The contrast between Rizal and Bonifacio

Dr. Jose Rizal might have been our luckiest hero from his eventful patrician birth in the vast land of Calamba, Laguna, up to his glorious and heroic death in Bagumbayan. Gat Andres Bonifacio, on the other hand might have been our most unfortunate hero from his lowly plebeian birth in Tondo to his ignominious murder in the jungles of Cavite at the hands of his treacherous comrades in the Katipunan.

Today is the 125th death anniversary of Gat Andres who died at the age of 33 on May 10, 1897. This coming December 30, we shall also celebrate the 126th anniversary of the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal who died at the age of 35 on December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal was born into a wealthy middle-class family who owned land and also leased a larger tract of agricultural land owned by the friars. He was a spoiled boy, doted on by his father Francisco Mercado and nurtured with utmost care and tutelage by his learned mother, Teodora Alonso y Realonda. He was idolized by his nine sisters and served with favor by his only brother. The whole family saw in the young Jose the best hope for family honor and prosperity because of his brilliance, wit, wisdom, and exuberance.

On the other hand, Gat Andres was orphaned at a very young age. To support his three younger brothers and two sisters, he had to work very hard as a clerk-messenger in a British firm and augmented his income by making paper fans and wooden canes sold in the market and outside the churches. He also made posters for business firms. Bonifacio never had any formal education. His aunt taught him the alphabet and basic arithmetic. But he was a voracious reader and he read Victor Hugo's famous novel, Les Miserables, now a very successful Broadway musical and movie. Bonifacio read Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo and from these books, he developed his fervor for freedom, democracy, and the search for liberty and justice.

Rizal was a very learned man who studied in Letran, Ateneo, and University of Santo Tomas. He studied in Madrid, Barcelona, Spain, Germany, France, and other European countries. He was an ophthalmologist, botanist, and zoologist, aside from being an accomplished writer, novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, historian, and literary genius. He was also a painter, sculptor, poet, and engineer. He was also an agriculturist, horticulturist, anthropologist, and many others. Bonifacio was just a simple man but with a great and passionate mind, a strong determination and an indomitable courage and perseverance.

Rizal was honored by his mortal enemies by putting him on trial with an opportunity to defend himself. He was even given a lawyer but his conviction was a foregone conclusion. He was also honored by implementing the sentence of death against him by execution, complete with a military march and solemn ceremony witnessed by the public. Bonifacio and his two brothers were falsely accused, tried by a kangaroo tribunal appointed by his enemies and were murdered by his political enemies in the jungles of Cavite. His widow, Ka Oriang or Gregoria de Jesus was allegedly molested by his executioners and Bonifacio died unlamented and unheralded. Rizal's death was celebrated as the emergence of a modern hero. Let us remember that Rizal never fought any battle while Bonifacio was wounded and scarred a number of times. But Rizal believed that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Bonifacio is recognized by many Tagalogs as the first president of the Philippines, not Aguinaldo whose detractors accused of cheating in the highly-controversial manual voting in the infamous Tejeros Convention. Rizal is still recognized as God by a religious cult in Mount Banahaw. Since high school until today, I still believe that Bonifacio is the most underrated Filipino hero. I thus suspect that Dr. Jose Rizal might have been our most overrated icon of Philippine heroism.