Goyo: my favorite hero.

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Goyo is a nickname appropriate for a movie title. In Philippine culture, nicknames usually has the musical sound of NG, thus we call people Ningning, Dongdong, Trining, Goyong. For me, the hero is called Greg. And I loved him since I learned in grade school the Battle of Tirad Pass. That is where Gregorio del Pilar, a 23 year old who hailed from Bulacan, of humble beginnings, Jesuit educated, battle scarred, a young general who scared the colonial Americans, lost his life from a sniper's bullet. I had the pleasure of watching Goyo last night. His was the story of a young man who soared to greatness too soon, even before he had the awakening, the sense of patriotism, the love of country. Goyo would have been the typical lad next door, one who want to pursue ladies on whim, except that not only did he possess the machismo and the looks, he also owned a courage that become more intense under fire. The Philippines is an archipelago of heroes but there, on a majestic mountain range in the North, where there is no electricity, there's a Pass called Tirad, difficult to trek, there stands a monument of a lad on horseback, his name, Goyo.