Eye Opener
People care less for lone Ilonggo national hero
Early morning of December 18, people rushed out from "Simbang Gabi" at the Jaro Cathedral, many people strolled around Plaza Jaro and nearby boulevards and even inside the plaza where huge pictures of Graciano Lopez Jaena and banners dot the place announcing the 150th death anniversary of the only Ilonggo hero. The monument of Lopez Jaena was cleaned and some flowers were already placed below the hero's monument. Passenger jeepneys, trucks and private vehicles motored on busy streets and traffic aides gathered on the corner of the pavement. The army trucks that carried the special troops to Lopez Jaena's ceremony lined the side corner along the reconstructed belfry and passersby walked lazily going nowhere. They were unaware that an important celebration was to take place after sunrise that Monday morning. They seemed unconcerned that Graciano Lopez Jaena who gave his life for the cause of the Filipinos against the Spanish tyrants was to be honored for his dedication to country and people.
It would seem that the present generation of young people are ungrateful and unappreciative of the cause for which Graciano Lopez Jaena , the foremost freedom fighter and journalist, died for their liberty and freedom from oppression. Few Jareños joined the momentous occasion and except for the presence of Dep-Ed employees and teachers, pupils from the Jaro Elementary and High School students, few attended the touching occasion. City employees who reportedly are dissatisfied with the bleak Christmas from their city hall boss failed to attend despite the fact that the day was a holiday.
Why was Graciano Lopez Jaena not impressively honored in his homeland when during his salad days in Spain fighting for freedom from oppression of his people, European diplomats and liberty-loving people appeared in hundreds when the great Ilonggo hero appeared in Madrid teatro and symposium to hear Lopez Jaena orate bombastically against Spanish abuses in the Philippines during those dark days. Even the Latin American diplomat hugged Graciano Lopez Jaena after his boisterous oration in the name of the Spanish-American republics. Surely, Graciano Lopez Jaena was warmly and graciously honored in Latin America, the American continent and big European countries like England, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
Are the Ilonggos not proud of the famous Ilonggo's lone contribution as a national hero to the Philippines? How come that when movie actors, actresses, singers and fashion models come to Iloilo City, people mob them along main highways and coliseums and not our truly great hero, Graciano Lopez Jaena on his 150th death anniversary? Had our great national heroes like Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini and Lopez Jaena not given their lives for the cause of freedom and liberty, we should have been in slavery and under foreign domination and oppression up to now.
Parents and next of kins, let us teach our children to love and respect our lone Ilonggo national hero, Graciano Lopez Jaena.