Some lived a life in disservice of one’s self but a
sacrifice for the entire nation…some, lived a fucking lie!
The United States of America (USA) prided itself to have
George Washington as its first president. Part of Washington ’s resume is that he led a
revolution that shaped the history of the world superpower. Here in the Philippines ,
the textbook-recognized first Philippine president was a dude named Emilio
Aguinaldo. A war escapist, megalomaniac extra-ordinaire, and with all of his
ulterior machination, perhaps was the prototype modern day crook politician. Some
would point it out rather accurately that Aguinaldo was the old-school sell-out
that tarnished the fundamental nature of the 1896 revolution. By most
historical accounts, it was Aguinaldo who masterminded the capture and eventual
execution of Andres Bonifacio together with his brother Procopio on the grounds
of treason. The internal strife that ripped the Katipunan into a factious division
cost the downfall of the revolution and one thing led to another—that another
fucked us big time that we can still feel the sting up to this very day.
Bonifacio of course is the face of the Philippine revolution
of 1896. Ang Supremo to the greater
number of the Katipuneros. The Great
Plebeian who rose to head an underground movement from the ranks of the masses.
Yet such grand title pale in comparison as to what was bestowed to both Dr.
Jose Rizal, the recognized National Hero and Aguinaldo, who was the supposed
first President of the country. What left of Bonifacio has always been subject
to much harsh portrayal—often painted as the odd man out, one that has the
lesser pedigree among them.
Ever remember arguments coming from your history teachers
that the thing that went against Bonifacio’s place in history is his being an
uneducated maglalako? These are the
kind of urban legend that got us to believe that Gat.Andres Bonifacio was
nonsense as Jose Rizal was the real deal. There are of course some demonizing
propaganda against Bonifacio that when we were young we dreaded his image with
a warmonger lunatic drunk with power likeliness. Then we grew up, started to
discover things on our own volition because somehow, we grew suspicious of
things being told about Ka Andres (same fate befell one of the revolution’s
greatest general, Antonio Luna). If anything, Bonifacio represented that
resilient idealism which, if you are colonizing a country as beautiful and rich
as the Philippines, something you want them to unlearn from if only to convert
their radicalism into subservient apathy. Boni as an icon is too much of a
danger for Filipino to emulate as they seek their own identity, thus, Rizal was
the convenient choice. Thrust into the consciousness of every Filipino in hopes
to taper any surfacing resiliency. Because of Bonifacio’s radical orientation
is what cost him to play second fiddle to Rizal, who in the contrary was the
more passive libertarian whose only goal at the very most is to secure a
recognition for the entire country as a mere province by the Spanish motherland
(translation: an upgrade from being an emaciated colony to a province with
perhaps an upgraded treatment, yet nonetheless still oppressive from the
conquerors)
Bonifacio’s legend, despite of the historical attempts to
downplay his stature as the father of the revolution grew even larger as more
and more intellectuals dug more proof of Bonifacio’s cerebral leadership skills.
These contradicted more of the textbooks’ content with which he was described
as a rather incompetent war general, a self-proclaimed head of the uprising,
and quite destructively, the connotation that he was an intellectual
lightweight as suggested by his educational attainment. And adding insult to
the injury, the history books that is propagated since the American occupation
until present time portrayed Aguinaldo as the exact opposite of the paradigm
that illustrated the life and ways of Bonifacio.
Representatives from Bayan Muna Partylist pushed for the
realization to finally recognize Bonifacio as the country’s very first
president giving credence to the accounts of historians who reinforced the
belief that the Katipunan was a governing separatist state and Bonifacio then
was the widely-recognized head of the movement. The Andres Bonifacio Act of
2013 seeks to enshrine him and perhaps wash away the vestiges of a demolition
job cast upon the Supremo by the same
people discredited his contribution to the nation-building—worst, went to the
extent of maligning his legacy to suppress whatever emboldened patriotism
Filipinos were starting to display back then; it was waiting to explode and
putting the iconic Bonifacio to such elevated remark would only trigger the
time bomb they believed
So it was about time to enshrine the Supremo that well-represented the poor man’s plight. He took the
road less travelled to pave the way for freedom. Well, yes, freedom was never
achieved. Well, yes, freedom is still very much out of our grasps in this
modern day semi-colonial set up. But Bonifacio took us to the light and this
what pissed off our conquerors—we can come up with so much angst now more than
ever to put him as our very own national hero which embodies the ideals of our
own—far from the pacifist nature that ultimately allowed the invasion of
various countries that raped our motherland. And all happen because of the
choice for our own national hero that we didn’t make.
