“Never forget Rizal…”

This was the pronouncement of Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao, as the Bayambang local government joined the nation in honoring our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, dubbed “Bayaning Global, Aydol ni Juan” in this year’s December 30 celebration held at the Rizal Monument, Bayambang Municipal Plaza.

Quiambao, the early bird to arrive at the program’s venue, the town’s mini-Rizal Park, said that celebrations like Rizal Day are very important nowadays, especially among the youth, some of whom have already forgotten our national hero. “This is one of our ways to instill in the new generation the heroism and sacrifice of Dr. Jose P. Rizal. For the love of his country, Rizal gave us our Filipino identity,” Quiambao remarked.

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The local chief executive also took pride in this national celebration by noting that one of Rizal’s girlfriends, Leonor Rivera, hailed from Camiling, which was at that time part of the town. “Bayambang became a part of Rizal’s history because of Ms. Leonor Rivera,” Quiambao said.

The town’s culture and arts council, tourism people, as well as the local police force went all out in making this year’s Rizal Day commemoration unforgettable.

The program started with a volley fire and wreath-laying ceremony facilitated by the town’s policemen headed by PSupt. Cirilo B. Acosta Jr.

Men and women on the street took time to pause as the national anthem was being sung by Leah Menor Bumatay, a music teacher at Pangasinan State University (PSU) Bayambang.

Prof. Januario Cuchapin, the Executive Director of Bayambang Municipal Council on Culture and the Arts (BMCCA) and a PSU Bayambang retired teacher, took the stage to give a personal profile of Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal, with a focus on his heroism during his time as the Spaniards’ number one critic.

Meanwhile, BMCCA’s chair of the Committee on Cultural Education, Rosabella A. Mendez, lauded Quiambao for his initiative to celebrate Rizal Day in a well-organized way. In her speech, the PSU Bayambang Social Studies professor expressed her concern over the diminishing popularity of Dr. Jose Rizal among our youth because of the distraction of social media, and encouraged them to embark more on proper research of our history, i.e., one based on facts and not on mere hearsay.

Other highlights of the celebration included BMMCA member Rafael Saygo’s giving life to Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” by way of a powerful reading. The master teacher at Tococ National High School gave a delivery – in three alternating languages – that sent shivers down everybody’s spine. BMCCA’s Music Committee gave a special number featuring a very old song, the “Canto de Maria Clara” (“Ang Awit ni Maria Clara”), sung in very elegant way by Prof. Melanie R. Junio, another music teacher from PSU Bayambang.  The event was also assured of a lively master of ceremonies in the person of Julie D. Junio, a master teacher at Bayambang National High School who is himself a BMCCA member. (Bayambang PIO/Media Affairs Office)