PH Consulate General in Shanghai Reflects on Dr. José P. Rizal’s Life as Filipino Nation Honors 127th Year of Martyrdom
SHANGHAI 30 December 2023 – The Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai joined Philippine government offices, civic organizations and Filipinos across the motherland and the diaspora in honoring the life, sacrifice, and legacy of Dr. José P. Rizal on the 127th anniversary of his martyrdom on 39 December 2023.
Philippine Consul General in Shanghai Josel F. Ignacio led the wreath-laying rites before the national hero’s bust at the Chancery. Each individual member of the Consulate General offered a flower and paid respects to Dr. Rizal, before the Consul General laid a lily bouquet.
New Vice Consul Richard L. Recella, a resident of Antipolo City and the province that proudly carries the hero’s name, recited the Tagalog translation of Dr. Rizal’s 1879 clarion call to Filipino youth, A la juventud Filipina (“Sa Kabataang Pilipino”, “To the Filipino Youth”), closing with a profound reflection on the piece.
Closing the ceremony, the Consul General shared thoughts on the abiding significance of Dr. Rizal’s supreme sacrifice from the lens of the heroism he displayed in life. He offered an apt thinkpiece by way of President Ramon Magsaysay’s piercing 19 June 1956 address, which propounded that “the question that we ask about Rizal is not so much ‘how did he die?’ as ‘how did he live?’ END
Individual personnel of the Consulate General offered flowers before the bust of the National Hero. Also in photo: (1) CG Ignacio delivers his keynote address; (2) VC Recella shares his reflection on A La Juventud Filipina. (Shanghai PCG photo)
For more information, visit http://shanghaipcg.dfa.gov.ph/.