ABSTRACT
In Manila, at 7:03 am on December 30, 1896, a Filipino writer, poet, sculptor, and eye doctor by the name of Jose Rizal was shot dead by Filipino soldiers. A line of Spanish troops stood behind them to ensure that they carried out the execution. As he was shot, Rizal is said to have twisted around so that he fell on his back, staring up to the sky. The band played on. As soon as he had fallen, some Spanish bystanders clapped, others even cheered: “Viva Espana.” The story of Jose Rizal’s death at Bagumbayan Field soon transformed into an act of martyrdom, becoming a foundational narrative for the emerging nation of the Philippines. With the help of a range of different media, Rizal became a national hero, a unifying point for the evolving “imagined community” of the Philippines (Anderson 1991).
