Life - the good, the bad and the ugly.

By MARY ANN MANJA BAYANG

November
30 marks the death of the most revered national hero, Andres Bonifacio.
We have to admit that many Filipinos look at Bonifacio as their
national hero. He was the one who took up arms and literally fought
against a despotic, feudal and oppressive colonizer. He offered his
life to liberate the Filipinos from the hands of the Spaniards. His
blood cultivated the lands of the farmers, greased the hands of the
laborers and quenched the thirst of the educated.

People
always argue that Bonifacio did not take up that sword had it not been
for the pen of Rizal. I disagree. A lot of many others would certainly
agree to disagree with me. The Philippine Revolution of 1896 was a
consequence of a long struggle against a tyrannical government. It was
the climax of a long story of resistance by the masses during the
Spanish colonization. Rizal’s books are not the cause but rather the
effect of the Filipinos’ battles and revolts during this period.

Whatever
I say today, Rizal remains the national hero. The American colonizers
and their Filipino disciples deemed it most proper that the educated
and passive Rizal was the epitome of a national hero. Many disagreed.
These many disagreeing minds, however, were not the ones who chose
national heroes. In almost all other countries, national heroes are
those who led revolutions to win their country’s freedoms – those who
unconditionally made the ultimate sacrifice for the good of their
people. Not in this country.

As we remember Bonifacio on his
birthday, we also revere the thousands of Filipinos who took on his
battle – those who so unconditionally sacrificed their lives to free
the Filipino people from the grip of foreign domination, from the
bondage of the soil and from the perfidy in the bureaucracy.

The
Filipinos may have been liberated from Spanish rule with Bonifacio’s
revolution. But their liberties have been continually curtailed by
imperialist dominators and their local cohorts. We remember our heroes
during the Second World War. We remember Ninoy Aquino and thousand
others who took up arms and who fought against the dictatorship of
Marcos. We remember the more than eight hundred mass leaders who died
fighting for their rights and for the rights of the Filipino people
during the Arroyo administration.

We remember Pepe Manegdeg
and Albert Teredanio who died two years ago on November 28 and 29, 2005
respectively and Romy Sanchez who was shot in broad daylight on March
9, 2005. They were the modern day Bonifacios. Their only concern was to
educate the farmers and help them sustain their lives without having to
depend on others. Their only advocacy is for the respect of fundamental
human rights and the attainment of justice and peace. They died
fighting for what is right. They are the heroes of the people. We have
thousands of them and counting – and their forces are getting stronger
as they near their triumph. #

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