Jose Rizal was a Filipino nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. An ophthalmologist by profession, Rizal became a writer and a key member of the Filipino Propaganda Movement which advocated political reforms for the colony under Spain. He is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been recommended to be so honored by an officially em-paneled National Heroes Committee. He wrote two well-known novels - Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He described in these two novels the injustice and cruelty of the Spaniards to the Filipinos. He also emphasized the love of the people and the necessary independence of our country. The Spaniards did not like what he wrote so he was imprisoned and shot in Bagumbayan. Rizal Park or Luneta is now called Bagumbayan.
