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Thieves Steal Bust of Philippines’ National Hero Jose Rizal Off Pedestal

Chicago’s Rizal Heritage Center is missing an important part of its center: the bust of its revered namesake patriot, Dr. Jose Rizal.

Thieves last month made off with the head of the famed Rizal, a 19th Century physician and writer who advocated peaceful reform of Spain’s rule over the Philippines.

Witnesses say they saw six people steal the bust off a pedestal in the hours after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on June 16. The six people got into two cars and sped off.

Now, nearly three weeks later, the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago is asking for the thieves to return it. It had been displayed outside the Rizal Heritage Center at 1332 W. Irving Park Road.

“This is an iconic symbol of our Rizal Center heritage and the national hero of the Philippines,” said council president Dr. Rufino Crisostomo, who is accepting donations for repairs or a replacement.

FACC members raised $40,000 between 1990-1992 to have the bust made in the Philippines and installed at the Chicago community center.

The bust went missing between midnight and 1 a.m. on June 16, a few hours after the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.

The theft is even more pronounced in the Filipino American community because it happened the week of the patriot’s birthday on June 19, and marred the center’s celebrations. Crisostomo recalls their custom of placing flowers on the bust and the floor at its pedestal in honor of Rizal.

“Only now, we can’t,” Crisostomo said.

Police said the case is still open and under investigation.

The FACC is accepting donations towards a replacement. As of Monday afternoon, about $900 had been raised.

“None of us are millionaires,” Crisostomo said. “But if we don’t protest this kind of incident, what kind of dignity would we have as Filipinos? We won’t have any dignity at all.”

Rizal was born June 19, 1861, to wealthy landowners. He was educated in Manila and Europe, where he wrote the two novels Noli me Tangere (“The Social Cancer”) and El Filibusterismo (“The Reign of Greed”). He returned to Manila and co-founded the nonviolent reform society La Liga Filipina.

On Dec. 30, 1896, while in exile in Dapitan, a city on the island of Mindanao, he penned the poem Mi Ulimo Adios (“My Last Farewell”) and hid it inside an oil lamp inside his cell. He was executed by firing squad in the morning. Two years later, governance of the Philippines transferred from Spain to the United States.

The center has a library of Rizal memorabilia, but the world’s largest collection of Rizal artifacts is at the Newberry Library, where a bust of the Philippine patriot is on display in the Special Collections Reading Room.

Crisostomo is considering 3-D printing as a replacement. To donate, call Crisostomo at 312-402-4191 or the center, 773-281-1212.

Dr. Jose Rizal visited Chicago, Illinois on May 11, 1888 enroute to New York City. He arrived in Chicago at 8:14 a.m. He visited places of interests and left the City on the same day at 8:25 p.m.

Image captions: 

Dr. Rufino Crisostomo, president of the Filipino American Council of Greater Chicago, points to where the bust of Philippine patriot Dr. Jose Rizal would have been had it not been stolen from its pedestal in the early morning of June 16, the day after the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup. Crisostomo, FACC president, pleads for the culprits to return the bust, and is accepting donations for repairs or a replacement. [DNAinfo/Yvonne Hortillo]

A bust of Philippine patriot Dr. Jose Rizal is kept at the Newberry Library’s Special Collections Reading Room. The Newberry keeps the world’s largest collection of Rizal memorabilia. [DNAinfo/Yvonne Hortillo]

(via fascinasians-blog)