Honoring the Great Plebeian: Simply the Best!

Today is a special day for the Filipinos because this day is a national holiday. And because I am a Filipino, I join the whole country in this celebration. But why do we celebrate Nov. 30 as a holiday?

The Great Plebeian

Nov. 30 is a holiday because of one of the men, who changed the course of Philippine history. And, before this day ends, I want to salute him for being behind the first Asian revolution against an imperial power: Andres Bonifacio.

Andres Bonifacio was born on Nov. 30, 1863 in Tondo, Manila to Santiago Bonifacio and Catalina de Castro. During the 1870s, when his parents died, he left school and supported his younger siblings. Luckily, before his parents’ death, he was able to study Tagalog and Spanish. Similarly, as he grows old, he becomes exposed to different books containing the ideals of liberalism and nationalism, such as the novels which Jose Rizal published: the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Later, he would be joining La Liga Filipina. He would also establish a secessionist movement: The Katipunan, which will pave way for Asia’s first uprising against an imperial power and a forerunner of Asia’s first republic. Sadly, he would have to die in the hands of fellow revolutionaries after being charged with treason. He died on May 10, 1897.

It is very sad to note that mankind had to resort to violence to achieve dominance that even our forefathers had to argue, disagree, divide and ultimately resort to manslaughter of fellow Filipinos. It is quite disturbing why they have to kill each other, especially when turmoil and chaos were prevalent and the need of having national unity is pressed upon by the circumstances of those times. No wonder greed for power has been and will always be a cause of one’s death in our country. It is indeed sad; if the people struggled for power in times of chaos, how much more in times of peace?

Nevertheless, I still believe in what Andres Bonifacio fought for. Hopefully, Filipinos may learn not only to appreciate what he has done for us in attaining independence but also to continue what he has started, especially today, a lot of issues are going on in our country and we seemed to be in disarray.

I want to share with you as a Filipino a food for thought from an excerpt from his essay What the Filipinos should know:

Reason tells us that we cannot expect anything but more sufferings, more treachery, more insults, and more slavery. Reason tells us not to fritter away time for the promised prosperity that will never come. Reason teaches us to rely on ourselves and not to depend on others for our living. Reason tells us to be united that we may have the strength to combat the evils in our country.