President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will lead today’s observance of the country’s 92nd National Heroes’ Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio Taguig, where his father and namesake was buried.
In the presence of other top government officials, the President is expected to expound on the celebration’s theme of “Karangalan, Katungkulan and Kabayanihan (honor, duty and heroism).”
But what stuff are heroes made of? Historian Esteban Ocampo described “heroes” as those whose gallantry helped shape the history of nations, so much so that they are immortalized, and remembered long after their deaths.
The Philippines has produced a long list of heroes, with Dr. Jose Rizal being considered the primus inter pares or the first among co-equals among them. Why not allow Andres Bonifacio, the Katipunan’s supremo, to share the spotlight with Rizal?
Why not indeed, when the nation celebrates both Rizal Day, every 30th of December to commemorate his martyrdom; and Bonifacio Day, every 30th of November celebrating the birth of Tondo’s pride, whose death would be ordered by another Filipino “hero,” General Emilio “Miyong” Aguinaldo.
But Rizal alone or with Bonifacio would not suffice as heroes were forged, too, through the years of fighting American and Japanese colonizers, many of them sacrificing their lives on the altar of freedom.
The country, dating back to 28 October 1941 when Act 3827 was passed, has been celebrating National Heroes’ Day every last Sunday of August. The celebration dates would be moved many times over before being reverted to the original.
True enough, many other Filipino heroes had been disenfranchised with only nine making it to the official list of the National Heroes Committee created by then-President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995.
The magnificent nine are Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo del Pilar, Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino and Gabriela Silang.
Rizal is best known for his fiery novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterimo which, to some historians, planted the seed of revolution in the likes of Bonifacio against Spain.
Bonifacio so idolized Rizal that his Katipunan would use his surname as the password in their clandestine meetings, something which the Spaniards would use in convicting him and ordering his execution via firing squad at Bagumbayan, today’s Luneta or Rizal Park in Manila.
Aguinaldo’s place on the list is certainly a contentious one amid his formation of the court that tried and ordered the execution of the Bonifacio brothers. He had also been pilloried over the roles he played during the American and Japanese occupations.
Mabini, the “Sublime Paralytic,” would be credited as the “brains” of the revolution, while Del Pilar would be hailed for his propaganda work against the Spaniards. Luna, who painted the Spoliarium and Parisian Life, was also active in the fight against Spain. So did Sultan Kudarat, who did so in the 1600s.
Women are well-represented in the list by Melchora “Tandang Sora” Aquino who provided the Katipuneros food, medicines, and a safe haven; and Gabriela Silang, who took over the fight against Spain when her husband Diego Silang was killed.
But where is Lapulapu, whose forces were credited for killing the first Spanish conquistadores to step foot on Philippine soil, Ferdinand Magellan? Not on the list for sure. Maybe on the menu?