The Araw ng Kalayaan or the Independence Day in the Philippines is annually observed every June 12th, which commemorates the country’s freedom from the Spanish colonization. In Philippine History, Spain was not the only country who tried to conquer the nation – there was also the US and Japan. However, as Macky and I had Sunday lunch at SM City Davao last week, our attention was captured by an exhibit called “War of Our Fathers”, a tiny fair of old relics and historical pictures of the Japanese era in the country.
We
saw rusty and ancient soldier artifacts displayed in glass cases with labels
explaining what they were for. Some of the things we saw were:
Old helmet
Mortar Shells
Bayonets
Japanese Mess Kit
Then we saw the gallery of
pictures of historical accounts of our ancestors’ fight for freedom alongside
the Americans for the declaration of independence, the honor of carrying the Philippine
flag and the making of history.
But the Philippine history of the
fight for Independence was not rainbows and butterflies. It was bloody, cruel and
deadly. As I went down in memory lane watching the pictures of soldiers,
guerillas, dead bodies of men, women and children; it made me think that Rizal,
Bonifacio, Aguinaldo and so on were not the only heroes who fought for this
nation – Every Filipino is a Hero!
Each and every one of our
fathers, brothers and grandfathers of old sacrificed their life to make this
country free. All those men, women and children who offered their blood were
our heroes.
Now, let us ask ourselves:
Do we still give a damn about
all this?
Can we still say we deserved our
freedom?
Do we still care for all the sacrifices
and bravery our fathers served us so we can celebrate this Filipino holiday
today?
I guess it’s time we review our history once again, not just for the
sake of celebrating the annual Philippine Independence Day – but celebrating history
for our freedom each and every day.
This made me remember a line from the movie Red Dawn, which said: “We inherited our freedom, now it’s up to all of us
to fight for it.”