It’s 2015 but it seems like some netizens need a refresher course on their history lessons as they extend birthday greetings to national hero Dr. Jose Rizal on Wednesday.
Today, Dec. 30, is the 119th commemoration of Rizal’s martyrdom. Born on June 19, 1861, he was executed in the then Bagumbayan in 1896.
“If you greet Jose Rizal happy birthday today, I will judge,” said Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez on Twitter.
Twitter user @elmitanyo said those who greet Rizal a happy birthday were “worse” than those who asked the character of Apolinario Mabini, the sublime paralytic, was standing in the historical film “Heneral Luna.”
Other netizens quipped that Rizal will not be amused by the birthday greetings and others’ supposed ignorance if he were alive today.
Alluding to President Aquino’s remark in 2013 on the Light Rail Transit Cavite extension project, Twitter user @attyjong said he was ready to be run over by a train if the hashtag #HappyBirthdayJoseRizal trended.
“Then again, we shouldn’t take it literally, right?” @dscpalami replied. YG
Here’s what other netizens have to say:
https://storify.com/inquirerdotnet/netizens-greet-rizal-happy-birthday-on-199th-death#publicize