Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
During the Bonifacio Day
[
Delivered at the Quirino Grandstand, November 30, 1992
]
The task of patriots
Sa mga iniwang katha ng ating minamahal na si Andrés Bonifacio, ang kanyang sinulat ukol sa pag-ibig sa tinuhuang lupa ay kailanman hindi natin makakalimutan. Wika niya:
Aling pag-ibig pa ang hihigit kaya
sa pagkadalisay at pagkadakila
gaya ng pag-ibig sa sariling lupa?
Aling pag-ibig pa? Wala na nga, wala.
THIS DAY is the 129th birth anniversary of Andrés Bonifacio, and this year is the centennial of the founding of the Katipunan. It is only fitting that we mark these two events together with this moving parade and celebration. For Bonifacio was the founder of the Katipunan, and the Katipunan embodied his noblest dreams for our people and our country. The one sanctifies the other.
How the revolution began
History tells us that on the night of July 7, 1892, Bonifacio met with a handful of men at a house in Tondo. Under the flickering light of a table lamp they signed with their own blood an oath to work for the welfare of the Motherland, and to organize themselves into a secret society to be known as Kataas-taasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng Mga Anak ng Bayan. Their aim was to separate the Philippines from Spain as an independent nation. The hurried meeting was the offshoot of the news that José Rizal had been arrested the previous night and banished to Dapitan.
From that night onward, the pace of events was fast. A year after, it had spread all over Manila and was beginning to branch out into Cavite and Bulacan. By 1896 it had chapters in eight provinces, and was gathering adherents in the thousands.
Before the Katipunan was ready to strike, however, it was discovered by the Spanish authorities. On August 26, 1896, on the hills of Balintawak, Bonifacio and other Katipuneros launched the Filipino revolution against Spain.
Glory and grief, triumph and tragedy
Thus the story of our national revolution began—in the soil of Spanish oppression and in the heart of one man. What followed afterward is a story of both glory and grief, triumph and tragedy.
And of all the chapters of national history, there is none more stirring than the birth of the Katipunan and the cry of Andrés Bonifacio to his countrymen to rise up in arms.
Later would follow the many griefs and tragedies of our national revolution. The execution and martyrdom of José Rizal. The division of the Katipunan into factions. The denial to Bonifacio of a place of honor in the organization he had founded, and his treacherous assassination.
Yet, no nation and no people can afford to be selective about their history—choosing only the pleasant things to remember and relegating the unpleasant side to forgetfulness.
It’s been said that those who don’t remember their history are condemned to repeat it. In a way, we are a living illustration of its truth—repeating the disunity and betrayals that scarred the Katipunan and our revolution throughout this century, quarreling over how the past is to be written or remembered.
We must learn from our history.
We cannot stop at merely commemorating the memory of Bonifacio and the Katipunan. To do so would be merely to perpetuate our past mistakes. We must sanctify and ensure our future by the example of Bonifacio.
We must also derive from their memory inspiration and purpose for our own lives today. They must energize us in facing the challenges of a new time—guarding against the pitfalls that made Bonifacio a victim, and striving to do better in the national enterprise we are now embarked upon.
To this day our revolution remains unfinished. While this has become a cliché, reflection tells us it is so very true. Many of the hopes awakened by Bonifacio and the Katipunan have remained unfulfilled—not least their hope that the poor masses of this nation would themselves rise in well-being upon the achievement of national independence.
Every time we remember Bonifacio and the Katipunan, we must never forget that the revolution was seeded and fired by the hope of the poor for a better life. Some had tried to take the revolution away from them—saying that it was an
ilustrados’
affair. Some had sought to appropriate Bonifacio for their own cause and their own purposes.
They fought for a nation, not a class
One thing is very clear about the story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan. They fought for a nation, and not a class. They expressed ardently the hopes of the poor under a free Philippines. But they brought into the cause other groups in our society—the educated and the affluent—and turned the revolution into the struggle of our race.
Bonifacio and the Katipunan belong to no party and no class—but to all of us. Today, we are again at a critical hour in national life. Depending on how we act, our country will either prosper or falter. Depending on how we match our deeds with our brave words, this nation will enter its first century developed and just, or dragged down as ever by crisis and disunity.
My fellow countrymen, I will venture to say today—on this the 129th birthday of Andrés Bonifacio—I firmly believe our present struggle will meet with success.
What Bonifacio and the Katipunan began we will continue. And we will not allow a repeat of the mistakes and divisions of the past.
Source
:
Presidential Museum and Library