We need Dr. Jose Rizal's heroism

More than ever, the Philippines need heroes. The economy is not in good shape, politics is in the monopoly of dynasties. Over half of the 110 million Filipinos are struggling below the poverty line. Corruption, crime, and drugs are still on an upward trajectory.

Today is the 162nd birth anniversary of the greatest Malayan who ever lived, Dr. Jose Protacio Mercado Alonso Rizal y Realonda. His teachings in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo ring with great relevance today considering that our nation and people are still suffering from a social and economic cancer of such malignant character that the least touch exacerbates its lingering pains.

The Philippines, with its vast natural resources, bountiful lands, rich seas, fine tropical climate, and strategic location, is supposed to be a very rich country but, alas, with too many poor people struggling to survive. We have a few ruling oligarchs who control our economy. We have a ?14-trillion national debt. Our poverty incidence is 49%. The unemployment rate is above 14%, and our underemployment exceeds 25% percent of our workforce. Our trade deficits are staggering and our fiscal deficits are very alarming. Amidst all these, our national leaders aren’t concerned with alleviating poverty, as they’re already starting to squabble for the 2028 presidential polls.

Our freedom is illusory and our independence is fictional. We cannot even produce half the rice that our millions of people need. We need to import sugar, onions, meat, and dairy when we are supposed to be an agricultural country, with the president no less acting as secretary of Agriculture. But in the midst of all these, we still have the political caricatures of Capitan Tiago, Padre Damaso, and Doña Victorina. Tiago is represented today by our greedy and uncaring politicians who don’t serve with competence, honesty, and conscientiousness. Damaso is represented today by many sectors of the religious community that operate elitist and exclusive schools only for the rich and powerful, closing their doors to the poor and marginalized children of the working masses. There are a lot of religious hypocrites whose teachings in faith don’t match with the work of charity.

Victorina is represented today by the women in high society who ostentatiously display their elegance and opulence, while totally being unmindful of the growing poverty of the people. These matrons and their children can afford to live in luxury oblivious to the sufferings of the working class. The poor in many squatters' colonies in the peripheries of the decaying cities cannot even afford to buy rice and basic needs. On the other hand, Rizal's caricature of Sisa is represented today by poor wives and mothers who need to go abroad to work as domestic servants. Crispin and Basilio are represented today by out-of-school youths who are being suspected of drugs and some executed summarily while the sons and daughters of the rich are acquitted with utmost speed for the same crimes.

We need Dr. Jose Rizal's heroism so that the truth can be exposed to the world through the mighty powers of the pen and social media. We need Elias and Pilosopo Tasyo, we need Padre Florentino and the rest of the good people in Noli and the Fili so as to combat the abuses, decadence, and social injustice of Tiago, Damaso, and Victorina. We need the heroism of Rizal to confront the oppressors and exploiters with the truth that should haunt their conscience and souls. We even need Crisostomo Ibarra who, even with his fixation on things the people could not afford nor understand, still wanted to educate the masses so that they could feel the longings for authentic freedom and genuine liberty.

Today's birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal should at least remind us that in the darkest nights of our ancestors, not all were asleep and uncaring. Many offered their lives, like the moths burned by the flickering lamps, so that others could see the light. Many have toiled to dig the graves of our history so that the future generation could know the truth of injustice and they shall learn how to be true and to be free. Today, our hearts should be filled with longing to break our chains of indifference and cowardice.

Today, on the 162nd birthday of our national hero, we should at last see the dawn after a long night of uncaring and ineptitude. And we should decide whether to remain a Crisostomo Ibarra or to become a new Elias.