(PIA) DAPITAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, June 19 — The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) opens the modernized “Museo ni Jose Rizal Dapitan” today, in celebration of his 155th birth anniversary. Ceremonies was held at 4 pm.
The Museo ni Jose Rizal in Dapitan is located at the site of Jose Rizal’s farm in Talisay, Dapitan where the national hero spent four years in exile productively. Rizal engaged in agricultural pursuits by cultivating various crops and fruit trees and established a school for boys. As a doctor, Rizal treated ailments and successfully operated on eye diseases. With engineering and architectural skills, he set up the town plaza with street lighting, built a dam and waterworks, and nipa huts for his clinic and pupils’ dormitory. Rizal’s scientific mind spurred him to conduct archaeological excavations uncovering pre-colonial artifacts; as a naturalist, he collected biological and botanical specimens; and as a linguist, he studied the Visayan and Malayan languages. Rizal also wrote poetry and created sculptures from clay.
The museum exhibits include a variety of interactive features such as audio visual presentations, light-and-sound tableaus, holograms, and touch screen terminals featuring Rizal’s everyday activities as a political exile in Dapitan.
The NHCP is the national government agency mandated to promote Philippine history through its museums, research and publication, and preserve the nation’s historical heritage through conservation and the marking of historic sites and structures. (NHCP/PND)