Filipinos Fighting For Reforms May Be Considered As The New Jose Rizals!

It's a problem in the Philippines that you must ride the bandwagon or you're considered stupid. It's a culture of just do what everyone does no matter how stupid it is. It's really a problem in the Philippines to have a prevailing culture of anti-intellectualism. For these anti-intellectuals they think that the smart ones are stupid and the stupid ones are smart. It's all about their quest for "smart shaming" and their quest to "expose just how stupid the intellectuals are". These activities include online trolling (some of them even have gone as far as to be "brave" to foolishly expose themselves, character assassinations, name calling, demanding people to show themselves while commenting as "Anonymous") and/or commenting without reading posts properly. 

Fortunately, there are people who are willing to take the risk by being a Dr. Jose Rizal in the midst of people who are apathetic to the country's welfare. These people don't necessarily have to have Rizal's grades or IQ. Instead, they should focus on what Rizal did when he was still alive. When he wrote both Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo he wanted to make Filipinos think outside the box. When he wrote several essays he was doing what he could to awaken Filipinos. I remembered the time some of my classmates in the Rizal Course and some people I knew said that Rizal was no hero. They even went as far as to say that Rizal was just a man who refused to shut his mouth. Some of them say Rizal should have just left the Philippines. Today, we have apathetic Filipinos who tell any "Rizal wannabe" to "Eh di pumunta kana sa ibang bansa?" as an excuse to enjoy their blunder.

I imagine what life must have been for the late Dr. Rizal when he started speaking his mind out through his pen. I don't think so many people liked him because they were apathetic to the abuses done during the Spanish occupation. All the people could care about was having a good time which may have resulted to the near 300 year occupation by the Empire of Spain. I guess a lot of people wanted to call Rizal as "that kindergarten minded guy who wants to have a College degree" even if he really achieved it. I think a lot of people looking down at him may have called him a "glutton for punishment" and a "hero wannabe". I guess his decision not to always blend in with the crowd after seeing the reality of the situation caused him to become a reformer. I guess he wanted to quit but saw that he can't afford to quit even at the cost of his life. Today, being a Rizal in the midst of indifferent people will only result to rejection.

It's stupid to think of only having a "good time" when you're in a country where the government doesn't treat the people right. The more I reread my Filipino history books the more I think that the indifferent attitude Filipinos had led to the long-term occupation by the Spaniards. Most of them were too afraid to fight. They could care less about Spanish oppression basta lang maka-attend ako ng fiesta. It's stupid to think that you must have a good time regardless of what's happening to the country or how miserable your condition is for the rest of the year. It's like how many Filipinos today don't care with how much they spend their money just to have a good time. Come Christmas and New Year and those overspenders may soon realize that they're broke after the celebration is over. Too bad that the bad attitude of the fiesta mentality as well as the attitude of indifference towards the Philippines' welfare never died with the crumbling of the Empire of Spain.

Do you know who should be considered the new heroes for the Philippines? I'd say it's not necessarily the Overseas Filipino Worker but Filipinos who are fighting for a better Philippines in any little way they can. It may be the OFW with a plan or just every Filipino who may not be anybody great but still do whatever they can to help the Philippines.  If these new heroes are asked, "Eh ano nagawa mo para sa bansa?" then it's time to give this answer. It's time to for those enlightened Filipinos tell those indifferent Filipinos that they follow simple guidelines and that they're not indifferent about the flaws of the 1987 Constitution. Those idiots who want to raise the question, "Eh ano nagawa mo para sa bansa?" may just be a group of leeches living on their Okay Fine Whatever relatives, they may be out-of-school youths or any variety of leeches while seeking to assassinate Filipinos who are for change.