| |
PHILIPPINE
NATIONAL HEROES |
| 
He was the King of Mactan Island
and was known as the first Filipino hero.
When Ferdinand Magellan, a Spaniard
who "discovered" the Philippines, landed
in Cebu, he ordered Filipinos to honor the
king of Spain. Chief Lapu-Lapu refused his
demand. Magellan, along with 48 soldiers,
met Lapu-Lapu in Mactan Island for a battle.
During the battle, Magellan and 15 of his
men were killed. For 54 years thereafter,
no Spaniard set foot on the Philippine soil.
|
 Jose
Rizal,
our national hero, was born in Calamba,
Laguna. His parents were Francisco
Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso.
He was educated in Europe and obtained his
license in opthamology and philiosphy in France.
He wrote Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
and El Filibusterismo (The Rebel) in
Europe, which told about the oppression of
Spanish colonial rule. In 1892, when Rizal
returned to the Philippines, he formed La
Liga Filipina, a forum for Filipinos to
express their hopes for reform and freedom
from the oppressive Spanish colonial administration.
He was arrested as a revolutionary and was
exiled in Dapitan, Mindanao. His writings
and La Liga Filipina were banned. Later, he
was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, Manila
after a trial. On December 30, 1896,
he was executed by a firing squad at Bagumbayan,
now known as Luneta, in Manila for
spreading ideals of revolution.
|
| 
He
is remembered as the "Hero of Tirad Pass"
and to the Americans as an "Officer and
a Gentleman." Pilar, at 24, was
the youngest general in the Revolutionary
Army, who fought bravely against the Americans,
with only 60 men. On December 2, 1899,
he was killed in the Tirad Pass while commanding
Aguinaldo's rearguard. Before his
death, he wrote, "I am surrounded by fearful
odds that will overcome me and my gallant
men, but I am pleased to die fighting for
my beloved country." The Tirad Pass
has been declared a national shrine.
|
| 
He
established the newspaper, Diaryong Tagalog,
which published criticisms on the way the
Spaniards ran the government and treated its
people. In Spain, he became editor of
La Solidaridad founded by Graciano Lopez Jaena.
For six years, he wrote articles on the theme
of liberty and equality for the Filipinos.
Copies were smuggled into the Philippines
in Tagalog and were read by the revolutionists.
On July 4, 1896, he died of tuberculosis in
Barcelona, a pauper, away from his family. |
| 
He
is the founder the Katipunan, a secret
organization aimed to overthrow Spanish
sovereignty in the Philippines. Its
full name was Kataastaasan Kagalanggalangang
Katipunan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan (Highest
and Most Respected Association of the Sons
of the Country), and was known by its intitials
K.K.K. Bonifacio is also known
as the "Great Plebian." He and Emilio
Jacinto issued stirring literature to
arouse people to revolt against the Spaniards.
On August 23, 1896, Bonifacio assembled
his men at Balintawak, tore their
cedulas (poll tax), and declared the start
of rebellion. However, a conflict
of leadership developed between he and Emilio
Aguinaldo, who was leading the struggle
in his home province of Cavite. After this
power struggle, on May 10, 1897,
Bonifacio was shot and killed in Cavite.
|
| 
She
is a famous heroine in Philippine history.
She was married to Fulgencio Ramos
with whom she had six children. In
1896, the Katipuneros of Andres Bonifacio
declared war on her land against the Spaniards.
Secret
meeting of the Katipuneros were held at
her house, and she tended Filipinos who
managed to escape by dressing their wounds,
feeding them, and hiding them from the Spaniards.
Soon, the Spaniards learned about her cause
and the underground meetings, and she was
exiled to Marianas along with 171
Filipinos charged with
rebellion.
In 1903, she came back under the American
regime. On March 2, 1919, she
died, at the age of 107. She was called
the "Mother of the Philippine Revolution." |
|  He
was born in Bigaa, central Bulacan. Balagtas
labored under strict friar supervision.
Themes had to fall under the constraints
of official religious themes in recommended
meter and structure. He took all obstacles
on, settling on allegorical poetry as the
medium to carry his message. With
meter and metaphor approval, he ushered
Tagalog into the realms of protest against
tyranny. The friars thought that Florante
at Laura, his best known work, was about
Christians and Moors duelling in mythical
kingdoms to the correct ending. The
metre was fine; there was even music to
it. In reality, he depicted the injustices
Filipinos suffered in the hands of the Spaniards,
and the evils that beset them during the
Spanish regime. This poem contained
ideals from which people of today can deduce
morals. Thus, it is considered one
of the best poems, and Balagtas is known
as the "King of Tagalog Poems."
|
|
|
