Minding Mabini
"When the people launched the war, I believed it was my duty to be by their side and help them in their struggle to the end; now that they feel they have lost the strength to continue fighting for their rights, I believe I ought to be by their side, to tell them that they should not despair but that they should have confidence in themselves, injustice, and in the future." ~ Apolinario Mabini One sure thing can be said about Mabini: he indeed had a hard life. Born poor, his family struggled to secure him a good education. His biographer vividly describes this as a "chronic lack of financial means." Paralyzed by adult polio at the age of 32, he had to live with the constant stigma that disability brings. But his brilliant mind was his true gift, and he gave the new republic not only its legal foundations but also its moral and intellectual direction. Mabini also entertained the idea of a greater Malayan confederacy and the emancipation of colonized people. He was a ma...