The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong SAR, led by Consul General Bernardita L. Catalla, commemorated Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s 120th death anniversary on 30 December 2016 with wreath-laying ceremonies at Rednaxela Terrace and D’Aguilar Street.
Rizal and his family lived at Rednaxela Terrace when he practiced medicine between 1891 and 1892 in Hong Kong. His clinic was located at D’Aguilar Street in Central Hong Kong. Markers have been placed by the Hong Kong Antiquities Authority at these locations to memorialize their historical significance.
During her remarks at the wreath-laying ceremonies, Consul General Catalla honored Rizal not only as the Philippines’ national hero but also as the Renaissance man that he was. Among others, Rizal was a nationalist, a medical doctor---an ophthalmologist who operated on his mother, Teodora Alonso, which was the first-ever cataract operation performed in the Philippines; a natural scientist---having discovered species of a beetle (Apogania rizali), a lizard (Draco rizali) and a frog (Rhacophorus rizali); a painter; a poet; and an engineer---having directed the building of a water system made of bamboo while he was exiled in Dapitan.
Members of the Knights of Rizal-Hong Kong Chapter and Lakbay Dangal, a Filipino community organization promoting Philippine history and heritage in Hong Kong, attended the event.
