The theme for this year's Bonifacio Day, "Kabayanihan at Pagtindig sa Makabagong Panahon," seemed to have been realized with developments that show communities' concern with reminders of their past.
In Atimonan, Quezon, the municipal government cleaned the monument of Andres Bonifacio and the hill on which it is perched. It had been abandoned for years out of fears that it might already be structurally unstable.
Bonifacio's statue, inspired by the 1911 Ramon Martinez statue erected initially on Balintawak and dedicated to all revolutionaries, had been painted colorfully, bringing the figure to life.
This was just days after heritage advocate and Opinyon Quezonin columnist Ms. Gemma Suguitan made a Facebook post on 25 November 2022 lamenting the monument's sorry state. Correlation does not always imply causation, but I would like to believe Ms. Suguitan-San Jose's post encouraged the municipal government to pursue the restoration–whether they had already planned it before or not.
In Dinalupihan, Bataan, the municipal government inaugurated the restored Bonifacio Monument erected in 1945. Heritage advocate, Mr. Fred Santos, had been calling for Bonifacio's 'liberation' since 2015, when he shared online how a dressing room or bodega had been built, enclosing the hero and relegating the statue to ignominy.
Although a resolution drafted by Mr. Santos that year was approved, it was only this year that the municipal government demolished the bodega and restored the monument to its glorious form.
In a mall in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, a major corporation unveiled an equestrian statue of Andres Bonifacio created by Paul Albert Quiaño, Reizel Vibal, and Jun Vicaldo. It was the first in bronze and the third showing the hero riding a horse (the first two being those in Pasig City and Baliuag, Bulacan inaugurated in 1932 and 1933, respectively).
These are just three of at least 50 — perhaps a hundred — monuments to Andres Bonifacio throughout the country. Each one deserves the attention of its custodian, be it the National Government, the local government, schools and communities. Once each is built, we need to make sure that they are respected and made approachable.
A people cannot begin to admire and imitate the noble deeds and ideals of a hero if they can’t have moments to admire him or her.
Monuments play an important role in this — through these, we give the community and passers-by a quick reminder of why they are worth remembering.
I hope that these monuments were launched or re-launched this past Bonifacio Day won't just be monuments to forgetting, revisited only during the annual holiday.
May they become part of their communities' daily life — a reminder of Bonifacio's sacrifices to build a Sovereign Nation, the Haring Bayan.