Indio:Bravo//

“When, still a child, I told you that I wanted to acquire learning, you were overjoyed because your heart’s desire was that a son of yours should be a priest; to be a minister of God was for you the greatest honour that a man could aspire to in this world.
Realizing that you were too poor to meet the expenses of my education, you worked as hard as you could, heedless of sun and rain, until you caught the illness that took you to your grave.
But I was not fated to be a priest. I am, however, convinced that the true minister of God is not one who wears a cassock, but everyone who proclaims His glory by good works, of service to the greatest possible number of His creatures, and I shall endeavour to be faithful to your desires as long as I have the strength to do so.
Now, wishing to place on your grave a wreath woven by my own hands, I dedicate this humble work to your memory; it is a poor thing, unworthy of you, yet the best so far woven by the artless hands of your son…”

Apolinario Mabini (1864-1903), in a dedication to his mother on his memoir, La Revolucion Filipina, translated by Leon Ma. Guerrero.

*Mabini’s graduation photograph when he graduated in the University of Santo Tomas in 1894 as a lawyer. Original and colorized photograph courtesy of the Presidential Museum and Library.