Monuments of Two Philippine Heroes

We were asked by our PI 100 professor to go to Monumento, where a national monument of Bonifacio, the Great Plebeian, is located. The monument was made to commemorate the most proletarian of all Filipino heroes, Andres Bonifacio. It marks the first encounter between Bonifacio and his revolutionary group called Katipunan with the Spanish soldiers on August 3, 1896.

In 1930, National Artist Guillermo Tolentino's design which consists of a 45-foot pylon topped by the winged figure of victory was chosen to be erected. Its base is a platform-like structure with figures symbolizing the causes of the Philippine Revolution. The pylon is composed of five parts which correspond to the five aspects of the Katipunan-Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK).

The monument stands on a base in the shape of an octagon whose eight sides symbolize the first eight provinces placed under martial law for revolting against Spain and the eight rays in the Philippine flag. There are three steps leading to the monument, representing the three centuries of Spanish rule.



Another Philippine contemporary hero who has monuments around the country is Ninoy Aquino, a great man who fought the Marcos dictatorship and was eventually assassinated and shot to death because of his opposition to the government. This event resulted to what we all now know as the People Power Revolution.

To let you in a little secret, the Marcos regime and Ninoy, and things that happened and might have happened between these fraternity brothers and in the Philippines that time always fascinate me. The conspiracy theories and all that we don't know seem to interest me greatly; that's why when I saw the trailer of "The Last Journey of Ninoy," I immediately felt the need to blog and share about it. Not to mention the cinematography, and the way the trailer was crafted says that this will be a different (in a very good way) to other Filipino films.

This feature-length documentary on the final hours of Ninoy Aquino's life; his fateful journey from Boston to Manila will feature never-before-seen footage of clandestine meetings, secret conversations, dangerous deceptions, and grand conspiracies which will come soon to theaters this August 2009.

Sources:
http://wikimapia.org/4465826/Bonifacio-Monument
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Andres_Bonifacio_Monument