(SPOT.ph) The height of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal has been the subject of many disputes. Some statues would show he was taller than the average Filipino, while the one in Fort Santiago—which is based on the hero's clothing—is at 4'11". In Ambeth Ocampo's paper "Rizal Re-Discovered," he reported Rizal's height to be at 5'2". Most books in school say it's also at 4'11". So which is it?
The Height of Jose Rizal is Really 5.28 Feet
Ocampo, a well-known historian and academic with several published books and research about Rizal, settles the score after filing his scans of the national hero's manuscripts. With a scanned copy of Rizal's scribbling himself, Ocampo wrote in a post:
"There has always been a debate about Jose Rizal's height, with many people insisting, without evidence, that the hero stood at four feet eleven inches. This was even used in the Ayala Museum since changed at my insistence. The 4-11 club would not buy my method of measuring Rizal's extant clothing in the National Historical Commission to estimate his height at around five feet two inches.
Well, this evening, without my looking for it the definitive proof for the 5-2 side cropped up while I was filing my scans of Rizal manuscripts. In one of his notebooks RIZAL HIMSELF said that at 19 years old and four days old he stood at one meter 61 centimeters. That translates to 5.28 feet or almost 5'3"! Oh, serendipity is one of the thrills of research!!"
Ocampo knows that evidence—most especially in writing history—is important. And this is proof of that, pun intended.