Here’s another Pinoy Pride for everyone: Civilization VII has previewed National Hero Jose Rizal as a playable character–specifically a playable leader. Rizal joins other playable historical leaders like Catherine the Great and Benjamin Franklin.
From the trailer, Civilization VII describes Jose Rizal as cultural and diplomatic, which aligns with Rizal’s role in Philippine history. The Pinoy Pride in Civilization VII does not stop there, as the map start bias is described as Tropical–again perfectly aligned with the weather conditions in the Philippines.
Being described as diplomatic, Rizal’s leadership role in Civilization VII is described as someone who does a lot of diplomatic endeavors–disliking those who impose sanctions. An important part of Rizal’s leadership profile is that all deals and negotiations should be mutually beneficial.
As for leadership bonuses, those who choose Rizal get +20 in culture and gold per age from a narrative event–a nice bonus for the Philippines’ National Hero in Civilization VII. On top of that, you get +50% happiness with celebrations.
Do note that while Rizal is a playable leader, there’s no Philippines civ in the game–so you’ll be using Rizal to lead other civs in Civilization VII.
Civilization VII has yet to reveal when Rizal will become a playable leader, so we expect him to arrive in a future DLC or mod.