Echoes of Valor in a Time of Crisis:
On National Heroes Day in a time of scandals
On this National Heroes Day, the Philippines finds itself once more in conversation with its own soul. Across monuments, plazas, and schoolyards, the names of Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, Emilio Aguinaldo, Gabriela Silang, and countless others are intoned like sacred verses. Yet their deeds are more than carved letters in stone; they are flames carried forward by generations, reminders that this archipelago’s history was built not by resignation but by resistance.
It was Lapulapu on the shores of Mactan who first showed that defiance was possible—that even the sharp steel of empire could be met with courage. Centuries later, Bonifacio would raise the banner of Katipunan, Rizal would wield his pen like a weapon, and Luna would marshal both genius and fury for a nation yet unborn. Each name, each sacrifice, forms part of a long river of struggle that flows into the present.
What that suggests
Heroism in the Philippine story has always been a response to a moment. In the 16th century, it was the rejection of conquest. In the 19th, it was the demand for dignity and freedom. In the 20th and to the current, it became the fight against occupation, dictatorship, and betrayal. Heroes rose not because they sought titles but because the times required them to stand.
And as the note of this day reminds that, this oresent setting too are a time of testing: of democracy’s fragility, of economic strain, of lingering shadows of authoritarianism. What the nation's ancestors carried in bolos, rifles, and manifestos, modern Filipinos must carry in service, compassion, and integrity.
The risks and the rhythm of history
There is always the danger of treating heroes as distant icons. Marble statues do not bleed, nor do portraits starve. But the men and women they represent once did. They chose discomfort over safety, sacrifice over silence. The nation risks dishonoring them when it forgets that the very same choices confront every generation:
The farmer who rises before dawn to feed millions.
The nurse who leaves for distant shores to sustain her family.
The teacher who walks rivers and hills to reach her students.
The worker who resists exploitation with quiet dignity.
These are not romantic images—they are the living substance of heroism. It is not surprising that the government, with its leaders would praise them for their heroic acts, rehashing statements enough to rally the people especially when they're being sureounded by scandals and crisis unaddressed: Sara Duterte have looked back the examples of names like Rizal or Sultan Kudarat yet can't escape from the issues involving confidential funds and her calls for bloodbath; so is Marcos who spoke about sacrifice yet struggling to address the pressing issues people insist to focus upon to- corruption, subservience to interests, social injustice, and others that hinder the march of development the Philippines has to traverse.
The task of the present
The Philippines cannot afford to relegate heroism to the pages of textbooks or the cadence of flag ceremonies. If history is to breathe, it must do so through present acts of courage and unity. The nation’s heroes remind Filipinos that patriotism is not a costume for parades but a daily discipline: rejecting corruption, defending the powerless, building bridges where division festers.
The true test lies not in remembering what Rizal or Bonifacio did, but in answering whether today’s citizens are ready to act with the same fire in their own sphere of life.
In this moment of remembrance, the Philippines discovers a truth both unsettling and empowering: heroes are not relics. They are not trapped in 1521, 1896, 1942, 1972, or 1986 and any other years. They live whenever an ordinary Filipino decides to lift others above themselves, if not having the will to die for others.
National Heroes Day is, therefore, not a holiday about the past but a mirror of the present. And in that mirror, the nation is called to see its own reflection—not as a passive spectator, but as a potential hero waiting for the summons of its time.