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The Life and Works of Jose Rizal

Chapter 10: Jose Rizal and Philippine Nationalism: Bayani and Kabayanihan
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. Interpret views and opinions about bayani and kabayanihan in the context ofPhilippine history and society.
2. Assess the concepts of bayani and kabayanihan in the context of Philippine society.

HERO vs. BAYANI

In mythology, a hero is someone who possesses great courage, strength, and is favored by the gods. The Merriam-
Webster Online Dictionary defines "hero" as "a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with
great strength or ability; an illustrious warrior; a person admired for achievements and noble qualities; one who shows
great courage.”

The Filipino counterpart, bayani, has a similar meaning but with some contextual distinctions. Bayani is
someone who fights with his ‘bayan’ or community. The Vicassan's Dictionary (Santos, 1978) provides the following
meanings for bayani:"... hero, patriot ("taong makabayan"), cooperative endeavor, mutual aid, a person who
volunteers or offers free service or labor to a cooperative endeavor, to prevail, to be victorious, to prevail
("mamayani"), leading man in play (often referred to as the "bida"-from the Spanish for life, "vida"--who is contrasted
with the villain or "kontrabida" from the Spanish "contra vida", against life)” as cited in Ocampo, 2016.
UP Diksiyonariyong Filipino (2001) gives three meanings for 'bayani': (1) a person of extraordinary courage or
ability; (2) a person considered to possess extraordinary talents or someone who did something noble ("dakila"); and
(3) a leading man in a play (Ocampo, 2016).
The Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala by the Jesuits Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar (1755 and1860)
lists these meanings for bayani: "someone who is brave or valiant, someone who works towards a common task or
cooperative endeavor ("bayanihan") ( as cited in Ocampo, 2016).

History professor Ambeth Ocampo sees it significant that bayani comes a few words under bayan, which is
also defined as: "the space between here and the sky." Bayan is also a town, municipality, pueblo, or nation, and can
refer to people and citizens (mamamayan) who live in those communities, or those who originate or come from the
same place (kababayan). Bayan (Ocampo, 2016) also refers to the day (araw) or a time of a day (malalim ang bayan)
or even to the weather, good or bad (masamang bayan). Ocampo, thus, concludes that "hero" and bayani do not have
the same meaning. Bayani is a richer word than hero because it may be rooted in bayan as place or in doing
something great, not for oneself but for a greater good, for community or nation.

THE CHANGING FORMS AND DEFINITIONS OF BAYANI AND KABAYANIHAN

Anchored on the definitions given by old dictionaries, mga bayani may historically (and profoundly) refer to
those who contributed to the birth of a nation. In the early times, heroes are the warriors and generals who serve their
cause with sword, distilling blood and tears; they are those, for the Filipinos, who served their cause with a pen,
demonstrating that the pen is as mighty as the sword to redeem a people from their political slavery.
However, the modern-day bayani may refer to someone who contributes to a nation in a global world.
In modern definitions, a Hero is: someone who has distinguished courage and ability, someone who do good
deeds for the greater good of others, and mostly works alone. One case in point is our Overseas Filipino Workers
( OFWs) — Filipinos who are working in foreign countries who basically travel abroad in pursuit of better employment
to provide for the needs of their respective families in the Philippines. The OFWs’ sacrifices play a vital role in the
progress of the Philippines’ economic status — by remitting their savings back to the country, they help the
government in pulling up the economy through the overall dollar reserve. The money that they send provides the
much-needed hard currency, saving the country from defaulting debt obligations. Aside from this, they also help
stabilize the Philippine Peso in relation to peso-dollar exchange, which in turn, contributes to the country’s Gross
National Product (GNP) growth. Truly, when they work abroad, they are taking risks (pakikipagsapalaran) and in
recognition of their sacrifices, they are named Bagong Bayani or “Modern-Day Heroes”, acknowledging their
contributions every December as the Month of Overseas Filipino Workers.

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Many Filipino bayani have fought and died for the Philippines, some of which are Jose Rizal, Andres
Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini, and many more. They can be considered as traditional Bayani, someone who fought for
the people of his community and for their greater good, and died in exchange. But in our modern world, does our
country need a bayani who will sacrifice his/her life for the country?
Without a doubt, the concept of bayani and kabayanihan have evolved through the years. To better
understand this evolution, let us compare the notion of OFWs as modern-day heroes to the early definitions of bayani.
Its etymology is explained in an online article entitled, “Ang Salitang Bayani sa Pilipinas”
“Ang salitang “bayani” ay isang Austronesian na salita na dinala ng ating mga katutubo sa ating bayan. Ang
mga bayani ay ang mga mandirigma kung saan sila ay nangunguna sa pagtatanggol ng pamayanan laban sa mga
kinakaharap na mga kaaway at panganib. Ang ilan sa mga diribatibo ng salitang bayani ay bajani, majani, bagabnim,
bahani.
Sa kultura nating mga Pilipino, ang pagiging bayani ay nasusukat sa katapangan at sa bilang ng napapatay
na kaaway. May iba’t-iba itong antas. Ang mga antas na ito ay kinikilala bilang: 1) Maniklad, ang pinakamababang uri
ng bayani na nakapatay ng isa o dalawang kaaway, karaniwang siya ay nakasuot ng putong na pula at dilaw; 2)
Hanagan naman kung tawagin ang nasa ikalawang antas, siya ay sumasailalim sa ritwal na kung saan ay dapat
siyang sapian ni Tagbusawa, ang diyos ng pakikidigma at kainin ang atay at puso ng mga kaaway. Karaniwang
nagsusuot ang mga ito ng pulang putong; 3) Kinaboan naman kung tawagin ang makakapatay ng dalawampu
hanggang dalawampu’t pito at karaniwang nakasuot ng pulang pantalaon; 4) Luto naman kung tawagin ang
makakapatay ng limampu hanggang 100 na kaaway at karaniwang nagsusuot ng pulang jacket; 5) Lunugum naman
ang pinakapaborito ng diyos na si Tagbusaw dahil dito maipapakita niya ang kanyang katapangan sa pakikipagdigma
kung saan napatay niya ang kanyang kaaway sa sarili nitong tahanan. Itim ang karaniwang suot ng mga ito.
Father of New Philippine Historiography and Pantayong Pananaw (For-Us-FromUs Perspective) Proponent,
Dr. Zeus A. Salazar gives a different definition of the term bayani. In fact, he believes that bayani is different from
“heroes.” For him, “ang mga bayani ay mga taong naglalakbay at bumabalik sa bayan… ang mga bayani ay
lumalaban ng may kooperasyon [samantalang] ang mga hero (western concept) ay lumalaban mag-isa… Ang bayani
ay hindi kailangang mamatay upang maging bayani... Kailangan niya lang gumawa ng magagandang impluwensya at
mga gawain sa bayan upang tawaging bayani (Ang Salitang Bayani sa Pilipinas, n.d.).
This definition gives us hope that anyone of us can be a bayani, too, in our respective communities.
Thus, we should now realize that a modern bayani can be anyone who sacrifices even the littlest of things for
the benefit of others. A good example for a modern bayani is Efren Peñaflorida, who sacrificed his time and effort just
to teach out-of-school youths in a simple pushcart classroom. He may not have died for the country, but he responded
to the needs of others – education.
“Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the
hero to the next one in need.” – Efren Peñaflorida
Today, anyone can be a bayani. A bayani who can sacrifice the simplest of things like: time, effort, and
knowledge for those who are in need. We do not need to die like our traditional heroes, rather, a simple act of
kindness can be worth a lot to someone.
So, how can you be a Bayani of your time?

WHY IS RIZAL OUR GREATEST HERO?

In an article entitled, “Who Made Rizal Our Foremost National Hero and Why?,” the author, Esteban A. de
Ocampo, denies the claim that Rizal is a made-to-order national hero manufactured by the Americans, mainly by Civil
Governor William Howard Taft. Instead, he defended Rizal as the country’s foremost hero. This was done, allegedly,
in the following manner:
"And now, gentlemen, you must have a national hero". These were supposed to be the words addressed by Gov. Taft
to Mssrs. Pardo de Tavera, Legarda and Luzurriaga, Filipino members of the Philippine Commission, of which Taft
was the chairman. It was further reported that "in the subsequent discussion in which the rival merits of the
revolutionary heroes (Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Gen. Antonio Luna, Emilio Jacinto were
considered, the final choice—now universally acclaimed wise one was Rizal. And so history was made."
De Ocampo’s justification is founded on the definition of the term “hero,” which he took from the Webster’s New
International Dictionary of the English Language, that a hero is "a prominent or central personage taking admirable
part in any remarkable action or event". Also, "a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger". And finally, he
is a man "honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind".

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Why is Rizal a hero, more correctly, our foremost national hero? It was said in the article that he is our
greatest hero because he took an “admirable part” in the Propaganda Campaign from 1882-1896. His Noli Me
Tangere (Berlin, 1887) contributed tremendously to the formation of Filipino nationality and was said to be far superior
than those published by Pedro Paterno’s Ninay in Madrid in 1885; Marcelo H. del Pilar’s La Soberania Monacal in
Barcelona in 1889, Graciano Lopez Jaena’s Discursos y Articulos Varios, also in Barcelona in 1891; and Antonio
Luna’s Impresiones in Madrid in 1893. This claim was evident in the comments that Rizal received from Antonio Ma.
Regidor and Professor. Ferdinand Blumentritt. Regidor, a Filipino exile of 1872 in London, said that "the book was
superior" and that if "don Quixote has made its author immortal because he exposed to the world the sufferings of
Spain, your Noli Me Tangere will bring you equal glory…"
Blumentritt, on the other hand, after reading Rizal’s Noli, wrote and congratulated its author, saying among
other things: "Your work, as we Germans say, has been written w/ the blood of the heart... Your work has exceeded
my hopes and I consider myself happy to have been honored by your friendship. Not only I, but also your country, may
feel happy for having in you a patriotic and loyal son. If you continue so, you will be to your people one of those great
men who will exercise a determinative influence over the progress of their spiritual life."
While Rizal’s friends and admirers praised him and his Noli with justifiable pride, his enemies were equally
loud and bitter in attacking and condemning the same. Perhaps no other work has, up to this day, aroused as much
hostile and spiteful argument not only among our people but also among reactionary foreigners as the Noli of Rizal. In
the Philippines alone, De Ocampo shared in his article that Rizal’s novel was attacked and condemned by a faculty
committee of a Manila university (UST) and by the permanent censorship commission in 1887 because the committee
found the book "heretical, impious, and scandalous to the religious order, and unpatriotic and subversive to the public
order, libelous to the government of Spain and to its political policies in these islands", while the commission
recommended that "the I mportation, reproduction, and circulation of this pernicious book in the islands be absolutely
prohibited." Coming down to our time, during the congressional discussions and hearings on the Rizal (Noili-Fili) in
1956, the proponents and opponents of the bill also engaged themselves in a bitter and long drawn-out debate that
finally resulted in the enactment of a compromise measure, now known as RA 1425.
In the Spanish capital, attacks on Rizal’s Noli were also staged - Senator Vida, Deputy (and ex-general) Luis
de Pando and Premier Praxedes Mateo Sagasta were among those who unjustly lambasted and criticized Rizal and
his Noli in the two chambers of the Spanish Cortes in 1888 and 1889.
But it was comforting to learn that 13 years later, Cong. Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin delivered a eulogy
of Rizal and even recited the martyr’s Ultimo Pensamiento on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives in order
to prove the capacity of the Filipinos for self- government. He said in part: "It has been said that, if American
institutions had done nothing else to furnish to the world the character of George Washington, that alone would entitle
them to the respect of mankind. So Sir, I say to all those who denounces the Filipinos indiscriminately as barbarians
and savages, without possibility of a civilized future, that this despised race proved itself entitled to their respect and to
the respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the character of Jose Rizal." The result of this appeal was the
approval of what is popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902. The preceding paragraphs, De Ocampo claimed,
have shown that by the Noli alone Rizal, among his contemporaries, had become the most prominent/ the central
figure of the Propaganda Movement.
Ask again, why did Rizal, become the greatest Filipino hero? De Ocampo further justifies that [no Filipino has
yet been born who could equal or surpass Rizal as a "person of distinguished valor/enterprise in danger, fortitude in
suffering."] Of these traits of our hero, let us see what a Filipino and an American biographer said:
"What is most admirable in Rizal," wrote Rafael Palma, is his complete selfdenial, his complete abandonment
of his personal interests to think only of those of his country. He could have been whatever he wished to be,
considering his natural endowments; he could have earned considerable sums of money from his profession; he could
have lived relatively rich, happy, prosperous, had he not dedicated himself to public matters. But in him, the voice of
the species was stronger than the voice of personal progress or of private fortune, and he preferred to live far from his
family and to sacrifice his personal affections for an ideal he had dreamed of. He heeded not his brother, not even his
parents, beings whom he respected and venerated so much, in order to follow the road his conscience had traced for
him.
He did not have great means at his disposal to carry out his campaign, but that did not discouraged him; he
contented himself w/ what he had. He suffered the rigors of the cold winter of Europe, he suffered hunger, privation,
and misery; but when he raised his eyes to heaven and saw his ideal, his hope was reborn. He complained of his
countrymen, he complained of some of those who had promised him help and did not help him, until at times,
profoundly disillusioned, he wanted to renounce his campaign forever, giving up everything. But such moments are
evanescent, he soon felt comforted and resumed the task of bearing the cross of his suffering." (8)
Dr. Frank C. Laubach, an American biographer of Rizal, spoke of the hero’s courage in the following words:
“His consuming life purpose was the secret of his moral courage. Physical courage, it is true, was one of his inherited

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traits. But that high courage to die loving his murderers, w/c he at last achieved--that cannot be inherited. It must be
forged out in the fires of suffering and temptation. As we read through his life, we can see how the moral strength and
fiber grew year by year as he faced new perils and was forced to make fearful decisions. It required courage to write
his two great novels telling nothing that no other man has ventured to say before, standing almost alone against the
powerful interests in the country and in Spain, and knowing full well that despotism would strike back. He had reached
another loftier plateau of heroism when he wrote those letters to Hong Kong, "To be opened after my death", and
sailed to the "trap" in Manila without any illusions. Then in his Dapitan exile when he was tempted to escape, and said
"No", not once but hundreds of times for four long years, and when, on the way to Cuba, Pedro Roxas pleaded with
him to step off the boat of Singapore upon British territory and save his life, what an inner struggle it must have caused
him to answer over and over again, "No, no, no!" When the sentence of death and the fateful morning of his execution
brought the final test, he walked with perfect calm to the firing line as though by his own choice, the only heroic figure
in that sordid scene."
To the bigoted Spaniards in Spain and in the Philippines, Rizal was the most intelligent, most courageous, and
most dangerous enemy of the reactionaries and the tyrants; therefore he should be shot publicly to serve as an
example and a warning to those of his kind. This was the reason why Rizal, after a brief mock trial, was sentenced to
death and made to face the firing squad at Bagumbayan Field, now Luneta, in the early morning of December 30,
1896.
And for the last time, we repeat the question: Why is Rizal the greatest Filipino hero that ever lived? De
Ocampo claims that "he is a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind".
It was said that even before his execution, Rizal was the already acclaimed by both Filipinos and foreigners as the
“foremost leader of his people".
From Barcelona, M. H. del Pilar wrote to the Great Malayan on March 10, 1889 and said: "Rizal no tiene aun
derecho a morir: su nombre constituye la mas pura e immaculada bandera de aspirationes y Plaridel los suyos no son
otra causa ma que immaculada unos voluntarios que militan bajo esa bandera."
Fernando Acevedo, who called Rizal his distinguido amigo, compañero y paisano", wrote the letter from
Zaragoza, Spain, on October 25, 1889 and said: "I see in you the model Filipino; your application to study and you
talents have placed on a height w/c I revere and admire."
The Bicolano Dr. Tomas Arejola wrote Rizal in Madrid on February 9, 1891, saying: "Your moral influence
over us is indisputable." And Guillermo Puatu of Bulacan wrote this tribute to Rizal, saying: "Vd. a quien se le puede
(llamar) con razon, cabeza tutelary de los Filipinos, aunque la comparacion parezca algo ridicula, porque posee la
virtud la atraer consigo enconadas voluntades, zanjar las discordias y enemistades renorosasnreuniren fiestas a
hombres que no querian verse ni en la calle…”
Among the foreigners who recognized Rizal as the leading Filipino of his time were Blumentritt, Napoleon M.
Kheil, Dr. Rheinhold Rost, and Vicente Barrantes. Prof. Blumentritt told Dr. Maximo Viola in May 1887 that "Rizal was
the greatest product of the Philippines and that his coming to the world was like the appearance of a rare comet,
whose rare brilliance appears only every other century." Napoleon Kheil of Prague, Austria, wrote to Rizal and said:
"admiro en Vd. a un noble representante de la España colonial." Dr. Rost, distinguished Malayologist and librarian of
the India office of London, called Rizal "una perla hombre" , while don Vicente Barrantes had to admit that Rizal was
“the first among the Filipinos."
Even before the outbreak of the revolution against Spain in 1896, many instances can be cited to prove that
his country here and abroad recognized Rizal’s leadership. In the early part of 1899 he was unanimously elected by
the Filipinos in Barcelona and Madrid as Honorary President of La Solidaridad. Some months later in Paris, he
organized and became Chief of the Indios Bravos. In January 1891, Rizal was again unanimously chosen
Responsable (chief) of the Spanish-Filipino Association. He was also the founder and moving spirit in the founding of
La Liga Filipina on Manila in July 3, 1892.
History tells us that the revolutionary society known as Katipunan likewise acknowledged Rizal’s leadership
and greatness by making him its honorary President and by using his family name Rizalas the password for the third-
degree members.
A year after Rizal’s execution, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and the other revolutionary chiefs exiled to Hong Kong
held a commemorative program on December 29, 1897 on the occasion of the First Anniversary of the hero’s
execution and martyrdom.
Of utmost significance in the public’s appreciation for Rizal’s patriotic labors in behalf of his people were the
tributes paid by the revolutionary government to his memory. In his opening address at the congress assembled at
Malolos, Bulacan on September 15, 1898, Pres. Aguinaldo invoked the spirits of the departed heroes of the fatherland,
thus: “Illustrious spirits of RIZAL, Lopez Jaena, of Marcelo del Pilar! August shades of Burgos, Pelaez and

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Panganiban! Warlike geniuses of Aguinaldo! (Crispulo--O.), and Tirona, of Natividad and Evangelista! Arise a moment
from your unknown graves!
Then on December 20, 1898 at the revolutionary capital of Malolos, Pres. Aguinaldo issued the first official
proclamation making December 30 of that year as "Rizal Day". The same proclamation ordered the hoisting the
Filipino flags at half-mast "from 12:00 noon on December 30, 1898" and the closing of "all offices of the government"
during the whole day of December 30. Actually, the impressive Rizal Day program, sponsored by the Club Filipino,
was held in Manila on December 30,1898.
Two of the greatest of Filipino poets in the Spanish language paid glowing tributes to the martyr of
Bagumbayan in acknowledgement of the hero’s labors and sacrifices for his people. Fernando Ma. Guerrero wrote on
September 25, 1898, thus: "No has muerto, no. La Gloria es tu destino; tu corona los fuegos de la aurora, y tu
inviolable altar nuestra conciencia." Cecilio Apostol, on December 30 of the same year, wrote these lines:
"!Duerme en paz las sombras de la nada, Redentor de una Patria esclavizada! ! No llores de la tumba en el
misterio Del español el triunfo momentaneo: Que si Una bala destrozo tu craneo, Tambien tu idea destrozo un
emperio!
The Filipinos were not alone in grieving the untimely death of their hero and idol, for the intellectual and
scientific circles of the world felt keenly the loss of Rizal, who was their esteemed colleague and friend. Dr. Camilo
Osias and Wenceslao E. Retaña both spoke of the universal homage accorded to Rizal immediately after his death.
Among the scientific necrological services held especially to honor Rizal, the one sponsored by the
Anthropological Society of Berlin in November 20, 1897 at the initiative of Dr. Rudolph Virchow, its president, was the
most important and significant. Dr. Ed Seler recited the German translation of Rizal’s "My Last Farewell" on that
occasion.
The newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals throughout the civilized world – in Germany, Austria,
France, Holland, London, the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Macao, Singapore, Switzerland, and in Latin American
countries — published accounts of Rizal’s martyrdom in order to render homage to his greatness (De Ocampo, n.d.).
Perhaps the following quotation from the late William Cameron Forbes, an ardent admirer of Rizal and the
governor-general of the Philippines during the construction of the Rizal Mausoleum on the Luneta, is appropriate at
this point. He said:
“It is eminently proper that Rizal should have become the acknowledged national hero of the Philippine
people. The American administration has lent every assistance to this recognition, setting aside the anniversary of his
death to be a day of his observance, placing his picture on the postage stamp most commonly used in the Islands,
and on the currency, cooperating with the Filipinos in making the site of his school in Dapitan a national park, and
encouraging the erection by public subscription of a monument in his honor on the Luneta in Manila near the place
where he met his death. One of the longest and most important street in Manila has been named in his memory—
Rizal Avenue. The Filipinos in many cities and towns have erected monuments to his name, and throughout the
Islands the public schools teach the young Filipinos to revere his memory as the greatest of Filipino patriots.”
We are all aware of some Filipinos who, every now and then, argue that Andres Bonifacio, and not Jose Rizal,
deserves to be acknowledged and canonized as our first national hero. They maintain that Rizal never held a gun, a
rifle, or a sword in fighting for the liberty and independence of our country in the battlefield. They further assert that
while the foremost national heroes of other countries are soldier-generals, like George Washington of US, Napoleon I
and Joan of Arc of France, simon Bolivar of Venezuela, Jose de San Martin of Argentina, Bernardo O’Higgins of Chile,
Jimmu Tenno of Japan, etc., our greatest hero was a pacifist and a civilian whose weapon was his quill. However, our
people in exercising their good sense, independent judgment, and unusual discernment, have not followed the
examples of other nations in selecting and acknowledging a military leader for their greatest hero. Rafael Palma has
very well stated the case of Rizal versus Bonifacio in these words:
“It should be a source of pride and satisfaction to the Filipinos to have among their national heroes one of
such excellent qualities and merits which may be equaled but not surpassed by any other man. Whereas generally the
heroes of occidental nations are warriors and generals who serve their cause with the sword, distilling blood and tears,
the hero of the Filipinos served his cause with the pen, demonstrating that the pen is as mighty as the sword to
redeem a people from their political slavery. It is true that in our case the sword of Bonifacio was after all needed to
shake off the yoke of a foreign power; but the revolution prepared by Bonifacio was only the effect, the consequence
of the spiritual redemption wrought by the pen of Rizal. Hence not only in the chronological order but also in the point
of importance the previous works of Rizal seems to us superior to that of Bonifacio, because although that of Bonifacio
was of immediate results, that of Rizal will have more durable and permanent effects.
In the preceding discussions, we have tried to establish that Rizal was not only a great hero, but the greatest
among the Filipinos. In summary, Prof. Blumentritt judged him as "the most prominent man of his own people" and

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"the greatest man the Malayan race has produced"; during his lifetime, Rizal was already acclaimed by both Filipinos
and foreigners as the foremost leader of his people and that this admiration for him has increased with the passing of
time since his dramatic death at Luneta that fateful morning of December 30, 1896. Likewise, we attempted to
disprove the claim made by some quarters that Rizal is an American-made hero, and we also tried to explain why
Rizal is greater than any other Filipino hero, including Andres Bonifacio.
The question now is, who made Rizal the foremost hero of the Philippines? De Ocampo (n.d.) writes, “no
single person or groups of persons were responsible for making the Greatest Malayan the No. 1 Hero of his people.
Rizal himself, his own people, and the foreigners all together contributed to make him the greatest hero and martyr of
his people. No amount of adulation and canonization by both Filipinos and foreigners could convert Rizal into a great
hero if he did not possess in himself what Palma calls "excellent qualities and merits" or what Retaña calls "la finura
exquisite de su espiritu,…la nobleza quijotesca de su corazon,… su psicologia toda, romantica, soñadora, buena,
adorable, psicologia que sintetizo todos los entimientos y aspiraciones de un pueblo que sufria, viendose victima de
su regimen oprobioso…."

SHORT ESSAY. Read and analyze each question. Answer each item briefly but concisely.

1. What is your own definition of the word, “bayani” or “hero?”

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