THE months of August and September have been traditionally considered historic periods to remember our Filipino heroes. Thus, in our issue last week, we joined our nation in the annual commemoration of National Heroes’ Day to honor the memory of our men and women who gave unselfishly of themselves for the welfare of their country. It is noteworthy that in recalling the memories of our heroes, we highlighted several features of heroism, namely, the place of the ordinary citizens who rose above their seemingly lowly lives to give their contribution to the historic welfare of their people.
In particular, we gave special attention to our local heroes in Negros Occidental as well as the great number of overseas Filipino workers who have quietly contributed to the historic welfare of their country. We recalled the various Negrenses who helped in the historic struggles during the three major periods of the Spanish colonial rule, the succeeding American colonial administration and the brief but tragic sufferings of our people under the Japanese occupation during WWII. We have noted this opportunity to highlight the many Negrense leaders and their followers, firstly during the historic Cinco de Noviembre 1898 revolution against the Spanish colonial command in Negros.
Apart from the notable Negrense leaders who led the uprising, there were thousands of ordinary Negrense workers especially from the sugar farms who rallied behind the Negrense leaders such as Aniceto Lacson, Juan Araneta and other leaders. With the arrival of the American colonial forces in 1899, while most of the Negrenses for practical reasons chose to cooperate with the Americans, a small group of leaders and their followers mostly from the North Negros area courageously resisted the well-armed American forces who overwhelmed the meager Negrense resistance.
During the arrival of the Japanese occupation forces in 1941, among the most heroic events of Philippine history were the four short years of the Japanese occupation which showed the unforgettable Filipino heroism in the defenses of Bataan and Corregidor.
With the surrender of the regular Filipino and American forces against the Japanese, the Negrenses, among other local groups, organized historic resistance movements such as the Negros Resistance Government which heroically resisted the Japanese from the mountains of Negros.
While the post-war years gave liberation to the country from foreign invasion, there have also been some historic cases in the post-war years. As a special recollection of the convergence of heroism and history, this column especially remembers the millions of overseas Filipino workers who contributed their sacrifices for the welfare of their families in particular and the whole country in general. Over the past 50 or so years, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos risked their lives working in different countries of the world, many in difficult menial jobs and sent home millions of dollars every year.
As of the last several decades, the OFW dollar remittances have exceeded the 20 billion dollar mark annually and this has been the second biggest part of the gross domestic product of the country. Philippine history has truly been distinguished by the lives of these "modern day heroes" who also sacrificed so much for their country as our more notable national heroes in our history.