Philippines: A Land Worth Living For

There was a child, the seventh of the 11 children of a certain wealthy couple in Calamba, Laguna, whose dreams were made of heart, a heart for his own countrymen. Yes he was dreaming to be a doctor, but fate would not allow such a man destined to be the hero of his country to heal his hurting people. Rather, it placed him in a position to heal his ailing country, whose rulers were huge-bellied, God-condemned priests who believed they could do anything they wanted because they can. In the wake of disillusioned friars came a sickly, little man with a big heart to save this people from the damnation they are receiving, a man who has ignited the way to independence with his uncanny ability to write what he thinks is right, to stand up in the midst of his scared and scarred countrymen, a man who wrote "El Filibusterismo" and "Noli Me Tangere", two books who have sparked the road to Philippine Independence, a man we all know as Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, the Philippine National Hero.

And as Rizal's heraldic story ended in a sad note, he never lost hope. He never died facing the ground. As Rizal's body swallowed the raging bullets fired by the soldiers, he realized he was falling down to the ground facing down - and he did not want that to happened. Like Elias, Rizal's character in his revolutionary books (what some considered to be Rizal's "other side"), he died with dignity and pride, summoning all his strength to face the sun, a metaphor of a believing hero, one who knew Philippines would soon be free.

"mamamatay akong hindi mamamalas ang pagsikat ng araw sa aking bayan... Kayong mga makakakita sa pagbubukang-liwayway, malugod ninyo siyang tanggapin, at inyong gunitain ang mga nabuwal sa dilim ng gabi!" - Elias

"It is finished" -Jose Rizal

What is finished? His stint?
What he was trying to tell is that the reign of the Spanish friars is done. And the Philippines, the land of 7,107 would taste its sweet-smelling victory of freedom, like a bird doing its finest aerial acrobatics after seeing the cage door blew open.

Oh, history! What fondest memories you serve!

Fast-forward to the year of the corruptors, those whose angel faces shine brightly in a dark alley, the real identity shown in discreet fashion.
Political scandals after another bump their way into our once-heraldic country, now marred by money-hungry maniacs along with their "promises".

But why would we let it hold us back? Why would we let it staunch us from rising to the top?

They are not our enemies.

They are our countrymen, our co-kababayans, our blood brothers.

Our number one enemy is the sin of corruption and greed.
Hate the sin, not the sinner.

There are better things we can do than complain and complain and complain.
Stop the talking. Do the walking.
Act but don't react. Respond.

My co-Filipinos, as we commemorate the most significant day of our Philippine being, let us not fail the past heroes who have spent their whole lives fighting and fighting and fighting for us, for our freedom.
Let not their works be in vain. We may die not being recognized due to our works, but hey, we died as a Filipino, with our eyes meeting the sun as we touch the ground and transport to another life.

It is finished.


Not the freedom this time. But our label as a "corrupt nation". Our life as a "3rd world nation"
And there is no need of bloodshed to do that, rather, it's the active lives of each and every one of us as we rise to the occasion and be "living heroes" of our time.

"The Filipinos are worth dying for". This is over.
How about: The Philippines is worth living for.