Charles Teves
Maria Clara at Ibarra fans unearthed tweets of cast members and showed most of them didn’t like the Jose Rizal subject in school.
Recently, David Licauco, the lead actor of the portal series, responded to social media users who discovered his previous rants about studying national hero Jose Rizal in school.
Suzette Doctolero, the headwriter of the series, tagged 28-year-old Kapuso actor David Licauco on Twitter to inform him that his old social media posts about his Jose Rizal subject were becoming popular.
“@davidlicauco lols, ayan, napasok ka tuloy sa nobela gaya ni Bb. Klay. Nahalungkat nila,” she wrote on Thursday.
@davidlicauco lols ayan napasok ka tuloy sa nobela gaya ni Bb Klay. Nahalungkat nila. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/2dbnN1Zkyc
— Suzette S. Doctolero (@SuziDoctolero) February 16, 2023
Licauco had a short response.
Omg 😂😂 hahahahaha
— David Licauco (@davidlicauco) February 16, 2023
In 2013, Licauco tweeted, “Hassle joseriz.. What do we care about Jose Rizal’s girls and vices!!”
Hassle joseriz.. What do we care about jose rizal's girls and vices!!
— David Licauco (@davidlicauco) August 28, 2013
The next day, he said the Jose Rizal subject was useless.
studying jose rizal's life for tom's finals. Ano makukuha ko dito -_-
— David Licauco (@davidlicauco) August 29, 2013
The sentiment expressed by Licauco’s old social media posts about studying Jose Rizal in school was similar to the views of his character’s love interest, Klay Infantes, in the popular portal fantasy series. Klay Infantes is played by the award-winning actress Barbie Forteza.
In the meantime, educational institutions teach students about Rizal’s life and literary works, specifically his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, due to the Rizal Law (Republic Act 1425), which requires them to do so.
The TV series portrays Forteza’s character as a nursing student from the Gen Z generation who is uninterested in her history class. In the first episode, her professor reprimands her for not putting effort into studying the subject.
Her response to the professor’s chiding is that she has too many problems in life to be concerned about Rizal.
“Every day, my life is a constant struggle here in our miserable country,” Klay said.
Klay explains that studying history wouldn’t assist her in dealing with her low-paying job or the difficulties she faces. Subsequently, Klay is transported into the world of Rizal’s novel and encounters the well-known characters of Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara, gaining knowledge about the history of the Philippines.
In the series, Klay encounters Fidel de los Reyes, who is depicted as a womanizing businessman and a friend of Crisostomo Ibarra.
Although Fidel is not a character in Rizal’s novels, Klay develops her theories about his identity in the latest episode.
Maria Clara at Ibarra is broadcast on GMA Network every weekday after the news program 24 Oras.
Interestingly, Dennis Trillo, who plays Jose Rizal, was a member of the Rizal Book Club in his younger years.
Imagine, being a member of Rizal Book Club and years later being chosen to portray the iconic role created by Rizal himself. What an honor, dsurb! ✨️
Pero yung Dennis "Dennis" Ho talaga jusq ang cutieeee 🤣 #SanKaPa https://t.co/H6ebBFS3oQ
— Potato 🥰 (@bubba_orb) February 16, 2023
Julie Ann San Jose, who plays Maria Clara, also showed in her previous tweets that she knew little about Rizal’s life.
https://twitter.com/adikthing/status/1626114385050734594?s=20
