The story behind why Jose Rizal is in the 1 Piso Coin
José Rizal was a Filipino nationalist and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is tagged as the National hero of the Filipino people.
Born: June 19, 1861, Calamba, Philippines
Died: December 30, 1896, Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines
Full name: José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda
- 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.
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Even during my younger years, i already ask my self and wonder why is Rizal in the least of denominations being the face of 1 piso coin? If he is the nat'l hero of the Philippines why is he not the face of 1 thousand piso bill?
According to Ocampo (2008) that “Jose Rizal, the national hero, is on the P1-coin not because he is less worthy than Sergio Osmena who is on the higher denomination, or [Benigno] ‘Ninoy’ Aquino [Jr.] who is on the P500-bill, but Rizal is on the P1-coin because it is the basic unit of Philippine currency.” In fact, the P1-coin is distributed all over the land and even the less privileged, the lower class, the middle class of the society have it in on hand most of the time.
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So, basically its not the image of P1 coin that diminishes the value of his heroism then but it is BSP's strategical way of putting Rizal's greatness to be remembered even to less fortunate and the upcoming new generation because we all know that its is the most widely used and distributed denomination that every kids around had their own 1 piso coin.
