EDITORIAL - A day for heroes indeed

Today is the day dedicated to our remembrance of the people who, through their efforts and sacrifices, made the country what it is today.

When it comes to national heroes we usually remember those who fought for Philippine independence from Spain. We are talking about the likes of Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo del Pilar,

Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat, Juan Luna, Melchora Aquino, and Gabriela Silang,

But of course, we also know history doesn’t always tell the whole story. We have a pantheon of lesser-known heroes in the likes of Gen. Martin Teofilo Delgado, Brig. Gen. Jose Ignacio Paua, Trinidad Tecson, Cesar Fernando Basa, and Captain Jose Cabalfin Calugas.

While we salute today those to whom we owe our independence, let us also not forget to pay tribute to our modern-day heroes; the frontliners in this pandemic.

In the yesteryears our heroes were the ones who picked up the pen and the sword --and much later the rifle-- in defense of our country. Today, the heroes aren’t those who not just don PPEs and N95 surgical masks, but those who put on any uniform or just any regular clothes, to go to work.

Why do we keep praising our frontliners? Because they continue doing what they do despite the dangers that are still there.

Make no mistake; we are still in the middle of a pandemic. You can still go out there and catch the coronavirus, then you can still die of it as a result. The risk is still there, just look at the national figures. Despite that danger, there are still those who have to go to work to make sure patients are taken care of, that establishments are guarded, that people get what they ordered online, that supplies get to stores, that stores get tended to, among other jobs.

The frontliners are today’s heroes, whether they realize that or not. Most likely they don’t even give a thought to this because they are too busy making sure they can still provide for themselves and their families.

When you think about it, it is also these modern-day heroes who are keeping this country from total economic collapse and the civil unrest that is sure to follow. So, in a way, what they do doesn’t just benefit themselves, or their families, or their workplaces, but also the entire nation.