Where is the Filipino hero today?

Tomorrow is National Heroes Day for the Philippines. Every Filipino is given this opportunity to honor those who initiated the movement for freedom from foreign rule. This day is to remember the selflessness of those who offered their lives for independence.

To celebrate this day, some suggest that we send a thank you message to our heroes, post a picture of our favorite hero, gather in groups and talk about our heroes’ traits, recognize recent heroes who died during the COVID 19 pandemic, and so many others.

While there may be a lot of creative ways to honor our national heroes, we must learn to emulate their other-centeredness in denying themselves for the benefit of the many. Like them, we need to live by our moral values and not by our personal interests. We should be moved to enrich one another in the spirit of journeying together so that nobody will be left and excluded.

Can we return to that nationalism that makes you and me see together our commonality rather than our differences? Can we once again find the hero in each one today?