Continuing its tradition of collaboration celebrating the life and times of Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, in partnership with the Order of the Knights of Rizal – La Solidaridad Chapter, held a wreath-laying ceremony on Sunday, 19 December 2021, to commemorate the 125th death anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal, as well as the 25th Anniversary of the inauguration of the Jose Rizal Monument at the Avenida de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid, Spain.
Ambassador Philippe J. Lhuillier and the officers and staff, together with the Order of the Knights of Rizal, welcomed Director General D. Cecilio Cerdan Carbonero, the official representative of Mayor of Madrid Jose Luiz Martínez Almeida, as well as the Filipino Community, in an event made more meaningful by the attendance of Señor Jose Ma. Alvarez del Manzano, who was the sitting Mayor of Madrid at the time that the Jose Rizal Monument was inaugurated 25 years ago on 05 December 1996.
In his remarks, Ambassador Lhuillier paid tribute to Dr. Rizal’s intelligence and greatness, and expressed the hope that through events such as these commemorations, “young Filipinos would get to learn more about Rizal and how he struggled, like all of us, to overcome much suffering and tribulation in his life”, and through his humanity, be inspired to do great things for one’s people and country.
Ambassador Lhuillier, Señor Cerdan, and former Mayor Alvarez laid the wreath on the monument. The event culminated in a reading of Dr. Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios”, which was read by Señor Elías Rodríguez Varela.
