The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will release a Jose Rizal commemorate coin this December to commemorate 150th years of The Philippine national heroes which the country celebrated last June 19, 2011. The face of the coin will feature the portrait of the hero and the markings, “150 years,” “Republika ng Pilipinas” and “1861-2011.” Etched on the reverse side are the new BSP seal, “1-piso” and “2011.” BSP will produce 10 million pieces of the round, grayish, nickel-plated steel coin which has the same size (24-millimeters in diameter) and weight (5.35 grams) as the one-piso coin currently in circulation. The Office of the President and BSP’s Monetary Board have both approved the issuance of the coin. He also has been feature in 2 dalawang piso banknote before.
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution. As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution. Rizal was executed at Bagumbayan, now Luneta, on 30 December 1896 which ushered in the Philippine Revolution against Spain.
