Rizal's relevance even to a world away

DR. Jose P. Rizal is as relevant today as nearly a century and a half ago and not only to Filipinos but other peoples as well.

I realized this when as the ambassador to Pakistan I received instructions from the Home Office to observe with appropriate ceremonies and activities Rizal Day, the day on Dec. 30, 1896, that Dr. Jose P. Rizal was executed by firing squad and reborn the national hero of the Philippines and a martyr to the cause of freedom of humanity. The instructions were a surprise. Our foreign service establishments had not been observing Rizal Day because they were virtually empty during the Christmas holidays, most of the officers and staff flying to the Philippines on home leave. Now it would be possible to observe Rizal Day because the Home Office stopped the practice of the foreign service going on Christmas leave en masse. Only a restricted number could go home for Christmas, the members should take turns. The new order must have been based on the realization that many Filipino workers overseas for various reasons don't go home for Christmas ("can't" is often the case owing to irregular visa status or not having saved enough money for pasalubong, etc.).