Books like A Question of Heroes

A very educational read. Nick Joaquin (1917-2004) was one of the National Artists of the Philippines so even if he did not use footnotes and references in this book, I could not help but believe him. After all, he was born in 1917 that was just about 2 decades after the Spanish-Filipino and Filipino-American wars. He also wrote many other great books, both fiction and non-fiction. So, I think he was credible enough to convince anyone that the events and claims he mentioned in this book actually happened or were the general opinions of the majority of Filipinos during that time. In short, I think Nick Joaquin was a believable historian even if I did not know him personally since I only started reading his works after he died or to be exact, when I joined Goodreads 3 years ago.I am not sure if these are spoilers because this book is about history. Is listing down what you learned from a history book considered as spoiling the next reader? It's debatable for me because these things, if indeed true, should have been taught to every Filipino child in school because they are very important to all of us. Why? Because we call these people our heroes and we, just like any other races in the world, need to have someones to look up to. Someones who belong to our own race and who we think emulate the traits and values that we consider important to us as a nation. These men whose lives were scrutinized in this book fought for our independence from foreign colonizers. We were taught when we were in school that they were the great Filipinos. However, Nick Joaquin, in this book gave the other "side" of them. Call it humanization or showing their less-heroic angles but the revelations in this book are nevertheless, very intriguing if not enlightening. Here were those that really struck me:(1) The failed attempt to revolt in Noli was based on what happened to Padre Burgos who was one of the Creoles that got the ire of the Spanish friars. Padre Gomez and Padre Zamora's involvement in the foiled Cavite mutiny was both unclear since they were just based on unfounded testimonies.(2) La Solidaridad's ultimate objective was for the Philippines to get equal footing with that of Spain and not for Spain to grant total independence to the Philippines. In a way, the illustrados (rich Filipino kids who could afford European schools like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez-Jaena and even Rizal) are seen as pro-Europe and not really pro-Philippines.(3) Jose Rizal was an anti-hero. He did not support the Katipunan uprising in 1896. He was in ship on his way to support Spain in Guam when he was arrested. Weeks before his death by firing squad, he wrote the Filipinos to put down their arms. Although his claim that the Katipunan could not win the revolution because they did not have the right armaments was proven true, his actuation was truly anti-heroic.(4) Andres Bonifacio was a stubborn, self-centered, spoiled brat who threw himself around when he lost the battles in Caloocan and San Juan in Manila. During the Tejeros convention, he usurped the presiding officer role and instead of mediating between the Magdalo and Magdiwang factions, he sided with the later and tried to steal the leadership from Emilio Aguinaldo. He even tried to pit the Cavitenos against the Bulacaneos instead of working towards their unification.(5) Emilio Aguinaldo was not prepared to lead the nation since he was only used to lead a provincial cavitismo army. He was gullible enough to believe the verbal promises of the American generals. He was also very trusting and lack the sense of urgency and military prowess to anticipate the next moves of the Americans. That was why he lost the campaign for Philippine independence.(6) Apolinario Mabini might have all the brain but he did not have the heart to lead. He was cold, apathetic and considered himself blameless as far as the reason for the failed revolution was concerned.(7) Antonio Luna was killed because of his arrogance and hot temper. He was the slapping bastard. There was a possibility that his death, by hacking his head with a bolo, was with the permission from Emilio Aguinaldo because there was a rumor of his planned coup to wrestle the leadership from Aguinaldo.(8) There is a big possibility that the big part of the heroism Gregorio Del Pilar was fictional. He was young and good-looking and a darling of the press. His death could attest to this. Newspapers picture him as a great romantic lover and said something like his heroic deed of fighting till his last drop but in reality he was killed because of his negligence or even stupidity.(9) Artemio Ricarte was said to be the one who took the cudgels from Emilio Aguinaldo when he was captured and pledged allegiance to the Americans. However, his succeeding actions became shady especially when he went into self-exile in Japan that people could interpret as fighting the Americans but working with another colonizers, the Japanese forces. He died of ripe age, 80+ but not many people found his intent as really pro-independence.So, if there is really nobody worth our unquestionable admiration among the roster of heroes we met in our textbooks in school when we were small children, then what do we do? Do we need to drop that long-held belief that they were good men worth emulating? My answer is no.Like all of us, they were but humans. They were not perfect so they committed mistakes. For all we knew, they might not really aspired to be admired as some of them could have just been incidental heroes (example: Padre Gomez) or product of fictional writings (example: Gregorio del Pilar). However, they still died for our country during that pivotal points in our history. Not all of us are willing to die for our country, right? That for one is good enough for me to admire them.This book is a MUST read for all Filipinos. Quite an appropriate read for Rizal Day, that is today, December 30th. More appropriate for National Heroes Day, I would say. Just the same, I am glad I read this book. Thanks, Jzhun.