November 30

The Bonifacio story still hounds our present: in the politics of factionalism, elitism and power play

Andres Bonifacio celebrated his 155th birthday on Nov. 30. Bonifacio is remembered as the father of the Philippine Revolution and of the Katipunan.

There is so much a mystery surrounding the Great Plebeian, as he left only few but significant writings that mirror his passion for the country. There is so much more mystery surrounding his death, as his and his brother’s bodies remain missing after their execution.

The Bonifacio story still hounds our present: in the politics of factionalism, elitism and power play. Historians such as Renato Constantino and Ambeth Ocampo reflect on this betrayal by the elites and ilustrados and the legacy it left us. Recent films by Enzo Williams (“Bonifacio, ang Unang Pangulo”) and Jerrold Tarog (“Heneral Luna,” “Goyo”) bring this theme to this millennial generation using such relevant medium.

Another personality born on this date in 1835 is Mark Twain (real name Samuel Clemens), an American author who wrote about the adventures of young runaways and slaves in “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn,” and of the pretentiousness of the American aristocrats.

He also wrote essays questioning the American colonization of the Philippines, how America acted to put our country under its heel instead of letting us find our freedom. He called it imperialism. He is perhaps one of the first to strike solidarity with the Filipinos before such a word became popular.

There is so much to learn from this history, yet here we are more absorbed on Facebook, popular books of dystopia and young romance and adventure, and school textbooks that offer limited texts to fire the idealism and proper grounding of the youth on our society today.

Those who continue to promote Bonifacio’s legacy include youth activists. The Kabataang Makabayan, the group that sparked the First Quarter Storm during the Marcos years, was founded on Nov. 30. The youth group AnakBayan was founded on the same date. They honor the nationalist and anti-colonial struggle that Bonifacio waged.

Nov. 30 is also the founding of the Lumad group in Talaingod called the Salupongan Ta Tanu Igkanugon (Unity to Defend our Ancestral Land). It brings an organic dimension to the nationalist struggle of Bonifacio, one that is rooted on defending indigenous traditions and territories against globalization’s plunder of natural resources.

Salupongan’s celebration, though, is marked by more struggles. The Lumad schools they started in Talaingod have been forcibly closed by the paramilitary the past few days. Strangely, the school heads and support groups that rescued the children, led by Bayan Muna’s Satur Ocampo and ACT Teachers’ Rep. France Castro, have been charged with “trafficking the Lumad children.”

It seems those who have good intentions are now treated as criminals, while those with guns and are allies of imperialists are lording over the law. It’s a legacy of betrayal felt by Bonifacio, thus his legacy of struggle continues.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear,” says Mark Twain.--from SunStar Davao