FILIPINOS of today face the challenge of building a republic with citizens who revere nationalism to the highest level— that which was in effect Jose Rizal’s and the rest of the heroes’ kind of patriotism.
Because this kind of devotion redeemed the country’s peace, unity, stability and progress, Mayor Samuel Co said in his message during the commemoration of the 113th anniversary of Rizal’s death.
Local government officials and employees, law enforcers, military men, civic groups, students and the public gathered at the Rizal Monument in front of the City Hall last Wednesday to mark the death anniversary of the martyr with a short program.
The significance of the celebration was highlighted with the laying of flowers and wreaths at the monument.
Co, in his message read by councilor Estrella Arao, praised the national hero for his many virtues and for teaching the spirit of nationalism to the Filipino people.
“Without the peacemakers, and if they were alive today, they would have brought the rightists, leftists, separatists, and oppositionists to the negotiating table and argued with them peacefully for the rarity of their ideas,” Co said.
In his speech, M/Gen. Romeo Lustestica, commanding general of the First Infantry (Tabak) Division, mentioned the hero’s fearless exposures of the injustices committed by the civil and clerical officials and his brilliance to which the great artist, novelist, doctor and poet was always remembered.
“Every year we gather to commemorate the most important event in our lives and we’re moved with a sense of pride and nationalism,” Lustestica said.
Adding Rizal did not only leave the Filipinos their dignity of a free and independent nation, he also left his countrymen a challenge to make every effort for fineness and distinction in all endeavors.
The army general cited, for example, the dynamism and achievements of modern-day heroes, the likes of Efren “Kuya Ef” Geronimo Peñaflorida Jr., the educator and social worker who became “CNN Hero of the Year” in 2009 for his outstanding advocacy to educate Filipino out-of-school youth through “pushcart classes.”
Other heroes Lustestica included in his speech are the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who have selflessly helped during the evacuation of stranded victims from the onslaught of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last October, and the soldiers who forfeit their comfort in exchange for safeguarding the country from its enemies.
Lustestica then dared everyone to think of the sacrifices of these living heroes and not leave them in vain memories, like how Rizal was often remembered—not forgetting these brave men for their noble act of making our country free and independent.
REPORT BY JUN CORGUE, PIA-9