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Heroes need not die, historians say

Rose Carmelle Lacuata, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><div style="padding-top:66.375%"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1464785" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></div></figure><p>MANILA - Not all heroes need to die, and not all those who died for the country can be considered heroes.</p><p>Speaking on ANC&#x27;s &quot;Talkback,&quot; Professor Xiao Chua explained the concept of heroism and &quot;pagkabayani.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Bayani&quot; is basically someone who is with the people. He was not above the people, he was with the people. He gave his services to the people without asking for anything back. Kumbaga, hindi siya yumaman, not much self-interest to what he did for the country,&quot; he said.</p><p>He added that teaching about heroism is also a call for students and other Filipinos to be heroes.</p><p>&quot;So in many ways, that also is a call for us to be bayani, for the students to, in many ways, emulate their service to the nation,&quot; Chua added.</p><p>Chua, however, said not everyone is recognized as a national hero.</p><p>&quot;That&#x27;s why when you look at this, a lot of heroes, hindi lang sa paglaban. Hermano Puli, for example, is considered as a hero of culture and the faith dahil ipinaglaban niya &#x27;yung kalayaan sa pananampalataya sa Filipino perspective. These are the things that we are incorporating in our teaching of history,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I have to tell you, that&#x27;s why some people are saying that this particular person is a hero because maraming nagawa. There were many things that he was able to accomplish, that&#x27;s why he is a bayani, without looking at the implication of some of the actions and the intention,&quot; Chua added.</p><p>For Professor Jonathan Balsamo, being considered a hero also depends on the person&#x27;s impact on the nation.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s the level of acceptance, usually the impact of what they were able to contribute to the nation. So most of our heroes were produced during the war, the revolution because that gave birth and freedom to our nation,&quot; he said.</p><p>He added that the concept of heroism can also be considered as a personal discovery, especially for students.</p><p>&quot;You cannot teach everything in one session. We have so many heroes, and there are so many stories. But we know who are the true heroes, because some who are considered heroes are actually, they should not be given that recognition. History is perspective, but basically it is an invitation for them to actually discover,&quot; Balsamo said.</p><p>Balsamo also warned against pitting other heroes against each other.</p><p>&quot;We have to refrain the discussion on topics on heroism, because usually the tendency is to make our heroes fight... Sometimes, for me, it doesn&#x27;t help, because it&#x27;s political,&quot; he said.</p><p>Instead, teachers should focus on how Filipino heroes responded to the call of heroism during their time, especially since most Filipino heroes like Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio accomplished great things at a young age.</p><div><strong>Historical revisionism</strong></div><p>Aside from ensuring that students learn a balanced view on history, educators and historians also play a crucial role in making sure attempts to revise the country&#x27;s history will not succeed.</p><p>For Chua, documenting the country&#x27;s administrations can be difficult due to politics, especially since some political families remain powerful.</p><p>&quot;Supposedly it&#x27;s easier because the sources are there. you have documents that are voluminous...You know what makes it hard? Politics… it is because a lot of these families are still in power or are still contesting powers,&quot; he said.</p><p>He added that it is also difficult because of social media.</p><p>&quot;A lot of them are still critical, and trying to be balanced, I believe, but it&#x27;s in social media that we see there are, you know, there&#x27;s only yellow perspective, there&#x27;s only Marcos perspective. It&#x27;s probably the truth lies somewhere in between the two narratives,&quot; Chua said.</p>

<p>Not all heroes need to die, and not all those who died for the country can be considered heroes.</p>

Not all heroes need to die, and not all those who died for the country can be considered heroes.

Heroes need not die, historians say

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Heroes need not die, historians say

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 30, 2016 01:54 AM PHT

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Xiao Chua

Jonathan Balsamo

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