Think about it
Bayambang and Philippine independence
By Jun Velasco
“Every man is where he is by the law of his being, the thoughts he has built into his character have brought him there.”—James Allen
IF you saw “El Presidente,” the movie, which tells about the life and times of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, first President of the Philippine Republic, you’d be turned off by the low blow it subjected the Great Plebeian, Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan.
We brought up the subject in Malacañang in a dialogue with Secretary Sonny Coloma by FAMAS officers, calling for accuracy in the re-telling of biographies of historical figures.
In the movie, Aguinaldo, portrayed by Laguna re-elected Gov. Actor Jorge Estregan, is over romanticized as a great man, a national hero, while Bonifacio, portrayed by Cesar Montano, is a fumbling, hysterical leader.
Unfair, we said, for a man who as a boy sold paper fans to provide for the livelihood of his brothers and sisters and rose to found the Katipunan, the organization that railed and rallied our countrymen against the Spanish colonizers.
We said Filipinos, unlike foreigners, show little love or reverence for their own heroes.
In the U.S., India and China, we saw how hundreds would queue it out to have a glimpse of their national heroes. Here, very few would stop and view Rizal’s monument at the Luneta.
We expressed the hope that under Pnoy, whose rise to the presidency was greatly helped by his heroic parents, more films, articles and biographies of Filipino heroes would be made and staged.
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When he was still alive, we intimated to the late PDI columnist Adrian Cristobal our lament why the province of Pangasinan was not included in the eight stars in the Philippine flag. We even pointed out that more than hundred years before the birth of Rizal two Pangasinan revolutionaries, Andres Malong and Juan dela Cruz-Palaris were already major stars in the rebellion against Spain.
These thoughts bring us to the town of Bayambang which is preparing its quadricentennial observance on April 5, 2014. Significantly, June 12 is Philippine Independence Day.
In case you don’t know, Bayambang used to be the Philippine national capital, being the seat of Aguinaldo’s Philippine Republic when he was being pursued by American soldiers. They caught up with him in Palanan, Isabela months after.
Let’s not forget that it was in historic Bayambang where our national hero visited the love of his life, Leonor Rivera, in Barrio Camiling (now a town in Tarlac). It was also in this historic town where Katipunan writer Jose Palma penned the lyrics of Lupang Hinirang in Barrio Bautista, birthplace of our Governor Amado Espino Jr.
Bayambang also nurtured the late sportsman/linguistics genius Geruncio Lacuesta, founder of the Tour of Luzon cycling classic and anti purist Pilipino languist. Lacuesta’s Filipino became our national language.
Lately, the town has been thrust to the national fame due to business tycoon Cezar T. Quimbao, who built the multi-billion Skyway and LTO’s connectivity system.
We heard a powerful committee was formed by Mayor Ricardo Camacho to oversee the quadricentennial celebration. We expect to see inputs from Vice Mayor Boying Juno, Tourism chief Emma Mula, civic leader non pareil Dr. Henry Fernandez and others.
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At press time, we got wind of a plan to reorganize the local press club. There’s been a lot of preoccupation about press clubs.
We thought that for a change, our media colleagues step up their vision a bit by using their patriotism or fraternal love of country by what Tony Hombrebueno, our fellow detainee during Martial Law days, suggested — form a group that studies and give life to the ideals of our national heroes, so that they would be emulated.
“When we live their lives, we too become heroes,” he said. Tony recently had Taiwan visitors who were able to memorize Jose Rizal’s “My last Farewell.”
Tony added that it makes him sick to know that foreigners beat our own countrymen in showing love and reverence for our own national heroes.
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