Change Leaders
Future Chapters (Version 7.24)
- J. Craig Ventner, basic research in Genomics and Synthetic Biology
- Steve Jobs, sublime Product Development in Consumer Technology
- Genichi Taguchi, Loss Function and Experimental Design
- Albert Einstein and the General Theory of Relativity
- Konrad Adenauer and Social Market Economy in Germany
- Joseph Schumpeter, Entrepreneurship and Creative Destruction
- Yoshida Shoin, Teacher to the Meiji Restoration
- Wang Yang Ming, the Neo-Confucian Idealist
Apolinario Mabini and the Philippine Revolution by Cesar Adib Majul is one of my favorite books. It was first published in 1960 by the University of the Philippines Press, Diliman, Quezon City.
The book inspires me because Majul tells the tale well and makes us live in Mabini’s times.
One can almost imagine the news headlines day-to-day. It tells of the time when politics was done for the good of the people. Filipino politicians, in a time of real and bloody war against Spain and America, where dead serious about the business of politics.
It ought to inspire us because that revolution was a product of the French Enlightenment. To quote Dean Fonacier in the Introduction, “The [Philippine] Revolution … was not an aimless, disordered upheaval, because it had definite objectives to accomplish and it drew inspiration from earlier revolutions in Europe and America.”
The book also tells about the humanity of Mabini, oftentimes the forgotten hero today and his charisma. His patriotism was the fount of his motivation. Love of country is lost to many political leaders of our time.
Back cover with note from the author
Mabini’s life gives me hope today, despite the gloomy headlines, because he was real.
Apolinario Mabini happened and, surely, some Mabini must likewise emerge with the brilliance, the charisma, and the love of country to re-energize Filipinos to greater heights in the near future.
A quote from p.xii of the Introduction by Tomas S. Fonacier, Professor of History and Dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of the Philippines, May 15, 1960:
The main thesis of Professor Majul’s two books – The Political and Constitutional Ideas of the Philippine Revolution and Mabini and the Philippine Revolution – is that the Revolution, the two phases of which were led by Bonifacio and Aguinaldo, was informed and guided by a definite political and ethical philosophy traceable to the French Enlightenment which gave rise, as everybody knows, to the French Revolution and the American War for Independence, the nationalist movements of th nineteenth century, and the unprecedented scientific and technological advancement during the last two centuries.
The [Philippine] Revolution, therefore, was not an aimless, disordered upheaval, because it had definite objectives to accomplish and it drew inspiration from earlier revolutions in Europe and America for the accomplishment of such objectives. Although coming a century after, the Philippine Revolution still can be properly called a direct descendant of the French and American Revolutions.
Note: Mabini and the Philippine Revolution by Cesar Adib Majul is available at the UP Press for Pesos 375. Call Bahay Kalinaw (920-2313) to reserve and buy. It is a really good read!
