Jose Rizal had young male students that he affectionately called chicos or boys from his Dapitan community school that he established while in exile. Searching for Rizal’s male students was like trying to trace his children, if he had any. Each of Rizal’s students had his own story of how his beloved Maestro Rizal enriched continue reading : LOS CHICOS DE RIZAL: Jose Rizal’s Students and Dapitan Community School

by Albert Vincent F. Barretto Water binds people together and helps establish communities where culture flourishes and life is nourished. It is precisely for this reason that the town of Dapitan was established beside a calm bay at the northernmost tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula.  During the last decade of the 19th century, Dapitan witnessed continue reading : FLOWING WATERS OF DAPITAN: LINAO AND TALISAY WATERWORKS

Eufemio Agbayani III Historic Sites Development Officer II National Historical Commission of the Philippines   “Turn your eyes to the farmer burnt by the sun tilling the stubborn earth and burying a seed. He too contributes through his modest but useful work to the glory of the nation.” – Jose Rizal, El Amor Patrio, June continue reading : Rizal as a Farmer: The Dapitan Experience

By: Albert Vincent F. Barretto Former President Manuel Luis Molina Quezon will forever remain in the hearts of the Dapitanons not only for his efforts to achieve Philippine independence from foreigners, but also for preserving the memory of the place of exile of Jose Rizal in Dapitan. In the late 1920s, then-Senate President Quezon visited continue reading : RIZAL NATIONAL PARK: MANUEL QUEZON’S HOMAGE TO RIZAL’S PLACE OF EXILE

By: Albert Vincent F. Barretto “Bahay-kubo, kahit munti ang halaman doon ay sari-sari” is a line from the popular folk song, Bahay Kubo, that would aptly describe the life of Jose Rizal in Dapitan. The average Filipino knows that Rizal was a physician, writer and hero, but not many know that plants were part of continue reading : FLORA DE RIZAL: RIZAL’S PLANTS IN DAPITAN