Another long weekend has passed. The occasion? To commemorate the birthdate of one of the Philippine's Revolutionary Heroes, Andres Bonifacio, born on November 30 during the 19th century. As November 30 falls on a Tuesday, Malacañang opted to declare Monday a holiday instead. The long weekend encourages some domestic spending and gives the local economy a little boost. In the City of Manila, where the revolutionary hero was born, City officials honor Bonifacio's statue with a flag ceremony, acknowledgement of his nationalism and a short program.
Who was Andres Bonifacio?
19th century Philippines was struggling under the Spanish Colonial rule and Andres Bonifacio was in the forefront of taking up arms against Spain. He would have been the country's national hero if not for the intervention of the Americans. I learned in school that the Americans wanted Jose Rizal to be the national hero instead of Andres Bonifacio, the logical choice, because Rizal was against any form of violent stance against the Spanish Colonizers. With Rizal as someone to be emulated, there would be no uprising against the new colonizers, the Americans. Rizal was also born into the upper-middle class , an illustrado, educated in Europe, therefore of proper "breeding", unlike Bonifacio who came from the masses, uneducated and was all for Revolution and violence to thwart the Spaniards of its continuing oppresion of the Filipino people.
I'm not sure if it was Rizal's idea to annex the Philippines to Spain and make it a province as a solution to stop the Spanish oppression. With the Philippines as a province of Spain, Rizal believed that Filipinos will be on equal footing with the Spaniards. We got our colonial mentality from Rizal. We should have been more nationalistic like Bonifacio.
But to give Rizal some credit, it was his novel, "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not), that sparked the 1896 Revolution against the Spaniards. Through the characters in his novel, Rizal condemned the Catholic Church in the Philippines for promoting Spanish colonialism in the islands. He called it the Cancer of Society.
Hmmmm, speaking of the Catholic Church, one doesn't have to go further to look for an example for the saying "religion is the opium of the poor". The Filipino masses believe that being poor is a blessing and that it is good. Thanks to the Catholic Church, Filipinos are actually encouraged to be poor...to accept their rotten lot in life now because when they die, they will receive great riches in heaven. HORSE MANURE! First of all, who or what is the Catholic Church for it to judge who will go to heaven or hell? In the end, it will only be between me and my GOD and only HE will judge me, not the priests, not the bishops, not even the Pope himself. Second, a lot of our countrymen remain poor because they rely on dole-outs instead of getting off their lazy behinds and make a decent living. Good grief, the Philippines is a country rich with natural resources. We just don't know how to cultivate what was already gifted to us.
The thinking is that since one was born poor, he will remain poor. This is further justified by thinking that GOD, according to the Catholic Church, wanted him where he is and just accept it and rejoice. This notion is depressing and frustrating for me. I'm a Roman Catholic and I see things that I don't like about my faith and cannot do anything about it.
Let's look at Japan, a highly industrialized country. It overcame the ashes of World War II to rise to what it is today, one of the world's super powers and one of the world's productive economies. Look at their people. Polite, disciplined, respectful. They are a nation with a purpose. Majority of their people practice Shintoism and Buddhism which is essentially to love, serve, medidate and realize. How different is Buddhism from Christianity? Or from being a Catholic? Where are we Filipinos as a Nation? Where are the Japanese as a Nation?
Go figure.
Who was Andres Bonifacio?
19th century Philippines was struggling under the Spanish Colonial rule and Andres Bonifacio was in the forefront of taking up arms against Spain. He would have been the country's national hero if not for the intervention of the Americans. I learned in school that the Americans wanted Jose Rizal to be the national hero instead of Andres Bonifacio, the logical choice, because Rizal was against any form of violent stance against the Spanish Colonizers. With Rizal as someone to be emulated, there would be no uprising against the new colonizers, the Americans. Rizal was also born into the upper-middle class , an illustrado, educated in Europe, therefore of proper "breeding", unlike Bonifacio who came from the masses, uneducated and was all for Revolution and violence to thwart the Spaniards of its continuing oppresion of the Filipino people.
I'm not sure if it was Rizal's idea to annex the Philippines to Spain and make it a province as a solution to stop the Spanish oppression. With the Philippines as a province of Spain, Rizal believed that Filipinos will be on equal footing with the Spaniards. We got our colonial mentality from Rizal. We should have been more nationalistic like Bonifacio.
But to give Rizal some credit, it was his novel, "Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not), that sparked the 1896 Revolution against the Spaniards. Through the characters in his novel, Rizal condemned the Catholic Church in the Philippines for promoting Spanish colonialism in the islands. He called it the Cancer of Society.
Hmmmm, speaking of the Catholic Church, one doesn't have to go further to look for an example for the saying "religion is the opium of the poor". The Filipino masses believe that being poor is a blessing and that it is good. Thanks to the Catholic Church, Filipinos are actually encouraged to be poor...to accept their rotten lot in life now because when they die, they will receive great riches in heaven. HORSE MANURE! First of all, who or what is the Catholic Church for it to judge who will go to heaven or hell? In the end, it will only be between me and my GOD and only HE will judge me, not the priests, not the bishops, not even the Pope himself. Second, a lot of our countrymen remain poor because they rely on dole-outs instead of getting off their lazy behinds and make a decent living. Good grief, the Philippines is a country rich with natural resources. We just don't know how to cultivate what was already gifted to us.
The thinking is that since one was born poor, he will remain poor. This is further justified by thinking that GOD, according to the Catholic Church, wanted him where he is and just accept it and rejoice. This notion is depressing and frustrating for me. I'm a Roman Catholic and I see things that I don't like about my faith and cannot do anything about it.
Let's look at Japan, a highly industrialized country. It overcame the ashes of World War II to rise to what it is today, one of the world's super powers and one of the world's productive economies. Look at their people. Polite, disciplined, respectful. They are a nation with a purpose. Majority of their people practice Shintoism and Buddhism which is essentially to love, serve, medidate and realize. How different is Buddhism from Christianity? Or from being a Catholic? Where are we Filipinos as a Nation? Where are the Japanese as a Nation?
Go figure.