STREET SWEEPERS. Workers of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office immediately clean the streets in the downtown area of Davao City immediately after the floral float parade during the Pamulak sa Kadayawan on Sunday, August 21, 2016. (Zea Io Ming C. Capistrano/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY — Local leaders urged the public to recognize common folks as modern-day heroes.
City Mayor Sara Duterte said even common folks can be heroes. In her message for the commemoration of the National Heroes Day here, Duterte said the Heroes Day “is a celebration of sacrifices of our national heroes, but it should also celebrate the contributions of the nameless heroes who helped shape and build the country.”
“Even ordinary Dabawenyos can become heroes — a government official, a police officer, a teacher, a traffic enforcer, an overseas Filipinos worker, a ‘kasambahay’, a father, a mother, everyone,” she said, Monday, August 29.
Duterte’s message was read by Atty. Lawrence Bantiding, assistant administrator for operations, during the commemoration of the National Heroes Day at the Osmeña Park.
“We can all become heroes and everyday is an opportunity to do heroic deeds,” Duterte said. Filipino heroes, according to her, should serve as inspiration for the public to do something that will inspire and change the lives of other people and shape better communities.
“We stand under the shadow of the Monument of Unknown Soldiers, not because history has forgotten their names. We are here because we remember their actions. It is not by the name, or lack thereof, that defined them, but their actions,” she said.
Meanwhile, Anakpawis Party-list Representative Ariel “Ka Ayik” Casilao urged various sectors to join the struggle of workers and farmers who are the “unsung” heroes themselves.
In a statement, Casilao said the Katipunan founded by national hero, Andres Bonifacio was “majorly composed of the farmers, who dreamed of a country free from foreign domination and a democratic society where they could enjoy the fruits of their labor.”
Casilao said that the cause of the Katipuneros who “fought against Spanish feudalism, the sequestration of friar lands, to be distributed to the Filipino farmers,” are still present today.
“The fundamental problems that our heroes attempted to overthrow are still persisting at present, landlessness and foreign domination. At present, we are closely watching the implementation of DAR Sec. Ka Paeng Mariano’s order to distribute part of Hacienda Luisita to the farmers, as well as, we are supporting the struggle of the fisherfolk and farmers of Patungan cove in Cavite against land grabbing,” Casilao said.
Casilao said the public should support the struggle of the farmers and workers “who are the real heroes of today, but likewise remain victims of anti-people government policies and programs.” (davaotoday.com)
