When the bullet was fired 115 years ago on this day (May 10, 1897), it showed us that the Filipino race is as depraved as any other race on the face of the earth.
It is a sad fact that in our history as a people, while Filipinos were fighting for liberty against Spain, some could kill even their own for selfish ambition. The demise of the Bonifacio brothers, Andres and Procopio, sentenced to death by a one-sided Filipino tribunal on the mountains of Maragondon, Cavite in 1897 was a pure example of the depth of feudalism plaguing our country. Our leaders then were tested and were found wanting.
In commemoration of the death of Andres Bonifacio, the “Ama ng Katipunan” and the one who ignited the Philippine Revolution of 1896, the first nationalist revolution in Asia. His fire was extinguished by his own fellowmen.
(Image above from La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana dated 1897)
Because it’s so humid and hot this summer, here I am again longing to go up to the cool misty mountains of Baguio. Shot in 1910, the photograph above shows Kennon Road (formerly Benguet Road) with De Dion-Bouton classic cars. Believe it or not, these cars used to climb up the steep and snake-like road of Kennon.
The road itself, now one of the three access roads to the city, was built largely by immigrant Japanese nationals followed by the Fil-Chinese, Americans and Filipinos beginning in 1903. Col. Lyman Kennon lead the road-construction project (yep, he’s an American colonel, in the backdrop of the Philippine-American War) with around 1,500 Japanese workers, most of whom, stayed on in Baguio after the road was completed. Many of these Japanese influenced Igorot farming, namely organic farming which some farmers in La Trinidad still practice today. When the Japanese Occupation ended in 1945, many Japanese in Baguio, even the long-time residents, were suspected of treason and were forcefully deported to their country.
I had an oral history interview with an old Filipina lady in Baguio who married a Japanese. When her husband was deported after the war, it was so sudden that she never had the time to say goodbye. They never saw each other again.
To remember those who have fallen.
From the video: “This tells the “true story” behind the “forgotten war” of Bataan and Corregidor — savage battles that violently hurled falsely reassured Filipinos and an ill-prepared Philippines into the Second World War in the Pacific. Produced by the Department of National Defense of the Philippines and the Philippines Veterans Affairs Office this series of videos documents the outstanding courage, heroism and nobility of Filipinos regardless the inevitable fall of the country to the unrelenting Imperial Japanese military juggernaut. An outcome inevitably irreversible despite the fierce resistance of the mostly Filipino and American defenders as the United States government relegated succor to the loyal but unwarily naive Philippine Commonwealth as secondary to America’s commitment to her European allies.
This historical account belies many of the myths that have long distorted the realities of Philippine American relations and a must for the serious student of history, geopolitics and military matters. On a lighter yet equally revealing note it also gives a glimpse of pre-war Manila and Philippine society.”
As a historian, I still remember vividly the writing I saw on Mount Samat, where the Dambana ng Kagitingan, the monument for the fallen Filipino soldiers who died defending the barricade, was:
“Let all who see take pride in the courage of our race.”
On the last days approaching April 9, 1942, it is said that for the first time in history, Filipino soldiers from all over the archipelago came to Bataan to defend the liberty of the Philippines. If not for them, Corregidor Island would not have lasted a month more (6 months all in all) as the last hold out of Filipinos and Americans against the Imperial Japanese, who by then had conquered almost the entire Southeast Asian region. When Bataan fell on April 9th, the Japanese soldiers began the grueling punishment for the 70,000 survivors of Bataan which would be infamously called the Bataan Death March.
It was in 1835, in a time when the Spanish language was the in-thing in Philippine literature, a young Filipino began to dedicate his Tagalog composition to his ‘muse.’ The man was Francisco Baltazar y dela Cruz or simply known as Francisco Balagtas. Like a tale copied by Dumas, Balagtas fell in love with Maria Asuncion Rivera, but a certain wealthy man named Mariano Capule, who’s also interested with the lady, imprisoned Balagtas under false charges. It was in prison that Balagtas wrote one of the best of Philippine literature entitled Florante at Laura, perhaps alluding the darkness of his prison cell and his depression to the darkness of the forest and the tree where his protagonist, Florante, was tied.
Sa isang madlilim gubat na mapanglaw
dawag na matinik ay walang pagitan,
halos naghihirap ang kay Pebong silang
dumalaw sa loob na lubhang masukal.
Malalaking kahoy ang inihahandog
pawang dalamhati, kahapisa’t lungkot,
huni pa ng ibon ay nakalulunos
sa lalong matipi’t nagsasayang loob.
His muse would appear in Balagtas’ works under the name ‘Celia.’ Because of Florante at Laura, Balagtas unconsciously began a new genre of Philippine literature called Awit. It was years later in the early decade of the American period in the Philippines, the Filipino poet, Jose Corazon de Jesus, would name the Filipino art of extemporaneous poetic debate as Balagtasan. He died a year later when Rizal was born.
Belated happy 224th birthday, Ginoong Francisco Balagtas!
Rizal Monument in Switzerland, before its transfer to Manila. 1910
Richard Kissling, the Swiss sculptor, won the 2nd prize in the Philippine international competition for creating a design of Jose Rizal’s monument that would also house the hero’s remains. This move was approved by the United States commission in 1901, perhaps trying to get the Filipinos’ sympathy amidst the backdrop of the Philippine-American War. The competition was held from 1905-1907. Paciano Rizal as well as other prominent people were part of the competition committee. There was quite a controversy surrounding the judging of the design, since the design of the first prize winner (Carlos Nicoli of Italy) was never built. In my opinion though, a simpler design such as Kissling’s is much preferable than the overdone Nicoli design. It’s ironic how Rizal insisted that there should not be any monument of him. He specifically wrote that a simple cross would do.
Source: correosfilipinas
The E. Aguilar Cruz Museum at Magalang, Pampanga is one experience you should not miss if you ever visit Pampanga. Located right beside Abe’s Farm (“Abe” was the nickname given to E. Aguilar Cruz), the house stands amidst the vegetable farm fields where food is being harvested to be served at the restaurants. You might be unaware that E. Aguilar Cruz’s work as a “Journalist, Art Critic, Painter and Diplomat” according to the NHCP, largely influenced our national discourse when it came to culture and history. This explains the numerous mementos, artifacts and paintings found in this small but quaint house. The son, Larry J. Cruz, founded the LJC Group, known to have established several food restaurants promoting Filipino Kapampangan cuisine. If you have eaten in Abe’s Resto, or Fely J’s, or Cafe Havana, Cafe Adriatico and others, your taste buds have been conquered by LJ Cruz.
The house itself has a colorful history. Because of his father’s polymath legacy, Larry J. Cruz was inspired to take on cooking and collect his father’s paintings and book collections. Right about the time that he planned to start his very own restaurant, he and Agustin Goy found this 1930s house and fell in love with its vintage feel. They decided to use it as the site of their venture. However, they found out that the house was so old that the wood was already largely infested. Goy helped in collecting parts of the house from different locations, and even installed the Art Deco-like window grills, to Larry’s joy. Larry Cruz had this philosophy when it came to the ambiance of his restaurants which clearly reflected the vintage beauty of the house:
“Things should never be too new or shiny. Use old wood instead of brass. When it comes to something expensive, silver is always preferable to gold. A worn-out area rug is more appealing than wall-to-wall carpeting. Elegance is the worn patina of things valued and treasured. And it’s not just material things.” (from the house museum)
The house became a weekend home of the Cruz family and friends where fruits and vegetables continued to be grown. When LJC passed away in 2008, his family and friends honored his and his father’s memory by turning it into a museum. Among the displays are the paintings of “Abe”, letters, the typewriter used by him, some everyday vintage utensils that was used up to the early 20th century and more. The ventilation of the house is surprisingly cool, with the breeze of the outside farm going in. It was indeed a place of contemplation and inspiration for an artist and historian such as Abe and his restaurateur-son as Larry. If I would have a house, I want a house exactly or similar to this. Oh and they say farming is quite therapeutic (although I tried urban farming numerous times and failed. huhu).
These posts on Pampanga makes my mind wander and my mouth water.
Jose Rizal’s sketch of Aden (now located in Yemen) as seen aboard his ship D’jennah on its way to Spain. Circa 1882.
An excerpt of his diary dated May 26, 1882, from Rizal’s Memorias de un estudiante de Manila right after he made this sketch:
…on the morning of the 26th, the sea began to get calm and we sighted the African coast. Greetings, inhospitable land but famous, alas, at the cost of the blood of your sons! Until now your name has been associated in my mind with terror and horrible carnage. How many conquerors had invaded your land!
In his first travel experience outside his country, Rizal realized for the first time one startling fact—we were not alone in being colonized.
I bought this item last December as a Christmas gift for myself. I was privileged to attend the launching of this rare Philippine historical artifact/replica. As soon as I heard of it, and attended the launching, I bought it and up to now I’m still playing it as a pastime. I consider this the unboxing of the coolest historical document put on the hands of common Filipinos. Who wouldn’t palpitate with excitement?
The “Haec est Sibylla Cumana” (‘This is Sibylla Cumana’ in Latin) is a mysterious board game created by none other than Jose Rizal himself when he was exiled in Dapitan by the Spanish authorities from 1892 to 1896. Sybil was, according to Greek mythology, the oracle of Delphi, famous for giving somewhat vague prophecies concerning the future (like when a king asked her if his kingdom would win in the battle, the oracle told him one kingdom will win and one kingdom will suffer a defeat. Vague right?) Rizal’s sketch of Sibyl’s face is printed on the box, giving us an idea how Rizal mastered Western mythology. Sibyl asked the gods to grant her immortality and they did, but she forgot to ask them not to age her.
Perhaps the board game was created by Rizal not only to have fun with his students (He was a teacher who would always put his students to the test, like say, commanding one of his pupils to get his cane in the woods in the middle of the night) but also to test their emotional quotient—if Rizal knew the concept. In playing the boardgane, ask a question among the list, roll the top and whatever number comes out of it, you turn the page with that number and look for the answer. All the answers are arranged in an unpredictable manner, giving the players the impression that one cannot jump in and manipulate the answer. It’s unpredictable, and it’s full of dry humor. It will keep you laughing as you proceed with the game.
Who knew that Rizal could be this funny? :)
The board game includes the reproduced replica of the original manuscript (and yes the sketches are all there), with Filipino translation by National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario, English translation by Gemma Cruz-Araneta (a Rizal descendant), and the top crafted by Konrad Woelhaf.
I heard our President tried to ask a question to the boardgame if he could get married. The boardgame said, “You’d do better without marrying.” Haha.
I thank my sister for helping me take a video of this artifact unboxing. You’ll go oooh, ahhh.. and whoooaah on this one.
Manila City Hall courtyard, Manila, Philippines, March 2, 1945
International News Photo—WP—San Francesco Bureau
Filipino taking Jap shoes.
Manila P.I. In this photo, an old Filipino, left destitute by the war in Manila, and having suffered deprivation of food and clothing under the 3 three year occupation by the Japs, finds a good pair of shoes on a dead Jap and helps himself. March 2, 1945
Please excuse the racial slurs but that’s the caption of the picture back in 1945.
Kids, don’t you ever speak in the same manner as the photographer of this pic! Those words and that language are from more than half a century ago. You should know better.
Indeed.
Source: Flickr / johntewell
