Our heroes were once ordinary people like you and me living their lives day to day for themselves and their loved ones. What sets a hero apart from an ordinary person is that a hero takes the road less travelled. When the time comes that help is needed and one is not even obligated to put others before himself, a hero chooses to make a sacrifice for the sake of others and for nothing in return other than the greater good.
Our history has a plethora of heroes because our past has been riddled with conflict. And heroes exist necessarily due to conflict. We were colonized for centuries by numerous foreign governments. We have had public officials who abused their power and betrayed the trust afforded to them by the public. And we have had both foreign and domestic threats to our personal and economic security. But against these conflicts stood valiantly countless heroes, both sung and unsung, to whom we collectively owe our lives and liberties.
Through these heroes we learn to be better, aspire to be better, and hope that many others like them in that they work for the betterment of society, help those who are in need, and are ready to put others before themselves for the greater good if necessary.
Although Rizal was declared as our national hero by the Americans by design, specifically because he denounced revolution, this does not defeat the fact that he fought and died for our liberation. He kept on studying at a time when being educated was dangerous and despite being warned by his family. He wrote and spoke against the abuses of the friars to a wider audience. His books amplified his message throughout the country and in Europe.
Up to the very end, before being arrested, during his exile, even while in prison, he was offered to recant his works and swear allegiance to the King of Spain in order to spare his life. He did not agree. He was offered by members of the Katipunan to break him out of his prison.
He refused their offer. He stood by what he believed in, and running away would mean he was guilty. Ironically, his death further inspired the Katipunan to continue with their revolution.
“I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our country and convictions” ~Joze Rizal
The great Datu of Mactan: Lapulapu
Even the simple act of performing one’s duty can be deemed heroic in some cases. This was exactly what happened when Lapulapu became the first to clash with colonizers in 1521. Magellan, determined to colonize the islands of what would later be called Visayas, made allies with Rajah Humabon of the neighboring island of Cebu, had him baptized, gave him a Christian name, and made him submit to the King of Spain. Lapulapu meanwhile was offered the same, and in addition, to submit to Rajah Humabon.
Lapulapu simply refused, and when Magellan and his troops charged for battle, defended his people and later defeating and killing Magellan, leading to the fleeing of the others. Magellan’s death delayed the colonization of the Philippines for another forty years when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi continued his conquest.
As for Lapulapu, he is regarded as the first to resist foreign colonizers and is honored to this day despite there being very little to be known about him.
General Antonio Luna
General Luna is most famously depicted in popular culture, and specifically because of the critically acclaimed film, as a short fuse – strict, firm, and easy to anger. Because history among students in primary and secondary education is not taught as extensive as it ought to, Luna is most famously remembered for moments and movie lines, most of which are profanities. But what Luna was fighting for was much too significant to be forgotten.
At the time, the Philippines had no singular army because the revolts against Spain were by individual guerilla groups that fought for their respective territories only. When the Spanish government was on the verge of collapse the Americans swooped in, presenting themselves as allies. President Aguinaldo and many of the members of his cabinet, acknowledging that the Philippines was outnumbered and weaker than the superpower, considered bowing to the Americans, but Secretary of War Luna was vocal against this. He clashed with those who even considered giving away the Philippines to the Americans.
Aside from all this he came up with significant innovations with the army and ensured their loyalty to the Philippines and not to any one person. But Luna was too much a threat to Aguinaldo that he and his cabinet plotted his assassination. Following his death, the Philippines was ceded to the Americans, and we were effectively made a colony of another superpower.
The fiesty Tandang Sora
Melchora Aquino did not take up arms to fight the Spaniards. She was an elderly woman when the revolutions were taking place. Widowed at an early age, Tandang Sora was a single mother of six who had to work for her children. Her involvement in the revolution came when she welcomed revolutionaries to her store and treat their wounds and feed them and pray for them. She also opened her doors for the Katipuneros’ secret meetings. She was arrested at the age of 84 years old, but when she was being interrogated, she did not divulge anything. Fortunately, she was only exiled to Guam, but returned to the Philippines, where she died at the age of 107, when the Spanish were defeated.
Jose Abad Santos
Before Abad Santos was appointed Chief Justice, he was appointed to the Department of Justice several times, was corporate lawyer for various government-owned corporations, and was chief counsel for the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was with the legal profession for most of his life up until the Japanese forces neared the seat of power of government. He was made acting President by Manuel Quezon, who fled to the United States upon recommendation of Douglas McArthur.
However, shortly after his designation, he and his son were captured by Japanese soldiers. When he refused to cooperate with the Japanese government, he was sentenced to death by firing squad. His last words to his son were, “Do not cry, Pepito, show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one’s country. Not everybody has that chance” which made Jose Abad Santos a revered statesman.
Graphics: therizalene.com
Photos / Sources: officialgazette.gov.ph // National Museum of the Philippines