Aquino Cites Apolinario Mabini During Awards for PWDs

President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday handed awards to outstanding persons with disabilities (PWDs) and advocates for their welfare during the 2015 Apolinario Mabini Awards held in Malacañang.

The function we attended yesterday [Photo courtesy of inquirer.net]

The awarding ceremony coincided with the snowballing public discourse on the historical film Heneral Luna and its main characters, which include the ‘Sublime Paralytic” Apolinario Mabini.*

Such discussions revealed that some Filipino students were not aware that Mabini was a PWD, who suffered from polio, which rendered him incapacitated. While lauding the PWDs who have succeeded in their endeavors despite challenges brought about by their disabilities, Aquino also expressed his disappointment at students who do not know Apolinario Mabini.

[To read the full article, click: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/726219/aquino-leads-apolinario-mabini-awards-for-pwds-supporters#ixzz3n9DYdE00 ]

* NOTE: our documentary “Apolinario Mabini: The Sublime Paralytic” has a segment on the cause of Mabini’s disability. The docu was first shown at the Mabini Shrine in Tanauan, Batangas last July 17, 2015, a little over a month after “Heneral Luna” was released with Epi Quizon acting as Mabini. I believe he  should watch it to update him on the latest research findings on Mabini’s condition. Mabini’s body was exhumed in 1980, and doctors back then reported that he had polio. That is what Epi knows. Dr. Jiggs Gilera findings released in 2014 says that Mabini had Guillain-Barre Syndrome which I find more plausible since polio was usually contracted by children. Good that these days polio vaccines are easily available.

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