Professor Glenn Anthony May, whose book Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio (Wisconsin, 1996), has caused him to be maligned by Filipino colleagues, is a serious scholar. His area is Southeast Asian history, with a concentration on the Philippines. He is a Yale product and has taught history at the University of the Philippines and at American universities. His books have made valuable contributions to Philippine historiography. He also wrote a devastating book about the late President Ferdinand Marcos’ WW II medals.

Without agreeing with all that he wrote in Inventing a Hero, Filipinos must at least see the distortions of Andres Bonifacio that some historians have seen.

In his pre-Bonifacio Day column in the Inquirer, Ambeth Ocampo reminds readers that Bonifacio never wielded a bolo. He always used a gun. He quoted what Teodoro Agoncillo had written.

There are myths about Bonifacio—and for that matter about many of our other heroes. If we really want to love and serve our country better we should know our heroes more correctly.