It's stupefying to think how holidays have ultimately lost their meaning and became mere rest days– an avenue for family bonding, barkada tagays, or one-day staycation while bingeing Netflix's newest release of Wednesday. I am writing this feature on the same day of the red-mark holiday birth of Andres Bonifacio, the holy grail militant nationalist, while swinging on a palm tree hammock by the saffron beachfront because my family planned a family gathering today.
When you ask common folk why today is a holiday, the quickest response you'd get is, 'Bonifacio Day karon, pula ang kalendaryo!' But that's the shallowest reason we could scrape. Although it is an acceptable answer, I think these answers' shallowness should not be tolerated. Probing the question deeper against the questioned common folk, 'Unsa diay karon te? birthday ni Bonifacio? Or death anniversary niya?'
'Ambot sad? Death anniversary man guro? Or pwede sad birthday niya, murag Pasko. Ay'nag sigi pangutana bih, manlakaw pa baya ta sa Glan,' the commonfolk rushed their backpacks on the car, in preparation for the family vacation, which dominos it back on why I'm on a hammock by the beachfront. Although I am guilty of this rampant normalcy of red holidays turning into mere vacation rest days, it's fine to a certain extent– that being, still recognizing the meaning of the holiday as opposed to a comparative, 'Bonifacio Day man gud maong holiday'.
When looked upon in a holistic light, Bonifacio was our pioneering father of revolution. He was the founder of the Katipunan, led the revolution against the Spanish invader dogs, and gave our motherland liberation in 1896.
It was when I already felt the slight dizziness from the repetitive swing of the hammock that I realized that, should Bonifacio be alive today, he'd perhaps be a protest leader or a high-key vigilante against our corrupt government. In a dumb downed conservative nutshell, Bonifacio is the olden 'Anakbayan', 'NPA', 'terorista'.
But I would doubt he'd be alive now, 'feel nako gi-sako na iyang ulo or gipa-hitman into an unresolved case.' Reminiscent of May 10, 1987, the reason Bonifacio died is that Aguinaldo, with the same Filipino blood flowing through Andres' veins, charged him with treason and sedition. Bonifacio died because amid saving the Filipinos, the Filipinos... killed him.
Poetic. and dumbfounding.
Bagwis have received threats from unknown entities as we carry the emblem of voices, freedom and truth. Numerous cases of red-tagging constricted our editorial board. My close knits told us to be wary of our actions and to never walk alone, on or off the campus grounds. We were being watched. But all of this is not surprising; press oppression is the first expectation I preempted when I entered Bagwis.
One, we were red-tagged by officials and higher-ups as we affiliated our publication with radical journalism unions such as the College Editors Guild of the Philippines and the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines. Two, we were red-taped by internal officers inside our university, advising us to soften our stances on society's issues as liberalism is frowned upon by the conservative public eye.
If Bonifacio is alive today, I'd never ask for his advice on what to do on this matter. Surely, he'll insinuate us to be reckless headfirst, 'para sa bayan!' I'm not that brave to follow his reins. I'm not that brave enough to bleed red for our motherlands... yet.
But the main takeaway remains afloat, I think I now know the reason why November 30 is a red day holiday. It's never just about the mere birth of Bonifacio, it's about the birth of his activism and courage. It's the celebration and culmination of how we fight against our invader dogs, which back in his time were not just the Spaniards but the Filipino traitors; now in our present-day reality, the same Filipino traitors roam free bearing the red sigil of unity.
'Kaon na! Dali na diri,' I heard my mother call me for lunch as the aroma of Tuna Belly wafted to where I skidded my feet from a hammock.
'Isend sa nako akong article! Ngita sa ko'g signal,' I responded while I hit the send button to our Editor-in-Chief –messaging her to include my name on the by-line as Bonifacio might advise should he be still alive.
Grabe ka nice, kudos sa nagbuhat article! 🫶🏻