JOSE RIZAL

Earl Bales Park, off Bathurst Street, south of Sheppard Ave. West, Toronto

Dr. Jose P. Rizal (1861-1896) was the father of Filipino independence and  “national hero of the Philippines”. He was executed by Spanish authorities in 1896, but his work is credited with sparking the rebellion that led to independence from Spain two years later. The statue by F.B. Caede was given by the Philippine government to the City of Toronto in 1998 on the centennial of Filipino independence. Thousands of people come to the park in the summer to picnic around his statue.