Part of Jose Rizal's Brain Is Said to Be Preserved In This Small Bottle

[Lee]

News of the Weird

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(SPOT.ph) Did you know that not all of Jose Rizal's remains are under the Luneta monument? Turns out, a portion of his brain is said to be preserved in a small bottle hidden by his sister, historian Ambeth Ocampo said Monday, July 4, in a discovery that awed social media users.

Ocampo's post is a trending topic on Facebook, with tons of social media users hitting "wow" on the post that has reached more than 44,000 reactions as of Tuesday afternoon.

"I did not know till recently that Rizal’s eldest sister Saturnina kept fragments of the hero’s brain in a bottle. I presume the fragments were formerly preserved in alcohol that has since dried up," the historian with published works on Rizal said in a Facebook post. A picture of a small jar with white, spongy looking material in it accompanied his caption. 

What we know so far about Jose Rizal's remains

Found guilty of rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy, Rizal was executed via firing squad by the Spanish colonial government in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) at 7:03 a.m. on December 30, 1896. His body is said to have been riddled with bullets, but reports explain that only one bullet was live; the rest were blanks "to ease the guilt" of his executioners, according to a descendant of one, Adolfo Pastor Quetcuti, in a PhilStar report. 

A bullet hit part of his spinal bone, which was preserved and is on display in Fort Santiago.

"Most of Rizal’s mortal remains are buried under the monument in Luneta. Except a bit of his backbone preserved in Fort Santiago. The chipped bone is believed to be the spot where the bullet hit him on December 30, 1896," said Ocampo.

 

Part of Jose Rizal's Brain Is Said to Be Preserved In This Small Bottle (msn.com)

[Mike J]

I suspect that quite a few government employees also keep a small portion of their brain in a jar. 

[Lee]

8 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I suspect that quite a few government employees also keep a small portion of their brain in a jar. 

For some employees, this would require a very small jar. LOL

[hk blues]

On the subject of government employees, I had a positive experience today at BIR.  First, I was in and out in under 45 minutes, everything done as needed with no requests for additional documents not detailed on the instructions.  And, the staff even copied a document in color for me at no extra charge. There was no smile but maybe they will cover that in the next module! 

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

On the subject of government employees, I had a positive experience today at BIR.  First, I was in and out in under 45 minutes, everything done as needed with no requests for additional documents not detailed on the instructions.  And, the staff even copied a document in color for me at no extra charge. There was no smile but maybe they will cover that in the next module! 

 

I have to compliment BI at Cagayan De Oro, this visit they did a very similar job to your story.  Extension with ACR card (or I card as they call it) renewal and it all took under an hour.  This time they had a printer with a nice young lady in the offce (not in BI uniform) who charged 10 peso for some copies (so not free but might as well be). Previously we had to go to a print shop.

[hk blues]

50 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

 

I have to compliment BI at Cagayan De Oro, this visit they did a very similar job to your story.  Extension with ACR card (or I card as they call it) renewal and it all took under an hour.  This time they had a printer with a nice young lady in the offce (not in BI uniform) who charged 10 peso for some copies (so not free but might as well be). Previously we had to go to a print shop.

Baby steps but at least they're heading in the right direction.  I forgot to mention in the earlier post but there was actually a female milling around helping people filling out forms.  She wasn't in a BIR uniform and I was waiting for the outstretched hand but nothing. 

When I first came here no staff at either BI or BIR or City Hall wore uniforms.  Now, 99% of staff are uniformed.