The Rizal Monument in Calamba is a monument built to commemorate the sesquicentennial (150th) birth anniversary of Dr.

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

' unofficial national hero and the greatest son of Calamba. It is a statue sculpted by Jonas Roces and is located at The Plaza, a park in front of the Calamba City Hall Complex along Bacnotan Road in the barangay of Real. President

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...

led the unveiling of the monument on June 19, 2011. The monument was cited as the tallest Rizal monument in the world before former Laguna Governor Jeorge 'E.R.' Ejercito Estregan inaugurated a 26 feet bronze Rizal Monument sculpted by Jonas Roces in Santa Cruz, Laguna, for the 2014 Palarong Pambansa hosted by the province.

History

The City Government of Calamba, through the leadership of then Mayor Joaquin Chipeco started the idea of building the tallest Rizal monument as a gift of the people of Calamba as a tribute to its greatest son. He realized that it is proper and fitting to have the tallest monument in honor of Rizal in his hometown. Together with the local government unit of Calamba, the

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established in 1977 through the Presidential Decree No. 1869. PAGCOR is the Philippines' largest contributor of revenue to the government a ...

(PAGCOR) initially funded the construction of the Rizal Monument. A young sculptor Jonas F. Roces from

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4 ...

was commissioned to build the Rizal monument in December 2010. The original plan was to build a 16.4 feet monument. However, then Mayor Chipeco learned that the monument being sculpted is behind the current tallest Rizal monument in Nueva Vizcaya built by a

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian national. Three months before the official unveiling, the ''Rizal@150 ''Executive Committee increased the height of the monument to 22 feet. It was officially unveiled by President

on June 19, 2011, on the sesquicentennial birth anniversary of Rizal. It consists of two markers from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and from the City Government of Calamba.

Symbolisms

The statue depicts Rizal holding a book in his right hand and is made of bronze. It stands which symbolizes the 22 languages and dialects Rizal mastered during his time such as

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Japanese, Chinese and others. It is placed on top of a podium consisting of a 15-step stairway which symbolizes one decade since Rizal was born in 1861. It also has a granite pedestal of and a circular stairway base. The monument's total height is (equivalent to a four-storey building) and its weight is 2 tons.

Management

The Rizal Monument and Plaza is managed by the local government unit of Calamba.

References

External links

* {{Calabarzon attractions Shrine, Calamba Buildings and structures in Calamba, Laguna Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Tourist attractions in Laguna (province) Monuments and memorials in the Philippines

History

Symbolisms

Management

See also

References

External links