Jose Rizal was the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. His trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution. Rizal is considered the Philippines' national hero.
Jose Rizal was the seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna. Rizal studied Medicine in the Philippines, in Madrid and in Paris. Rizal was conversant in at least ten languages. He was a prolific poet, diarist, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El filibusterismo. These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries from the Spanish colonial authorities.
As leader of the reform movement of Filipino students in Spain, he contributed articles to the Spanish newspaper La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Rizal returned to Manila in 1892 and founded La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan.
At that time, he had already been declared an enemy of the state by the Spanish authorities because of the publication of his novels. Rizal was subsequently deported to Dapitan in the province of Zamboanga.
He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. By 1896, the Katipunan had moved towards a full blown revolution. To dissociate himself, Rizal volunteered to serve in Cuba to minister to victims of yellow fever. Before he left Dapitan, he issued a manifesto disavowing the revolution and declaring that the education of Filipinos and their achievement of a national identity were prerequisites to freedom. However, Rizal was arrested en route, imprisoned in Barcelona, and sent back to Manila to stand trial. He was implicated in the revolution through his association with members of the Katipunan and was to be tried before a court-martial for rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. During the entire passage, he was unchained and had many opportunities to escape but refused to do so. Rizal was convicted on all three charges and sentenced to death. His martyred death is generally attributed as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.
50th Anniversary of Jose Rizal Martyrdom in 1896 #503, 30 Dec 1946
overprint on Commonwealth issue
Definitive #527, 19 Jun 1948; and Official #O53, 30 Dec 1948
Definitive #527a, 19 Jun 1948
booklet pane
Surcharge #550 and O56, 20 Dec 1950
Definitive and Official #813 and O62, 30 Dec 1959
Birth Centenary #836 to 840, 19 Jun 1961 (30 Dec for #840)
#840 issued to coincide with 65th Anniversary of Rizal's Martyrdom
Semi-postals, surtax for Rizal Foundation #B21 and B22, 30 Dec 1962
Overprint for Inauguration of President Marcos and Vice-President Lopez #942 and 943, 30 Dec 1965
Definitive and Official #857 and O64, 19 Jun 1962; and Surcharge #874, 19 Feb 1963
First use of G.O. overprint for "Gawaing Opisayal" for Official Business
Definitive and Official #857A and O65, 19 Jun 1964
Overprint for Antismuggling Drive #946, 1 May 1966; and Surcharge #1209, 19 Jun 1973
Surcharges #969, 7 Aug 1967; and #1054, 13 Apr 1970
World Heath Day #1291, 7 Apr 1976
Definitive #1313, 16 Feb 1977
400 Years of the Jesuits in the Philippines #1534 and #1537b, 31 Jul 1981
#1537b part of a Souvenir Sheet
Surcharge #1737b, Jan 1985
part of a Souvenir Sheet
Philippine Revolutionary Movement Centenary #1780 and 1781, 21 Feb 1986; #1782, 10 Jul 1986;
Surcharges #1834, 6 Jan 1987; and #1913, 14 Feb 1988
Centenary of Rizal's "Filipinas Dentro De Cien Anos" #2041, 17 Dec 1990
Filipinas detro de cien anos ("The Philippines a century hence") is a socio-political essay written in four parts by Jose Rizal. It is one of the most significant political works of the Filipino Reform movement in Spain where Rizal traces the circumstances that brought about the awakening of the Filipino and consequently the birth of the Filipino spirit of a nation.
Centenary of Rizal's Exile to Dapitan #2162, 17 Jun 1992
Centenary of Philippine League #2169, 31 Jul 1992
National Symbols #2217b, 28 Oct 1993; and #2215b, 2 Nov 1995
part of se-tenant blocks of 14
National Symbols #2219b, 8 Jan 1996; and #2220b, 19 Feb 1996
part of se-tenant blocks of 14
Overprint for Independance Centenary #2545b, 12 Jun 1998
part of se-tenant blocks of 14
Revolutionary Heroes #2390a, 27 Dec 1995
part of se-tenant strip of 3
ASEANPEX 96, International Philatelic Exhibition Manila #2448, 14 Dec 1996
se-tenant block of 4
ASEANPEX 96, International Philatelic Exhibition Manila #2452 to 2455, 14 Dec 1996
Centenary of Jose Rizal's Martyrdom #2458, 30 Dec 1996
Philippine Centenary #2550Ad, Jul 1998
part of a souvenir booklet
Surcharge #2881a, 11 Nov 2003
sold removed from the souvenir booklet
Heroes of the Revolution
#2547, 18 May 1998; #2583, 15 Dec 1998; #2590, 15 Dec 1998; and #2607, 12 Mar 1999
#2583 and #2590 are part of booklet panes
General Paciano Rizal, 150th Birth Anniversary #2717, 7 Mar 2001
Chinese Roots of Rizal #2842, 19 Jun 2003
Goethe Institute in the Philippines, 50th Anniversary 3378a, 19 Jun 2011
150th Birth Anniversary #3379 and 3380, 19 Jun 2011
two se-tenant pairs
150th Birth Anniversary #3381, 19 Jun 2011
Souvenir sheet of 10
Central Luzon State University #3523b, 4 Apr 2014
part of a se-tenant pair
The Rizal in Barong Monument. Perhaps the world’s first monument of Jose Rizal wearing the barong tagalong
Order of the Knights of Rizal Centennial #3674, 19 Jun 2016
The Order of the Knights of Rizal is the sole order of knighthood in the Philippines created to honor and uphold the ideals of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal. Its ranks and insignia and recognized in the Honors Code of the Philippines as official awards of the Republic and is the Eight Class Rank in the order of precedence of civilian decorations of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the Philippines
Province of Camarines Norte - 100 Years Founding Anniversary #xxx, 14 Sept 2020
125th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Jose Rizal xxx, 30 Dec 2021
Independence Day - Gomburza Martyrdom, 150th Anniversary #xxxh, 12 June 2022
from a souvenir sheet of 8
Rizal holds a copy of El Filbusterismo which he dedicated to the memory of the martyred Gomburza
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