"Continuing the Supremo's legacy of unwavering Nationalism"
(A message for Bonifacio day)
This note firmly join the Filipino people in commemorating one of the country's national heroes, Gat Andres "Maypagasa" Bonifacio, whose life and that of his Katipunan reflects the dreams and aspirations of the Filipino masses in its quest for National and Social liberation.
Bonifacio's quest for freedom was not a typical civic affair. Like Mao Zedong and his actions in China, or that of Ho Chi Minh and his Vietnam's journey to liberation, his revolution was not a dinner party nor an embroidery session. And for sure everyone would even disagree the Supremo's direction, dismissing it as "hopeless" and "costly", no matter how it was driven altogether by the reality of Filipino society that's marred by repression, the emancipating influence of western liberal thought with its "liberty, equality, and fraternity", and the aspirations of the common folk ranging from civil rights to the basic right to land and sustenance.
The latter aspiration was of course, closer to the common folk as they themselves endure hunger and deprivation than that of the ilustrado and the principalia that some mock their plight. After all, does the word "freedom" and "rights" fill a hungry stomach? Yes, these common folk did fought under these ideals, but their desire to till in their own land, and to live with dignity forced them to take the bolo.
And to think that Bonifacio tried to indigenise the ideas of "liberty, equality, and fraternity" such as that of his "Haring Bayan" as referring to a "Republic", this did appealed further to the common folk who had enough of repression, injustice, and disenfranchisement brought by the Spanish-led order and its minions. Through his Katipunan, his works like "Pagibig sa Tinubuang Bayan", "Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog" and others upheld the aspirations of the Filipino working class, peasants and other democratic classes- even at the expense of those who initially supported him, only to choose looking after their own interests than that of their homeland. That until today the oppression, intrusion of foreign interests continue making a society stuck in its/ ever-continuing past. Like Bonifacio, those who criticise against the order are being labeled as "terrorist" the way the supremo was labeled as a traitor, filibuster, heretic, and various words trying to discredit him and his struggle.
At the same time the order, as trying to be as patriotic especially when their statements praising him, claiming his day to be "an auspicious occasion to reflect on his legacy" to that of encouraging all walks of life to love and fight for the country". Indeed, such statements truly encourage the people to become patriotic like the Supremo and his folk, overcoming their weaknesses as they jump into the abyss. But, this doesn't deny the fact that the order's self-interest runs contrary to the Supremo's message of serving the people wholeheartedly; that the legacy of being subservient to foreign interest and local tyranny while "claiming to be they're for democracy" doesn't stop the folk from igniting the spark for real, meaningful change even at the expense of their lives.
Perhaps, amidst the pandemic and the still prevailing socioeconomic crisis, of reprisals by the order and its apologists, the Great Plebeian's legacy, just like other heroes will always be a rallying light that will guide the folk. His passionate nationalistic spirit has inspired the youth and the oppressed in its quest for social emancipation, steeled every mind and sinew with the fiery love of country that makes as one people willing to advance an aspiration and to upheld justice and liberty.
