THE QUESTION remains unanswered today and remains a paradox. Some even say it’s just utter nonsense.
Today is supposed to be National Heroes Day yet for all intents and purposes the Philippines do not have a national hero or heroes yet, officially that is.
As of today the recommendations of the Philippine National Heroes Committee created in 1995 as to who will be our national hero or heroes weres never acted upon and are somewhere in a filing cabinet in the Department of Education or worst, thrown into the dustbin.
So officially we are celebrating a day with no one in mind but who’s complaining? Any day and a long weekend at that off from work is always welcome, never mind the “national heroes”, they don’t exist officially anyway.
But what is a “national hero” or “heroes”?
From the free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
A national hero of the Philippines is a Filipino who has been recognized as a hero for his or her role in the history of the country. Loosely, the term may refer to all Filipino historical figures recognized as heroes, but the term more strictly refers to those officially designated as such.
In 1995 the Philippine National Heroes Committee officially recommended several people for the designation, but this was not acted upon. Currently, no one has ever been officially recognized as a Philippine national hero.
The reformist writer Jose Rizal, today generally considered the greatest Filipino hero and often given as the Philippine national hero, has never been explicitly proclaimed as the (or even a) national hero by the Philippine government.
Besides Rizal, the only other Filipinos currently given implied recognition as national heroes are revolutionary Andres Bonifacio and Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. While other historical figures are commemorated in public municipal or provincial holidays, Rizal, Bonifacio and Aquino are commemorated in public nationwide holidays and thus are implied to be national heroes.”
The National Heroes Committee recommended the following nine individuals to be recognized as national heroes on Nov. 15, 1995: Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino, and Gabriela Silang.
Their reports were submitted to the Department of Education, Culture and Sports on Nov. 22 of that year. However, no action was taken afterwards. It was speculated that any action might cause a number of requests for proclamation or trigger debates that revolve around the controversies about the concerned historical figures.
If you noticed, the name Ninoy Aquino was nowhere to be found in that list considering that at that time the whole country was inflicted with mass yellow hysteria. It was also speculated that the committee in charge at the Department of Education, Culture and Sports stalled and played safe for fear of the wrath of the then “living saint” a.k.a. President Cory Aquino.
Up to this time the issue is still unresolved. The tag “national hero” is thus a misnomer as nobody has been officially declared one yet.
So what do we do with Jose Rizal? We were made to believe he is our national hero; it seems officially he’s not.
There is suggestion that Rizal was an American-made hero. It comes from claims that American Governor General William Howard Taft had initially suggested the naming of a Filipino national hero, with Rizal as the preferred candidate due to his less radical and militant leanings relative to other possible candidates. There is enough evidence on record to support these claims.
Pathetic, even someone who is supposedly our national hero is just the creation of our American colonizers. So this makes Jose Rizal as American as apple pie and not as Filipino as buko pie.
Now back to that list recommended by the National Heroes Committee…I don’t see the names of Ferdinand Marcos or Benigno Aquino. Definitely Marcos was not a hero; he was just a former President who declared Martial Law which of course was legal according to our Constitution. As I have been saying, the only people saying Marcos was a hero are also the same idiots screaming he was not. No wonder they have this penchant for walking around with their “little birds” exposed.
Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. a.k.a. Marcial Bonifacio was no hero either; he was just an opportunistic politician who actually did nothing for the natives and the country except to promote himself. His so-called assassination which some say was actually self-inflicted and backfired (pun intended) did nothing for the natives except inflict upon them his incompetent wife Cory, nincompoop son Noynoy and daughter Kris, the national irritant on television and lately on social media.
The table is still open for recommendations. On that, I’d like to recommend Paulino Alcantara, FIFA’s Greatest Footballer from Asia for all times and FC Barcelona’s highest goal scorer who incidentally was an Ilonggo./PN
