Endless scrolling and binge-watching are the kind of distractions that keep ordinary Filipinos from doing more with their hours, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto suggested on Friday, June 19, holding up Jose Rizal as a counterpoint during the city’s tribute to the national hero on his 165th birth anniversary.
Sotto turned the commemoration into a reflection on time itself. He pointed out that Rizal packed an extraordinary record of work into a life that ended at 35 years and six months — a span the mayor described as strikingly brief for everything the hero managed to do.
“I thought about it too. Because Jose Rizal, we all know, only lived for 35 years — 35 years and 6 months, something like that. His life was very short,” Sotto said.
The mayor ran through the breadth of Rizal’s output, from his schooling and time abroad to the groups he helped form and the books he authored, among them Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. By Sotto’s account, the hero had written and released both novels while still in his twenties.
Part of what set Rizal apart, the mayor acknowledged, was raw talent that few could match.
“Maybe Jose Rizal was really just a genius, and we cannot remove that from the discussion. But perhaps in today’s time, speaking practically, we also have many distractions,” he said.
That observation led Sotto to the heart of his message: modern life is crowded with things that quietly consume the day. Streaming services and social media feeds, he noted, can drain hours that might otherwise go toward something larger than oneself.
Sotto closed by framing the hero not as a figure to merely admire but as a standard to chase.
“I hope Jose Rizal remains an inspiration to us. We look at and study his life and everything he accomplished at such a young age. And I hope he inspires us to surpass what we can do for our country,” Sotto said.
