Wikipedia \u2013 though not always the most accurate of sources \u2013 defines a national hero of the Philippines as \u201ca Filipino who has been recognized as a hero for his or her role in the history of the country. Loosely, the term may refer to all Filipino historical figures recognized as heroes, but the term more strictly refers to those officially designated as such.”<\/p>\n
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Will the officially proclaimed national hero please stand up?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ironically \u2013 and this is a fact that is perhaps, little known \u2013 in the Philippines, NO ONE had been officially recognized for the designation of national hero. Do you hear that? It\u2019s the sound of collective gasps of shock and disbelief! It\u2019s true, though \u2013 the Philippines has never directly and definitively proclaimed a national hero. Not Rizal (who is largely accepted as the greatest Filipino hero, and as THE national hero), not Bonifacio, not anyone.<\/p>\n The Executive Summary of the Selection And Proclamation Of National Heroes and Laws Honoring Filipino Historical Figure, as published online by the Reference and Research Bureau Legislative Research Service says that :<\/p>\n \u201cNo law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. However, because of their significant roles in the process of nation building and contributions to history, there were laws enacted and proclamations issued honoring these heroes.<\/p>\n Even Jose Rizal, considered as the greatest among the Filipino heroes, was not explicitly proclaimed as a national hero. The position he now holds in Philippine history is a tribute to the continued veneration or acclamation of the people in recognition of his contribution to the significant social transformations that took place in our country.<\/p>\n Aside from Rizal, the only other hero given an implied recognition as a national hero is Andres Bonifacio whose day of birth on November 30 has been made a national holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, despite the lengthy list of men and women Filipinos generally consider as their national heroes, there has been no official proclamation. A formality, perhaps; but an essential one, nonetheless. We observe holidays in their honour, learn about them at school and such, as we await the day of their official proclamation; when the heroes of the land can stand up and be counted, once and for all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unofficially Yours, (signed) Heroes<\/strong><\/p>\n Among the numerous unofficial heroes of the Philippines, The National Heroes Committee in 1995 recommended nine men and women to be recognized as national heroes. The list included Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Melchora Aquino and Gabriela Silang.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jose Rizal: Reformist , writer, ladies man<\/strong><\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is perhaps the most \u201cofficial unofficial\u201d national hero of them all. Born on June 19, 1861, he was a widely acclaimed reformist and key player of the reform movement. A Filipino nationalist, novelist, poet, ophthalmologist, journalist, and revolutionary, Rizal\u2019s mightiest weapon was his quill.<\/p>\n He authored books, poems and essays that stirred the hearts and collective soul of the Filipino people against the ills of their Spanish colonizers. Noli Me T\u00e1ngere, and El Filibusterismo are two of his greatest works. Rizal was executed by firing squad of the Spanish army on December 30, 1896. His death moved the Filipinos to a bloody revolt against Spain.<\/p>\n Aside from his skill with the quill, Rizal was also quite the ladies\u2019 man. His biographies reveal numerous relations with women; from the purely flirtatious in nature, to those involving deeper affections. Some of the women with whom he was linked are 14-year-old Batangue\u00f1a Segunda Katigbak; Gertrude Beckett of Chalcot Crescent (London); wealthy and elite Nelly Boustead of the English and Iberian merchant family; last descendant of a noble Japanese family Seiko Usui (affectionately called O-Sei-san); Leonor Valenzuela, and His distant cousin, Leonor Rivera (widely believed to be the inspiration for the character of Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere), with whom Rizal had an eight-year-long romantic relationship. Rizal eventually settled down with Josephine Bracken, an Irish woman from Hong Kong, who he met when she took her blind father to him for a check-up. They were, however, never able to marry, as Rizal refused to return to the Catholic Church; which he sharply criticized in his writings.<\/p>\n Rizal\u2019s profile is embossed on the one-peso coin. In the Philippines, December 30 is commemorated as Rizal Day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Andres Bonifacio: Almost president<\/strong><\/p>\n Given the symbolic nickname \u201cMaypagasa (source of hope),\u201dBonifacio is known as the father of the Philippine revolutionary movement and the founder of the Katipunan secret revolutionary society.<\/p>\n Born in Tondo, Manila, on November 30, 1863, Andr\u00e9s Bonifacio y de Castro grew up in the slums and never knew what it was like to live a prosperous life.<\/p>\n He was married twice: first to a certain Monica (of Palomar), who was Bonifacio’s neighbor in Tondo. Monica died of leprosy and they had no recorded children. His second marriage was in 1892, to 18-year-old Gregoria de Jesus.<\/p>\n Numerous Filipino scholars, historians and everyday citizens alike feel that Bonifacio should hold the top \u201cunofficial official\u201d spot of national hero, instead of Rizal. Others believe, as well, that he should have been the Republic\u2019s first president, in lieu of Aguinaldo. Still others claim that trial and subsequent execution of the Bonifacio brothers was unjust. Aguinaldo had the brothers arrested for treason, for their defiance of his authority.<\/p>\n Bonifacio appears on the ten-peso bill, alongside Apolinario Mabini. Aside from Rizal, Bonifacio is the only hero with a public holiday in his honor. Bonifacio Day is celebrated on November 30 of every year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emilio Aguinaldo: Polished politician<\/strong><\/p>\n Emilio Famy Aguinaldo, who went by the moniker of Magdalo (a faction of the Katipunan), is recognized as the first president of the Philippine Republic. Aguinaldo was born on March, 22 1869 in Cavite Viejo (present-day Kawit, Cavite) to well-to do Chinese mestizo parents. He was the seventh of eight siblings. His father, Carlos, was the appointed gobernadorcillo of their area.<\/p>\n Following his father\u2019s footsteps, Emilio became involved in politics, filling the position “Cabeza de Barangay\u201d of Binakayan, a chief barrio of Cavite del Viejo, when he was only 17 years old. He was a central figure in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution, the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine-American War.<\/p>\n Aguinaldo died on February 6, 1964.<\/p>\n He is commemorated on the five-peso bill, on which he displays the Philippine flag from the balcony of his house and proclaims independence from Spain to the Filipino masses below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Apolinario Mabini: The sublime paralytic<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDakilang Lumpo\u201d \u2013 literally, Heroic Paralytic \u2013 was the nickname that Apolinario Mabini y Maranan went by. He was born on was born on July 22 or 23, 1864 (the registration of his birth is uncertain) in Barangay Talaga in Tanauan, Batangas. Philippine history texts refer to him as “the Sublime Paralytic”, and as “the Brains of the Revolution;” while his enemies and detractors called him the “Dark Chamber of the President.”<\/p>\n Apolinario Mabini was appointed prime minister and was also foreign minister of the newly independent dictatorial government of Aguinaldo on January 2, 1899.<\/p>\n There was much controversy surrounding the cause of his paralysis, with strong rumours flying about that it was the result of a venereal disease; syphilis, to be precise. However, his bones were exhumed after his death and autopsy results conclusively proved that poliomyelitis had caused the condition.<\/p>\n Mabini died of cholera on May 13, 1903.<\/p>\n He is depicted on the ten-peso bill, with Andres Bonifacio and other symbols of the Katipunan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jose_rizal_01_wiki.jpg\")
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