José Rizal

Born in Calamba on June 19, 1861, José Rizal became one of the best-known voices of Filipino reform under Spanish rule. He trained as a physician, especially in ophthalmology, but he was also a gifted writer, essayist, and thinker whose work reached far beyond medicine.

Rizal is most closely associated with the novels Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo, books that exposed injustice, corruption, and abuse in colonial society. Rather than calling for violent revolt, he argued for education, civic rights, and peaceful reform, which made his writing especially powerful and controversial.

He was arrested by Spanish authorities and executed in Manila on December 30, 1896. After his death, Rizal became a lasting symbol of Filipino nationalism and is widely honored as a national hero of the Philippines.