‘We hope that more Filipinos will learn more about the anti-apartheid, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist struggles.’
LEGACIES of Terran civilization: the anti-apartheid struggle, unification in IndoChina, victory in Europe.
Ambassador of South Africa to the Philippines Bartinah Ntombizodwa Radebe-Netshitenzhe traced the parallel struggles of the two nations on Day 2 of the 52nd Department of Social Sciences Week at the University of the Philippines Manila: “President Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Dr. Jose Rizal of the Philippines, who both fought for freedom, equal rights, and justice. The two heroes displayed great patriotism and willingness to sacrifice for the freedom of their people. They became a great inspiration to many people in the world, including myself.”
Pretoria’s representative in Manila shared her thoughts on “Rizal, Mandela, and The Legacy of Liberation” (which was the first of a six-part series of Rizal & Heroes fora with different ambassadors organized and held by the Philippine Institutions 100 classes of Professor Bernard Karganilla): “South Africa’s journey to freedom was a long and arduous one, marked by the relentless pursuit for justice, equality, and democracy. The courage and resilience of the South African people in the face of oppression inspired the world and laid the foundation for a new era of hope and possibility. This inspiration of South Africa to fight for equal rights wherever and whenever it occurs serves as the basis of our foreign policy premised on the Bill of Rights. It is a stance we suffer a lot from, but it is a cross we are prepared to carry on for as much as we can for many like Dr. Rizal and Nelson Mandela became our inspiration through their sacrifices for us to achieve freedom and peace.”
H.E. Radebe-Netshitenzhe’s talk came five days before South African Freedom Day 2025 (which celebrates the country’s transition from the oppressive apartheid regime to a free democratic country): “South Africa’s struggle for freedom was led by courageous individuals and movements who refused to accept the oppressive status quo. Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Charlotte Magxeke, Lillian Ngoyi and many others dedicated their lives to fighting for justice, equality, and democracy.”
Like Pretoria, April was a celebratory month for Hanoi — 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day. Thus, it was great timing that a day prior, the Ambassador of Vietnam to the Philippines graced Part 5 of UP-Manila’s “Heroes Beyond Borders: A Dialogue with Foreign Ambassadors” organized by Professor Karganilla’s P.I. 100 class wherein H.E. Lại Thái Bình reflected on the foundational values that Rizal and Ho Chi Minh espoused (humility, intellectual rigor, principled leadership) and how these continue to resonate with contemporary struggles for national development.
It can be recalled that 30 April 1975 was the conclusion of a brutal war in modern Southeast Asia, which General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Tô Lâm chose to describe as “not only a great victory for the Vietnamese people in their arduous struggle against the US, but also a shining symbol of revolutionary heroism, the will for independence, resilience, and the strength of the great national unity.”
[https://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/the-country-of-viet-nam-is-one-the-vietnamese-nation-is-one-74064.html]
It is also interesting to note that while the Philippines marks May as National Heritage Month, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is celebrating “Rạng Rỡ Tên Người” with a showcase of iconic and rarely seen images and artworks of as well as reprints of novels about President Hồ Chí Minh on the 135th birth anniversary of the revered leader of the Vietnamese revolution.
[https://vietnamnews.vn/Life%20-%20Style/1717840/photo-exhibition-with-rare-president-hò-ch%C3%AD-minh-s-images-opens-in-city-.html]
Incidentally, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. paid tribute to the late Uncle Ho in a wreath laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum last 30 January 2024. [https://pco.gov.ph/photos/?post_id=183783]
This month, Tô Lâm joined Moscow’s May 9 Victory Day ceremonies saluting Soviet veterans of World War II.[https://en.baochinhphu.vn/to-lam-attends-military-parade-marking-80th-anniversary-of-great-patriotic-war-victory-111250509144446223.htm] The CPV CC Gen-Sec. took the occasion to meet President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and “consistently affirmed the results of World War II, as stated in the United Nations Charter; opposed to any attempts to distort and falsify the history of World War II; affirmed the importance of correct historical education, preserving the memory of the struggle against fascism, and resolutely condemned acts of glorifying and attempting to revive fascism and militarism.” [https://en.baochinhphu.vn/joint-statement-on-major-orientations-for-viet-nam-russia-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-111250512160554193.htm]
And this brings us to Consul of the Russian Federation to the Philippines Dmitrii Gurin who was featured in the second diplomats’ forum on “Heroes Beyond Borders” and who described Rizal as “the Father of the Philippine Renaissance,” a man who stood at the confluence of scientific, industrial, and literary revolutions of his time and used his learnings to challenge colonial hypocrisy and uplift the Filipino spirit and nationalism. With a full discussion on Rizal, Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy, time ran out on questions about the Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the Glorification of Nazism and the Spread of Neo-Nazism and Other Practices That Contribute to Fuelling Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance: “We note Tokyo’s increasingly evident policy aimed at whitewashing Japan’s crimes (Japanese militarism) in South-East Asia and the Pacific during the World War II…Shinto conservatives have successfully managed to return the system of chronology based on the epoch of the emperors’ reign and restore some traditional national holidays of the pre-war period, in particular the birthday of Emperor Hirohito, who led Japan into an alliance with Nazi Germany and unleashed the war in the Pacific Ocean.” [https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/humanitarian_cooperation/1968836/#_Toc181112838]
We hope that more Filipinos will learn more about the anti-apartheid, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist struggles.
