Malacañang has lauded the frontliners battling COVID-19, described them as the country’s modern-day heroes, and called their dedication to help their countrymen similar to what the country’s national hero Dr. Jose Rizal did more than a century ago.
“They are our modern-day heroes. This occasion reminds us of Dr. Rizal’s young life, dedicated to service, which rings a bell in these challenging times,” Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement Friday, which coincided with the 159th birth anniversary of Rizal.
He added: “We are proud to see today modern-day heroes — our courageous frontliners — who rise up to the challenge and serve as beacons of hope to a people weary and fearful of the present global health scare.”
Roque also asked the youth to draw inspiration from Rizal’s life and emulate his principles as “hope for our future.”
He asked the public to emulate Rizal’s principles and for the youth to live up to the hero’s statement that the youth “is the hope of the fatherland.”
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“We ask our people, the youth in particular, whom our beloved hero referred to as the ‘hope for our future,’ to take inspiration from his life and emulate his principles to be agents of genuine transformation for a better Philippines,” Roque said.
Jose Rizal, born in Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861, is not only admired for possessing intellectual brilliance but also for taking a stand and resisting the Spanish colonial government.
He wrote two books, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, that sparked the Filipinos to revolt against the Spaniards.
Rizal’s advocacy for reforms in the Philippines during Spain’s colonial rule – which was for 377 years – to his death at age 35. He was convicted of sedition and executed in Bagumbayan, now called Luneta, in Manila on Dec. 30, 1896.
Roque said Rizal’s life was a testament of “how a single person’s deep love for his country could spark the re-awakening of our forefathers’ desire for freedom and change.”
“This occasion reminds us of Dr. Rizal’s young life, dedicated to service, which rings a bell in these challenging times,” he said.
Roque was elated there were modern-day heroes helping the country currently struggling due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.
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