There were many times in the past when the only option left for a people to take in defense of their lives and in the preservation of the principles they lived for was to respond to a call to arms. The Bastille and Pugad Lawin experiences demonstrate the limits of people’s patience and tolerance.
Despite the ugly connotation and the shivers the thought of revolution sends through the spine because of the heavy toll it usually exacts, history has judged over and over again that the eventual outcome of an armed revolution outweighs the pain and sacrifice and that the price paid for the action well worth it.
Today the Order of the Knights of Rizal, not unlike a severely challenged people, is faced with a decision it has to make. The sad events in recent years have caused so much destruction they have shaken the very foundation of the brotherhood’s existence. Being the prime body mandated by law and tradition to promote and preserve Rizal’s legacy, Rizalism itself has been compromised and its influence to society diminished. When such illustrious personalities and major fixtures in the cause as the grandson of Rizal’s best friend Ferdinand Blumentritt and the grandsons of Pastor Hack-Ulmer of Germany would give up their membership out of extreme disappointment and sheer consternation, the organization is in deep trouble. When in a span of three years three new Rizalist organizations were compelled to break ranks from the Order, it is in very deep trouble. So deep it has almost lost its relevance.
Five years of unending discord due to failed leadership is long enough. Discord that has trickled down through the ranks by design and not by default. Discord that has led brother to fight against brother, discord that caused loss of trust and respect from the communities the chapters serve, discord that seems to escalate and get worse by the day.
After all reasonable attempts to restore honor and dignity to the once noble fraternity proved futile, after all options have been exhausted to stop the internal bleeding of the body, after all the recommended remedial steps to put the collapsing house back together again have arrogantly and irresponsibly been ignored, there is only but one option left. No, not a revolution but action that is revolutionary. Not reformation but a complete transformation. Transformation that is necessary, transformation that will eliminate the causes of the problems it is confronted with and transformation that will prevent those problems from happening again.
After almost one hundred years of existence the Knights of Rizal remained oblivious to a constantly changing world. It did not adapt to the reality of the times. It failed to recognize that it has grown global and needed to adjust and morph into a truly international organization. Instead it remains a Philippine corporation operating like an imperial power ruling tyrannically over colonies in various places which, ironically, Rizal crusaded against at the cost of his life. The inadequacy and obsolescence of the Order of the Knights of Rizal is unmistakable and clearly manifested in its ongoing saga. It is antiquated, sterile and out of touch with reality.
The time to fight is over. The time to argue and quibble is finished. The time to even hope there would be forthcoming any meaningful change for the better is gone. We call upon the active members of the brotherhood to stand up and be counted to the side of principled participatory governance and equal representation, we call upon those who have already left to come back and join hands with us in the regeneration process of the original “Orden de Caballeros de Rizal”. We call upon each one to help us build upon a new beginning of an internationally federalized society of true Rizalists. We call upon all of you to rally behind the International Federation of Knights of Rizal.
This call is not a call to arms but a call to glory. Glory to the memory of a great hero of humanity, glory to the legacy of his testimony and glory to the advocacy of truth, justice and freedom !
* * * * *
By the concerned Knights of Rizal and lovers of freedom and democracy in Canada, Europe, the Philippines and other places
Despite the ugly connotation and the shivers the thought of revolution sends through the spine because of the heavy toll it usually exacts, history has judged over and over again that the eventual outcome of an armed revolution outweighs the pain and sacrifice and that the price paid for the action well worth it.
Today the Order of the Knights of Rizal, not unlike a severely challenged people, is faced with a decision it has to make. The sad events in recent years have caused so much destruction they have shaken the very foundation of the brotherhood’s existence. Being the prime body mandated by law and tradition to promote and preserve Rizal’s legacy, Rizalism itself has been compromised and its influence to society diminished. When such illustrious personalities and major fixtures in the cause as the grandson of Rizal’s best friend Ferdinand Blumentritt and the grandsons of Pastor Hack-Ulmer of Germany would give up their membership out of extreme disappointment and sheer consternation, the organization is in deep trouble. When in a span of three years three new Rizalist organizations were compelled to break ranks from the Order, it is in very deep trouble. So deep it has almost lost its relevance.
Five years of unending discord due to failed leadership is long enough. Discord that has trickled down through the ranks by design and not by default. Discord that has led brother to fight against brother, discord that caused loss of trust and respect from the communities the chapters serve, discord that seems to escalate and get worse by the day.
After all reasonable attempts to restore honor and dignity to the once noble fraternity proved futile, after all options have been exhausted to stop the internal bleeding of the body, after all the recommended remedial steps to put the collapsing house back together again have arrogantly and irresponsibly been ignored, there is only but one option left. No, not a revolution but action that is revolutionary. Not reformation but a complete transformation. Transformation that is necessary, transformation that will eliminate the causes of the problems it is confronted with and transformation that will prevent those problems from happening again.
After almost one hundred years of existence the Knights of Rizal remained oblivious to a constantly changing world. It did not adapt to the reality of the times. It failed to recognize that it has grown global and needed to adjust and morph into a truly international organization. Instead it remains a Philippine corporation operating like an imperial power ruling tyrannically over colonies in various places which, ironically, Rizal crusaded against at the cost of his life. The inadequacy and obsolescence of the Order of the Knights of Rizal is unmistakable and clearly manifested in its ongoing saga. It is antiquated, sterile and out of touch with reality.
The time to fight is over. The time to argue and quibble is finished. The time to even hope there would be forthcoming any meaningful change for the better is gone. We call upon the active members of the brotherhood to stand up and be counted to the side of principled participatory governance and equal representation, we call upon those who have already left to come back and join hands with us in the regeneration process of the original “Orden de Caballeros de Rizal”. We call upon each one to help us build upon a new beginning of an internationally federalized society of true Rizalists. We call upon all of you to rally behind the International Federation of Knights of Rizal.
This call is not a call to arms but a call to glory. Glory to the memory of a great hero of humanity, glory to the legacy of his testimony and glory to the advocacy of truth, justice and freedom !
* * * * *
By the concerned Knights of Rizal and lovers of freedom and democracy in Canada, Europe, the Philippines and other places
Source: http://www.rizalcanada.org/acalltoglory.html
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