FOR many years, the American colonial masters spread the idea that our national hero José Rizal totally rejected the idea of revolution. This would eventually be used against him by those who believed he shouldn’t be our national hero because he totally rejected the revolution, which is of the people. For many years this idea held water and influenced many students to campaign to replace Rizal as the national hero with someone who was more revolutionary. Floro Quibuyen’s book, A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippine Nationalism, brought a sigh of relief because it showed that Rizal did not totally reject the idea of revolution and, in the end, praised and accepted it. For me, Rizal was ambivalent about violent revolution at best but never totally rejected it, in fact accepted it if we were ready, which he actually implied during his trial.