rizz' Gone?") was given at the Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago, addressing the crisis of being forgotten and marginalized. A reading of My Last Farewell by his descendants was held, hosted by former Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz-Araneta, herself a descendant of Rizal. Luneta held a day-long program of experiential activities, and there was also a commemorative event in Calamba, Laguna.

12. Reading Rizal in Japanese and English

注 Both Japanese translations of Rizal's two novels were published in 1976, and new copies are hard to find. Libraries, secondhand copies, or English translations are the realistic options. Choosing an English translation: the Soledad Lacson-Locsin translation (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996) is the first English translation based on a facsimile of the manuscript, restoring the previously deleted "Elias and Salome" chapter as Chapter 25 — a text-faithful edition. The Harold Augenbraum translation (Penguin Classics, 2006) is the first Filipino work in Penguin Classics, prioritizing readability. The León María Guerrero translation has also long been widely read. Ocampo has answered that his recommendation is "Almario's translation for Filipino, and Locsin / Penguin / Guerrero for English." Free Japanese-language reading: the Japan Foundation's Asian Literature Project "YOMU" / Philippines (published 2022). Short stories by five young writers from Mindanao, the Visayas, and the diaspora can be read in Japanese. The original languages vary — English, Filipino, Cebuano, and a mix of Filipino and Maranao. An introduction to Rizal: Ambeth Ocampo's Rizal Without the Overcoat (a 35th-anniversary edition was published in 2025). The "overcoat" in the title is a metaphor for the myth and excessive veneration draped over Rizal; the book restores the icon to a human being. It originated from his long-running Inquirer column, "Looking Back."

13. Summary — 10 points to remember

  1  Philippine literature is not a single-language literature. Oral tradition, Spanish, Tagalog, and English form its layers
  2  Rizal wrote in Spanish. Every Filipino today reads him in translation
  3  The Noli was published in Berlin in 1887, the El Fili in Ghent in 1891 — both abroad
  4  Two banned books became mandatory nationwide reading under RA 1425 in 1956
  5  注 No law designates Rizal as the national hero
  6  注 The retraction controversy remains unresolved. "Sa Aking Mga Kabata" is very likely not Rizal's work
  7  In May 2026, CHED's plan to merge the Rizal course with Philippine history met opposition and was postponed to 2028
  8  In secondary school, the Noli is read in Grade 9 and the El Fili in Grade 10 (MATATAG)
  9  The Darangen is literature and customary law at once. The Hinilawod recordings were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World (regional) in 2024
  10 Even as the Philippines served as Frankfurt's Guest of Honor in 2025 and the PBF expanded in 2026, adult readership has fallen to 42%

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