Heroes’ Quest for Freedom

“Isang malaking karangalan ang

ipagtanggol angating inang bayan. Ang
mag tagumpay o ang mamatay”

-Heneral Antonio Luna

 “Freedom is not free.” Throughout our history from the time of the
Spaniards, Americans, and the Japanese our ancestors scarified
their lives just to obtain the very freedom that we are enjoying
nowadays. We have to remember that force can only be used as a
last resort to attain an object. Some of our “heroes”, as we call
them, used force to achieve their goals, but this did not really work
in the end. In fact, even our national hero, Jose Rizal, refuse to be
rescued and opted instead to sacrifice his life because he knew
that peaceful means-not force-was better for our country.
Nevertheless, we have to learn from the gallantry and bravery
shown by some of our ancestors so that we can internalize the
“love of country” that pushed them to give their lives for our
country. What we need to learn is pure patriotism or an immense
love for the country according to Graciano Lopez Jaena. This is
the best quality a good citizen or leader should possess. Let us
take a look at some of these heroes.
 Lapu-lapu
 is considered to be the “first police” who made the first successful defense
of Filipino freedom.
 His victory was the first recorded triumph of Filipino resistance against
colonial power.
 Nothing is known of the life of Lapu-Lapu except that he used to be the chief
of the island of Mactan.
 He is the first Filipino to defy the Spanish authorities, defeating Magellan in
the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521. When Magellan tried to impose his will
upon this great warrior chief and his people, his valor proved no match to
craftiness and patriotism of Lapu-Lapu.
 However, even at that time, the people had already shown signs of
fragmentation. While Lapu-Lapu resisted Magellan, other tribes, such as the
RajaHumabon peacefully accepted the Spaniards and were even baptized
into Christianity.
 Francisco Dagohoy

 (Francisco Sendrijas, 1724) was born in Bohol during the eighteenth

century.
 He is best known for leading the longest revolt in Philippines history.
 Prompted by an incident in which the Spaniards refused to give a proper
Christian burial to his dead brother, Dagohoy rallied 3,000 Boholanos to his
side and immediately began a campaign, which was characterize by
victories over all Spanish forces sent against him. The people of Bohol saw
in Dagohoy the leadership that they sorely needed.
 Having entirely cleared the islands of Spaniards, Dagohoy triumphantly
announced the independence of Bohol. The islands remained independent
85 years after his death.
 Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora
 The execution of Father Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora can be
considered a major blunder on the part of colonial government.
 The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 nourished Filipino nationalism. In a
sense, 1872 produced 1896 which then produced June 12, 1898.
 The three priests were executed because they were implicated in
the Cavite Mutiny that lasted from January 19-20, 1872.
 Even Dr. Jose Rizal dedicated his novel El Filibusterismo in
memory of the three priests. He wrote:
 Jose P. Rizal (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896)

 was a Filipino nationalist, novelist, poet, ophthalmologist, journalist, and revolutionary

 While in Europe, Jose Rizal became part of the Propaganda Movement,through which he connected
with other Filipinos who wanted reform in the motherland.
 He also wrote his first novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), a work that detailed the dark aspects of
Spain’s colonial rule in the Philippines, with particular focus on the role of Catholic friars. The book
was eventually banned in the Philippines, although copies were smuggled in. Through this novel,
Rizal’s return to the Philippines in 1887 was cut short when he was targeted by the Spanish forces.
 After this threat, Rizal return to Europe and continued to write, releasing his follow-up novel. El
Filibusterismo(The Reign of Greed) in 1891.
 He also published articles in La Solidaridad, a paper aligned with the Propaganda Movement.
 The reforms Rizal advocated for did not include independence; instead, he called for the equal
treatment of Filipinos, limiting the power of Spanish friar’s, and representation for the Philippines in
the Spanish Cortes (Spain’s parliament). He called for the peaceful reform of Spain’s colonial rule in
the Philippines.
 After his 1896 execution, he became an icon for the nationalist movement. Spain’s control of the
Philippines ended in 1898.
Dr. Jose Rizal is considered our national hero because of his
significant contributions to our country.It was the American Governor in
the person of William Howard Taft who suggested to name Rizal as
the national hero. He also ordered that Rizal’s statues be built in
different parts of the country, along with the establishment of the Rizal
Park in his honor. At that time, the American recognized Rizal as a
national hero not only because they wanted to win the sympathy of the
Filipino people but also because what Rizal did was similar to what
their “founding fathers” did. America was once a colony under Great
Britain. But they were able to obtain freedom and sustain it because of
their strong foundation of “nationalism.”
 Andres Bonifacio (November 30, 1863 – May 10,
1897)
 was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary leader who founded the Katipunan, a secret
society that spearheaded the coordinated uprisings against the Spanish and laid the
groundwork for the first Philippine Republic.
 He grew up in the slums and knew from practical experience the actual conditions of the class
struggle in his society.
 He did not have formal education, much less any kind of military training, but he
supplemented the meager knowledge he had acquired from private tutors (his aunt) by self-
study. Among his favorite reading materials were books about the French and American
Revolutions, which no doubt influenced and guided his thinking and actuations during the
Philippine revolution.
 Orphaned early in life, he interrupted his studies in order to earn a living as a craftsman and
then as a clerk-messenger and agent of foreign commercial firms in Manila. Absorbing the
teachings of classic rationalism from the works of Jose Rizal, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserable’s,
Eugene Sue’s The Wandering Jew, books on the French Revolution, and the lives of the
presidents of the United States, Bonifacio acquired an understanding of the dynamics of the
socio-historical processes at that time. This inspired him to join the La Liga Filipina, which
Rizal organized in 1892 for the purpose of uniting and intensifying the nationalist movement
for reforms.
 When the Liga was dissolve upon the arrest and banishment of Rizal, Bonifacio
formed the Katipunan in 1892, thereby providing the rallying point for the people’s
growing clamor for freedom, Independence, and equality.
 The Katipunan patterned its initiation rites after the Masonry, but its ideological
principles were derived from the French Revolution and can be considered radical
in its materialistic-historical orientation. The Katipunan exalted work as the source
of all values. It directed attention to the unjust class structure of the colonial
system, the increased exploitation of the indigenous population, and the need to
affirm to collective strength of the working masses in order to destroy the
oppressive system.
 Bonifacio organized the K.K.K. orKataas Taasang Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng
mga anak ng Bayan or Katipunan on the day of the “Cry of Balintawak.”
 Bonifacio, together with Katipunero attacked the Spanish garrison at San Mateo,
Rizal. The Spaniards were quickly driven from the town but when enemy
reinforcement came, the insurgents were forced to retreat.
 Andres Bonifacio was an able organizer and courageous leader. His fighting spirit
prompted him to personally lead men in battle. However, his bold and resolute
conviction in his actions led him and his men to suffer many defeats.
 The life of bonifacio—from start to end—sadly demonstrates
thelack of unity in our country, which still happen today.
Unfortunately, he died not in the hands of the enemy but in the
hands of fellow Filipino. When the leader of the Katipunan passed
away, Emilio Jacinto carried out the wishes of Bonifacio. The
Katipunan, at this time, had many factions and not all of them
operated in the same way as they waged their efforts to gain
independence of Spain. In fact, as with his predecessor before
him, Jacinto refused to join Magdalo faction of the Katipunan
under the Leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo.
 Apolinario Mabini (July 23, 1864- May 13, 1903)

 was a Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer, and statesman who

served as the first Prime Minister of the Philippines, serving first under the
Revolutionary Government, and then under the First Philippine Republic.
 He started to study at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1881 and at the
University of Santo Thomas, where he received his law degree in 1894.
During this time, the earned his living by teaching Latin and then serving as
a copyist in the Court of First Instance in Manila.
 Mabini’s chief work, La Revolution Filipina, a reasoned analysis and cogent
argument concerning the ideological implications of the revolution against
Spain as well as the resistance to the American invaders, reveals the
progressive and democratic impulse behind his thinking. As a selfless and
dedicated patriot, Mabini has always tried to mediate between the people’s
will and the decisions of their leaders
 EL VERDADERO DECALOGO
(The True Decalogue)
(Apolinario Mabini)
 First.Love God and your honor over all things: God, as the source of all truth, all
justice and all activity; your honor, the only power that obliges you to be truthful,
just and industrious.

 Second.Worship God in the form that your conscience that God speaks to you,
reproaching you for your misdeeds and applauding you for your good deeds.
 Third. Develop the special talents that God has given you, working and studying
according to your capabilities, never straying from the path of good and justice, in
order to achieve your own perfection, and by this means you will contribute to the
progress of humanity: thus you will accomplish the mission that God himself has
given you in this life, and achieving this, you will have honor, and having honor, you
will be glorifying God.
 Fourth. Love your country after God and your honor, and more than you love yourself, because
your country is the only paradise that God has given you in this life; the only inheritance from
your ancestors; and the only future of your descendants: because of your country you have life,
love and interests; happiness, honor and God.
 Fifth. Strive for the happiness of your country before your own, making her the reigning influence
for reason, justice and work; if your country is happy, you and your family will also be happy.
 Sixth. Strive for the independence of your country, because you alone can have a real interest in
her aggrandizement and ennoblement, since here independence will mean your own freedom,
her aggrandizement your own perfection, and her ennoblement your own glory and immortality.
 Seventh. In your country, do not recognize the authority if any person who has not been elected
by you and your compatriots, because all authority comes from God, and as God speaks to the
conscience of each individual, the person chosen and proclaimed by the consciences of all the
individuals of a whole town is the only one that can excise real authority.
 Eight. Strive that your country be constituted as a republic, and never as a monarchy: a
monarchy empowers one or several families and lays the foundation for a dynasty; a republic
enables and dignifies a country based on reason, it is great because of its freedom, and is made
prosperous and brilliant by dint of work.
 Ninth. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, because God has imposed on him and on
you the obligation to help one another, and has dictated that he does not do unto you what
he does not want you to do unto him; but if your neighbor is remiss in this sacred duty and
makes an attempt on your life, your freedom and your priorities, then you should destroy
him and crush him, because the supreme law of self-preservation must prevail.

 Tenth. Always look on your countryman as more than a neighbor: you will find in him a
friend, a brother and at least the companion to whom you are tied by only one destiny, by
the same happiness and sorrows, and by the same aspirations and interests.
 Revolts against Spanish tyranny (1500s to 1800s)

 Dagami Revolt (1565-1567)

 Lakandula and Soliman/Sulayman Revolt (1574)
 Pampanga Revolt (1585)
 Conspiracy of the Maharlikas (1587-1588)
 Revolts Against the Tribute (1589)
 Magalat Revolt (1596)
 Igorot Revolt (1601)
 The Chinese Revolt of 1603
 Tamblot Revolt (1621-1622)
 Bancao Revolt (1621-1622)
 Itneg Revolt (1625-1627)
 Ladia revolt (1643)
 Sumuroy Revolt (1649-50)
 Maniago/ Pampanga Revolt (1660-1661)
 Almazan Revolt ( January 1661)
 Panay Revolt (1663)
 Zambal Revolt (1681-1683)
 Agrarian Revolt of 1745
 Dagohoy Rebellion (1744-1829)
 Silang Revolt (1762-1763)
 Palaris Revolt (1762-1764)
 Basi Revolt (1807)
 Novales Revolt (1823)
 Palmero Conspiracy (1828)
 Pule Revolt (1840-1843)
 Cavite Mutiny (1872)
Historically, manifestos and articles regarding the expression of our ancestor’s ideas and aspirations have
always been present. These articles and authors, though arguably scant, are neither inferior nor frail in the
intellectual enterprise.