FINDING ANSWERS
Former Senator Atty. Joey D. Lina
It can be said that Ukraine’s wartime hero, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Philippines’ national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, are comparable in their effectiveness to capture the hearts and minds of the people in rallying against tyranny.
Last week’s personal appearance of Zelensky before a joint session of the United States Congress to deliver a remarkable message of grit and fortitude, amid the overwhelming odds inflicted by Russia’s war on his country, was compelling.
Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas, he said, that “may be candlelit, not because it’s more romantic, but because there will be no electricity – millions won’t have heating or no running water.” Yet amid the suffering and darkness around, he stressed that “the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out.”
In pleading for more help against Russia, Zelensky said: “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”
He also explained why the world, which he said is “too interconnected and interdependent,” should not ignore Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.
"The battle is not only for life, freedom and security of Ukrainians or any other nation which Russia attempts to conquer. The struggle will define in what world our children and our grandchildren live in… This battle cannot be frozen or ignored," he warned.
Zelensky has harnessed the power of traditional and digital media to become an ever-present figure on screens across the world. Dressed in his trademark olive green attire, he has beamed himself into parliaments of many countries, international conferences, and even music festivals where his video messages are aired.
How he sought international support and rallied Ukrainians to stand up against the unprovoked invasion of a superpower especially during the first few days after Russia launched its attacks last February is amazing. He certainly is considered not only a wartime hero but a great influencer.
So was Rizal, whose martyrdom 126 years ago will be commemorated by a grateful nation three days from now.
How Rizal used his prowess as a prolific essayist, poet, and novelist to influence people is legendary. His novel, Noli Me Tangere, which depicted abuses during the colonial period, is believed to have served as a catalyst for the Philippine Revolution against Spain.
His insightful four-part essay, The Philippines a Century Hence, was also influential. It portrayed Filipinos as “broken” during the centuries of Spain’s domination of the Philippines.
“They gradually lost their ancient traditions, their recollections – they forgot their writings, their songs, their poetry, their laws, in order to learn by heart other doctrines, which they did not understand, other ethics, other tastes, different from those inspired in their race by their climate and their way of thinking,” Rizal wrote. “Then there was a falling-off, they were lowered in their own eyes, they became ashamed of what was distinctively their own, in order to admire and praise what was foreign and incomprehensible: their spirit was broken and they acquiesced.”
But although broken, the people’s spirit was not destroyed altogether. In fact, the “lethargic spirit woke to life” when the people realized their misfortune amid all the abuses and mistakes of the colonizers, Rizal said.
“The spirit of the people was not thereby cowed, and even though it had been awakened in only a few hearts, its flame nevertheless was surely and consumingly propagated, thanks to abuses and the stupid endeavors of certain classes to stifle noble and generous sentiments. Thus when a flame catches a garment, fear and confusion propagate it more and more, and each shake, each blow, is a blast from the bellows to fan it into life,” he wrote.
And just like other great influencers of today, Rizal knew the power of the youth. He believed in the potential of young Filipinos for nation-building as he expressed his love and admiration for the them whom he called “bella esperanza de la patria (fair hope of the fatherland)” in his poem, A la Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth).
“Where are the youth who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare of their native land?” Rizal also asked in his novel El Filibusterismo.
How Zelensky used his skill as an eloquent speaker who imparts his message with soaring power, and how Rizal used the power of the written word to spark a revolution, certainly puts them in the category of the world’s greatest influencers.
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