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To all Filipino who doesn't know who is Apolinario Mabini is:
Mabini, highly regarded due to his intelligence, served as the country’s first prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and served as an adviser to President Emilio Aguinaldo. He is referred to as the “Brains of the Revolution.” - source Inquirer
1. Mabini's mother wanted him to be a priest.
In his memoir, La Revolucion Filipina (The Philippine Revolution), Mabini wrote that his mother, Dionisia Maranan, aspired for him to be a priest.
2. Syphilis did not cause Mabini’s paralysis.
Mabini was struck down by paralysis in early 1896. Perfoming an autopsy on Mabini's remains almost a century later in 1980, doctors from the National Orthopedic Hospital concluded that polio caused his paralysis.
3. Mabini was a member of the reformist La Liga Filipina before joining the revolution.
He joined the revived La Liga Filipina in 1893, and became the secretary of its Supreme Council.
4. Mabini wrote significant presidential decrees, his own version of a Philippine constitution, and a code of ethics for Filipinos.
As President Aguinaldo's adviser, Mabini was entrusted with writing decrees for Aguinaldo's signature. Some of these decrees laid the groundwork of the new Philippine Republic.
5. Mabini was buried in two other cemeteries before his remains were finally brought to his birthplace in Tanauan, Batangas.
After his death, he was buried at the Chinese Cemetery in Manila. But his remains were dug up and transferred to the Mausoleo de los Veteranos de la Revolucion (Mausoleum for the Veterans of the Revolution) at the North Cemetery years later.
In 1965, Mabini's remains were moved to a tomb at the Mabini Shrine in Tanauan, Batangas.
6. Mabini was once featured in the Philippine 1-peso note, and has been featured on the 10-peso bill and coins since 1968.
Mabini was first featured on a one-peso bill in 1918. He and Jose Rizal (on the 2-peso bill) were the only Filipino heroes featured on bank notes at the time.
7. A bridge, a superhighway, a Philippine Navy ship, and a disputed reef in the West Philippine Sea bear Mabini's name.
8. He’s exclusively a product of local educational institutions.
The reason behind is that he was not as well-off as Rizal who could afford to study in European universities.
9. He’s well-known for his exceptional memory.
Mabini was a humble man gifted with a superior memory, and that helped him a lot in his quest to earn a law degree. His superior intelligence started to manifest during his first three years in the school of Tanauan where he excelled in almost all subjects.
10. He became an achiever despite extreme poverty.
Apolinario Mabini was born to dirt poor parents, but he never let poverty to become a hindrance in making his own success story. It is said that the young Mabini used to walk to town–approximately 6 kilometers from his native barrio–just to study. Old folk of Tanauan remember him as “a quiet boy who never had any books to study with, but who was nevertheless the exemplary student.”
11. He once tried to learn how to dance.
Not everyone remembers the “pre-polio” Mabini–a man who could walk, stand, and was normal enough to learn how to dance. In an interview with a prewar newspaper, one of his brothers revealed that Mabini once had the interest to learn basic dancing skills. The reason behind it is not well-known, but this interesting fact only proves that Mabini was just as human as everybody else.
12. He was a strict teacher and even opened his own school.
To pay his school fees, Apolinario Mabini had to work as an instructor several times, and he even opened his own school just to supplement his income.
13. He vehemently condemned Bonifacio’s assassination.
For instance, as Aguinaldo’s unofficial adviser, Mabini opposed the idea of declaring Philippine independence. According to historian Teodoro Agoncillo, Mabini rejected the idea on the basis that “it was more important to reorganize the government in such a manner as to convince the foreign powers of the competence and stability of the new government than to proclaim Philippine independence at such an early period.”
14. He won over his envious enemies.
Aguinaldo’s decision to make him his trusted adviser flared up Mabini’s enemies. He was called many names such as the “Dark Chamber of the President” and was even rumored to had contracted syphilis which allegedly caused his paralysis.
15. He was way ahead of his time.
Apolinario Mabini’s brilliance and ideas were way ahead of his time, causing conflicts with some of his contemporaries. He envisioned the Congress to be an “advisory body of the President” and even warned against a provision in the proposed Constitution which would give the Congress the power to approve appointments to Cabinet positions.
original source: rappler, filipiknow.
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