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Bernard Karganilla
‘A lot of learning was a dangerous thing in Spanish colonial Philippines, what with the obscurantist friars in charge of socio-public affairs.’


Histories and stories

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Histories are stories. Stories of ancient inventions, lost civilizations, warrior cultures. Tales of horror, sagas of heroism. Accounts of travelers, diaries of madmen. Chronicles of noble causes and evil deeds.

Stories of individuals in the context of their societies. A few of their stories can be earth-shaking; most are mundane. For instance, we learn from the letter of Ceferino de Leon, writing in Madrid, March 2, 1886, to Jose Rizal in Heidelberg, that "Luna’s painting has been bought for 200,000 pesetas." That painting was the "celebrated Spoliarium," which was "acquired by the Provincial Delegation of Barcelona" - a happenstance that gave Pablo Ortiga y Rey the "satisfaction to know that so renowned a painting will remain in Spain and will not end in a foreign country." [Letter to Jose Rizal, March 2, 1886]

We in 2006 know the conclusion to that story: Luna’s painting is in the Philippines under the care of the national government.

Going back to the De Leon letter, without the short notification about the "Spoliarium," there was nothing noteworthy in the lives of the Filipino reformists in Europe. "Here nothing has happened. We see each other rarely so that you can imagine our reserved attitude. Everyone to himself since you left...It seems that a violent storm of egoism has broken the bond of harmony that formerly united our fellow countrymen. Now there are no more friendly coteries that gather anywhere for the exchange of impressions. Now, should there be some partial groups, they are centers of unjust murmurings, for hurling complaints against one another and consequently they only serve to dampen good fellowship."

Ah, human nature. No wonder the Propaganda Movement failed to make waves in Europe.

So, what else was there to talk about? "Only changes in the status of our countrymen are recorded: Yance (captain) and Devesa got married last week. The first one married an Andalucian and the other a Madrid woman. The latter left immediately for Barcelona towards the end of last month to embark for Manila...Oh, honeymoon in the middle of the sea!"

Romantic entanglements are always news to Filipinos. And Filipinos update their friends daily (hourly with the email, texting and chatting technologies) about their crushes and pet peeves, frustrations and cheap thrills. Gossip and shop talk claim the bulk of Filipinos’ talk time.

But there can be moments of real concern, items of serious consideration. Felipe Zamora, writing in Manila, May 1886, to his "distinguished friend and comrade," Rizal, who was then in Paris, intimated danger in the air. "I spoke to your dear parents about the progress you have made in medicine and philology. Talking about whether or not you should be made to return to this country after the conclusion of your studies, I advised them not to make you do so, even if they have to make a little sacrifice, for with the encyclopedic knowledge that you have acquired in Europe, you should be looked upon here with much caution and you would be exposed to numerous displeasures."

Apparently, a lot of learning was a dangerous thing in Spanish colonial Philippines, what with the obscurantist friars in charge of socio-public affairs.

And Zamora’s advice to the endangered Rizal? "If someday you would find it necessary to return to this country, I would advise you not to do it until after you have changed your nationality, and if it were possible, you choose German, English, or North American in order to avoid the outrages to which all the ‘Israelites’ are exposed here."

Wow, what counsel! What trade-off! For a Filipino who loved his native land to acquire a foreign nationality just to avoid harassment from crooked interlopers in your own home.

If the Filipino is not involved in any grand campaigns or noble ventures, then his friends’ warnings and guidance converge on the marital status.

Another colleague of Rizal, Jose M. Cecilio, writing in Binondo, November 22, 1886, had this update: "I don’t know, dear Tocayo, when I shall get married because I am not courting anyone. My present life is reduced to dancing two or three times a month in two houses – in my cousin’s and in my uncle Tomas Del Rosario’s, whom, it seems, you met in Spain."

"You are right in saying that a bachelor’s life is sad, but, Tocayo, it is better to be alone than to be badly married."

Sound advice. It is also from letters where we discover the work of men, their passions, their character.

It is from a letter of Rizal, written on March 5, 1887 in Berlin, where we find his explanation of his first published novel. The letter was actually just a draft, but penned in French, and it was Rizal’s reply to an unknown addressee’s first three letters.

Rizal must have esteemed this unnamed pen pal, for he wrote three significant items: (1) that "oblivion is the death of friendship," hence, a reply containing the author’s own take on "Noli;" (2) that "it was necessary to do something serious and not to write any more articles that live and die with the page of a newspaper;" and (3) that Rizal’s novel, or a copy of it, was his real reply to the valued friend.

What was "Noli me Tangere" to Rizal? "I have attempted to do what nobody had wished to do. I have replied to the calumnies that for so many centuries have been heaped on us and our country. I have described the social condition, the life there (Philippines), our beliefs, our hopes, our desires, our complaints, our sorrows.

"I have unmasked hypocrisy that under the cloak of religion has impoverished and brutalized us. I have distinguished the true religion from the false, from the superstitious, from that which capitalizes the holy word in order to extract money, in order to make us believe in absurdities of which Catholicism would blush if it would know them."

"I have lifted the curtain in order to show what is behind the deceitful and glittering words of our government."

"Noli me tangere." A good story worth reading. And remembering.