31/08/2026
๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฒ l No statue bears his name. No book tells his story. No holiday was created nor named after him.
But he wakes before the sun, before the rest of the world even prepares for the day. He climbs behind the wheel and starts his engine as he leaves before daylight has had the chance to peek through the sky. His jeepney rattles through the almost empty roads of the city, ready to give a ride to students on their way to school, workers on their way to work, and strangers simply off to where they need to be. For many of us, the routine is simple: climb aboard, hand over your fare, wait patiently, and get off at your stop.
And we never really bothered to ask his name. We donโt know how long he has been driving, or how many hours he spends daily on the road. Yet somehow, he has become a part of our everyday lives.
Every morning, every night, he helps keep the city moving and its people where they need to be.
But we rarely call him a hero.
When we hear the word โheroโ, particularly the phrase โnational heroesโ, our minds tend to think immediately of Dr. Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, and many more of those who fought, sacrificed, and stood for the country during the times of oppression. We remember them because their actions left significant marks in Philippine history. With their names written in textbooks, and their faces printed on currency and monuments, their stories have been passed down from one generation to another.
And they deserve to be remembered.
But if we have learned anything from the people around us, maybe heroism does not always have to be extraordinary or dramatic. Often it is simply in the act of consistently doing something important for other people and always showing up.
As jeepney drivers drop off a student in front of the school gates, another person awaits the learner. With their uniforms straightened out from head to toe, they nod a โgood morningโ towards the studentโs way and let him in the campus.
For most, the traffic enforcers and security guards around campus are merely the ates and kuyas they often forget to greet back or say their thanks to as they hurry through the university gates and rush for their 7am class. But more than their duty to keep us safe, both on and off campus, they have devoted themselves to serving the community.
And as you walk around the campus grounds, you are greeted by the maintenance staff who keep our spaces clean and ready for our use. In the school clinic and in student-affair offices are the nurses and psychologists who are always ready to hear us out whenever we feel under the weather.
Within the university offices are the administrative personnel who assist us with our concerns. And through the hallways and corners of every building are the professors that work overtime just to make sure that students get the proper amount of learning every time they walk into a classroom.
They may not be celebrated during ceremonies, have statues built in their honor, nor have their names written in any textbook at all; but their work matters.
Our everyday lives are held together by people we often overlook. The drivers who bring us to school, the vendors whom we buy our lunches from, the delivery riders who deliver our packages safely, and even the farmers that bring food to our tables deserve recognition, too. And what makes this noteworthy is that most of these people are strangers to us.
We know their faces but not their stories. We depend on them without knowing their names.
And we will not be able to reach certain milestones and achievements in life alone. Because behind every studentโs journey are the people who may not be a part of our personal lives, but whose work helps make those achievements possible.
Perhaps that is another form of sacrifice; to give something to people who may never know what you have given them.
But this does not mean that the heroes we learned about in school and their sacrifices are any less important. Countless people from our history have shaped us into the nation we are now, and that is worth remembering. Some heroes change the course of history, while some continue to shape our tomorrows.
National Heroes Day gives us a chance not only to look back at the people who shaped our history, but to look around at the people who continue to shape our everyday lives.
The next time you ride a jeep, look up from your phone and thank the person behind the wheel. The next time you go to school, greet the guard back with a โgood morningโ and a smile on your face. The next time you hand your trash to the utility personnel, say your thanks. Perhaps it is the time we start to recognize those who walk among us who choose to get up in the morning and think that serving the people is their purpose in life.
Because maybe they didnโt go face to face with colonizers, nor did they guide the Filipinos to refuge as the war happened centuries ago, but everyday their duty starts at the hours we still stir in our sleep.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ, ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฌ, ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง; ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐งโ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐จ.
๐ช๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐: Chelsea Catolico
