HOMOBONO A. ADAZA: New horizon for new beginnings (Part III)
“Don’t lose your way
With each passing day
You’ve come so far
Don’t throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope and glory
Hold to the truth in your heart.”
– First part of the song, If We Hold On Together,
sung by Diana Ross
Men who want to change their countries or even the world are weavers of dreams. Many, if not most of them, come from privileged families. This is understandable as only the privileged can secure the best possible education while those who come from less privileged families are trying hard to make a living to support themselves and their families. As a rule, they have no time to dream of great things for their countries or even their communities.
This is one of the vagaries of life that one often wonders why this is so. It is not really that complex. When you come to study the history of countries, you will find to your elation or dismay that this is true. The dreamers who did not abandon their dreams succeeded to build the countries in the shape of their vision.
Revolutionary dreamers: In this country, we have a lot of revolutionary dreamers. They range from those who fought to build a country through the force of arms to those who struggled through constitutional methods. They are too many to enumerate – only books of history immortalizes their victories or their failures.
The ones I remember with fondness are men like Andres Bonifacio and Luis Taruc. They epitomize and demonstrate unmeasured patriotism and heroism. I know Andres Bonifascio through the books that I read. He is quite impressive – so impressive he should have a better place in history books and national celebrations than what he has today
But that life’s in this country. Being a man of the masses does not count for those who write the history of this country and bestow honors to the most deserving.
Luis Taruc: My first meeting with Ka Luis took place when he was guest speaker of the West Cagayan de Oro City Rotary. Of course, I was visibly impressed because of his being the Supremo of the HUKBALAHAP, popularly known as HUK, the guerilla organization which fought the Japanese invaders during the Second World War in Central Luzon.
After his speech and at the end of the program, Ka Luis was surrounded by about ten eager Rotarians who wanted to have the privilege of a personal touch with him. The first Rotarian who fired a question and comment was Tito Nable who asked and commented, “Ka Luis, why did you surrender? You should have continued with the Revolution.”
Surprised at the question and suggestion, Ka Luis looked around the Rotarians surrounding him and said, “This is a good number. You have convinced me. So let’s go to the hills tonight and pursue the goals of the Revolution.” Almost to a man, the Rotarians commented, “No, Ka Luis, we will just contribute money and you pursue the Revolution.”
Ka Luis replied, “Do you expect me to mount a Revolution by myself?.” And everybody laughed at the razor-edge answer.
It took me to become Provincial Governor of Misamis Oriental during Marcos’ martial law to meet Ka Luis again when he was guest at the Provincial Farm House. I was to deliver the welcome remarks and I welcomed the idea as I was informed that after the program Ka Luis was to go to Claveria town with his FAITH members to take over the twenty-four hectare titled land of Mayor Juan Azcuna Po of Jasaan town.
As we were seated together, I asked him, “Ka Luis, is it true that you are going to take over a twenty-four hectare land in Claveria with your followers?”
“Yes, that is true,’ he answered.
“You better not do that because that land is titled. If you go there now, our Provincial Commander is waiting for you with his soldiers to take you and your followers as guest in our Provincial Jail,” I advised him.
“If that is the case, I will not go there. Thanks for the advice,” he replied and we ended up with a big laugh.
The last time I met Ka Luis was in a coffee shop after his regular radio program. Over a cup of coffee, he asked me, “Bon, will you be my co-host in my radio program?’
“Why?” I asked in return.
“I need someone younger like you to help me as I’m growing old,” he answered.
“But Ka Luis, are you not a revolutionary?” I asked him again.
Without hesitating, he emphatically answered, “Of course, I am.”
“But don’t you know, Ka Luis, that it is a crime for a revolutionary to grow old?” I gently smiled as I asked the question.
“Ah, Bon, you’re really pilyo but very creative,’ he smiled at me in return.
I miss Ka Luis, the inimitable revolutionary who, to quote Peter Ustinov acting as Nero, died with his dreams without my permission.
Impressive: I am heavily impressed by dreamers who even failed to achieve their dreams – for one reason or another. I am more impressed by dreamers who continue to pursue their dreams despite unnerving difficulties – men like Jose Maria Sison who despite years of continuous fighting are still around pursuing their dreams. And I am mesmerized by dreamers who succeed in realizing their dreams – men like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap and Van Tien Dung; David Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin and Moshe Dayan; Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin; Mao Tse Tung, Zou-Enlai and Chu Teh; Moammar Khaddafi and Gammal Abdel Nasser; and, of course, the great innovative and creative revolutionary thinkers like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
These are dreamers who built countries for their people and establish societies for the greater interest of mankind. There are distortions by those who came after them. But their original dreams will survive for all time.
This time: We live in confused and confusing times. Many think the election is a certainty – some don’t. Senators Ping Lacson and Tito Sotto think there are dangerous plans to cancel elections. Knowing PR Duterte and his inner circle, there is reason to believe that there are such plans – the continuing denials of a PR Duterte controlled COMELEC notwithstanding.
Dreamers who think of a better world for our people should always remember these lines of the Diana Ross song:
“Don’t lose your way
With each passing day
You’ve come so far
Don’t throw it away
Live believing
Dreams are for weaving
Wonders are waiting to start
Live your story
Faith, hope and glory
Hold to the truth in your heart.”
Yes, my friends of heart and mind don’t lose your way. Continue dreaming, working and looking at the horizon because, if you look hard enough, you will see, in John Milton’s words, Paradise Regained where the society is equal, just and free – the New Horizon which is yours and mine.
Postscript: The Diana Ross song, If We Hold On Together, has beautiful and undying memories for me. It reminds me of the ladies of the RAM (Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan) which had this for their theme song. Agnes Avenido, Marilyn Robles, Pong Querubin – pretty, sweet, charming and daring – among many others, sang this song with a lot of passion and verve. The captured memories bring a Niagara of tears in my heart and a tsunami of inspiring tunes into my soul.
For dreamers, memories are the inspiring highways to realization.
