Camille Naredo

Flowers adorn the foot of the Rizal Monument as people spend time in Luneta park on Independence day in Manila on June 12, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

Flowers adorn the foot of the Rizal Monument as people spend time in Luneta park on Independence day in Manila on June 12, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Independence Day

Izzy Lee

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173548932696920240612-independence-day-daily-life-JC-7.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Flowers adorn the foot of the Rizal Monument as people spend time in Luneta park on Independence day in Manila on June 12, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Flowers adorn the foot of the Rizal Monument as people spend time in Luneta park on Independence day in Manila on June 12, 2024. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span>MANILA -- Imagine standing before the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal, pondering the many questions you wish you could ask him. </div><p>Now imagine if he could answer back. Sounds like a dream, right? </p><p>Thanks to the website <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.askrizal.org/">Conversations with Rizal</a>, it&#x27;s now possible to have a chat with our national hero.</p><p>Behind this groundbreaking project is Pocholo Gonzales, known as &quot;The Voice Master.&quot; Gonzales turned his lifelong dream into reality.</p><p>&quot;Ito ay isang 30 years na pangarap ko actually more than that pa kasi nung bata pa ako paborito ko si Dr. Jose Rizal, mga kwento niya. Pinangarap kong makausap talaga si Rizal so nagsulat ako ng libro na Conversations with Rizal, so doon nakasulat lang. Sabi ko very one sided yun… What if mabuhay si Rizal?,&quot; he said.</p><p>(It&#x27;s a dream I&#x27;ve had for over 30 years. As a child, I loved the stories of Dr. Jose Rizal. I even wrote a book called Conversations with Rizal, but it felt one-sided. I thought, what if Rizal could truly come to life?)</p><p>Creating Conversations with Rizal was no simple feat. Gonzales spent countless hours reading books about Rizal&#x27;s life and studying how to program artificial intelligence (AI).</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vxbj-CKfFbc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/26/jose-rizal-s-1896-sculpture-of-josephine-bracken-up-for-auction-1320">READ: Jose Rizal&#x27;s 1896 sculpture of Josephine Bracken up for auction</a></div><p>As a voice artist, Gonzales even lent his voice to the project, mimicking Rizal&#x27;s speech patterns after meticulously studying how people spoke during his era.</p><p>&quot;Siguro lahat-lahat, inabot ako ng 30 to 50 hours of recording time. Tapos in-edit ko pa yan,&quot; he said.</p><p>(It took me 30 to 50 hours of recording and editing to get it just right.)</p><p>The website, launched in December, quickly gained popularity, with thousands of users eagerly &quot;speaking&quot; with Rizal and asking him all sorts of questions.</p><p>Gonzales hopes the project can inspire new ways of teaching history.</p><p>&quot;Nahuhuli na po ang educational system natin so sana sumabay. Kailangan natin mag-adapt. Ang goal ko lang is manatili &#x27;yung ating values as Filipino kung hindi dahil kay Rizal walang himagsikang mangyayari wala ring mangyayaring pagbabago at hindi tayo tatawaging Filipino,&quot; he said.</p><p>(Our educational system is falling behind. We need to adapt. My goal is to preserve Filipino values. Without Rizal, there would have been no revolution, no change, and we wouldn&#x27;t even be called Filipinos.)</p>

<p>Imagine standing before the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal, pondering the many questions you wish you could ask him. </p>

Imagine standing before the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal, pondering the many questions you wish you could ask him.

New website makes it possible to talk to Dr. Jose Rizal

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New website makes it possible to talk to Dr. Jose Rizal

Izzy Lee,

ABS-CBN News

Published December 30, 2024 12:27 AM PHT

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Updated January 04, 2025 08:28 AM PHT

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Jose Rizal

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