Japanese Propaganda’s Exploitation of Jose Rizal’s Cultural Memory in The Tribune’s Reporting of His 82nd Birth Anniversary

Abstract

Eighty-two years after his birth and 46 years after his death, Jose Rizal became a prominent figure during the Japanese occupation. His 82nd birth anniversary on June 19, 1943 was an opportunity that the Japanese propagandists utilized, as it occurred between two significant events: the visit of Japan’s Premier General Hideki Tojo on May 6 to reiterate his promise of independence to the Philippines and the eventual inauguration of the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Independence on October 14. This paper looks at how the Japanese propaganda exploited the cultural memory of Rizal in reporting the events for his birth anniversary in 1943 in four news articles, one editorial, and one speech reprinting in the then Japanese-controlled newspaper, The Tribune. The four news articles explicitly weaved together the concepts of Rizal’s aspiration for independence and how the Japanese were expected to grant it shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the editorial piece and the reprinting of speech delivered by Jorge Vargas, Chairman of the Philippine Executive Commission, drew upon “Rizal’s dream” of independence and its upcoming realization with the help of the Japanese. Following Assman’s concept of cultural memory, the three poles being related together in the propaganda were: Rizal as the memory; the aspiration for independence as the culture; and the Filipino people as the group. Three characteristics of cultural memory were identified as being utilized in the propaganda texts. First is the concretion of identity, which is Rizal’s martyrdom. Second is the capacity to reconstruct through the messaging of Japan’s initiative to render Rizal’s martyrdom meaningful through granting of independence to the Philippines. Third is organization in communicating the ceremonies related to Rizal’s birth anniversary in The Tribune.