National Heroes Day has come and gone but the naysaying of the naysayers still lingers. Let's take a look at what Rigoberto Tiglao has written about this auspicious day.
There is so much to unpack in Tiglao's tweet and headline but let's go straight to his column where he buttresses these claims.
TODAY is National Heroes' Day. What is strange about this holiday, so important that the country gives up a full day of working, that workers paid daily suffer, is the law that ordered it. Commonwealth Act 3827 of Oct. 28, 1931 did not specify who were the heroes the day was celebrating.
However, this day doesn't honor anybody, as we have no law declaring who are our national heroes.
We have simply assumed that Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo and six others are our national heroes. President Ramos organized in 1995 the Philippine National Heroes Committee that officially recommended those who were to be officially recognized as national heroes, other than the first three mentioned above. These were Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. del Pilar. Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino and Gabriela Silang.
However, no law has been passed to implement the committee's findings.
We are a republic of laws, no matter how many books and historians claim that Rizal and company are heroes, these are not worth the retail price of those books.
Take note that at no point in this opinion piece does Tiglao ever justify the need of a law to dictate who is and who is not a Philippine National Hero. That is a glaring omission on his part. He just assumes a law is needed. Though he mentions the 1995 Philippine National Heroes Committee he does not really get into the nitty gritty of why such a committee was needed and why anyone should pay attention to their findings.
There is no law declaring Rizal et al. as heroes. The laws instituting holidays celebrating Rizal (December 30, his execution) and Bonifacio (November 30, his birth) do not declare them as heroes. The one for Rizal for instance was originally in mourning for his execution.
Is it a big deal that we don't even have an official list of our heroes, but we celebrate a National Heroes' Day? Certainly.
It reflects our very weak sense of nationalism. The concept of heroes is an essential part of the concept of a nation. Why would somebody devote his life, and even sacrifice it, for a ghostly "nation," an entity most of whose members he has never really met, which the renowned historian Benedict Anderson called an "imagined community." In Rizal and Bonifacio's case — as well as those for the leaders of the revolution — there wasn't even an "imagined community" but a community that was in the process of being imagined.
Still, we believe in this imagined community as a nation which is in this era of humanity the most important organization we will ever be part of. But how can our people identify with this association if there are no heroes emblematic of the nation?
I said that Tiglao does not justify the need for a law declaring who are national heroes but here he does give a lame excuse. "It reflects our weak sense of nationalism." How? He does not say. Therefore this is not a justification but a begging of the question. Are there not plenty of stalwart nationalists in the Philippines without such a list? It is interesting that he calls the Philippines an "imagined community." I said as much when I wrote that the Philippines does not exist.
The fact is the Philippines is a collection of various people groups who, against their will, have been forged into one political entity but otherwise maintain their distinct cultures be it Visayan, Cebuano, Illocano, Tagalog, or Igorot. The Philippines only exists as a political fiction.
https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2022/08/top-10-lies-about-philippines.html
Tiglao's reasoning that the recommendations of the 1995 Philippine National Heroes Committee were never enshrined in law comes down to this: the Yellows!
Why did Ramos balk at declaring our national heroes, whose list was painstakingly and rigorously arrived at by a committee of distinguished historians.
One explanation is that the Yellow forces — even Corazon Aquino himself — demanded that the roster of heroes include Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. Ramos, the practical man and still dependent on Cory for his political strength, abandoned the project, with succeeding presidents following his successful tack.
The Yellows actually had tried to revive that project during President Noynoy Aquino's regime, as columnist Randy David inadvertently in effect reminded me in his column on Sunday.
Obviously trying to say that Ninoy Aquino should be declared a hero, David wrote; "It is remarkable that in a 2011 Social Weather Stations opinion poll on the personalities that Filipinos regard as genuine Filipino heroes, Ninoy ranked No. 3 — after Rizal and Bonifacio. (Thanks to Mahar Mangahas for bringing this out in his column the other day.) Together with Cory Aquino at No. 4, Apolinario Mabini at No. 5 and Emilio Aguinaldo at No. 6 — these names were the only ones that received double-digit percentage mentions."
What David didn't report is that the Aquinos — through Noynoy — were back in total power by July 2010 and had been undertaking two years before the poll a huge propaganda project to revive the Ninoy-Cory myth. This was undertaken as they saw such myth was the only factor to propel the unqualified, lackluster Noynoy's bid for the presidency in 2010. As I have pointed out in several columns, the Yellow-leaning SWS has demonstrated in several instances sophisticated techniques through their questionnaires and poll timing to produce results that are what the financiers surveys want for their propaganda aims.
There was one problem with that poll though, so that the Yellows couldn't go to town with it. Reflecting their intellectual dishonesty, David and Mangahas did not mention at all an amazing finding of the poll: Ferdinand Marcos was ranked seventh as a national hero, beating Ramon Magsaysay, Lapulapu, Marcelo del Pilar and 13 others who would be candidates as Philippine heroes.
The Yellow leaning SWS? Does he mean the same poll group that showed Bongbong Marcos had a substantial lead over Robredo and that Duterte had the highest approval rating of any politician in the entire world? Excuse me, what!?? Tiglao is so disingenuous it is unbelievable. He cannot even keep his conspiracy theories straight.
Look how he talks about the Aquinos being back in power due to propaganda "to revive the Ninoy-Cory myth!" How does he think Bongbong got elected? Is he totally unaware of the decades long revisionism campagin to clear the Marcos' family name? This man's political myopia is incredible! And it is deliberate.
His rumination that Cory demanded her husband be on the list of national heroes is unfounded and he offers no proof for that charge. Likewise his analysis of the SWS survey from 2011 is sorely lacking. He says we should take note that Ferdinand Marcos came in seventh place as if that meant something. Here are the results.
Not only did Marcos fail to get double digit support, he is sitting at 5.1%, but Manny Pacquiao is also on this list!! Does Tiglao think that Manny is a national hero? Well, he should if he takes this list as Gospel truth.
Now for the coup de grace.
That we don't have official heroes has made us a pathetic country, and we have even debased its meaning to a ridiculous one and to a more dangerous level of propaganda. It is hypocritical or patronizing to call our overseas workers the new heroes, "bagong bayani." It is not true that OFWs have chosen to work abroad because they can't find work here or have chosen to serve the country by working in foreign lands so they can send dollars to her so it can beef up its international reserves.
They've chosen to work abroad because the pay is much better overseas, of course, since those countries have a higher level of development. How can they be heroes? Half or even more of my middle-class classmates at Ateneo have chosen to work abroad — and live there as citizens.
The more dangerous consequence of our failure to declare our real heroes is that the Left in conspiracy with the Yellows have defined as heroes those who fought, or even remotely were against martial law.
And these forces have been undertaking a well-funded and intense project to do so. Take it from me as I was part of that project. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani has been run by the Left, funded since Cory's time by the Lopezes.
Not having a list of official heroes makes the Philippines pathetic? Does this man even live here? The Philippines is pathetic for so many reasons and it's not because there is no official list of heroes. Just read this blog because tat is what I cover five days a week! The hubris of this guy!
I can agree that that concept of hero has certainly been degraded as now everyone who does thier job and duty is called a hero. But maybe OFW's are heroes. They have no obligation to go abroad and send all their pay back home. Let us not forget that OFW remittances prop up the nation and are an important source of the GDP.
Duterte himself has even lauded OFWs as heroes!
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday lauded the heroism of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), which coincided with the 125th anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal.
The Chief Executive urged everyone to emulate the heroism and courage of Dr. Jose Rizal through his service to the country with dedication and integrity.
Apart from the 2022 National Budget, President Duterte also signed the Department of Migrant Workers Act.
Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go had earlier said that the creation and establishment of the said department is one of the priorities of President Duterte.
It can be recalled that the Chief Executive certified such a proposal as urgent in March.
With the signing of the Department of Migrant Workers Act, an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos working abroad are expected to benefit based on the 2019 Survey on Overseas Filipinos released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2020.
With the establishment of the department, President Duterte once again recognized the heroism of the considered ‘modern day heroes’, the OFWs.
Is Duterte a Red or a Yellow? Has he been duped by them? Well, perhaps. He did allow a hero's burial to an NPA leader back when he was Mayor of Davao.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has continued to defend his decision to allow a hero’s burial for slain New People’s Army (NPA) leader Leoncio Pitao here on Friday, saying there was nothing wrong with it.
Criticisms against Duterte flooded the social media and accused him of being a communist too after he allowed the NPA to hold a funeral march for Pitao, also known as Parago, here.
“Parago is dead. Death is permanent. But to me when the person is dead it is all even,” Duterte retorted.
He said while Parago was a communist leader, he should be respected for his ideology.
“After all, that guy is not an ugly guy. He was not a robber. He did not sell drugs. He was there dreaming of a different setup for the Philippines. That is all his sin,” the feisty mayor said.
Duterte said there was nothing wrong in his talks with the NPA either because as a mayor, one of his jobs is to ensure the city was peaceful and free from communist-led violence.
“I cannot seal my door. I need a window to talk to the CPP-NPA,” he said.
Still on allowing the funeral march for the slain NPA leader, during which, red-shirted NPA supporters and suspected members waved communist flags on the streets of the city, Duterte said he told security officials to allow it.
“We should not be contrasting on death. I’m your mayor. It’s not my job to do the fighting,” he said.
Duterte also openly admitted that he was not against the NPA and its ideology of social equality.
“I am not against you. I will not fight against you. We have the same view of the government and politics,” he said.
Duterte said he was not against the NPA but shared their view of government and politics. Not a peep from Tiglao about that during the last six years.
What about President Bongbong?
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. guaranteed that his administration would give importance, support and protection to the country's modern heroes.
Marcos called health care workers, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), teachers, and athletes as among the country’s "present-day" heroes.
"(All of them will help make our country a 'new' Philippines)," he said in his weekly vlog uploaded on his official Facebook page on Saturday.
"(My dream for our modern heroes is to give them the importance, support, and protection they need to enable them to continue fulfilling their missions)," he added.
Has Bongbong been duped by the Yellows and Reds into thinking athletes, teachers, and OFWs are heroes?
That Tiglao could overlook the proclamations of both Duterte and Bongbong and blame Reds and Yellows ALONE for debasing the concept of a hero is infuriating. This man is a propagandist and not an honest opinion writer!
Tiglao's assertion that with no official national heroes the Left and the Yellows have conspired to define "as heroes those who fought, or even remotely were against martial law" is unfounded and he offers no proof except "dude trust me."
The Bantayog ng mga Bayani is not unlike the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. It is a wall with a list of names of those who fought against and resisted the brutal dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Some of then even died.
The central element of the Bantayog memorial is the granite "Wall of Remembrance" on which are inscribed the names of the martyrs and heroes who were the victims of the abuses of the Marcos dictatorship.
Individuals honored on the wall are nominated by victims' families, civic organization members, or the general public. These nominations are reviewed under a set of criteria by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Foundation's Research and Documentation Committee, which makes recommendations to its executive committee for further review. The Foundation's Board of Trustees then gives the final approval.
The initial intent had been to honor victims who had been martyred during the dictatorship period, but after extensive deliberations, the foundation decided to also honor people who advocated freedom, justice, and democracy during the Marcos administration who lived beyond the People Power Revolution.
As of 2019, 316 names have been enshrined on the Wall of Remembrance.
Ang Mamatay ng Dahil sa 'Yo: Heroes and Martyrs of the Filipino People in the Struggle Against Dictatorship 1972-1986 published in 2015 by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, features short biographies of the "heroes and martyrs of the... resistance against the martial law dictatorship."
Look at that. Not only are these names chosen by a diverse committee but even the Historical Commission of the Philippines is involved in this project. Are they in cahoots with the Left and the Yellows to honor fake heroes? Tiglao does not say. More importantly why does Tiglao continue to defend the brutal and bloody dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos when he himself was a victim having been arrested by the constabulary for being a Communist!
I can speak of only five Marcos detention centers where I was incarcerated, together with my late wife Raquel, from 1973 to 1974: the Philippine Constabulary’s (PC) 5th Constabulary Unit in Camp Crame; that of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in Camp Aguinaldo; that of the National Intelligence Coordinating Authority in its headquarters at V. Luna Road in Quezon City (where it still is); as well as the Ipil Youth Rehabilitation Center and the maximum security Youth Rehabilitation Center, both in Fort Bonifacio—these latter two being the biggest during the Martial Law period.
I was arrested in July 1973, together with nearly all of the Communist Party’s Manila-Rizal Regional Committee, which I headed.
https://rigobertotiglao.com/2016/09/25/what-marcos-prisons-were-really-like/
Not only a Communist but the leader of a regional committee!!
Maybe we should get rid of Heores Day altogether. After all, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. All the founding fathers of the Philippines were Masons who fought not for the people but for the principles of Freemasonry. The Philippine Revolution was by no means a revolution of the people.
“I HAVE FREQUENTLY wondered why so many of my associates were Freemasons during those days in which we fought for the independence of the Philippines during the last decades of Spanish sovereignty, and I always reached the same conclusion as our Bro. George Washington probably did during the Revolutionary War in America; all these men, at the time of being initiated in Masonry, had been submitted to a minute investigation, and their obligations, taken before the altar of Freemasonry, were a guarantee of the trust to be put in them. It was very seldom in those days that our judgment as to the mettle of those men was wrong. The list of honor of our leaders at that time of relentless struggle is equivalent to a list of the prominent Brethren in Freemasonry. They were Filipinos of whom even then we were already proud, and who became immortals. There is not a child in our schools who does not feel elated on hearing the names of those patriot Masons—Brothers Rizal, Del Pilar, Lopez Jaena, Mabini, Bonifacio, Candido Tirona, the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite, and many others who offered their lives for the independence of their country.
It cannot be denied that the Filipino Revolution against Spain was the work and glory of Freemasonry in the Philippines.
The Catholic Church condemns Masonry in no uncertain terms.
Let no one think that for any reason whatsoever he is permitted to join the Masonic sect, if his profession of Catholicism and his salvation is worth as much to him as it ought to be. Let no pretended probity deceive one; for it can seem to some that the Freemasons demand nothing which is openly contrary to the sanctity of religion and morals, but since the entire reasoning and aim of the sect itself rest in viciousness and shame, it is not proper to permit association with them, or to assist them in any way.
Why should the devoutly Catholic Philippine nation revere as heroes Masons condemned by the Church? Those who condemn the 1986 EDSA revolution as not being a true "people power" movement should also condemn the 1898 revolution which was planned in the secret halls of the Freemasons and had nothing to do with the people. But they won't. Men like Rigoberto Tiglao are too obtuse to be consistent in their bellicose and ultimately intellectually bankrupt opinions.
Manny Pacquiao is on the SWS list of heroes along with the Aquinos and Ferdinand Marcos. What does that say about the people? Manny is an excellent boxer but how does that make him a hero? Is Hildilyn Diaz, the Philippines' first gold winning Olympic Champion a hero? How about Tony Tan Cakitong the founder of Jollibee's? Jollibee's Chicken has been declared the best fried chicken in the USA.
Eater’s special projects editor Lesley Suter explained why Chickenjoy has been hailed as the best fried chicken in the United States.
"The subtly seasoned skin is as tectonically crunchy as advertised, if loosely attached in such a way as to be able to slide off an entire hunk with one bite,” she said.
“But the real surprise here was the chicken itself: satisfyingly light, flavorful in a tastes like chicken sort of way, and supremely moist," she added.
Suter also praised Jollibee’s gravy, saying it “completes the dish, proudly showing its Filipino colors with a hefty dose of sugar.”
Does heroism equal national pride? If so then all those just listed are certainly heroes.
If the Philippines does not exist except as an imaginary community, as Rigoberto Tiglao writes, how can it have any heroes!? How can it have anything at all?
