Game of heroes

Moves are afoot to declare Andres Bonifacio as the country's national hero. Where that would place Jose Rizal, I do not know. What I do know is that talks of Bonifacio being given his due gained momentum in the days leading to his 150th birth anniversary last November 30. After that, I would not know again.

What I do know is that we are not a country particular about its heroes. The heroes we have are at best only fleeting in our consciousness. Meaning we are detached from them as role models for emulation, invoking them only in anniversaries such as mentioned, or pore over their lives as schools require.

It is not surprising for Bonifacio to be making page one in the national dailies these days. After all, 150 years cannot help but have the significance of a big bang. But better believe, and this without meaning to be disparaging, that Bonifacio will be relegated to his old place in obscurity by next year, his 151st B-Day.

I remember seeing a tv feature several years ago -- I think it was part of the Philippine Centennial celebration -- that showed the utter neglect this country had for the place where Bonifacio was murdered by his fellow Katipuneros, that bunch of insurgents who rose against Spain.

The place of Bonifacio's death was so forgotten and overgrown that the person narrating the feature, perhaps taking things for granted and thus neglecting to research his subject first, had a hard time moving through the thickets and locating the marker.       That convinced me not about Bonifacio's obscurity or fitness to become national hero but of the depths to which we relegate our reverence and respect for those who gave up their lives for love of country, the heroes we know by name only but whose examples, and thus relevance, we sweep aside.

Whether or not Bonifacio deserves to be the national hero is beyond any of my means to influence and I will not go sleepless at night pondering over it. Not that I do not give a damn. But the sad truth is, well, I do not give a damn.

Many, of course, do not either. To be sure, there will be those who genuinely struggle to give our heroes the exalted places in our consciousness that they deserve. But I think they are too few and too feeble in voice to raise any objections against the collective will to, well, not give a damn.

Look, if even Rizal cannot be raised beyond the perfunctory level to which he has been relegated by an uncaring nation, how much more for Bonifacio. If people scoff at Rizal (ano ka, Rizal? or matagal nang patay si Rizal) will they not do the same with Bonifacio who, by comparison, weighs so much less.

It is true that in many towns across the length and breadth of this country there are many statues and monuments hewn in the likeness of Rizal. But pray tell whether these structures are being given the care and the respect that they deserve. If there is goat dung on their steps, you know what I mean.

As to Bonifacio, there is hardly any, which is quite telling and revealing. So I can just imagine the grand hullabaloo that will ensue if some people get to have their way and start replacing the Rizals with the Bonifacios.

To me, either Rizal or Bonifacio as national hero is fine with me. Whether that stems from my ignorance or my apathy, I do not know and couldn't care less. But it is what happens after that I am worried about. It is one thing for the gods to fight, another for mortals pretending to be gods.

At the risk of being mistaken or misunderstood, know that I have nothing against heroes. Again, heroes lived lives worth emulating. But we are just what we are. We are not really hot for heroes. We are not like the Americans, who even recognize as heroes ordinary folk who sacrifice even their mere time to serve.

Poor Bonifacio. If only they just let him be. But now they have disturbed his slumber of the ages, bringing him up to embark on a mission that has no clear foundation in reality and pragmatism. Against Rizal, the fight can become messy. And useless. Where there are no real heroes, there are no real people.