ILOILO CITY — Ilonggos have been urged anew to rebrand Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Iloilo’s foremost national hero.
ASSISTANT Prof. Frances Anthea R. Redison besides a portrait of national hero Graciano Lopez-Jaena at Centro de Graciano in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)
“Our gathering today to commemorate Graciano is crucial in making sure that this hero will continue to serve as an inspiration to the Ilonggos,” said Assistant Prof. Frances Anthea R. Redison on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Lopez-Jaena's 168th birth anniversary here.
Lopez-Jaena was a writer and journalist. His most notable work was Fray Botod, a satirical short story that exposed the clergy during the Spanish colonial period.
He was the founding editor of La Solidaridad, a newspaper published by the Reformists as exiles in Barcelona, Spain.
Redison, the director of the Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS) at UP-Visayas, recalled the talk delivered by Canada-based scholar Frank Villanueva last year.
“According to Villanueva, we have to rethink and rebrand how we view and celebrate Graciano Lopez-Jaena,” Redison said at the commemoration rites held by the Iloilo City government.
Redison reiterated the need to step up efforts as the Ilonggo hero’s “role in Philippine history is gradually diminishing.”
Popular historians and scholars have been attempting to replace Lopez-Jaena with Mariano Ponce as the new triumvirate that include national heroes Jose Rizal and Marcelo del Pilar.
Redison echoed the suggestions made by Villanueva: The updating and republishing of Mightier than the Sword, the biography of Lopez Jaena written by former Iloilo Vice Gov. and historian Demy P. Sonza and republishing of Speeches, Articles, and Letters translated and annotated by Encarnacion Alzona.
“We should also develop and produce a film documentary on his life that can be educational materials for primary and secondary education,” Redison said.
Redision urged a collective partnership among the Dr. Graciano Lopez-Jaena Foundation Inc., the Iloilo City government, the academe, and the people of Iloilo.