The Ghost of Bonifacio

Yesterday, the nation commemorated the 151^st birth anniversary of Katipunan founder Andres Bonifacio. As has always been the tradition, controversy reared its ugly head again as we pay tribute to one of the Philippines’ original heroes.

As the actual manner in which he died remains shrouded in mystery, still another issue has come out regarding Bonifacio. This time, his actual birth place is being debated upon. Many prominent and esteemed historians tell us that the Great Plebeian was born in Tondo, in a street that is now home to Tutuban Station. This is the reason a statue of Bonifacio was erected in the area.

Unfortunately, just like many other things about Bonifacio, this information about his birth place is turning out to be nothing but a big lie. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the government itself, courtesy of the National Historical Institute, now referred to as the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, has allowed itself to be part of this continued distortion of historical facts.

A recent news article that appeared in Inquirer.net entitled “Andres Bonifacio: A monument of lies”, showed that Binondo, and not Tondo, was the birthplace of the Katipunan founder. This fact is contained in “Andres Bonifacio y El Katipunan”, the first biography of Bonifacio written by Manuel Artigas which came out in 1911.

How and why this mistake was committed remains unexplained, but what is more troubling is the fact that prominent and respected figures were the ones who committed them. Even sadder is the fact that owning up to the mistake has not been made to date.

Should it come as a surprise then why a growing number of Filipinos have come to view national leaders as a bunch of 4)@$##u @$$313@@!!@!!!?

One reason why the Philippines remains a poor country is because we have yet to learn from history. The case of Marcos is a glowing example.

The adage “those who refuse to learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it” might eventually hold true in our case….unless our leaders make the needed correction.