Jose Rizal

JOSE RIZAL

On June 19, 1861, the Mercado Family from the

town of Calamba in the province of Laguna in the
Philippines, happily greeted the birth of their
newest member a baby boy born as the seventh
child to proud parents Francisco Rizal Mercado y
Alejandro and Teodora Alonza y Quintos. They
named the bouncing baby boy Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado. Being the seventh of a brood of eleven,
Jose Rizal Mercado demonstrated an astounding
intelligence and aptitude for learning at a very
young age when he learned his letters from his
mother and could read and write at the age of five.

APOLINARIO MABINI
 APOLINARIO MABINI

Like fellow Philippine revolutionaries Jose Rizal and

Andres Bonifacio, lawyer Apolinario Mabini, the first
prime minister of the Philippines, did not live to see
his 40th birthday. He suffered from paraplegia
(paralysis of the legs), but Mabini had a powerful
intellect, and was known during his short life as the
"Brains of the Revolution" and also the "Conscience
of the Revolution."
RODRIGO DUTERTE
 RODRIGO DUTERTE

Rodrigo Duterte is the current and the sixteenth President of

the Philippines, in office since June 2016. Born in into a
politically active family, he spent most of his life in Davao City.
Subsequently, he became the Mayor of Davao and served for
seven terms, totaling more than 22 years. In 2016, he won a
huge mandate and became the President of Philippines.
Since the Philippines law does not allow anybody to hold any
post for more than three consecutive terms, therefore after
serving his three consecutive terms as Mayor of Davao, he
also served as the Congressman of the 1st District of Davao
City and Vice Mayor of the city. His success lies in his ability to
connect to the masses, a trick he learned while in school. To
his critics, he is a foul-mouthed adulterer, obsessed with killing
criminals; but millions of his countrymen favour him just
because of that. They see in him the Philippine leader, who
would get the country free from crime and drugs, the two
menaces that have plagued their life for long.
ANDRES BONIFACIO
 ANDRES BONIFACIO

Andres Bonifacio (1863-1897), a

Filipino revolutionary hero, founded the
Katipunan, a secret society which
spearheaded the uprising against the
Spanish and laid the groundwork for
the first Philippine Republic. Andres
Bonifacio was born in Tondo, Manila,
on Nov. 30, 1863.
ANTONIO LUNA
 ANTONIO LUNA

Soldier, chemist, musician, war strategist,

journalist, pharmacist, and hot-head:
General Antonio Luna was a complex man.
Unfortunately for Luna, the Philippines' first
president - the ruthless Emilio Aguinaldo -
perceived him as a threat. As a result,
Antonio Luna died not on the battlefields of
the Philippine/American War, but on the
streets of Cabanatuan.