“Pag bumagsak si Aguinaldo, may panibagong titindig. Pero ito, hindi ‘to napapalitan.”
-Lt. Garcia in Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018)
I was able to watch the film Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral about five months ago along with two of my friends. The film was a talk of the town for months. Praises were heaped on the film, specifically with its cinematography and its message that is so relevant nowadays.
Interestingly, there was a line in the movie delivered by a brave Filipino soldier named Lt. Garcia (portrayed by Ronnie Lazaro) which struck me the most.
Just a brief background, Lt. Garcia was one of the loyal soldiers under General Antonio Luna, credited by the fiery general himself for his bravery and selflessness. When Luna was assassinated, President Emilio Aguinaldo gave the young general, Heneral Gregorio del Pilar a.k.a Goyo (played by Paulo Avelino), the task of neutralizing Luna’s loyalists.
As the Filipino revolutionaries retreated in the mountains of Ilocos to escape from the Americans, the group of Goyo met Lt. Garcia along with some Ilocano soldiers. Resentment still fills the hearts of some of them, as Luna was told to be an Ilocano. However, called to defend Tirad Pass and give Aguinaldo ample time to escape, Lt. Garcia did not hesitate to take up his arms and follow Goyo.
Goyo, knowing that Lt. Garcia is a “loyalist” of Luna, curiously asked why he followed, given what happened to Luna. Lt. Garcia answered “Sundalo pa rin ako, Heneral. Kapag kinailangang ipaglaban ang Pilipinas, hindi ako tatanggi.”
The movie shows that as the two conversed in Tirad Pass (Mt. Balagbag, Rodriguez, Rizal in real life) and looked over the horizon, Lt. Garcia delivered the highly emotional and meaningful line.
Lt. Garcia (in blue), played by Ronnie Lazaro, talks with Gen. Gregorio “Goyo” del Pilar, played by Paulo Avelino, before the Battle of Tirad Pass in the film Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018) of Artikulo Uno Productions. Photo from Google Images.
“Pag bumagsak si Aguinaldo, may panibagong titindig. Pero ito, hindi ‘to napapalitan.”
(If Aguinaldo falls, someone new will rise up. But this, this will never be replaced.)
Why I loved that line? Because I loved that moment, along with the view. I loved the horizon. I loved the shot. It was awesome. It was wonderful
People close to my heart know that I’m so obsessed in my desire to trek Mt. Balagbag, as I was struck in awe by the view of the mountains, sweetened by that line of Lt. Garcia. But as I pondered over it, I was reminded of an impending event that will test our characters, wanting to know if we learned from that significant event of our history.
As the heat of the election season scorches the chambers of public discourse, it is important to remember the beautiful ideals of our heroes.
Thus, I want to share with you two things I learned specifically from Lt. Garcia’s line, and will try to contextualize it in this election season. These lessons are accompanied by questions which you can ponder upon after reading this piece.
1. Your vote shows where your loyalty is
Lt. Garcia’s line tells us that leaders come and go. As one falls, another rises. We’ve seen the rise and fall of leaders. People whom we thought were so powerful that they were irreplaceable also fell. Yet history tells us that these people, once they put their interests over their countrymen, will be judged accordingly and will slowly go down as infamous traitors of the nation. As Apolinario Mabini, in his La Revolucion Filipina, puts it, these people can “fall like an idol of wax, melting in the heat of adversity”. This teaches us one key lesson, and that is to put our loyalty in our country, and not in men.
In the context of the elections, putting your loyalty in one side is casting your vote for that side.
The question to us, then, is this.
Where do we put our loyalty?
Do we put our loyalty in the traditional politicians? In the fleeting promises and empty words of those who are and wanting to be in power, of those who plundered and lied, of those who put the lives of our people in jeopardy, of those whose loyalty is in those in power?
Or do we put our loyalty in our countrymen and those who truly fight for them? In those whom we encounter everyday, those in the streets begging for spare change, those in the mountains fighting for the environment and their ancestral domains, those in the farmlands lacking land and attention, those in the edges of society struggling to make both ends meet?
Had Lt. Garcia been loyal only to Luna, he would have ignored the call of Goyo to fight, and remained in his home caring for his family. But he wasn’t a loyalist of Luna, he was a loyalist of the Republic.
2. Your vote shows how you think of this country
Lt. Garcia tells Goyo that as people come and go, our country is here to stay. The majestic mountains, the quiet streams, the lush forests, the great culture and ideals of our people, the beautiful land. He reminds the boy general that our country will never be replaced by any other, thus, fighting for it is a glorious undertaking. He thinks of this country as something worth of his blood and death in the battlefield.
In line with this, if you think this country is irreplaceable like how Lt. Garcia thinks of it, you will vote for those who are not afraid to confront even the giants of this world. Those who are standing and will stand for this country, for its freedom, and for its sovereignty.
But if you think of this country lightly, you will vote for those who succumb to the pressures of the giants and lean on the deceptive and fleeting promises the latter profess.
The question is this.
How do you think of this country? Do you think this country is worth fighting and standing for?
Or do you think this country is worth the slavery and the influence that the giants intend to impose upon it?
Had Lt. Garcia thought of this country as nothing more than an archipelago waiting to be seized and raped by the imperialist United States, he would have laid down his arms and stopped fighting. But he didn’t think of this country. He saw Tirad Pass as an opportunity to show how he values this country, to the point of his death.
Choose well
These lessons and questions are too emotional, too dramatic, and maybe even too hard to take in. But I pray that you take the time to answer this , to reflect on what it can mean for your decisions, and how it can affect your life as a part of this society.
Lt. Garcia fought and died with his loyalty to this nation, thinking of it as something worth even his life. In the past, patriotism entailed the splintering of Filipino blood in these soils. But now, showing your love for country is made easier. One way you can show your patriotism is by putting the ink at the right circles on May 13.
Here’s to hoping that what you will do and the decisions that you will make in this election season will be done in the name of loyalty to our nation and to our great people.
Peculiar Treasure 