LICEO DE CAGAYAN UNIVERSITY

Paseo Del Rio Campus, Rodelsa Circle, Cagayan de Oro City

Concept Paper

Revolutionary Heroes of the Philippines

Dalman, Glenda O.
Ebuetada, Melly Grace R.
Ladanan, Rhoy Joseph P.
Lago, Andrew James
Lapiz, Allan Jay D.
Poligrates, Henchel A.

December 3, 2021
Introduction
Our heroes are selfless men and women who love our country and people
more than they love themselves. We should remember, honor, and love them
for their bravery, determination, and dedication to our country's freedom and
peace. They integrate the beliefs of a person who genuinely loves our country
and its people. These are people who fought and did not deliberately ignore the
persecuted opportunity, demonstrating unwavering bravery in the face of
oppressors' foul play and brutality. They displayed extraordinary bravery
during the frontier period and faced the conflict for the opportunity that the
Spaniards and Americans detracted from us.
Hundreds of years have passed and it is our responsibility as Filipinos
today to ensure that the freedom they fight and drive buckets will continue to
be protected for the people in the future. Like our overall image of courage and
reluctance to be Filipinos, power, and love for God has driven us into our
popular nation today. We are the people they dreamed of and fought for in the
past, and we are a country where we want to continue their legacy. They served
because they wanted to see their fellow citizens live in freedom, peace, honor,
and happiness. They were unconcerned about their lives or their narrow selfish
interests. What they were most concerned with was the cause of freedom for
the fatherland.
People do really have differences that result in their uniqueness that will
stay in the minds and hearts of the people. Jose Rizal, our National Hero,
wants to fight in a way that upholds the law that was given to them in a
peaceful battle. Through his novels, Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El
Filibusterismo (1891) he exposed the cruelty of the Spanish rulers in his
country. Spanish tyranny spread quickly throughout the world and this caused
him his life. Andres Bonifacio, the father of the Revolution, on the other hand,
desires a dangerous revolution in which blood will be seen everywhere and
weapons will be used. Bonifacio's love for his native land and his people is
enshrined in his favorite saying: "Liberty or Death.”
Moreover, Emilio Aguinaldo, the President of the first Philippine
Republic, as young as he is, was prompted to be a distinguished leader
through numerous military victories. He fostered great leadership in the
Philippine- American war.
Furthermore, General Antonio Luna, dubbed as the greatest Filipino
soldier of the revolution and the fiery general, used his intelligence in creating
a Department of War to unite every provincial forces unit in fighting the
Americans. His life was also a greatness being a loyal revolutionist believing in
military discipline that failed to be recognized by many soldiers.
Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo and Luna are the revolutionary heroes of our
country.
Body
“Pepe” as his nickname is truly a product of his environment which
includes his society, his surroundings, and the conditions prevalent at his
time. The numerous circumstances of Rizal’s life that lead to a series of
fortunate and unfortunate events lead him to author the novels; Noli Me
Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (Subversion) which are deemed
an artistic manifestation that led to the awakened hearts and minds of the
oppressed Filipino to stand and aroused the resistance to Spanish colonialism.
On the other hand, Andres showed how the Filipinos suffered from the
brutality of the Spanish reign. The maltreatment and injustice every Filipino
endured gave the rise of a strong sense of nationalism. They are willing to lay
their lives, shed tears, and leave their families to fight for a cause they firmly
believe is worth fighting for: to reclaim and regain our rights in our own
country. And it’s because of their strong sense of courage and unity as one that
we are enjoying the result of their arduous and violent fight with the Spaniards
—a free nation once again.
Emilio Aguinaldo, nicknamed “Miong” played a crucial part as he spear-
headed the revolution during the Philippine-American War against United
States resistance to Philippine Independence. Aguinaldo imposed a temporary
dictatorship in Cavite through force. On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo declared
Philippine independence after convening with the Malolos Congress and writing
a new republic's constitution. Aguinaldo's declaration put an end to four
centuries of Philippine persecution under Spanish colonial control. Aguinaldo
was sworn in as the first president of the new, self-governed Philippine republic
in January of the following year, wearing a white suit at Barasoain Church in
Malolos City. When Bonifacio was assassinated by a rival faction in 1897,
Aguinaldo gained complete command of the fight against Spain.

Moreover, Luna ought to apply his military science background to the

fledgling army. He organized professional guerrilla soldiers later known as the
"Luna Sharpshooters" and the "Black Guard." His three-tiered defense, now
known as the Luna Defense Line, made life difficult for American troops during
their campaign in the provinces north of Manila. This defensive line resulted in
the establishment of a military stronghold in the Cordillera. The bitter death of
Heneral Luna was one of the many great losses of the entire Filipino Nation, it
was said that the assassination of Luna recalls the similar fate of Andres
Bonifacio in the Cavite province in the beginning of the revolution. General
James F. Bell noted that Luna "was the only general the Filipino army had"
and Aguinaldo's forces suffered disastrous defeat after disastrous defeat in the
wake of Antonio Luna's murder.

Conclusion
 These hero's lives demonstrate how much they are willing to shed tears,
shed a lot of blood, and even die in order to reclaim our property and rights in
our own country. It can be seen that fighting the Spaniards is extremely
difficult because they are many points ahead of the Katipunans. Nothing
compares to the Katipunans' swords, despite their superior weapons such as
rifles and cannons. Nonetheless, they did not allow themselves to be defeated
by the Spaniards due to their strong sense of courage and unity, which they
used as their primary weapon.
History serves as a bedrock reason, the thing that is common to us
Filipino we all can relate to that no matter how hard and complex our history
had been, we will always find a way to stand through adversities being faced at
the present and dedicate our lives to the ideals integrated and defended by our
martyr heroes until their last breath either by the consequence of war or
traitorous act. Our hero’s legacies, life and works are perennial that serve as
values and principles that many of us can use to the recent adversities. An
embodiment of rededication of patriotism through also embodies the idea of
freedom and nationalism and significantly arouses a moral character and civic
conscience to all forthcoming of Filipino generations.
Their heroism pushes us to inculcate nationalism and patriotism to our
fatherland in such a way that we can live our lives always keeping in mind how
our heroes loved our country so much that we are able to enjoy the fruits of
their labors and sacrifices. It showed the resolution, commitment, and
resilience of the Filipinos which manifested to the formation of our national
identity. We can always look back to their attributes and characteristics that
we can use in solving and facing our modern problems, may it be on a larger
scale(national) or even our personal battles in life.
Education really is a powerful tool in the spread of nationalism.This will
foster an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist orientation based on our collective
historical experience. Such a history should explain how, why, and for whose
benefit our people have been exploited and oppressed. And that is being
illustrated by The Rizal Law, which mandates all educational institutions in the
Philippines to offer courses about José Rizal(and eventually, other courageous
and exceptional people like him.)
Our task now is to preserve their legacy and to keep the gains they made
for us at the expense of their own lives. And the best way to remember them is
to keep the torch burning with the values for which they lived and died. We
cannot all be great heroes like them, but we can all be heroes in our own small
way by doing things and setting examples for the good of the community and
the entire Philippine society.