Reason and Concern

By Ronquillo C. Tolentino

Of Martyrs And Patriots

The English poet, William Cowper, said that to die for the truth is not to die merely for one’s faith, or one’s country; it is to die for the world. Cowper had considered that the blood of martyrs is shed in confirmation of the noblest claim – the claim to feed upon immortal truth, to walk with God, and be divinely free.

My mind races to that statement of Harriet Beecher Stowe who observed that even in this world, martyrs shall have their judgment –day; And their names which went down in the dust, like a gallant banner trodden in the mire, shall rise again all glorious in the sight of nations.

The Kalibo Sang-guniang Bayan deliberated last week, (Tuesday, February 21) a proposed ordinance introduced by Sangguniang Bayan member Emmanuel Soviet Russia Dela Cruz to declare the month of March as the month of remembering Aklanon martyrs and patriots. Soviet Dela Cruz, a second generation of the Aklan poets, authors, journalists—the brothers Beato, Leopoldo, Roman, Manuel.

A perusal of the proposed ordinance shows and prides Kalibo to be the center of numerous historical and cultural evolutions that contributed to the rich cultural heritage of Aklan. It acknowledges the lives and ultimate sacrifices made by Aklan martyrs and patriots who greatly contributed to the richness and splendor of Kalibo’s cultural heritage.

The proposed ordinance intends to develop awareness, understanding and comprehension by the younger generation of Aklanons of the significance of the contribution of the l9 martyrs of Aklan to the Philippine Revolution as well as the lives of the great patriots of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and those who participated in the upheavals of World War I and World War II. The ordinance seeks the maximization of the extension of the Department of Education and the inclusion and incorporation in its curriculum the lives and sacrifices of Aklan martyrs and patriots. Verily, it shall imbibe fervent honor and pride to the Aklan youth, the proposed ordinance added.

On patriotism, I remember the American statesman-orator Daniel Webster when he said: “Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. And, by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may, gaze with admiration forever.” /MP