The Dr. Jose Rizal Monument of Gen. Santos City

In view of the upcoming 150th Birth Anniversary of the Philippines’ National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, we are running a series of posts unlike anything we have ever done before.

We will be featuring the monuments of Dr. Jose Rizal found in General Santos and some other areas of Soccsksargen!

And for our first installment, here is a look at the monument of the author of “El Filibusterismo” and “Noli Me Tangere” at Plaza Heneral Santos!

In this rendition, his image is made to appear as if both his hands are holding a rolled bunch of papers with a suitcase at his feet.  What was the artist of the statue envisioning our National Hero as doing with this stance?  A good nickname for this statue could be “The Travelling Rizal“.  It would sure be a good treat for everyone to find out what the other statues of Dr. Jose Rizal are doing in the region’s different parks and plazas and school grounds.

We do not have any information as of yet with regard to the exact age of this Dr. Jose Rizal statue at Plaza Heneral Santos, much more, the identity of its sculptor.   The way it looks, it seems that the local government of GenSan has already repainted it more than a couple of times already so it looks quite new.

Located at the center of the Plaza Heneral Santos right across the GenSan City Hall, this landmark stands directly behind the shrine of the city’s local hero, General Paulino Santos!

President Noynoy Aquino has already declared the day after Dr. Jose Rizal‘s birthday on June 19, 2011 as a special non-working holiday so everyone is enjoined to participate in wreath-laying ceremonies in all his monuments all throughout the archipelago on June 20, 2001.

How about you? Do you know of other Rizal Monuments nearby?