Legarda to Youth: Be Like Rizal, Embrace Our Heritage

Senator Loren Legarda has called on the youth to be like Dr. Jose Rizal, who was always enthusiastic to learn and showed his love for Filipino heritage, as the nation commemorates the national hero’s birth anniversary on June 19.

“Jose Rizal never got tired of acquiring knowledge. In fact, he was consumed by it. Rizal saw the bigger picture. He knew that in order to become a socially progressive country, the nation must be empowered through quality education,” Legarda stated.

The Senator also said that Rizal had expressed the need for Filipinos to embrace their heritage. While fluent in several foreign languages, Rizal loved his native tongue even saying that, “He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish.”

“Like Dr. Rizal, we should also take pride in our heritage. We will be more confident of ourselves if we know who we are and if we understand our roots. We must all strive to know about our heritage, appreciate it and preserve it as well,” said Legarda.

The Senator also urged the youth to read, discuss and research on the human-driven climate change issues and find ways on how they can have a lesser carbon footprint. “If Rizal were part of this generation, he would probably use his social media channels to push and tackle pressing issues, such as the protection of the environment for future generations.”

The Chair of the Senate Committees on Climate Change and Cultural Communities conducted yesterday a committee hearing at the Ifugao Provincial Capitol in Lagawe to determine the impacts of climate change affecting the local communities in the Cordillera region and to discuss issues on environmental sustainability and heritage conservation, including threats to the Ifugao Rice Terraces.

She was also the Guest Speaker for the 49th Ifugao Foundation Day celebration where she stressed on the importance of nurturing our cultural heritage, and led the launch of the coffee table book on indigenous forest conservation systems in the Cordillera region titled, Guardians of the Forest, Stewards of the Land. The book is a project between the Office of Senator Legarda and the state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the Cordillera Region.

“This coffee table book made by SUCs in the Cordillera region is an impressive work that gives tribute to the forefathers of the Cordillerans who were true models of sustainability. The people of Cordillera are determined to preserve their cultural heritage and celebrate their ancestry and they showed it through this book. I salute these people who share Jose Rizal’s passion for knowledge as well as social and environmental reform,” Legarda concluded.

The Senator has filed a bill seeking to declare June 19 of every year as a special nonworking holiday in the Province of Laguna in honor of the birth anniversary of Rizal, one of its foremost sons who became one of the founding heroes of this nation.