COMMENTARY

Title: The Birth of Nation and its Discontents

Author: Reynaldo C. Ileto

First of all, Professor Reynaldo C. Ileto's article was once morse eye-opening,
not just for me as a history teacher but more significantly for all Filipinos who
struggle to understand Philippine history. The article which titled "The Birth of Nation
and its Discontents" illustrated how the history of the Philippine revolution affected
the nature and organization of the nation. I wholeheartedly concur that revolution is,
in fact, the cornerstone of Philippine history and foundation and that the nation's
identity depends on the mastery of its origin because these tales have the power to
either shape or break the country's future.

Professor Ileto talked about the Philippine Centennial Parade held on June 12,
1998, which took more than six hours and went from the Cultural Center of the
Philippines to Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila. Along with those who watched
the event on television, about two million people also attended the Centennial
Parade. According to Professor Ileto, this event outperformed the support shown for
Cory Aquino's case in 1986 and even Pope Paul's 1995 salutation. Affirming (goal and
objectives) to remise the struggle of each individual that was responsible for building
and establishing the free Philippines that we all enjoying today. The commemoration
that has been done from the event was incomplete. Though it covered most of the
essential points from the Spanish and Japanese occupation, it does not display the
bloody conflicts between the Republic and the U.S. Army which makes the million
pesos event incomplete and partially biased. This was the annotation of Prof. Ileto
that was carried out in the paper, moreover, he said that the American occupation is
seen by other revolutionaries as leaving the cause for liberation "unfinished".

This is the condition that deeply embroidered in the history of the Filipinos yet,
the mission to complete the revolution is still stagnant from the eyes of the people.
Because of this I viewed the paper of Prof. Reynaldo Ileto as an essential piece of
knowledge that would show Filipinos how to approach and carry out the "unfinished"
revolution of our forefathers. Besides, this enables us to clearly see an image of
“history from below”.

From the mid-discussion in the article, Ileto said that "the Americans did not
consider themselves to be the descendants of the Spanish colonialists." They
purportedly arrived with a brand-new "civilizing mission" to foster a "daughter
republic" that had been abandoned in the Orient. This statement backs up one
journalist's dismissive account of the Philippines as "a teenage farce" and raises the
question of whether the Philippines will ever grow up. This unpleasant statement may
be true if we consider the raw revolution led by Andres Bonifacio and the type of
governance demonstrated by Emilio Aguinaldo. 

"The lights were turned back on, the sick man [of Asia] had gotten out of
hospital, and the teenage farce had grown up," said outgoing President Fidel V. Ramos
in response to the demeaning statement about the Philippines and its people. In a
way, the present crisis proves that in choosing democracy over authoritarianism, we
Filipinos were on the side of history rather than outside it, as earlier believed. "For in
this time of extraordinary change in the world, it is a fact that democracy and the
free-market system go together." I personally admired the language he used to
reestablish the spirit and honor that had been shattered for the longest time by the
colonizers. Just like with Professor Ileto, I would like to commend the way Fidel V.
Ramos defended and narrated that as a nation, we can stand on our own, could be
more capable of handling independence than the Americans thought, and that we
Filipinos are now on the right side of history.

After the Centennial Parade, we became too familiar with hero identification.
Likewise, the event provided a unique opportunity for politicians like Joseph Estrada
to link themselves and their projects to our great forefathers, which eventually led
them to win the hearts of the masses. In my opinion, until now, politicians have used
this kind of approach as a tool to gain sympathy and eventually win the election. Prof.
Ileto explained that politicians practice this to establish a popular image to which
most Filipinos can relate and feel that those traditional politicians are their defenders
against oppression and corrupt individuals in the government. Yet, the picture or the
myth that was built here is not permanent; it is always conditional and can be easily
destroyed if the evil action of a politician is publicized. In the ninth day of November,
2001, Joseph Estrada, the self-claimed "Modern Bonifacio" of the masses, and the
highest-ranking official at the time were charged with plunder under R.A. 7080, the
Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder as amended by R.A. 7659. Even
though he used the revolution started and fought by Bonifacio in the name of modern
necessity, it didn’t take long for him to be safeguarded against his evil doings on the
issue of Jueteng Payola.

It is so sad that history and our forefathers, who fought for our fatherland, are
being used in the personal and political agendas of those aristocrats who want nothing
but to get rich from the public treasury. They sought money and authority from
possible resources to raise their social class, just like Pedro Paterno, who is well
known for being a treacherous official during the Spanish and American occupation of
the Philippines. But not everyone who became an official in the government became
evil and corrupt. Others, such as Ninoy Aquino, who is known as the martyr of the
EDSA People Power Revolution, have become symbols of democracy and hope for the
many. 

Many people look up to Ninoy as the hero of Philippine democracy. In the same
situation, at the centennial parade, according to Professor Ileto, Ramos showed his
sincere gratitude to what he considers the new heroes, the OFWs of the Philippines.
On this note, I remembered how OFWs were looked at in my teenage years. People in
my hometown want to go out, not just to become newly asserted heroes (OFWs), but
more so to be able to gain a bigger income for their family's necessities. The OFW’s
act of sending their dollars to the Philippines has been transposed into nation-state
terms by the state, which identifies these workers with the heroes of the past,
incorporating their personal or family narratives into the national narrative of
progress through struggle (Ileto, 1998). It is the primary reason why the government
should strengthen safeguards for each Overseas Filipino Workers' rights and living
conditions, because they are fighting not only for themselves, but also for the
Philippines, just as our forefathers fought for its independence. 

The last part of the article of Professor Ileto provided a portion of the speech
of the upcoming President Joseph Estrada, he said:

Filipinos should stand proud today, for our freedom was not handed to
us on a silver platter. Our forebears and heroes paid the supreme sacrifice to
win our independence that we might enjoy its fruits. This has taught us that
no power can subjugate a people who love and value freedom.

But the struggle is still unfinished. First of all, we have to struggle

resolutely against the widespread misery that binds the masses in chains.
Until we have pulled the masses out of their suffering and hardship, our
celebration today is drab and meaningless. So let us all come together to win
this war against hardship. Let us have faith in the Lord God and in our own
capabilities so that we can move our nation forward—towards a life of
tranquility and abundance for all.

On my own perspective, Estrada's call for unity is based on the “unfinished

revolution of 1896”, whose heroes and victims gained the nation's freedom, which
Filipinos now enjoy. Furthermore, If the centenarian celebration is only a
remembrance of the deceased past, it is "drab and useless." It is impossible to just
inherit the unity and independence from our heroes of the past. Each generation must
go through the battle in its particular way; on the event, Ramos and Estrada both
underlined the need for Filipinos to be heroes here and now (Ileto, 1998). At all
times, our community faces struggles and hidden oppression from every corner of the
street, which everyone must do their best to resist for the common good.

Before I end my commentary, I would like to say that the content of Ileto's
article shows a very important aspect of how we should look and what are the
appropriate tasks for each one (and should be included in the curriculum in studying
Philippine history), so that the independence that our heroes gave their lives for in
their struggle cannot be wasted. Even the teaching of history in class or even in a
parade should be corrected so that it can be learned properly by the younger
generations in the Philippines.