PH through the centuries: A nation of heroes

National Heroes Day, celebrated on the last Monday of August every year, is the occasion at which Filipinos honor all known and unknown individuals who devoted, risked or even sacrificed their lives in the name of achieving Filipino identity, justice against tyranny, freedom and peace.

To Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio and Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, Jr. have been accorded the unique honor of having nationwide non-working holidays being proclaimed yearly to pay tribute to their heroism.

Today’s commemoration provides an opportunity for Filipinos to accord other national heroes appropriate recognition.

Last April 27, Datu Lapulapu was honored as the first national hero of the country for defeating Portuguese explorer Ferñao de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan), an event especially commemorated this year as the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines is also being marked.