In praise of heroes

A few days ago, I heaped praises on the National Movement for Free Elections and our country’s teachers for their heroic role in enabling us to go through a national elections conducted by a thoroughly inept, negligent and irresponsible Commission on Elections. It was thus a miracle that we survived the political exercise, thanks to the vigilance, support and volunteerism of the NAMFREL, the teachers and other concerned citizens’ arms.

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A concerned citizen, Veronica Villegas, has rightly pointed out that I failed to pay tribute to another large group – the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) – whose role in the last elections was equally significant and heroic. Indeed, through the years, the PPCRV has done wonders in protecting the ballot in every precinct throughout the entire archipelago.

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Ms. Villegas listed down to me what PPCRV volunteers do in every electoral exercise, things that they did with devotion last May 14:

* Wake up at 4 a.m. on Election Day to be at their assigned polling places

* Set up the Voters Assistance Desk near the entrance of the voting centers

* Monitor the entire voting process, until the last ballot is cast

* Check the accuracy of the counting of votes by the Board of Elections Inspectors

* Assist the BEI in mediating and making decisions on questions raised by voters

* Inform the BEI of any irregularities being committed in or near the precincts

* Serve as NAMFREL representatives to get Copy No. 6 of the election returns

* Accompany the teachers to the municipal office where the election returns and ballot boxes are delivered

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"These are some of the activities of the PPCRV volunteers. All these things, plus their unnoticed emotional-psychological-physiological-spiritual and even material resources, the PPCRV volunteers’ love offering in the task of helping ensure clean, honest and orderly elections in our country," said Ms. Villegas. "But how I long for that moment when the Philippines would no longer have any use for PPCRV and NAMFREL," she added, a sentiment shared by millions of concerned Filipinos, in the light of the disaster and catastrophe caused by the present Comelec.

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Apparently a PPCRV "veteran" in many electoral exercises, Ms. Villegas also paid tribute to our school teachers. "Though many of them would much rather call in sick or go for a leave just so they can escape the nasty 24-hour ordeal of election day, they continue to serve. In so doing, they render themselves vulnerable to hunger, dehydration, extreme exhaustion, and to being hassled, mistrusted and misjudged," she said. "They are the unsung heroes, the indispensable citizens’ arm for the clean and orderly conduct of every Philippine election."

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Iloilo Today, one of the finest publications in the country and the only monthly community investigative newspaper-magazines in the Western Visayas region, celebrates its first anniversary next month. Published under the eagle eyes of Alex P. Vidal, a highly-regarded journalist known for his adherence to truth and accuracy, Iloilo Today is expected to lead the trail in the development of journalism at the community level.

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The country’s progress depends, to a large extent, on the success of regional publications in disseminating news and information to the people. In this regard, Iloilo Today has vowed to deliver truthful, accurate and in-depth reporting on timely social, political and cultural issues. This is most welcome, because it is an assurance that Iloilo Today will be a worthy instrument in satisfying the people’s quest for truth. May this pioneering newspaper-magazine in Western Visayas have many more joyous celebrations in the coming years!

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On the subject of Iloilo, lawyer Eduardo F. Hernandez sent to me a book written and published by Vice Governor Demy P. Sonza, a well-known Ilonggo historian. It deals with the Visayan heroes who fought in the revolution against Spain and in the war against the Americans. It also documents those who collaborated with the enemy. The main hero of the book is Adriano Hernandez, the grandfather of Atty. Hernandez.

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The book, Adriano Hernandez: A Hero in War and Peace, is 307 pages long. Among the interesting stories in the book are the arrest of the revolutionaries by their own Gen. Pablo Araneta, the assassination of Gen. Pascual Magbanauan because of intramurals, the execution of the 11 martyr-heroes of Aklan who were misled into surrendering, the line of defense from Jaro to Pavia that could not be broken for nine months, and the irony that the seal of the City of Iloilo still contains Spanish words used by the Queen of Spain.

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Let me use today’s column to try to revive a sense of history among our people. And this I shall do by reporting that the Church of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, located in Gomez St., Paco, Manila, recently marked its Golden Anniversary with the celebration of Holy Mass by Jaime Cardinal Sin and with a "tatarin" dance yesterday, May 19.

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The Church of Our Lady of Peñafrancia has a colorful past. Starting as a visita in the 1600s, it became a parish church in 1951. There is a beautiful painting of Our Lady of Peñafrancia carrying the Child Jesus enshrined in the Church. The painting came from Salamanca, Spain, and was brought to the Philippines by the Covarrubias family on a mission to the Philippines in 1697. The younger Covarrubias, Fr. Miguel Robles, brought the devotion of Our Lady of Peñafrancia to Naga in Camarines Sur in 1712.

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The miraculous painting was given Canonical Coronation by Pope John Paul II at the Quirino Grandstand. Since then, a ritual known as "tatarin", where people dance on the streets as they join the procession of the Blessed Virgin, has become a highlight of the celebration.

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