 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Wanted: Heroes (Alive, Not Dead) By Antonio C. Abaya July 19, 2002 One of the most interesting segments of the nationwide survey conducted last November by the group led by former UP President Jose Abueva, the results of which he revealed in his article in the June 11, 2002 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, is the matter of whom the 1,200 respondents considered this country�s heroes. (Excerpts from this article are archived in the website www.tapatt.org.) By far, the hero of choice was Jose Rizal, who got 75% of the votes, followed by Andres Bonifacio (7%), Apolinario Mabini (1%), Manuel Quezon (1%), and Emilio Aguinaldo (1%). Heroes of more recent vintages were Ninoy Aquino (3%), Ferdinand Marcos (2%), Ramon Magsaysay (1%), Corazon Aquino (0.3%) and Joseph Estrada (0.26%). After making their first choice, respondents were asked �Who else?� The second choices were Andres Bonifacio (44%), Apolinario Mabini (19%), Emilio Aguinaldo (14%), Jose Rizal (12%), Ninoy Aquino (8%), Gregorio del Pilar (6%), Ramon Magsaysay (5%), Melchora Aquino (4%), Lapu-Lapu (4%), Marcelo del Pilar (4%), Juan Luna (4%), and Manuel Quezon (3%). I do not know if the survey left it up to the respondents to make their choices or if they were asked to make their choices from a prepared list, but only two living persons managed to make it, former presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada, who garnered such small percentages, 0.3% and 0.26% respectively, they were practically invisible. Out of 1,200 respondents, only four and three individuals chose Cory and Erap, respectively. No mention was made at all of former president Fidel V. Ramos or of the incumbent GMA. There was also no mention at all of other hero-wannabes, dead or alive, from the other side of the tracks: Joma Sison, Popoy Lagman, Luis Taruc, Jesus Lava, Renato Constantino Sr., Lean Alejandro, Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, Teddy Casino, etc. ***** What this seems to say is that Filipinos prefer their heroes conveniently dead. Or that living persons, no matter how intrinsically heroic they may be, are pulled down to the gutter by the ever cynical and unforgiving Philippine press, who do not find any good in anyone who breathes or anything that moves. Or that out of 80 million people, there isn�t a single individual worthy of the label, hero. Take your pick. This should be a disturbing sign since it means that Filipinos do not have a living role model who can unite them and inspire them to outdo themselves. If a similar survey were conducted in Cuba or Malaysia or Singapore or Iraq, there is no doubt that the majority would choose Fidel Castro, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Lee Kwan Yew (or Goh Chok Tong) and Saddam Hussein, respectively, even if carping liberals were to have a fit over those choices. An underdeveloped country of 80 million people who have no living role model to look up to, no Nelson Mandela, no Ho Chi Minh, no Nehru to serve as a beacon of strength, inspiration and single-mindedness, will sink into a morass of cynicism and endless bickering from which there may be no escape. ***** In our recent history, the closest this country came to an authentic inspiring hero was Ninoy Aquino. But in Professor Abueva�s survey, Ninoy got only 3% of the votes (36 out of 1,200), only one percentage point ahead of his tormentor Ferdinand Marcos, founder of the kleptocratic Marcos dynasty, under whose regime and by whose military Ninoy was assassinated. It was Ninoy�s martyrdom that triggered the middle class revolt known as EDSA 1 that toppled the Marcos dynasty from power. By all standards, Ninoy�s life and death were heroic. Why did he get so few votes in the survey? Is it because Filipinos have notoriously short memories? Or is it because Filipinos have developed a warped sense of values? Those two elements may have been a factor, but I believe the bigger reason is the widespread disappointment and disenchantment with the aftermath of EDSA 1. Those Filipinos who admired him for his lonely crusade against Marcos, who grieved for him when he was treacherously gunned down, and whose sense of outrage and anger found free _expression in People Power�.implicitly expected that his martyrdom was going to lead to a national renewal of, well, heroic proportions. When, because of inexperience and a na�ve desire to please everyone, his widow and her government dissipated the moral capital accumulated from his martyrdom, and nothing earth-shaking marked her presidency, Ninoy�s own stature as an authentic hero was fatally diminished. Then, adding insult to injury, his own brother Butz and his own sister Tessie sold out the moral legacy of Ninoy by aligning themselves with a criminally inclined ignoramus of a president who chose to surround himself with swindlers, high-stakes gamblers, big-time smugglers, jueteng lords, stock price manipulators, drug traffickers, murderers, and fugitives from American justice. Even Sicily was not as morally deprived and depraved under the Mafia as this country was under Erap and his hoodlums. ***** Poor Ninoy, that it was all for nothing. Poor Pilipinas, that its clime is so inhospitable to authentic heroes that when it finally produces one, he has to be pulled down and dragged through the slime by no less than his own siblings. We should hang out a big sign in the sky: Wanted: Authentic Hero. To save the Philippines from the Filipinos. May be male or female, in good physical and mental health, must be of unassailable moral calibre, must be impervious to daily insults from the press. Preferably alive, but willing to die for a forgetful people. Communists need not apply. ***** This article appears in the August 5, 2002 issue of the Philippine Weekly Graphic magazine. |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Wanted: Heroes (Alive, not Dead)� August 29, 2002 I WOULD imagine that the 1,200 (respondents) surveyed are typically like me and I would understand why the responses did not mention a living hero. My public elementary teacher indoctrinated me so much so that a hero should be someone who did something drastic against an aggressor, likely a foreign one and preferably died in doing so. Ninoy would have qualified except (other than the reasons you mentioned re his siblings � btw, you forgot Kris) he was out-shot by Mr. Galman or perhaps his escorts before he had the chance to make a hero of himself. In this sense, could Mr. Galman qualify? Better yet, declaring a hero in this manner nay extract a self-confession on the triggerman � after all, chances of becoming a national hero rarely do come by. It is the person, not the ideals he represented wrongly taught my first grade teacher. Is basic education likewise a culprit. Carlos Lansangan. [email protected]. ***** MY REPLY. Ninoy was shot by his military escorts, not by Galman. Galman, who was supposed to shoot Ninoy, was shot by other military men, according to plan. Neither Galman nor the military deserve to be called heroes because they did not do anything heroic. Ninoy, on the other hand, did an heroic act by coming home despite the warnings and threats by several people, including Imelda, that he would be shot as soon as he stepped on Philippine soil. Ninoy was killed because he interfered with the plans of some people to succeed Ferdinand Marcos on his (FM�s) death. To my mind, only two persons were both ambitious and in positions of power to succeed FM: Imelda and Danding. Take your pick. ***** TONY, my tocayo�..bravissimo! This kind of essay should be duplicated and sent to our high schools all over the Philippines, and made a theme of a symposium, with all teachers discussing it. Remember, they are the hope of the motherland, our youth, I mean, and hinde pa sila masyadong corrupt (kaunti lamang pero idealistic pa). Looking forward to more quality thought provoking and timely columns from you�.. Tony Joaquin, Daly City, California. [email protected]. ***** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |