Dr. Jose Rizal Bust

Artworks photographed by Cultural and Property Officer Mr. Brian Peter C. Bustamante and Vanessa I. Arevalo
Artwork by: Libor Piszlac
Dimensions: 31 cm x 56 cm
Medium: 25-kilogram Bronze Sculpture
Year: 2008
Location: Santiago PE
Filed Under: Dr. Jose P. Rizal
Description

The Philippine Embassy completed the landmark unveiling of the second Dr. Jose Rizal Monument in Chile on 18 June 2022, a day before the 161 st birth anniversary of the Philippine national hero on June 19. The inauguration was held on the grounds of the Philippine Chancery in Las Condes alongside Filipino community leaders, Professor Raul Thoms – a member of the Chilean academe, Ms. Merlinda Echon – a devout Rizalista, and Rev. Father Riyyan Chaves Mendoza – then the Filipino Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., of the Apostolic Nunciature in Santiago. The Embassy now serves as the bust’s permanent home in Chile.

The 25-kilogram bronze sculpture is one of two busts handsomely sculpted by Czech national Mr. Libor Piszlac and thereafter donated by German-Filipino national Hans Schoof to the former Philippine Honorary Consulate General in Peru. The first bust remains atop another Rizal monument in Lima’s La Molina district. The said monument was inaugurated by no less than former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the sidelines of APEC-Lima 2008 as a part of a lasting memorial initiated by former Philippine Honorary Consul General and former Peruvian Vice President Raul Canseco Terry.

Written by: Minister and Consul General Jim Tito B. San Agustin / First Secretary and Consul Dennis John C. Briones