Leon Ma. Guerrero’s The First Filipino which won first prize in the biography contest sponsored by the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission in 1961 is a breath of fresh air on a worn out topic. Rizal is usually portrayed in extremes either as a sinner or a saint, but Guerrero took the middle ground and gave his readers a human Rizal. Guerrero’s extensive and sensitive use of Rizal’s correspondence and writings shaped a new and more human picture of Rizal. It is remarkable in that the biographer usually stands aside and allows Rizal to speak for himself.
The First Filipino also took a stand-an unpopular one-in favor of the controversial retraction of Rizal. This may have made Guerrero’s work unacceptable to some, but taking one side -- rightly or wrongly -- is better for a narrative than being safe and a fence-sitter. More important than the retraction though was Guerrero’s emphasis on Rizal being the first Filipino, because there was no clear and articulated concept of the Filipino and the Filipino nation before him and the Propaganda Movement of the late 1880s...
