José Rizal Statue: A Stirring Symbol for Filipinos

Volume 1, Issue No. 4

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and Currents & Breaking News (CurrentsBreakingNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

Our latest as of Thursday, July 25, 2019 

~  A first in the history of Canada and of the Filipino-Canadian community is the life-size monument of Philippine national hero José Rizal. It's the fulfillment of a dream for its sculptor, the self-taught artist, and journalist Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado. With the help of co-Rizalist Alex Chiu, now retired as councillor of Markham; Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Marlene Mogado, Alicia Chiu, and the Filipino community of Markham, the masterpiece in bronze is installed at the city's Luneta Park grounds.

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BY FILIPINO ARTIST IGNACIO 'MOGI' MOGADO

José Rizal Statue: A Stirring Symbol for Filipinos in Canada

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"The monument of a great man is not of granite or marble or bronze. It consists of his goodness, his deeds, his love and his compassion". - Alfred Armand Montapert

TORONTO - For the artist who sculpted a life-size statue of a smiling Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, the undertaking was the biggest challenge of his life - a dream fulfilled for him personally and for the community in the City of Markham where he lives.

Journalist Ignacio "Mogi" Mogado is unschooled in the arts but his creativity goes beyond the confines of a university or an art school. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak87ArSXQPk). He sculpts, paints, and writes.

In fact, he is proficient enough to build a masterpiece from a combination of a boyhood dream, an inspiration that persisted until it came to fruition, and a strong desire to honour Jose Rizal, the catalyst of the Philippine Revolution of 1896 against Spain. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvgIudvTEGA).

Sleepless nights and endless worrying since 2014 slowly took shape, and in 2016, the then-Markham Councillor Alex Chiu suggested he would take care of the funding and city approval so Mogi could devote his time creating the statue and marketing it.

On that same year, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti surprised everyone with his announcement that the city would have a full size - not just a bust - statue of Jose Rizal as its contribution to the 150th-anniversary celebration of Canada in 2017. What that meant for Mogi was to go back to the drawing board.

Mayor Scarpitti was apparently so moved by the Filipinos' reverence for Jose Rizal during a visit to the Philippines with a trade mission in 2015. He noticed that apart from the grand monument at the Luneta, every community has its Rizal monument. Other countries, notably Spain, also have Rizal statues. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYjRO3Z5Xe8).

According to Mogi, he and Alex Chiu are, in his words, "both avid Rizalist since boyhood and had the same yearning to honor him in a grand way". And so it wasn't totally unusual that the two would team up and accomplish their dream with the help of no less than Mayor Scarpitti and the local Filipino-Canadian community.

The magnificent fruit of those cooperations was the smiling bronze statue of Jose Rizal, which was formally unveiled on Sunday, June 9, 2019, at the Luneta Garden in Markham. (Video at: https://vimeo.com/341384483).

Prior to that, the city had a Rizal Ave. named after the hero, and a Catholic school in honor of San Lorenzo Ruiz, which is credited to then-School Board Trustee Marlene Mogado. The effort, said Mogi, "was to honour our heritage, share it with fellow Canadians and put our legends on the map".

Mogi did an exemplary job sculpting the statue, in fact, succeeding where the Rizal bust fails in embodying the ideals and aspirations of a people that his Rizal represents in carrying the still-relevant novel Noli Me Tangere, a classic depiction of Spanish abuses of the time.

The monument in Manila, which is also a mausoleum (the remains of Rizal are entombed there), stands out for its grandeur. The exact same thing is replicated in Madrid, Spain. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYjRO3Z5Xe8). 

Mogi's statue, the first and only life-size rendition in Canada, captures the simplicity and magnificence of the main monument even without the obelisk. He even makes Rizal smile as a symbol of hope.

There's no doubt Markham's Filipino community will accord the same reverence as their Toronto counterparts. Now that it's there, the high point of Filipino celebrations should be where people could envision Filipinos as living creatures and not as an ancient representation of parts of a body.

Mogi's monument comes alive not just for its height, actually taller by one foot, but because it is so expressive of the new generation of Filipinos past the era of the boomers. I believe that is what Mogado is trying to say.

Not to be forgotten in creating this landmark is the couple Alex Chiu (retired Markham councillor) and Alicia Chiu. A press release said Mr. Chiu "fathered and fundraised for the project" while Mrs. Chiu "conceived the Luneta Gardens plan and chaired the Rizal project".

Of course, without the full support of the City of Markham, Mayor Frank Scarpitti, and the Markham Filipino Canadian Community, Mogi's Rizal would not have come to be a reality. 

Rizal's monument is as much a monument to all the people who helped build it as it is to Mogi Mogado, the sculptor, artist, and journalist. 

But if truth be told, the structure is intrinsically a monument to all Filipinos in Canada! (Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.)