How did Apolinario Mabini become a hero in spite of his being paralyzed?

Answer 1

Mabini was arrested by the American forces in September, 1899, and remained a prisoner until September 23, 1900. Following his release, he lived for a while in a suburb of Manila, in a poor nipa house, under the most adverse and trying circumstances. He was in abject poverty.

In spite of his terrible suffering from paralysis, Mabini continued writing. He severely criticized the government, voicing the sentiments of the Filipino people for freedom. He was ordered to desist, but to this, in one of his writings to the people, he replied: "To tell a man to be quiet when a necessity not fulfilled is shaking all the fibers of his being is tantamount to asking a hungry man to be filled before taking the food which he needs."

Mabini's logic was a real embarrassment to the American military forces, and in January, 1901, he was arrested a second time by the Americans. This time he was exiled to the island of Guam, where he remained until his return to Manila on February 26, 1903.

Mabini died in Manila, of cholera, May 13, 1903, at the age of 39 years. His funeral was the most largely attended of any ever held in Manila.

Although he died from natural causes, Mabini died a martyr to the cause of Philippine independence. Five years of persecution left his intense patriotism untouched, but it had made his physical self a ready victim for a premature death.