It’s safe to say that most of us are very much familiar with the most popular and definitive biography of our national hero, Jose Rizal, titled “The First Filipino.” It was written and first published in 1961 by Leon Ma. Guerrero III, who is known for translating Rizal’s two famous novels into English. It has since been widely used in schools for students to learn more about Rizal’s character and life story.
Now, Anvil Publishing has released a new edition of the biography with an updated cover and amazing art created by BBDO Guerrero in partnership with Acid House and Syn — and we can’t help but be in complete awe of how it looks!
Handout Photo
“Rizal said, ‘Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.’ [He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.] We took that to heart when we developed this campaign; we wanted to make Rizal’s life and insights accessible to a new generation,” said David Guerrero, the Creative Chairman of BBDO Guerrero.
The agency also launched an educational video that summarized Rizal’s life based on “The First Filipino”, narrated by noted Rizal scholar Ambeth Ocampo which you can watch below.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCYE4qvnJnD/
“This was a very personal project for me as it was about preserving and sharing my father’s work, and we wanted to make a campaign that could be easily shared and understood by numerous audiences. Now that we’re moving to distance learning, we believe that these videos are a great resource to augment discussions on Rizal,” Guerrero added.
The new book will be printed in paperback.
(ALSO READ: This Handicraft Store Gives Back by Helping Their Artisans (and You Can, Too))
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