PHL officials in US preparing for Jose Rizal's 150th birthday

Published May 4, 2011 4:22pm

Philippine officials in the United States have started preparing for the 150th birth anniversary of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal. In Chicago, Consul General Leo Herrera Lim visited the Newberry Library on April 26 to oversee the preparations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. "The Newberry Library located at 60 West Walton Street in Chicago has the largest collections of Filipiniana in the world outside of the Philippines, a part of the Edward E. Ayer Collection of the Newberry Library of Chicago," the DFA said in a news release posted on its website. Rizal, a doctor and writer, was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna. He was executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896 after he was accused of rebellion, sedition, and forming an illegal association. The DFA said some of Rizal's are housed in the Newberry Library, such as:

a copy of "Noli Me Tangere" published in Berlin in 1887;

the first edition of "El Filibusterismo" published in Ghent in 1891;

broadside and 1887 edition of Morga of "Mi Ultimo Pensamiento";

manuscripts of Rizal's "Agenda de Bufete" or "Libro de Memoria" for 1884;

the "Clinica Medica" which includes notes dating from 1881 to 1887, and

several letters of Rizal to his friends. The DFA said the honor rites for Rizal at the Newberry Library on June 18 this year are part of the activities being undertaken by the Consulate General for Rizal's 150th birthday. Rizal will be honored at the Newberry Library with a Filipinana exhibition as well as lecture series by Dr. Ramon Lopez, great grandnephew of Rizal; and Megan Thomas, Associate Professor of Politics at the University of California and former Resident Fellow at the Library. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: unitedstates, joserizal