What is a hero?

Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino, Gabriela Silang, Lapu-Lapu, Fr. Jose Burgos, Fr. Mariano Gomez, Fr. Jacinto Zamora, Emilio Jacinto and Jose Abad Santos.

These are the nationally acknowledged Philippine heroes whose lives are celebrated. The only contemporary celebrated and recognized hero is Ninoy Aquino.

There are many different definitions of a hero. The dictionary defines hero as “a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Another classic definition of a hero is “a person dedicated to helping others, no matter who or what it is. Heroism is the very thought of helping others for nothing in return.” This is similar to the other definition as “someone who gives of himself or herself at great risk for the greater good of others.”

Heroes are supposed to possess eight major traits which are: smart, strong, resilient, selfless, caring, charismatic, reliable and inspiring.

One would think that with such clear definitions of heroism and a list of officially acknowledged heroes, there should be no debate on who are the real heroes of the Philippines.  However, there have been controversies surrounding the list of real heroes in our country’s history. One of the biggest questions if not the most important is that of Emilio Aguinaldo. There is no dispute that he was the first president of the Republic of the Philippines. He was also one of the originators of the Philippine Revolution.  However, he has been accused of plotting the assassination of his arch rival Andres Bonifacio. This heinous incident included the rape of the wife of Bonifacio.

Another major scandal was the assassination of Gen. Antonio Luna, then commander-in-chief of the Philippine Army when he was killed by rebellious soldiers at the plaza in Cabanatuan. The belief was that this was ordered directly or indirectly by then president Emilio Aguinaldo.

Even the declaration of Jose Rizal as a national hero was at one time the subject of a minor controversy. Some believe that it was the American colonizers who pushed for the declaration of Rizal as a national hero in order to prevent the recognition of Andres Bonifacio as the true national hero. The reason was that the American colonial masters favored Rizal who advocated for peaceful reforms versus Bonifacio, who championed the cause of a violent revolution against foreign conquerors.

Perhaps all our heroes are flawed in some way; but this should not prevent us from acknowledging that they were also heroes who oftentimes gave up their lives for their people. This concept of a flawed hero is not only true in Philippine history but in the histories of many other countries.

Take for example, the United States. From the year 1861 to 1865, a violent conflict or civil war took place between the northern states and the southern states. Millions of lives, both in the military and the civilian population, were lost in this conflict. In the history of the United States, the most admired generals who were considered military geniuses were Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Johnson.  Monuments and books dedicated to their heroism were popular throughout most of American history.

Today, their statues are being forcibly removed because the feeling is that they were really fighting to preserve slavery. From the southern point of view, they were fighting for a “lost cause” which was the independence of the southern US which they called the Confederacy of the United States. Stonewall Johnson was killed in one of the great battles of the Civil War.

After approximately 150 years after the end of the Civil War, there is now a big debate in the US whether Lee and Jackson were heroes or villains fighting to continue slavery.

In France, they celebrate the fall of Bastille as a national holiday, marking the birth of the French Republic. This was the time when the national population rose in revolt against a corrupt and abusive monarchy. It was truly a great event which saw the rise of intellectual heroes like Voltaire. It was said that the ideas of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity gave birth to the idea of democracy and the rule of the people.

However, people forget that this was the same era when the guillotine became well known as hundreds of people, mostly from the nobility, were executed by having their heads cut off. So while the French Revolution produced many heroes, it also produced acts of cruelty.

One of the most controversial names in the history of the Chinese people is that of Chiang Kai-shek. To the communists, he was the head of a corrupt regime that was driven out of mainland China by the People’s Army led by Mao Zedong. To the nationalists, he was the successor to Sun Yat-sen who led the Nationalist Army safely out of mainland China and on to the island of Taiwan. The nation that he founded in the island of Taiwan is now one of the most progressive and democratic territories in the world.

When I look at all heroes, I conclude that they all have flaws. On the other hand, they have similar traits of trying to achieve great things for their people. Perhaps like our modern hero Ninoy Aquino, the one value that all heroes share is their conviction that their people is worth dying for.

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