myJoseRizal

The Real Filibuster. The Berth of Ocampo, The Death of Rizal

2011-12-30T09:04:00.001+08:00

MANILA - 30 December 2011. Let me cut down to size Jose Rizal - and Ambeth Ocampo. Funny, I will identify who is the real filibuster of the two.

Some people question Rizal as The National Hero, arguing that Andres Bonifacio should be - today, I question not only their motives but also their definitions.

The Filipino people have never questioned Ambeth Ocampo's place as a historian who is patrician, not pedestrian - today I question not only his motives but also his manners.

Andres Bonifacio was not illiterate, but he knew only to obliterate the lives of the Spaniards in the Philippines. Like murder, revolution is justified only if it is in self-defense. And the masses should know that they are doing it in self-defense, and that they have all the chances to succeed. There are 4 requirements for a revolution to succeed. Let me quote myself now (for more details, see my "Smart about corruption. What Jose Rizal did & Angelo Reyes," myJoseRizal, blogspot.com):

The Blumentritt Test for Revolution:
1st, Are parts of the Army and Navy rebelling?
2nd, Is the metropolis at war with another nation?
3rd, Are there money and munitions available?
4th, Is some foreign country giving its official or secret support to the Revolution?

Like Jose Rizal when he was angry, Andres Bonifacio was not illiterate but suicidal.

Ambeth Ocampo is not illiterate either, but he wants to adulterate the life and especially the death of Jose Rizal by moving Rizal Day from 30 December to June 19, from Martyrdom to Unwisdom, from Illumined to Innocent, from Brave to Baby. Characteristic of his history, Ocampo's moving reasons are bits & pieces.

Ambeth Ocampo wants us to cuddle Jose Rizal, not idolize him. I did not notice it before, but Ocampo and not Rizal is The Real Filibuster - ever since he began being the popular historian of the particular, as I would like to call him. Ocampo's works redefine history as that of people and pieces of themselves. He is the real filibuster because he has been entertaining the masses - and the unthinking masses have been applauding him - with his pieces of history, his reductionist thoughts, talks and texts. Ocampo's impertinent reductionism masquerades as intelligent history.

And he has been doing it for years with impunity - the real filibuster among Pinoy historians and of Philippine history. It's time to say of Ambeth Ocampo the stark naked truth: The Emperor Has No Clothes!

Just as the City of Calamba has the tallest monument of Jose Rizal, so is he my tallest hero, and I must state here and now that he is right up there - Jose Rizal belongs to the intellectuals, not the masses. And Ambeth Ocampo? He belongs to the masses.

Jose Rizal wrote for the thinkers - the ones who used their hearts and their heads; Ambeth Ocampo writes for the winkers - the ones who read and applaud with their eyes, and savor what they get, and don't (or can't) read between the lines.

Jose Rizal wrote to communicate to the Filipinos mostly in Spanish, his adopted tongue; Ambeth Ocampo writes mostly in English, his adopted tongue - the one to make them think of the Big Picture, the other to make them think of the small pieces. Rizal would write about the Philippines a hundred years hence; Ocampo would write about the Philippines a hundred bric-a-bracs here and there. What did Nick Joaquin say about Filipinos? That we have a heritage of smallness; little Ambeth Ocampo carries on the tradition with our big applause and the huge delight of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Some people have all the luck.

Jose Rizal wrote and spoke in Spanish because the Spaniards were known to have lofty minds, not in Tagalog (Filipino) because Tagalogs were (are) not known for lofty thoughts, sorry, only obscure meanings and intentions. The Noli and Fili are still the best 2 books Filipinos have ever written - take them as one and not separately - so, they should elicit the best translators. The best Tagalog translations of these Rizal books are apathetic, if not pathetic. If you don't believe me, open the nearest Tagalog translations of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibuster)!

Jose Rizal's works were mostly bravado and Spanish; Andres Bonifacio's works were mostly bravado and Tagalog; similarly, they were both foolish. They both showed how the other side was bad - not how both sides could be better.

Ambeth Ocampo's works are mostly bravado and local, not global. He is foolish because he is trying to show the Filipinos how to look at the pieces, not the picture - his is a subtle filibuster, an unrecognized and persistent pounding on the mind of readers the unholy thought that the parts are greater than the whole. The best history is holistic; the best history of Ambeth Ocampo is full of holes.

Ambeth Ocampo is superficial, if not artificial. He painted the House of Rizal green because he wanted to communicate that the "brilliant green stalks of rice blanketing lush fields (were) a common sight among lowland Filipino farming communities in Rizal's times," and that his father "adopted the surname Rizal from the Spanish ricial meaning green fields, indicating the family's occupation as cultivators of the soil" (see my "House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red," 04 June 2009, myJoseRizal, blogspot.com). How green is his volley!

Today, if we want to communicate the higher things, and not only monuments, we must use English. The best translations of Rizal's Noli and Fili are in English, including those of Leon Ma Guerrero (of Spanish heritage), Camilo Osias (Ilocano heritage), and Ma Soledad Lacson-Locsin (Ilonggo heritage) - I am an Ilocano but I love the Ilongga's English translations.

Jose Rizal was born without his choosing; he died on his own volition, in the name of his country. His birth we give thanks to God; his death we cerebrate and celebrate - with or without Ambeth Ocampo!

So, for the common Pinoys, Ambeth Ocampo may be your ideal common columnist, but Jose Rizal is definitely not your ideal common hero - because he was uncommon. Ocampo is a tinkerer, as tinker is what he does; Rizal was a thinker, not a doer.

Today, we need heroes who are both thinkers and doers. Will you be one?

The Real Heroes. And in the Philippines, The Real Zeroes are ...

2011-11-30T17:27:00.001+08:00

MANILA - Just how much are we Filipinos celebrating today, 30 November 2011, "Bonifacio Day?" At 0750 hours today, I googled for "bonifacio day" (pages from the Philippines, with safe and strict filtering), and I got, surprise! 19 results. 19. I got more Google from blogs, 13,000 results. Another surprise: The very first blog, the one on top of the list , is blog.mswebnetwork.net which prides itself as "The Philippines Best Web Hosting Provider!" and you know what? The very first thing it says is this: "MSWEB/8finity will be closed on November 30 (Wednesday) which has been declared as a Non-Working Holiday in the Philippines to commemorate Bonifacio Day." That's how important the Google PageRank is; that's how important Bonifacio Day is to MSWEB Network.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not yet complaining about PageRank - if I were, I would write a book, or at least a 1,000-word essay. On one hand, let me say here I'm quite unhappy with PageRank, although I'm not quite ready to say it's value is Zilch. On the other hand, I'm quite happy with how PageRank has dramatized to me the value of Bonifacio day to MSWEB Network: Nada. True, this website has 158 words under the title "Short history about Bonifacio" but, like its title, it's poorly written and reflects to me a cavalier attitude towards this hero.

No, Andres Bonifacio is not my hero either, but today's commemoration of his birthday, 30 November 1863 reminds of the contention of American scholar Glenn May, Professor of History at the University of Oregon (Wikipedia), that some Filipino scholars invented a major hero out of Andres Bonifacio; the title of his book is Inventing a Hero; the subtitle is "The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio" (1997, Quezon City: New Day Publishers). I final-edited that book for New Day and I met with the author afterwards. Let me just say this: If his content and contention did not match, I would have discontinued my editing and dropped the book like a hot tomato.

So, it looks like Andres Bonifacio has been reinvented as hero by some of his admirers. I can't blame Bonifacio there, can I?

But did you know that Jose Rizal, The National Hero, reinvented himself?

I know because I have been reading and writing and computing about Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda since 1997 when I wrote the book in my mind to enter the centennial contest - the contest won; I didn't finish the book. I did finish a book, with me as writer, editor, layout artist, but not the one I had in mind in 1997, and I came out with it in December 2005 - the computer won; I didn't print the book except in a very limited edition, only for friends. I titled that book indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption (First Lumos edition).

As a consequence, I have read hundreds of pages and tens of thousands of words on the life and writings of Rizal, but mostly the largely ignored letters that went back and forth between him and family, friends, enemies, fellow patriots, and most of all his BF: Ferdinand Blumentritt. They were in fact BFF, best friends forever.

It may be hard to believe, but in Europe, Rizal had been agitating for an armed struggle in the Philippines. I suspect the thought probably began when he was writing Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not). Remember, it was not his original plan to write a book on the Philippines for all the world to read, all by himself, but when the Filipino colony in Spain refused to move their hands to hold their pens, to do it right, he had to do it himself. Frustrated by the lack of love of country shown by the half-hearted patriots in Europe, he must have thought there was no other recourse for the redemption of the Filipinos but a revolution of arms.

Learning of that, and knowing that Rizal had a resolute mind, and having come to love the Filipinos as his own brothers, Blumentritt wrote his BFF a letter of remonstrance and reservation on the 30th of January 1892, where he said:

Above all, I beg you not to meddle in revolutionary agitations. Because one who initiates a revolution ought at least to have the probability of success, if he does not wish to burden his conscience with useless bloodshed.

And so, when he took what would be his last voyage to his homeland as a free man, Rizal had already reinvented himself from a man of violence to a man of peace. But the Spanish authorities still considered him a danger to the state, and when he founded La Liga Filipina on 03 July 1892, the next day they arrested and deported him to Dapitan in Mindanao, hundreds of kilometers from Manila. When the Katipunan Revolution broke out, his name must have been in every Katipunero's lips, all the more reason for the Spanish authorities to condemn Rizal as the progenitor of this threat to their pomp, power and privilege.

And so he wrote, in his own handwriting, to his countrymen, especially to the members of the Katipunan and its advocates, saying among other things:

Upon my return from Spain I learned that my name has been used as a battlecry by some who had taken up arms. The news was a sad surprise for me ... From the very start, when I learned what was being planned, I opposed it, and I proved its absolute impossibility. ... I was convinced that the idea was highly absurd, and what is worse perverse. I did more. When later, in spite of my advice, the movement started, I spontaneously offered not only my service but my life and even my name to be used in any manner thought opportune in order to suppress the rebellion.

I'm glad I'm celebrating the martyrdom of my bigger hero 30 days before the event. To Ambeth Ocampo and his ilk who want to abandon 30 December as Rizal Day, they are small fry pretending to be fish.

As for me, I will not abandon the real heroes.

The Real Heroes are those who sacrifice not others but for others, rich or poor, big or small. The Real Heroes are those who give their all when there is nothing more to give. The Real Zeroes are those who have learned to talk but never learned to walk their talk.

A Notion Aborted. Floro Quiboyen's Rizal and Frank H's Hero

2011-07-16T17:25:00.002+08:00

MANILA - Intrigued, I attended my 2nd Rizal lecture of Mr Floro Quibuyen on 21 June 2011 at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and finally I bought a copy of his book A Nation Aborted (2008, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 437 pages, revised 2nd ed). That was PhP 600. Back home, I got ready to read all of its 437 pages, but try as I might I couldn't get past the 10-page Prologue. It wasn't as much the story telling as the story told. The telling was hmm…, the story was huh?!

While Q's 1st edition, 1999, makes it too old (12 years old), his 2nd edition, 2008, makes it young (3 years old), but the language is the same, teenager or child: insolent erudition (iE). He starts early; right on page 1, Sentence 8 reads:

Indeed this moral vision of the nation constitutes what is most crucial and cogent in Rizal's lifework, in today's era of triumphalist imperialism, ethnic cleansing, genocidal assertions of national sovereignty, and predatory, corporate-driven globalization.

That's what I call iE - irrelevant erudition uncalled for. Q is showing us how to win fiends and influence prattle.

More innocently, Sentence 9 reads: "I reconstruct Rizal's vision in chapters 4 to 8, and in the epilogue." In fact, Mr Q does not reconstruct that Vision. In fact, on page 1, these words in Sentence 8, "Indeed this moral vision of the nation …" fails to point to any vision, because he fails to state it Before in any of Sentences 1 to 7. And when After he does mention Rizal's Vision (page 4), it turns out to be something else.

"The past is prologue." Mr Q's Prologue is his present stand on "Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippine Nationalism" - the subtitle of his book. His Prologue of 3,350 words summarizes A Nation Aborted; if you want an excellent quick view of that book, read those 10 pages.

To paraphrase Gobber talking to Hiccup in DreamWorks' award-winning, funny & witty animated film How To Train Your Dragon, it is not so much what Mr Q's book looks like (sad black); it's what's inside that I can't stand.

The reason Mr Q fails to reconstruct Rizal's Vision is that, actually, Mr Q uses the concepts of Vision and Mission interchangeably. On page 4, he writes:

What was Rizal's vision? In his letter to Mariano Ponce, Rizal had declared explicitly that "our sacred mission" is "the formation of the Filipino nation." And so, he had called on his fellow expatriates to come home "to fight for the nation, the Philippines."

A notion aborted. Vision is not Mission. A Vision is your desired foreseeable future; a Mission is that which you must do to bring about the fulfillment of that Vision. "Mission accomplished" means you now expect that Vision to become a reality, not just a dream.

If you read Rizal's prophetic "Filipinas Dentro De Cien Años" (The Philippines Within A Hundred Years), and his ultimate profession of love, which is his final poem, you will note that what describes that essay and that poem is the very idea as well as the word "Redemption." That was Rizal's Vision for his people.

Here's the 9th stanza of Adios, Beloved Country, from my full translation of Adios, Patria Adorada (that unique and passionate title assigned by me to that which everybody else refers to with the prosaic, unfeeling title Mi Ultimo Adios):

Pray for all of those who perish without gladness,
For all those who suffer torments without equal,
For our hapless mothers who wail in bitterness,
For orphans and widows, for captives in distress,
And pray for you to see your redemption final.

The way I see it, Reforms was Rizal's Mission, with the hidden agenda of Nationalism, "the formation of the Filipino nation." That was doable. The Propaganda Movement was for both Reforms and Nationalism. To call for reforms and at the same time unite the islands, the many tribes, the multi-cultures, to make them one. Then and only then, for that Nation to strive for Redemption, which is, to borrow from the title of Mr Q's Epilogue, "The Recovery of History, Culture and Community" (page 379). In other words, the Vision of Redemption was for the Filipinos to regain their self-esteem, their pride as a people, and proceed to bring their history to a higher level, as Rizal described it in the 4th stanza of his swan song (from my ABC Translation):

My dreams when I was just a boy adolescent,
My dreams when in youth I had vigor in fullness,
Were to watch you one day, Gem of the Sea Orient,
With those dark eyes now light, head now held eminent,
Sans frown, sans furrows, sans smudges of shamefulness.

Gem of the Sea Orient! That was Rizal's poetic Vision for his people.

But no, Mr Q is saying Rizal's Vision and Mission were the same, Nationalism; in contrast, Frank H is saying, Rizal's Vision was Redemption, his Mission was Reforms, the hidden agenda being Nationalism. That is to say, Mr Q is confused, while Frank H is confounding.

Mr Q is not finished, and neither am I.

On page 3, Mr Q says:

Rizal's project became - largely through the efforts of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan - the hegemonic nationalist project that culminated in the revolution of 1896, the first anti-colonial democratic revolution in Asia.

No Sir, Mr Q! Bonifacio's nationalist project was not Rizal's; one was not a continuation of the other - in fact, it was a violent interruption. In fact, Mr Q contradicts himself saying that on page 3 and saying this on page 10:

(Rizal) was convinced that the road to national liberation, to freedom and justice, was not via the violent seizure of state power - wherein today's slaves become tomorrow's tyrants - but through local, grass-roots, community-oriented struggles in civil society.

That is to say, the Spirit of 1896 (Bonifacio's Katipunan) was not the spirit of 1892 (Rizal's La Liga Filipina). The nationalist project of Rizal was not the nationalist project of Bonifacio. That is why Rizal would not be co-opted into joining the Revolution.

Mr Q equivocates; he says (page 5), "Rizal did not welcome the revolution when it came. But he did not condemn his people for embracing it. In his farewell to his people, he linked his martyrdom with their revolutionary struggle," and quotes the 2nd stanza of Adios, Patria Adorada (page 5):

En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio
Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar
El sitio nada importa; cipres, laurel or lirio,
Cadalso o campo abierto, combate o cruel martirio,
Lo mismo es si lo piden la patria y el hogar.

He then says, "Bonifacio understood well Rizal's sentiments when he enlarged the stanza into two in his Tagalog translation." No, Sir, Mr Q, that is at best a contradiction in terms; if you enlarge your translation, something large is lost in the translation - and that's meaning.

Rizal did not only "not welcome" the Revolution when it came; he condemned it in no uncertain terms. Mr Q himself quotes that 15 December 1896 "Manifesto" (page 46):

I cannot do less than condemn, as I do condemn, this ridiculous and barbarous uprising, plotted behind my back, which both dishonors us Filipinos and discredits those who might have taken our part. I abominate the crimes for which it is responsible and I will have no part in it.

So, it is incorrect to say that Rizal "linked his martyrdom with their revolutionary struggle." The specific Adios, Patria Adorada stanza explains it, seen in its proper light. The stanza does not support the rebels - it merely acknowledges their heroism. Let me show that with my translation of that stanza:

In the fields of battle, struggling with delirium,
Others give their lives, without doubts, without regret;
Site matters not; cypress, laurel or lily bloom,
Gallows or open field, fight or cruel martyrdom
Notwithstanding, if hearth, house and Patria request.

"In the fields of battle" - note that in the Spanish original, it is plural, "en campos de batalla" - that refers to all kinds of struggles in all kinds of arenas: gallows (Gomburza), fight (Katipunan), martyrdom (Rizal), open field (I would guess education); now note the flowers - cypress for mourning (that is to say, it is heroic to mourn in silence), laurel for victory (that is to say, it is heroic to excel in the arts & sciences), lily for purity (that is to say, it is heroic to remain innocent). To mention those who fight is merely to recognize them, as Rizal did recognize many others in still other forms of struggles, not only his own.

So, yes, Mr Q, as you put it, in Rizal's novels, Ibarra represented Rizal, and Elias represented Bonifacio, and the failure of Simoun signified Rizal's anti-revolutionary stance. And yes, being an ilustrado, with a bourgeois consciousness, Rizal's goal, in direct contrast to that of Bonifacio, was the assimilation of the Philippines into the Spanish nation.

Yes, Mr Q, the Reform movement served to delay the Revolution, but the Revolution was not inevitable. Rizal must have warned the leaders of the Katipunan, that they should start using their heads, because the 4 Core Requirements of Revolution were not there:

(1) They had not convinced a third country to support the Revolution.
(2) There were no parts of the Army and Navy to support the Revolution.
(3) There were no money and munitions available - the bourgeoisie were against the Revolution; they had not been convinced.
(4) There was no war between the Philippines and another country to weaken the Spanish hold on the country.

Where did Rizal get those revolutionary ideas? From his soul brother Ferdinand Blumentritt; if you haven’t, go and read the 30 January 1892 letter of the Austrian to the Filipino. What happened? Blumentritt/Rizal was right! The Revolution was bloody, very bloody. A bloody revolution is not for me either; i can't stand the sight of blood.

Rizal's nationalist project, if you want to call it that, was described fully well in, where else? The La Liga Filipina. The Liga was revolutionary - but it was nowhere near Katipunan; in fact, it was the exact opposite. La Liga was Nationalism within the purview of Assimilation. Katipunan was about Freedom; La Liga was about making men worthy of themselves. Wasn't Rizal the one who said, "Why independence if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?!" Unfortunately, the Spaniards (friars and all) were afraid that once the Indios learned more about themselves, they would rebel against them and eliminate them one way or the other - tapos ang maliligayang araw nila! It would be the end of their Heaven on Earth. Rizal did what he would; the friars did what they could.

No, Mr Q, as a class the ilustrados did not betray the Katipunan - how could they when they were never really a part of it; they were never really convinced in the first place. Even the radical Filipino colony in Spain hardly supported it. And no, Rizal did not become the national hero largely through American sponsorship - we Filipinos largely made him; he deserves it. Surely, we Filipinos know how to recognize a hero when we see one?

Jose Rizal is not the hero Mr Q would like him to be, a seditious man.

But let us give Mr Q the benefit of the doubt; he says on page 17:

A critical examination of Rizal's correspondence (ca 1887-1892) provides incontrovertible evidence for a subversive Rizal. … Rizal, during his second sojourn in Europe, had completely lost faith in the colonial government and had given up hope on the campaign for reforms.

I myself have read most if not all the copies of those letters published by the National Historical Institute, and I agree with Mr Q when he says Rizal had given up hope of ever obtaining reforms from Mother Spain. That explains why Rizal was now agitating for Revolution, as Blumentritt noted in his January 1892 letter.

With a radical Rizal in mind, Mr Q fails to note that the notion of Revolution in Rizal's mind was in constant Brownian motion, but not for long - Blumentritt had dissuaded him, as nobody else would, or could. Mr Q fails to give significance to the facts that long after that January 1892 anti-revolutionary episode via an epistle, Rizal rejected the repeated one-on-one invitations for him to join the Katipuneros, that in fact Rizal denounced the Katipunan in extreme terms. On page 4, Mr Q asks, "Was our defeat inevitable?" Yes, Mr Q, as Rizal had predicted. A nation aborted indeed! Informed by Blumentritt, Rizal knew that it was The Untimely Revolution. It was Mission Impossible. It was bound to fail; please don't blame it on the Americans, the ilustrados, or Emilio Aguinaldo.

A rabid radical Rizal is another notion aborted.

Yes, Sir! Jose Rizal will always be My Hero! #1. Andres Bonifacio will always be #2. Ibarra's war is Rizal's; Simoun's war is Bonifacio's; one does not inform the other. Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet! #

If anyone wishes to argue with me,
let it be blog to blog -
no discussion group,
no third person to mediate or moderate. -
Frank A Hilario

Happy Father's Day! I, The Man Who Shot Jose Rizal At The Back

2011-06-20T07:48:00.001+08:00

CALAMBA CITY - With 3 security men in my way, I managed to shoot Jose Rizal at the back, in front of so many people unaware of what was going to happen to their hero, Filipinos I suppose, lovers of their country I presume. I wanted to shoot Jose Rizal close range, face to face, but those security men blocked me off. So I had to find another way, seek another path. So I sneaked at the back and shot him, using a telephoto. I wasn't very happy, but I got him! I was a sharpshooter after all.

I am The Man Who Shot Jose Rizal At The Back with my new black Samsung ES70 digital camera. The security people wouldn't let me pass their cordon sanitaire, even when I told them I was a journalist. Perhaps they looked at my hair and saw white, while I saw red. A journalist with white hair? That's me at 70. They didn't know me. They said I needed a sticker, and I said I'm a person, not a car! The joke didn't get me in, anyway. They don't make people who like jokes like they used to.

Today, 19 June 2011, a Sunday in Manila, I'm celebrating triple. Yesterday, I made history; today I made another kind of history; and it's Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there in the world!

1st history made
Yesterday, 18 June at Taguig City, conducting the very first Creattitudes Workshop in the world at the clubhouse of Rosewood Pointé at the Acacia Estates, as the Workshop Guru, I made history by being the first in the world to teach that Creative Writing begins not with Creative Writing but with Creative Thinking. All those Creative Writing workshops in the United States and in the Philippines and probably elsewhere in the world begin with something you have already written; you have to show them that you are a Creative Writer before they would touch you with a 10-foot pole and teach you Creative Writing - you have to come in with, already written, a poem, short story, script for a play, or a novel in progress. That is putting the horse behind the cart! (For more of the Creattitudes Workshop, see my "Creattitudes' Genesis. The Story of God & The Story of IGNRM," Creattitudes, blogspot.com.)

2nd history made
Today, 19 June at Calamba City, behind the Rizal Shrine in front of the new City Hall, I made history by being the first to shoot Jose Rizal at the back. Nobody would have bothered to do it, because what would they get shooting someone at the back? But I did. And when I began walking away from the scene, suddenly this title leaped in front of me: "Happy Father's Day! I, The Man Who Shot Jose Rizal At The Back."

Ah, but many people actually shot Jose Rizal at the back even when he was still alive, and their shots were not heard around the world, not even around the Philippines.

One revolutionary who did was my relative, Marcelo Hilario y Del Pilar, a Tagalog, who campaigned against Rizal, another Tagalog, for the position of Editor of La Solidaridad, the propagandists' fortnightly newspaper based in Spain, and the privileges that came with that position. It was Graciano Lopez Jaena, an Ilonggo, who exposed the hidden agenda of Plaridel, not to mention Antonio Luna, an Ilocano, and Moises Salvador, a Tagalog(?).

In his letter of 26 August 1891 (writing from Barcelona), Graciano said that "the conflict between you (Rizal who was in Ghent) and Marcelo (in Barcelona) has caused deep sensation in Manila." The translator's (or typist's) "deep sensation" is not quite correct; as the letters show, including those of Antonio Luna (in Madrid), and Moises Salvador (Manila), the correct description of the Barcelona situation was either a "wide dissension," a "deep divide," or at least "strong feelings."

From Manila to Ghent, Graciano wrote to Jose that a long letter from Marcelo was read during a meeting of the committee of the association Hermandad De San Patricio in Marilao, Bulacan. He said, "The facts were so twisted by him (Marcelo) in his favor that my companion at the meeting, Moises Salvador, intervened and defended you (Jose) warmly." The majority of the committee, "being influenced by Marcelo," blamed Jose.

Was Jose Rizal guilty? Was Graciano Lopez Jaena lying in his favor? Was Moises Salvador defending the one who in fact should be attacked?

Realizing the deep split among the Filipino colony in Barcelona, Spain, the base of La Solidaridad, a new propaganda committee in Manila was created and this one supported Jose Rizal. On 1 November 1891, Moises Salvador wrote Jose that a new Committee of Propaganda has been formed with complete trust in Dimas Alang (Jose Rizal) and appointed him Editor in Chief of the new fortnightly, whose name shall be left to him, as well as whose staff he may name. The committee appointed Graciano Lopez Jaena as Assistant Editor. The committee also ordered Marcelo Del Pilar to hand over to Jose Rizal the "funds contributed for representation expenses which are in the possession of Brother Carmelo (Marcelo)." The sum was 700 pesos plus 18.73 pounds.

That was 1 November. On 3 November, or only 2 days after the first letter, Moises Salvador again wrote Jose Rizal to tell him that Deodato Arellano had intervened in behalf of his brother-in-law Marcelo, and convinced Doroteo Cortes, who held the money, to refuse to hand over the appropriate amount to the new committee. And an "official" letter was crafted to appoint Jose Rizal as "Editor in Chief of the party" but not La Solidaridad.

In his letter, Graciano also complained that those who were in control of La Solidaridad and the funds that went with it were not paying him his dues, same as with the other members of the editorial staff.

In desperation, according to Moises, the admirers of Jose in Manila decided to form Partido Rizalino (Party for Rizal) and fully support him, in order to prevent Jose from disengaging himself from the Propaganda Movement, as he had announced he would do because of the deep divide among the Filipino propagandists in Barcelona.

In his letter to Marcelo on 13 October, Jose was very polite but very firm and very clear about what the problem was (edited from joserizal.info):

You were the one who said that the review Solidaridad belonged to a private enterprise, which dealt with you alone. You said this when I wanted to give the Responsable the power to prevent the publication of this or that article. I told you then that I believed it was a national enterprise. Witnesses are the Filipinos present at the discussion of the by-laws. Whether it is a national or private enterprise, you fear that my active and rightful interference in its policies will outshine yours. If this is not little confidence in my political leadership, then I do not know what to attribute it to.

Marcelo was claiming that the journal Solidaridad was a private enterprise, not a national (Philippine) initiative, and since he was the Editor in Chief, he had the power over the funds. Jose wanted to give the Responsable (the one responsible, the leader) the power of censorship. In fact, Marcelo Hilario y Del Pilar wanted total control of the paper and the funds and prevent Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal from eclipsing him in politics, prose, or position of power.

So, Partido Rizalino was too late the hero. Jose was already bound to Hong Kong (with 600 copies of El Filibusterismo) on 3 October 1891 and could no longer be persuaded to go back to Europe. He left for Manila "for very sad reasons," in the words of Antonio. The harm had been done, not on his person but on the whole propaganda movement in Europe. "The prize for this work of ours," Antonio wrote, "is the destruction of our future and speaking jestingly and seriously, we serve as a screen so that others may be able to pillage in the shadow."

In other words, some Filipinos were now working against the other Filipinos in the colony in Madrid and in the islands. If Filipinos are not for us, who else could be against us? So, this one did not die a hero's death; the Propaganda Movement died in the hands of the propagandists themselves. Some propagandists shot themselves on the foot; the others shot the others at the back.

Smart about corruption. What Jose Rizal did & Angelo Reyes

2011-02-17T15:35:00.003+08:00

MANILA - Secretary Angelo Reyes and Overseas Filipino Writer Jose Rizal were born 84 years apart, 1945 and 1861, in 2 different centuries but, in similar manner, they both tried to bang their heads against The Wall, and in both cases The Wall won.

You can't fight City Wall.

Reyes tried to come out clean to help cleanse the system, which meant War, and then the sky fell on him. Rizal planned on a Revolution, and that Revolution devoured its own children, including the one who eventually denounced it - Rizal.

Look who's talking! The Pharisees, they speak the truth; they preach truly - but they do not practice what they preach. Reyes spoke to the Pharisees, and look what happened. Rizal spoke the language of the Gentiles, the pagans, and so what did you expect?

I brought in Jose Rizal into the picture as my own way of celebrating the impending 150th birth anniversary of our National Hero, 19 June 2011. Here is someone who served his country to the end, and served well.
Angelo Reyes too served his country to the end, and served well, as well as the scoundrels did not, and that cannot be denied by anyone, so why do they deny him patriotism? And, as are you and I am, Angelo Reyes was not without sin, except that he paid dearly, with his own life, so why continue to kick a dead horse?
I myself was shocked by the suicide. How did the others take it? Here is one report (ANN, 13 February 2011, abs-cbnnews.com):

In a 5-hour necrological service on Saturday evening, a long list of speakers shared fond memories of the late AFP Chief and Cabinet Secretary, tried to make sense of his death, and offered thoughts as to why Reyes might have taken his life.

"Honor is above all else," Angelo Reyes said (quoted by Malou Mangahas, 12 February 2011, pcij.org). "More valuable than freedom or even life itself. Therefore, honor must be guarded/defended with your life. Living life without honor is a tragedy bigger than death itself."

On their part, Bogie, Jett, Marc, Carlo and Judd, Reyes' 5 sons said that "in spite of his achievements, Reyes maintained a low profile among his constituents" (quoted by Sarah Hilomen-Velasco, 09 February 2011, mb.com.ph). They said their father had “never spoken ill of anyone in public - not even those who have openly or secretly attacked him.”

"I did not invent corruption," Angelo Reyes said. "I walked into it" (quoted by Mangahas, as cited). "Perhaps my first fault was in having accepted aspects of it as a fact of life."

Ah, so, corruption is all over the place, from the hovels of the lowly to the palaces of the high and mighty. The poor are corrupted by politicians; the politicians are corrupted by people like us, and unlike us. So now we Filipinos are all incredible - not credible at all. This whole country is corrupt. That means, if we brought to court all the corrupt, no one would be left to prosecute, to defend, to judge, to jail, to watch over the prisons. Corruption is not a monopoly of any citizen or class or city.

So, corruption is pervasive. So, what do we do? So, if Philippine society is as bad as the journalists and columnists in the mass media portray it to be, and they are innocent, they should be thinking of leading a Revolution! I mean a Revolution that is neither a dinner party nor a picnic.

And they can learn from, of all people, Jose Rizal! They can try Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan, but I prefer Jose Rizal, the founder of La Liga Filipina. Both of these heroes' societies called for Revolution, the first one bloody, the second one not.

Yet, not many people know, including many Philippine historians foreign and local, that Rizal seriously considered a bloody Revolution to redeem his country from centuries of Spanish oppression. Knowing of it and concluding that it was suicidal, prompted his spirit brother, Austrian Ferdinand Blumentritt to warn Rizal in a letter: "Above all, I beg you not to meddle in revolutionary agitations."

Blumentritt devoted exactly 309 words (that is, German translated to English) on the question of a Philippine Revolution, more than 50% of his letter to his friend dated 30 January 1892. In it, he listed in specific terms that which comprise what I shall slightly rewrite and term here The Blumentritt Test for Revolution:

1st, Are parts of the Army and Navy rebelling?
2nd, Is the metropolis at war with another nation?
3rd, Are there money and munitions available?
4th, Is some foreign country giving its official or secret support to the Revolution?

It did not pass the Blumentritt Test, so I'm not surprised that Rizal denounced the Philippine Revolution of 1896, because he was convinced it was going to fail. He was right. The Unfinished Revolution cannot be finished because it fails the Blumentritt Test. So, instead of kicking a dead horse, let's kick ourselves in the ass.

In other words, if those who have taken upon themselves to fight Corruption wish to succeed, they have to wage a Revolution; unfortunately, the Blumentritt Test tells them they are bound to fail, as they cannot meet all the 4 requirements for success.

So, what can we do?

It's not what we can do; it's what we must do. Human corruption is nothing; earthen corruption is everything - the corruption of Planet Earth.

Look around you. Human corruption is hidden; planetary corruption is visible - its symptom, garbage, is visible, is all over the place. When you have a goal, it must be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound. If you fight universal human corruption, you aren't smart. If you fight visible planetary corruption, it's easier to measure your success or failure.

Our corruption of Planet Earth has given us what may be God's judgment of mankind, and it's called Climate Change. Globally, we humans have corrupted the production systems so that they give off greenhouse gases that have extremely altered the atmosphere it is now slowly destroying us with heat and cold. Frailty, thy name is Human!

The planetary corruption is the more urgent matter; if you take care of the human and not the planetary corruption, everything will corrupt, and will corrupt absolutely.

Our corruption is not bigger than ourselves, but planetary corruption is bigger than all the Filipinos combined, all the Americans combined, all the Russians combined, all the Muslims combined - all of us combined.
My favorite American poet Robert Frost wrote a poem expressly for us in these times, and he never ever heard of Climate Change!

Fire And Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Overall, to fight planetary corruption, we must reduce, reuse, recycle. We must curtail our wants in order to save energy and reduce greenhouse gases to reduce global warming. The Revolution worth fighting for is the Revolution of Climate Change. And it can literally be a dinner party or a picnic.

In our corruption, we are hopeless. As Rizal had hoped, let the youth be the ones to wage the next revolution, which I see is the Climate Change Revolution. And in so waging it, they will save themselves from our own corruption. Here then is the first challenge to the young and innocent; let them be the ones to see and say, "The Emperor has no clothes!"

Rizal & Pasinaya 2011. Relating heroism, not nationalism

2011-02-07T15:50:00.001+08:00

MANILA - CCP's Pasinaya 2011 was okay; Jose Rizal was not. The Pasinaya celebration was yesterday in this love month of February, and that's perfect - love your country's arts! But Jose Rizal's birthday being celebrated on the same day, that is, more than 4 months ahead of date (19 June 1861) is comical, if not bizarre. Pasinaya 2011 was celebrating Rizal for the wrong reason.

If it was only a failure in the language of the marketing people for Pasinaya 2011, I forgive them. But I have to correct them.

In the first place, pasinaya itself is a Wrong Word Used. The sense that the Cultural Center of the Philippines uses the word in its series of yearly Pasinaya is that of a celebration or festival, and not its original and dictionary meaning of inauguration (Frederick Victor Paredes Añana, scribd.com; Webster's Online Dictionary), or debut (tellspell.com). You can celebrate every year; you can't have an inauguration, must less a debut, year after year!

In celebrating Pasinaya, the organizers equate being a Filipino with speaking in the "Filipino" (Tagalog) language. You will see what I mean if you look at the column lists of shows/events in the inside of the folded poster-program of Pasinaya 2011, you will note these:

Tanghalang Pilipino (Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon), Valenzuela City Culture and Arts Center (Junto Al Pasig), Iloilo Prima Galaw (Three Generations), Artist Inc (Pepe's Wall: Sa 150th Kaarawan ni Jose Rizal), Lipa Actors Company (Ang Unang Aswang), Teatro Expedicion de Filipinas (Pepe - Ang Talumbuhay at Panaginip ni Jose Rizal), Virgin Labfest (Bakit Wala Nang Nagtatagpo sa Philcoa Oberpas), Spotlight Artists Centre (Magsimula Ka), Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation (Walang Sugat), The Xavier Stage (Babuyan Island), Miriam College Institute of the Arts (Tamala), Teatro Mensaheros (Kapulungan ng mga Díyos), UE Drama Company (Uyayi ng Ulan), Tanghalang St Louis University (Ang Kagilagilalas na Buhay ni Lam-Ang), De La Salle College of St Benilde Dulaang Filipino (Iilang Tirang Talulot), Supervoice Music & Theater Foundation (Rizal Behind Bars), Dulaang Perpetual ng Las Piñas (Ang Unang Baboy sa Langit), Teatro Tomasino (First Mark), Save the Children (Ang Sapa Matinio? Ang Sapa Malinis?) MVT (Balagtasan).

And you know what? The names of those performers (groups) and the titles of their performances are a microcosm of the whole Philippine society today. The names are mostly in English, while the titles are mostly in Tagalog - there are sprinklings of English and Spanish. I find this strange. We Filipinos have the longest past of Spanish conquest: 350 years; we have a short past of American domination: 50 years; we have a longer past of Quezonian (Tagalog) imposition in arts & politics: 74 years. We should be mostly Spanish, more Tagalog, and less American, but we defy history. That's us, Filipinos: a halu-halo of cultures, an infuriating stir-mix of values and volubilities. But I love it all! The Philippines is the only country I have. But Pasinaya is something else.

My wife Amparo and I attended Pasinaya 2011 yesterday, Sunday from opening (at about 0900 hours) to late afternoon (about 1700 hours). The day before, we registered online (my number was 860 and Ampy was 862), paid for the Faspass (Fast Pass), PhP100, so we could skip to the front of the line and theoretically get "the best seats in the house." We didn't, but it was a great feeling to display my violet armband before I passed the door to a performance. We went to different shows, but we both watched the performance of the Lahing Kayumanggi Dance Troupe of the Bulacan State University at the CCP lobby at about 1400 hours - it was Very Good. We wanted to wait for the 1,000-voice (or is it 500?) choir singing in the evening Maestro Ryan Cayabyab's translation into music of Jose Rizal's valedictory poem in its Spanish original, but we had to go home as something got in the way, and that was my AIDS: atavistic intestinal disorder syndrome. (I invented the name, but not the malady.)

Anyway, thanks, Maestro!

I appreciate that Ryan Cayabyab has turned that swan song into music. I don't appreciate the title he used; it's what the 2 Mariano friends of Rizal gave, either of which is an unimaginative, almost unfeeling title: "Mi Ultimo Adios" (Mariano Ponce) and "Ultimo Adios" (Mariano Dacanay). Neither title-phrase is inspiring, nor is found in the poem itself. I prefer to call it "Adios, Patria Adorada," these being the first 3 words of the Spanish original, and being the best summary of the swan song of our National Hero. (For more of this, visit my blog, myjoserizal at Blogspot; you can begin reading "Translating a Hero. When Words Collide and Meanings Get Lost" that I wrote 30 December 2007 yet.)

But I cannot appreciate the claim that the CCP is "celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Jose Rizal, National Hero" with a People's Gala, a 1,000-voice choir singing that poem set to music by Ryan Cayabyab (Gibbs Cadiz, 04 February 2011, globalpost.com). It was rather odd, to say the least, that they were celebrating a birthday that was more than 120 days away! What they failed to say is that they were in fact celebrating the art of Jose Rizal in coming out with a masterpiece of a martyr's poem in a borrowed language.

That is the genius of the Filipino - borrowing a language and making it his own. Like Charice singing Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and Beyoncé's "Halo" and making them her own. Like we Filipinos learning English and manning the call centers answering calls of American clients thousands of miles away in the United States.

Bart Guingona, John Arcilla, Tommy Abuel, Joel Torre and Pen Medina were to read the poem in Filipino (constantcontact.com); today, I can't find any news item about last night's Pasinaya singing Rizal in Spanish and reading Rizal in Tagalog. All I know is that Abuel, Torre and Medina have all played the National Hero in film and stage.

Even so, I have an extensive collection of the translations of my "Adios, Patria Adorada" (your "Ultimo Adios") in many languages, and I have yet to see a good translation of this poem in Tagalog. Perhaps the most popular is that by Andres Bonifacio? This was probably the one they read last night. Well, that one does not follow Rizal's 5-line scheme, as it has only 4 lines in each stanza and, therefore, it does not (cannot) express the original sequences of sentences, sequences, senses and sentiments as closely as possible in the translating language. That is to say, the translator has made the poem his own. I'm not singling out this Tagalog translation - the most popular English translation, that of Charles Derbyshire, is itself an unfaithful translation of the Spanish original (I'm coming out soon with a book to prove this contention of mine, among other things unknown or erroneously known about Rizal.)

I noticed something else too, and I don't know if I should thumbs up the CCP, or down. The CCP calls the multi-media event Pasinaya. Since I didn't know what that word meant (I'm a full-blooded Ilocano), I surfed the Internet and came up with 2 meanings: inauguration (Frederick Victor Paredes Añana, scribd.com; Webster's Online Dictionary), and debut (tellspell.com). The way CCP uses Pasinaya, either meaning is ignored; instead, the CCP Pasinaya is a celebration or festival. In other words, CCP's Pasinaya is really a fiesta of the arts in the Philippines. So, either we owe the CCP our congratulations, or the CCP owes us a good explanation of why they have reinvented the idea of pasinaya.

There was a previous estimate of 6,000 people to attend Pasinaya 2011 (abs-cbn.com); my estimate of actual attendance is a maximum of 10,000 (including about 2,000 performers). Congratulations CCP?

10,000 is nothing if you are talking about an arts festival of national proportions that Pasinaya wants to be. Especially now that young and old alike, we have other media choices: podcasts, videos, cable TV, the Internet (streaming video, Facebook etc), and diverse devices to listen to or watch them in such as the desktop computer, laptop, notebook, music-video-Internet cellphone, music player, and home theater system. So I'm not surprised that Raffy Tejada, Director of the Harlequin Theater Guild in De La Salle University, says "The truth is, when time comes for you to put up a show, it's difficult to sell tickets. So in terms of audience development, theater could do a lot better" (Fidelis Angela Tan, 27 July 2010, thepoc.net). "This isn't a problem for many young artists - they can perform in the streets, they can perform in school. But theater groups, professional or amateur, really struggle with audience attendance. If we take audience attendance as the standard, then we really do need something more."

I can explain the diminishing audience attendance - it's the diminishing theater appeal. And it's not only in stage presentations. It's also concerts with local talents, not to mention the dwindling number of watchers of Filipino movies - because the art of moviemaking in the Philippines has deteriorated. I'm not surprised. Filipino moviemakers keep copying themselves, not the art of the best there is. Not only that. The nationalists insist on propagating Tagalog, what they refer to as the "National Language" when the call of the times is to talk the language of the times, which is English. English is an international comparative advantage of the Filipino, and yet he refuses to cultivate his genius in it.

10,000 is probably what the CCP Main can accommodate at any one time, no more. One of the reasons you have limited attendance in events like this is that you have limited seats, not to mention limited elbow room. If the CCP wants an arts festival that will turn out a minimum of 500,000 warm bodies to be able to refer to it as national, they will have to use the whole CCP complex to hold multi-media events for at least 1 week. And yes, they will have to present more multi-media in English if they want not merely for Filipino arts to survive but to flourish and not only in these islands but also abroad. So what if English is a foreign language! Ask Lea Salonga, the most awarded international Filipino artist we have had. She performs in English. Ask Charice, the Concert Princess of Asia. She performs in English mostly. What we want to do is communicate the genius of our race, and a fundamental rule in communication is to talk the language of your target audience.

Now then, let's take a major lesson in communication from our National Hero:

He chose Spanish, a language foreign to him, to write his books, essays and ultimate poem - because he wanted the intellectuals, not to mention the rich and the powerful, including the friars, to listen to him.

Is anyone listening now?

Conditional Rizal. Frank H rates Jose Rizal website a 4

2010-12-31T06:58:00.003+08:00

MANILA - Founded in 1919 and therefore a long-standing Rizalist, the Jose Rizal University disappoints me with its website JoseRizal.ph when it comes to teaching the lessons students can learn from the valedictory poem of our national hero, Jose Rizal, whose name it is dedicated to. Using the grading system of my alma mater, the University of the Philippines, I give the Rizal website a grade of 4.

Why a grade of 4 (Conditional)? I pray for him to see his redemption final. Today, 30 December 2010, the 114th year since the martyrdom of our National Hero Jose Rizal in the hands of the Spanish conquistadores who had come proclaiming Christianity, I an Ilocano teacher (retired) have just browsed the Rizal website and I have found it lacking in resource materials regarding the very last poem of our hero. The website says it "contains very comprehensive materials on and by Rizal in both the English and Filipino languages" but this is not supported by webpages on Rizal's greatest poem (joserizal.ph). So, this Rizal website saddens me when I consider the following points:

(1) The website has accepted without question the title "Mi Ultimo Adios." Judging by the poem's content, that is a very poor title.
(2) The website has only 1 English translation of the poem when there are at least 30 such translations published. Are the students to understand that this is the best or the only available translation?
(3) The website's choice of English translation is neither the most authentic nor the most popular. Also, it is not attributed to anyone.

Here's a lesson in titling untitled poems. Mariano Ponce gave it the title "Mi Ultimo Adios" and Mariano Dacanay gave it a similar one, "Ultimo Adios." That the author did not give it a title is a poor excuse for 2 of his friends giving it such similarly poor titles! Neither captures the essence of the poem; neither is a strong sentiment reflecting a full-bodied poem; and in fact, neither phrase is found in the poem itself.

Following literary tradition, as with William Shakespeare's 100 sonnets, which were all without titles, the first lines were given as the titles. The one I memorized in high school yet more than 50 years ago is, "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." Now therefore, the first line of Rizal's swan song should have been used as the title: "Adios, Patria Adorada, Region Del Sol Querida." In my case, I find that the first 3 words are sufficient and together they brilliantly summarize the whole poem: "Adios, Patria Adorada." Goodbye, beloved country.

And here's a lesson in translations. Being dedicated to Rizal, and being attached to a University, the Rizal website should know that one of the best ways to understand a poem in translation is to compare different translations. In the case of "Adios, Patria Adorada," I believe the website should be displaying at least 10 different English versions, along with the Spanish original. Tip: The National Historical Institute itself has published 8 English translations included in 2 volumes of foreign and local translations.

Along with the above, to help people make learned comparisons, the website should present some criteria for judging the translations. I will now suggest 3: rhyme, meter, and fidelity to the original.

In fact, there are 3 dozen translations published. Above, I suggested a comparison of at least 10 differing translations. In my case, I have studied 38 and learned much more than if I had limited myself to 10. In the first place, I have a collection of those 38 translations in my possession, full text, from different sources. I'm planning to come out with a book on them.

The Alzona-Abeto translation as a standout choice

The JoseRizal.ph website does not identify the author of the single English translation presented, but my collection says this is by Encarnacion Alzona & Isidro Escare Abeto, published in 1961. If we talk only of rhyme, meter and fidelity to the original, the Alzona-Abeto translation (see below for full text) is good on both rhyme and meter but not on content compared to the original. In the first stanza alone, there are already 3 problematic areas in the translation:

region del sol querida (earth love of the sun), poorly translated as "region by the sun caressed"
mas florida (more floral), poorly translated as "at its best"
diera (give), left out entirely. Rizal repeats "diera" in the last line ("Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien"); the Alzona-Abeto translation completely ignores the poet's iteration.

My translation of "Adios, Patria Adorada"

Note that my translation (full text below) is that of a poem that seems to be different from the one translated by Encarnacion Alzona and Isidro Escare Abeto. I assure you they're the same original Spanish poem (full text below). I have to use what I think is the better, in fact the best title for Rizal's best poem. That explains my "Adios, Beloved Country" - I call it My ABC Translation, as I have other earlier versions, the first one done in 1998.

Comparing with the Alzona-Abeto version, I dare say that my translation has the better rhyme, the better meter, and the much higher fidelity to Rizal's original thoughts.

What follows are the Spanish original, Alzona-Abeto translation and mine. You can compare them as much as you like.

Adios, Patria Adorada
Por Jose Rizal (1896

Adios, Patria adorada, region del sol querida,
Perla del Mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre, la triste, mustia vida;
Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida,
Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.

En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio,
Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar;
El sitio nada importa; cipres, laurel o lirio,
Cadalso o campo abierto, combate o cruel martirio,
Lo mismo es si lo piden la Patria y el hogar.

Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora
Y al fin anuncia el dia, tras lobrego capuz;
Si grana necesitas para teñir su aurora,
Vierte la sangre mia, derramala en buen hora,
Y dorela un reflejo de su naciente luz.

Mis sueños cuando apenas muchacho adolescente,
Mis sueños cuando joven ya lleno de vigor,
Fueron el verte un dia, Joya del Mar de Oriente,
Secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente,
Sin ceño, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor.

Ensueño de mi vida, mi ardiente vivo anhelo:
¡Salud! te grita el alma que pronto va a partir!
¡Salud! ah, que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
Morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
Y en tu encantada tierra la eternidad dormir.

Si sobre mi sepulcro vieres brotar un dia,
Entre la espesa yerba sencilla humilde flor,
Acercala a tus labios y besa el alma mia;
Y sienta yo en mi frente bajo la tumba fria,
De tu ternura el soplo, de tu halito el calor.

Deja a la luna verme con luz tranquila y suave;
Deja que el alba envie su resplandor fugaz,
Deja gemir al viento con su murmullo grave;
Y si desciende y posa sobre mi cruz un ave,
Deja que el ave entone su cantico de paz.

Deja que el sol ardiendo las lluvias evapore
Y al cielo tornen puras con mi clamor en pos;
Deja que un ser amigo mi fin temprano llore,
Y en las serenas tardes cuando por mi alguien ore;
Ora tambien, oh Patria, por mi descanso a Dios!

Ora por todos cuantos murieron sin ventura,
Por cuantos padecieron tormentos sin igual;
Por nuestras pobres madres que gimen su amargura,
Por huerfanos y viudas, por presos en tortura,
Y ora por ti que veas tu redencion final.

Y cuando, en noche oscura, se envuelva el cementerio,
Y solos solo muertos queden velando alli,
No turbes su reposo, no turbes el misterio;
Tal vez acordes oigas de citara o salterio:
Soy yo, querida Patria, yo que te canto a ti.

Y cuando ya mi tumba de todos olvidada,
No tenga cruz ni piedra que marquen su lugar,
Deja que la are el hombre, la esparza con la azada,
Y mis cenizas, antes que vuelvan a la nada,
El polvo de tu alfombra que vayan a formar.

Entonces nada importa me pongas en olvido:
Tu atmosfera, tu espacio, tus valles cruzare;
Vibrante y limpia nota sere para tu oido,
Aroma, luz, colores, rumor, canto, gemido,
Constante repitiendo la esencia de mi fe.

Mi Patria idolatrada, dolor de mis dolores,
Querida Filipinas, oye el postrer adios!
Ahi te dejo todo: mis padres, mis amores;
Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.

Adios, padres y hermanos, trozos del alma mia,
Amigos de la infancia, en el perdido hogar.
Dad gracias que descanso del fatigoso dia;
Adios, dulce extranjera, mi amiga, mi alegria,
Adios, queridos seres. Morir es descansar.

Farewell, My Adored Land
Translation by Encarnacion Alzona & Isidro Escare Abeto (1961)

Farewell, my adored Land, region by the sun caressed,
Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost;
With gladness I give you my life, sad and repressed;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.

On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight,
Others give you their lives without pain or hesitancy,
The place does not matter: cypress, laurel, lily white,
Scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom’s site,
It is the same if asked by the home and Country.

I die as I see tints on the sky begin to show
And at last announce the day, after a gloomy night;
If you need a hue to dye your matutinal glow,
Pour out my blood and at the right moment spread it so,
And gild with it a reflection of your nascent light!

My dreams, when I was scarcely a lad adolescent,
My dreams when already a youth, full of vigor to attain,
Were to see you, Gem of the Sea of the Orient,
Your dark eyes dry, smooth brow held to a high plane,
Without frown, without wrinkles and of shame without stain.

My life's fancy, my ardent, passionate desire:
Hail! cries out my soul, that will soon part from thee;
Hail! How sweet ‘tis to fall that fullness you may acquire,
To die to give you life, ’neath your skies to expire,
And in your mystic land to sleep through eternity!

If over my tomb some day, you would see blow,
A simple, humble flow'r amidst thick grasses,
Bring it up to your lips and kiss my soul so,
And under the cold tomb, I may feel on my brow,
Warmth of your breath, a whiff of your tenderness.

Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry,
Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light,
In murmurs grave allow the wind to sigh,
And should a bird descend on my cross and alight,
Let the bird intone a song of peace o’er my site.

Let the burning sun the raindrops vaporize,
And with my clamor behind return pure to the sky
Let a friend shed tears over my early demise;
And on quiet afternoons when one prays for me on high,
Pray too, oh, my Motherland, that in God may rest I.

Pray thee for all the hapless who have died,
For all who unequalled torments have undergone;
For our poor mothers who in bitterness have cried;
For orphans, widows, and captives to tortures were shied,
And pray too that you may see your own redemption.

And when the dark night wraps the cemet’ry,
And only the dead to vigil there are left alone,
Don't disturb their repose, don’t disturb the mystery;
If you hear the sounds of cithern or psaltery,
'Tis I, sweet country, who a song to you intone.

And when my grave by all is no more remembered,
With neither cross nor stone to mark its place,
Let it be plowed by man, with spade let it be scattered,
And my ashes ere to nothingness are restored,
Let them turn to dust to cover your earthly space.

Then it doesn't matter that you should forget me;
Your atmosphere, your skies, your vales I'll sweep;
Vibrant and clear note to your ears I shall be:
Aroma, light, hues, murmur, song, moanings deep,
Constantly repeating the essence of the faith I keep.

My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine,
Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh hearken.
There I leave you all: my parents, loves of mine,
I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen,
Where faith does not kill, and where God alone does reign.

Farewell, my parents, brothers, beloved by me,
Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed,
Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day;
Goodbye sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my way;
Goodbye to all I love. To die is to rest.

Adios, Beloved Country
Translation by Frank A Hilario (2006 version)

Adios, beloved country, Earth Love of the Sun,
Pearl of the Sea Orient, our Eden made bad!
Glad am I to give my life shrunk and forsaken;
And were it more radiant, more fresh, more floral then,
Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.

In the fields of battle, struggling with delirium,
Others give their lives, without doubts, without regret;
Site matters not; cypress, laurel or lily bloom,
Gallows or open field, fight or cruel martyrdom
Notwithstanding, if but hearth and country request.

I die as I see the sky flushes with color
And announces day at last, after a dark night;
When a scarlet you need to tinge its aurora,
Spill my blood and pour at such beneficial hour,
And so gild a reflection of the nascent light.

My dreams when I was just a boy adolescent,
My dreams when in youth I had vigor in fullness,
Were to watch you one day, Gem of the Sea Orient,
With those dark eyes now light, head now held eminent,
Sans frown, sans furrows, sans smudges of shamefulness.

Dream of my life, my ardent living fantasy:
Salute! Cries out the soul presently to depart!
Salute! Ah, how lovely to fall so you may fly,
To die so you may live, to die beneath your sky,
And sleep eternally in your enchanted earth.

Should one day you see over my sepulcher burst,
Amidst the thick grass a single humble flower,
Bring but near your lips and you shall kiss my spirit;
And I on my face shall feel down in the cold crypt,
In your tenderness a touch, in your breath ardor.

Let the moon strew over me its light calm and suave;
Let the dawn spread over me its resplendent rays,
Let the wind expel over me its murmur grave;
And if on my cross a bird descends with resolve,
Let that bird there intone its canticle of peace.

Let the passionate sun the rains evaporate
And give back to the sky pure with my last cry heard;
Let a friend weep over my inopportune death,
And in serene evenings, a prayer for me state;
Pray too, oh country, I may be at peace with God!

Pray for all of those who perish without gladness,
For all those who suffer torments without equal;
For our hapless mothers who wail in bitterness,
For orphans and widows, for captives in distress,
And pray for you to see your redemption final.

And when the dark evening shrouds the cemetery,
And the dead alone in vigil lone keep watching,
Disturb not the repose, disturb not the mystery;
Perceive a note of zither or psalter you may:
‘Tis I, cherished country, ‘tis to you am singing.

And when where I fall by all is recalled no more,
Neither cross standing nor stone indicating place,
Let man by plow work on it and by spade scatter,
And before my ashes to nothing they return,
Turn powder on your floor to carpet your surface.

Then it matters not I am pushed to oblivion:
I shall cross your valleys, your atmosphere, your space;
Vibrant and clear note shall be for you to listen,
Aroma, light, colors, murmur, melody, moan,
Constantly repeating the essence of my faith.

My country idolized, despair of my despairs,
Dearest Filipinas, hear now my last adios.
I bequeath all to you: my elders, my amours;
I go where are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors,
Where faith does not kill, where God is the Lord of hosts.

Adios, parents and kindred, fragments of my soul,
Friends from my childhood then, all in that damaged house;
Give thanks I lay me down from the weary day’s toil;
Adios, sweet stranger, my boon companion, my joy;
Adios, loved ones all. To die is to repose.

Valuing history. With Renato Corona & Jose Rizal

2010-06-19T20:08:00.001+08:00

Revised 21 June at 0506 hours Manila
CALAMBA CITY (19 June) - It was newly reelected Joaquin “Jun” Chipeco Jr’s idea to invite newly appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Renato Corona to be the Guest of Honor and Main Speaker in today’s 149th Birth Anniversary of the National Hero Jose Rizal. It was also Chipeco’s idea for the new set of officials of Calamba City to simultaneously take their oath of office before the Chief Justice. While I do not deny the eminence of the new Chief Justice, this double event is a political statement, and I rather like it. It befits the celebration of the birth of the hero in Calamba on 19 June 1861. I recognize the language, that of polite protest – so Rizalian.

Lakas Kampi CMD Chipeco Jr as candidate for Mayor supported Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro as candidate for President. Now then, Lakas is the party of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who appointed Renato Corona as the new Chief Justice despite the protestations of the camp of the man who would-be President, Liberal Party Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr who was the opponent of the Lakas presidential candidate. Funny that Noynoy has been trying hard to avoid taking his oath of office before Corona, first declaring his plan to take his oath before his own village captain in Tarlac, changing his mind, and now it is reported that Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales has accepted his invitation to administer the oath (Maila Ager & Dona Pazzibugan, 18 June, inquirer.net). When did the circus come to town?

Not law but tradition dictates that the new President is sworn into office by the Chief Justice. No matter how he cuts it, Noynoy Aquino is breaking tradition at the expense of Renato Corona, who cannot be blamed for his appointment as Chief Justice by GMA. Historically, the most senior Justice, Antonio Carpio had declined to be interviewed for the position by the Judicial and Bar Council, JBC, unless the appointment would be made by President Noynoy (Purple S Romero, 12 April, newsbreak.com.ph). Again historically, exactly the same reason was given by Carpio-Morales. In other words, Corona was selected from among those who were willing to be interviewed by the JBC and who thought that the process was logical, reasonable and lawful. Some people think they can have their cake and eat it too.

Rebuffed twice, by Carpio once, by Carpio-Morales twice, GMA did the right thing and appointed Corona, and the Supreme Court applauded. Outgoing Chief Justice Reynato Puno himself said at his formal retirement ceremony, “Congratulations to the 23rd Chief Justice of the Philippines, Chief Justice Renato C Corona!” (Dona Pazzibugan, 15 May, inquirer.net). Puno was one of those who voted for Corona from the JBC list submitted to GMA, and “that means the retiring Chief Justice believes in the independence and integrity of the chosen successor,” Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez said (Paolo Romero, 13 May, philstar.com, name corrected). The thing that some people can’t get over with is that when Mr Carpio and Mrs Carpio-Morales refused the JBC interview and therefore the opportunity to be appointed Chief Justice, they gave GMA the golden opportunity to appoint as Chief Justice the one who had been her own Chief of Staff when she was Vice President. What do you when those who dislike you hand you a silver platter without their knowing it? You turn to the camera and smile.

Who is Renato Corona? He is no pushover. Born 15 October 1948, he earned his law degree at the Ateneo de Manila, where he served as a member of the faculty for 17 years; he also received a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School (Wikipedia). He had “a sterling record as a student,” graduating with gold medals from the Ateneo de Manila grade school in 1962 and high school in 1966 (sc.judiciary.gov.ph). He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Ateneo in 1970. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo, graduating #5 in his class. He served as Presidential Legal Counsel under President Fidel V Ramos, under whose term he solved the perennial backlog of cases in the Legal Office. “As head of that critical agency, he not only served as one of the President’s legal advisers but also wrote decisions and recommendations that showed an insightful and exceptional understanding of legal issues, as well as a mastery of the diverse options for resolving them.” He is one of the youngest ever to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, on 09 April 2002 (sc.judiciary.gov.ph).

Renato Corona is the one who said, “Just watch me!” (as quoted by Fernando Gagelonia, 19 May, atmidfield.com, with my editing):

I am not starting on the wrong foot; somebody else is. I’m not a politician. I don’t like appearing before media but it’s a good opportunity for me, like it or not, for the public to know me. They are entitled to know what kind of public official I am. That (the flak brought about by his appointment) does not bother me. I will have eight years to prove many things about myself and what I can do for the country. I would like to assure you that I will be there fighting for the independence from politics of the Supreme Court. It’s legal (Noynoy Aquino's wanting to take his oath of office before somebody else than Corona). I don’t speculate on what the repercussions are going to be. If he takes his oath before a barangay captain, I’m sure he will have by that time thought about it well and sought counsel. It’s all right with me.

Today, I arrive at the House of Rizal at 0840 hours, just in time to hear Corona begin reading his speech before a crowd of mostly government officials of the City of Calamba 19 June. Knowing that he was also former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of GMA, I can’t tell if Corona is that good because the lecture he is reading is in Tagalog, which language I do not wish to listen speeches in – I prefer English. I’m a Filipino; I have colonial mentality, if you wanted to know. In any case, my vague impression is that there is nothing new in what he is saying, and since it is impossible to take notes in Tagalog - this language is wasteful in letters, such as “sa kasalukuyan” for “now” or “ngayong araw na ito” for “today” - I decided to just wait for the end of the reading and ask for the copy. So long a speech, I noticed, as Corona kept turning the pages.

When I approached him afterwards, the Chief Justice begged off giving his copy to me, saying he had made several changes to the text, and so he preferred that he would email me. Yes, I heard the Supreme Court had gone high tech. I gave him my (very last) calling card. The Chief Justice had no way of knowing of course that I’m very impatient waiting for emails. This time, I shall be privileged to see if the wheels of justice grind slowly - or fast.

I wrote the above lines this morning, after I came from the celebration; the email came to me at 1559 hours. That’s fast because Corona had to go back from Calamba to Manila first before giving the email instructions to an assistant. I shall now turn to the emailed speech. The theme of the celebration is the very title of Corona’s speech:

Dr Jose Rizal - Noon, Ngayon At Habang Panahon, Idolo Ng Bansa, Inspirasyon Ng Calamba.

Dr Jose Rizal - Then, Now And For All Times, The Country’s Idol, Calamba’s Inspiration.

What follows are excerpts in Corona’s own words and my free translation right after each one:

Isang likas na taga-Calamba ang naging mitsa ng apoy na siyang nagpaliwanag sa kaisipan ng marami, na siyang nagpa-init sa adhikain at laban ng isang bansa para sa kanyang kalayaan. At ito ay kanyang nakamit, hindi sa pamamagitan ng dahas kung hindi sa pamamagitan ng kanyang talino, ng kanyang paniniwala na ang pagbabago ay maaring makamit sa mapayapang pamamaraan, at ng kanyang hindi matutumbasang pagmamahal sa inang bayan.

A native of Calamba was the one who ignited the fire that lighted up the minds of many, that inflamed the aspiration and campaign of a country for her freedom. And he achieved this, not by violence but by his genius, by his belief that change can be achieved by peaceful means, and with his unequalled love for his mother country.

Itinuro niya sa atin ang pagpapahalaga sa kasaysayan dahil naniniwala siyang dito nag-uugat ang tunay na pagmamahal sa bayan. Siya ang halimbawa ng pag-aalay ng mga pagsisikap at tagumpay hindi lamang para sa sarili bilang mga indibidwal, kundi para sa sarili bilang mga mamamayan ng isang malayang bansa, dahil naniniwala siya na ang pambansang kamalayan ang tanging susi upang mabuksan ang isang mas mahusay na lipunan.

He taught us to value history because he believed in this way will take root true love of country. He is a model of offering one’s efforts and successes not to oneself as an individual but to oneself as a citizen of a free country, because he believed that a national consciousness was the only key to open the doors to a better society.

Si Gat Jose Rizal ay naging at mananatiling idolo at inspirasyon ng ating bansa sa habang panahon habang patuloy at matapang nating hinaharap ang mga hamon ng panahon, habang patuloy tayong kumikilos, nagkakaisa at nagsisikap tungo sa magandang kinabukasan.

Noble Jose Rizal became and remains the idol and inspiration of our people for all times while we continue and bravely face the challenges of the times, while we continue to move, united and persevering toward a beautiful tomorrow.

Ang pagsasakripisyo natin para sa ating bansa ay isang makabuluhang gawain. Makabuluhan at hindi masasayang dahil sa pamamagitan nito, mapapalakas natin ang tiwala ng ating kapwa sa kanilang mga sariling kakayahan, na sila ay may kakayahang magsakripisyo para sa bansa, na hindi sila dapat mawalan ng pag-asa dahil narito tayong lahat para sa ating kapwa. Katulad ni Rizal na nananatiling nakakapit sa pag-asang sisikat din ang araw para sa Pilipinas.

Our sacrifice for our country is worth making. Worthy and not useless because by it we strengthen the faith of our fellowmen in their abilities, that they too can sacrifice for the country, that they should not lose hope because we are all here together for others. Just like Rizal who remained steadfast in his hope that a bright tomorrow shall rise over the Philippines.

Marahil ay hindi hiniling ni Rizal na ang bawat isa sa atin ay maging bayani o kaya ay magpakabayani. Sapat na marahil na tayong lahat ay gawin ang abot ng ating makakaya upang bigyan ng dangal ang ating minamahal na bayan – kahit sa pinakamaliit na pamamaraan. Na maipakita natin na tayo ay karapat-dapat sa kalayaan na ating ngayong tinatamasa.

Perhaps Rizal did not wish that each one of us become a hero or try to be one. Perhaps it is enough that all of us do our best to bring honor to our beloved country - even in the littlest way. Showing to others that we deserve the freedom we enjoy.

With those excerpts alone, I correct myself; I am completely impressed. Why should Jose Rizal be only Calamba’s inspiration and not the whole country’s? A lesson in history from the guest speaker: “Perhaps it is enough that all of us do our best to bring honor to our beloved country - even in the littlest way.” My translating even fast and freely the thoughts of Chief Justice Renato Corona has shown me that he is original in his ideas, certainly his own man, and values history much.

What if President-Elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino really breaks time-honored tradition and does not take his oath of office before Corona? In that case, I hate to think that, really, either Noynoy is not his own man, or Noynoy does not value history.

Technorati Tags: Love of country,national consciousness,free country,sacrifice for country,strengthening faith of others,doing one's best,becoming a hero

My hero, Jose. Rizal without Ambeth Ocampo!

2010-06-19T07:07:00.001+08:00

CALAMBA CITY - I visited today, 18 June, the House of Rizal, and it is as green as it was a year ago as I had written (see my “House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red,” 04 June 2009, My Jose Rizal, Blogspot). I quoted the National Historical Institute, with Ambeth Ocampo as Chair of the Institute, as justifying the greening of Rizal in these words:

I cannot reconcile the house of green of Rizal with the “bright tints” of Ambeth Ocampo. His green doesn’t look very bright to me.

In any case, the greening of Rizal by Ambeth Ocampo reflects his predilection in his writing for trivia or details, such as what Rizal ate for breakfast, which was dried fish; or what was the name of his dog, which I forgot; or gossip, like who was the father of Antonino Lopez who married Rizal’s sister Narcisa? A Mexican priest, Fr Leoncio Lopez. Gossip does not make history.

Ambeth Ocampo’s book Rizal Without The Overcoat may be entertaining and even absorbing; now expanded, still it is not history. The Emperor Has No Clothes! This is not history. This is not helping students of Rizal appreciate Rizal’s life and writings in relation to his works. History is not a micro but a macro view. The details, the parts are important only in so far as they relate to the whole. Details as details don’t make wholes.

It’s just like painting the house of Rizal green - I do not find any significance of that to the life, writings or works of Rizal. One color doesn’t make a rainbow, which has meaning.

Details do not make history, just as details do not make the poem.

To honor the memory of the Rizal family and Rizal’s way of thinking, to celebrate the birthday of my hero, let me tell you about a neglected poem of his. It is now my favorite example of misplaced emphasis on detail, this poem that Jose Rizal wrote when he was only 8 years old (Asuncion Lopez-Rizal, 1994, Indio Bravo, page 24).

Sa Aking Mga Kabata
Ni Jose P Rizal

Kapagka ang baya’y sadyang umiibig
sa kanyang salitang kaloob ng langit,
sanlang kalayaan nasa ring masapit
katulad ng ibong nasa himpapawid.

Pagka’t ang salita’y isang kahatulan
sa bayan, sa nayo’t mga kaharian,
at ang isang tao’y katulad, kabagay
ng alin mang likha noong kalayaan.

Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika
mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda;
kaya ang marapat pagyamaning kusa
na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala.

Ang wikang Tagalog tulad din sa Latin
sa Ingles, Kastila at salitang anghel,
sapagka’t ang Poong maalam tumingin
ang siyang naggawad, nagbigay sa atin.

Ang salita nati’y tulad din sa iba
na may alfabeto at sariling letra,
na kaya nawala’y dinatnan ng sigwa
ang lunday sa lawa noong dakong una.

By the way, the original word in the title was Kabata, not Kababata as some assign it. In translation, details like that are important.

Kabata has been made an anthem by those who favor Tagalog as the basis of the national language, that which they now call confusingly Filipino. These ultra-nationalists claim that in the 3rd stanza of Kabata, but especially the first 2 lines, the young Jose Rizal pen-pushed for love of language (Tagalog):

Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika
mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda;
kaya ang marapat pagyamaning kusa
na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala.

I’m sorry to disappoint those who love the Tagalog language as the epitome of the Filipino, the Tagalistas and their advocates, but their more than 100-year-old interpretation is not only timeworn but also incorrect. Too ancient and too skewed in favor of a particular tongue.

This Ilocano will now show you what he means; let us now examine the poem in English, my translation, with an a/b/b/a rhyme scheme, which is daring, in contrast with the original’s a/a/a/a, which is boring:

To Kids Of My Own Time
Translated by Frank A Hilario

If the people naturally love
its tongue that is a gift from Heaven,
pawned freedom too it will seek to gain
as the bird that flies the sky above.

Since language is an estimation
of kingdom, town and community,
and man is like, a match to any
creature who has been of freedom born.

His native tongue who does not treasure
is worse than a beast or smelly fish;
’tis right that on our own we nourish
like a mother who bestows favor.

Tagalog language is like Latin,
English, Spanish, and angelic tongue,
because God who has the wisdom
is He who gave, to us did assign.

Our own language, like any other,
had alphabet and letters, its own,
now vanished since by waves overthrown
like bancas in the lake long before.

Actually, I translated this little poem in 1998, or 12 years ago, and that was when I discovered the linguistic error in interpretation. Something is always found in the translation.

Now then, let’s examine the whole poem and not only the 3rd stanza. It is true that Kabata mentions tongue in the 1st stanza, language in the 2nd stanza, tongue in the 3rd stanza, language and tongue in the 4th stanza, and language in the 5th and last stanza. Tongue (salita) and language (wika) in this poem mean the same thing: language. And this has been the source of error in interpreting the poem as a paean for love of language.

The source of error is that what the poem says is taken literally, not as it should be, literarily. The clue to the real meaning of tongue or language is in the last stanza:

Our own language, like any other,
had alphabet and letters, its own,
now vanished since by waves overthrown
like bancas in the lake long before.

The use of the word “language” in the poem cannot really mean “language” because the poet says this one had its own alphabet and letters but now they’re gone. The fact was that the poet was using that very same language that (the ultra-nationalists thought) he was lamenting had gone. Therefore, the poet did not really mean the Tagalog language but freedom, which the Filipinos lost to the Spanish conquerors. “Language” (with its component “alphabet” and “letters”) was his metaphor for “freedom.” In fact, he repeats the word “freedom” in the 2nd stanza:

and man is like, a match to any
creature who has been of freedom born.

The very young poet had misled his readers even with his title, “Sa Aking Mga Kabata,” which is not poetic at all. I suspect he didn’t want the Spaniards or their spies to suspect, much less to easily understand, what he was saying.

The poem was written sometime in 1869. So, all these 141 years, all those literal thinkers had missed the real import of Kabata; in fact, it is plain to liberal thinkers that the essence of the poem lies in the very first stanza:

If the people naturally love
its tongue that is a gift from Heaven,
pawned freedom too it will seek to gain
as the bird that flies the sky above.

The 8-year-old Jose Rizal multiplied his mention of “tongue” and “language” in his little poem so that it can hardly be noticed that in fact he was talking about freedom. The boy already knew (or his mother had already taught him) the use of subterfuge in language. His mother had taught her son very well.

The boy poet was in fact writing of “pawned freedom” and not “pawned language” - the Filipinos had effectively surrendered their freedom to the Spaniards. (In case of doubt, I must say that in this poem freedom is not independence, which is a different subject.) In all those steady subservient centuries and sporadic revolutionary times, the Tagalog language (not to mention the Ilocano language) was always within reach of the tongue, but freedom was out of reach of the hands and feet. In other words, with Kabata, the boy Jose Rizal was already calling for a revolution of consciousness among the Filipinos! He was silently screaming, “Countrymen, set your minds free!” They don’t make boys like they used to anymore.

Technorati Tags: Sa Aking Mga Kabata,Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika,pawned freedom,language as estimation of kingdom,Tagalog language,freedom,increase in understanding,setting one's mind free

No, Ambeth Ocampo. Jose Rizal & House of Usher

2010-01-06T12:36:00.005+08:00

MANILA - 2010, barely a week after 30 December 2009, martyr-date; we shall come this way again, so I ask the question now: My Jose Rizal or yours? Does martyrdom mean anything anymore to people, including historians?

The way historians have been behaving lately, I doubt it. So I'm begging Ambeth Ocampo, Chair of the National Historical Institute of the Philippines, to keep his green hands off The National Hero, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda. I believe Ambeth Ocampo has done much harm on my hero already!

Remember, it was Ocampo who had the bright idea of painting the House of Rizal green. He might as well have painted himself that house in Calle Real, City of Calamba, splashing green all over the place and all over his body. Bright but not brilliant; I wanted nothing but the best for my hero; I wasn't pleased. A green coat of the walls made this historical house look like a modern chocolate cake; history is to be digested, but not eaten. I wrote about it in my "House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red" (04 June 2009, My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com). Enough said?

Not enough done, apparently. I just learned all along Ocampo has had a brighter idea that I have a dimmer view of:

To move Rizal Day from 30 December (1896, date of death) to 19 June (1861, date of birth).

From the end to the beginning, from disappearance to appearance, from demise to promise. Is that the past forward, perhaps?

And on this his latest digression from his mass-oriented digging up of historical bric-a-brac, Ocampo has had the cooperation of Manila's House of Usher (for a quick look on the original, try Wikipedia): Representative Jaime Lopez of Manila, who sponsored the bill, and Justin Marc Chipeco of Laguna who co-sponsored it; as well as Raul Gonzalez Jr of Iloilo City, Ma Victoria Sy-Alvarado of Bulacan, and Ma Evita Arago of Laguna who co-authored the Rizal Bill. They could have done better than Edgar Allan Poe in this tale of the macabre.

House Bill 5408 was passed by the House on 10 December 2008 yet (19 June 2009, Rhoda Dizon, bakitwhy.com), and I didn't know! I don't usually read the local papers, that's why; I leave them well enough alone. I should have known better.

Some people should know better to leave well enough alone. 30 December was Rizal Day until a Committee of One thought to change tradition by modern fiat. "Times have changed, you know; today, we know better" was the mantra. But this is one tradition I wouldn't change for all the birthdays of all the popular columnists in all the mass media.

Is there a Proctor in the House? It must be Ambeth Ocampo, popular columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and I shall blame him for this brouhaha. I tell the ladies and gentlemen of The House of Usher:

Keep Rizal Day on 30 December, for God's sake!

Rizal's legacy is heroism. That's what we celebrate. As with Jesus Christ, his Messiah-ness was defined by his death. So with Rizal, his heroism was defined by his death, not birth. Now, if you're stubborn, if you still think otherwise, I beg you to consider all of these 57 points:

1. Heroes prepare to battle.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who prepares to battle the nipple.

2. Heroes have life-long accomplishments.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose life is only a day long.

3. Heroes make choices.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't make choices.

4. Heroes earn their honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose honor is to be born rich.

5. Heroes master their fields.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who masters his crib.

6. Heroes are adventurous.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor an adventurer of the sight.

7. Heroes are lovers of knowledge.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who loves himself,
who doesn't need knowing.

8. Heroes forsake loved ones.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't forsake his mother.

9. Heroes seek the truth.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who seeks the milk.

10. Heroes are voices of enlightenment.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose enlightenment
comes from an alcohol lamp.

11. Heroes are bold.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is bold enough to smile.

12. Heroes are movers & shakers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who moves & shakes his hands.

13. Heroes struggle to succeed.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who struggles on his father's arms.

14. Heroes pay the ultimate price.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't even pay attention.

15. Heroes leave their legacies.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who leaves behind a trail of smell.

16. Heroes fail but with honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who fails to take care of himself.

17. Heroes become better at what they do.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell good from better.

18. Heroes are givers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who knows only how to receive.

19. Heroes accomplish much in their lifetime.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who has accomplished nothing.

20. Heroes are great for the race.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is great for his family.

21. Heroes are knowledgeable.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is knowledgeable about here & there.

22. Heroes awaken the heroes in all of us.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who awakens us with his cries.

23. Heroes trigger movements.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who triggers his mother's movements.

24. Heroes are clear thinkers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whose thoughts are unfathomable.

25. Heroes are against US domination.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is dominated by US.

26. Heroes are nationalists.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell a nationalist from a nut.

27. Heroes are martyrs.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell a martyr from a moth.

28. Heroes are significant in modern times.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is significant in the times of his family.

29. Heroes are aware of their people's oppression.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is aware of the oppression of thirst.

30. Heroes fight for nationhood.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't even fight for personhood.

31. Heroes fight for independence.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who fights in dependence.

32. Heroes sometimes give up everything.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who gives up everything to sleep.

33. Heroes are celebrated by society.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't celebrate even his birthday.

34. Heroes make great models of life.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't make simple models of clay.

35. Heroes remember their past.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who doesn't have a past.

36. Heroes learn from failures from Day 1.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who has had only Day 1.

37. Heroes find meaning in the struggle.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who finds food in his struggle.

38. Heroes deal with consequences of choices.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who doesn't know consequences.

39. Heroes sometimes fail but always with honor.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't fail to catch his mother's attention.

40. Heroes celebrate getting better.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him just getting a day older.

41. Heroes honor us by giving.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who honors us by receiving.

42. Heroes honor us with their heritage.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't tell heritage from hair.

43. Heroes are mourned for their deaths.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him for his birth.

44. Heroes give us the gift of peace.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who gives us the gift of tongue.

45. Heroes sometimes prophesy.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can only profess love of mother.

46. Heroes reflect the greatness of their race.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who reflects the wellness of his family.

47. Heroes embrace the dangerous idea of freedom.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who embraces the friendly bosom of family.

48. Heroes educate.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him whom we have yet to educate.

49. Heroes can discern more than we do.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can discern nothing.

50. Heroes trigger revolutions.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can trigger a reaction.

51. Heroes are nation-oriented.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who is family-oriented.

52. Heroes add inspiration to their people.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who adds size to his family.

53. Heroes are peacemakers.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who can't pacify himself.

54. Heroes awaken us in our sleep of nationhood.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who awakens us in our sleep of rest.

55. Heroes sometimes make us laugh.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who makes us laugh for a different reason.

56. Heroes when newborn are ordinary.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor the ordinary.

57. Heroes live after their deaths.
To celebrate Rizal Day on his birthday is
to honor him who lives after his mouth.

On 30 December 1896, execution comes to Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda. Other heroes' martyrdoms were chosen for them, such as those of Andres Bonifacio and Antonio Luna. Not unlike Jesus Christ's, Rizal's martyrdom is what marks him apart from the other national heroes: he chose it instead of life - all for love, including love of enemy. For Christ, you should be able to see that in your New Testament, any version. For Rizal, you should be able to see that in my translation of his valedictory poem, "Adios, Beloved Country" (My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com). So I say, in the end, Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonso Realonda happily died a true-blue Roman Catholic, as the Jesuits of the Ateneo had taught him, loving his fellowman (see my "Rizal Secrets. Of The National Hero You Didn't Know," same blog). So we honor him by choosing his death to celebrate.

Heroes are made, not born!

Our Modern World

2009-12-30T10:15:00.010+08:00

This is the Class Oration by Jerry A Quibilan, April 28, 1961, Santa Maria High School, Ilocos Sur. The photograph I show was taken inside the RiceWorld of IRRI 04 July 2008. While it does not mention Jose Rizal or the word "hero" or "heroism," I can see that the oration is relevant today even after some 48 years.

Our Modern World

Our world today resembles a store where some pranksters had entered during the night and shifted the price tags. As a result, the cheap things are marked high and the really precious things are priced low. Indeed, even in our little corner of the world today, vanity, frivolity, merrymaking, ease, and comfort are the premium while the values of honesty, integrity, service and love of humanity are at a discount.

Just walk down the avenue and see the beautiful mansions with their imposing facades and watch the shining limousines driven by the spoiled darlings of the rich. Visit drinking saloons and notice teenagers giddy with intoxicating drinks seated with painted dolls busy entertaining them. Attend dances and see for yourselves rich and prominent matrons bedecked with jewels wearing expensive brocades and crystaletes. Go to gambling joints and see for yourselves thousands of pesos being passed from one hand to another in the game of mahjong, poker, bingo and dice. You will not be surprised to find in these joints high government officials, rich and prominent citizens of the community and canto boys frequenting these places. They call these a democratic way of life because the rich and the powerful rub elbows with the poor and the weak. Ah! Democracy, how many mischiefs have been committed in thy name? Attend parties and banquets and see for yourselves the sumptuous meals, the ubiquitous lechons, the rich pastries, the steaming hot birds-nest soup. What an extravagance when the majority of the Filipinos just subsist on boiled rice and tuyo.

Visit the rural as well as the city schools. Go to the classrooms and find out what the majority of students are doing. Well, really as one competent observer said, 'It is high time we close our carnivals and do away with soft pedagogy if we are to turn out students who are far from frivolous, vain and pretentious.'

Our needs these days are more serious students dedicated to study and the advancement of knowledge, and an enlightened leadership that will bring about a peaceful and united world. How can we accomplish this?

Let us re-study, re-evaluate and straighten our tangled values. Let us overcome this distorted confusion where issues are dimmed, minds confused and beliefs muddled. Let us all work for the realization of a beautiful but not an empty dream – a unified world where love and service of mankind make up the guiding policy of all government. Let us lay aside prejudices, subordinate our selfish ambitions as individuals and as nations to the welfare of mankind. Let us learn to settle dispassionately differences, which inevitably arise now and then. Above all, let us treat our fellow human beings with understanding and tolerance for we are all equals. What if one is brown and another white? What if one is mediocre and another one super intelligent? What if one is poor and another rich? Are they not all human beings free to breathe the same air, read the same books and enjoy the same opportunity to improve themselves? Of what value is intellectual superiority if it does not inspire others to follow and enlightened leadership? Of what is prosperity if it is not shared by those who are in dire need? Of what use is the greatness of a man or a country if such greatness is not used to uplift the less fortunate and the weak?

The answers to my queries lie in your hands.

Rizal Secrets. Of the National Hero you didn't know

2009-12-26T08:17:00.017+08:00

MANILA - Can you keep a secret? I have more than 100 of Jose Rizal secrets. My hero! By secrets, I don't mean like Rizal's abrupt departure to Spain he and his brother Paciano kept secret even to the rest of the family and Leonor Rivera, his fiancée, or that he was buried in a secret grave at the Paco Cemetery, or that he had a secret in the lamp he handed to his sister before they executed him in a very public place. Almost everyone knows those. The Rizal secrets I am about to tell you are more my discoveries than anything else. Like award-winning Filipino painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo's portrait of Rizal as a young man (he is 22 years old here), this essay is my portrait of Rizal as his own man as revealed in some aspects of his life, works and writings that have been either rejected, ignored, unnoticed, not considered, or not known by most people, including historians and Rizalists.

You know, I'm sure, that Jose Rizal was executed by a firing squad at Bagumbayan (which became Luneta, which became Rizal Park) on the morning of 30 December 1896, or exactly 113 years ago on 30 December 2009. But you don't know, I'm sure, that the number "13" has numerical significance in the life of the hero who was born in Calamba, a town at the foot of the fabled Mt Makiling some 50 km south of Manila. Did you know Calamba is now a City? Let me tell you things you probably don't know about this Filipino, even if you happen to be a native Filipino (if living abroad), or expatriate historian (if living in the Philippines). To uncover Rizal secrets yourself, read word for word - and read between the lines - copies of all of the following books I myself began reading in 1997 or thereabouts, and that most of them I suppose you can buy at the National Historical Institute at the Rizal Park (I list them here not in any order):

(01) Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence I & II, 1992 (National Historical Institute, 2 volumes, 569 pages)
(02) Rizal's Correspondence With Fellow Reformists, 1992 (NHI, 749 pages)
(03) Jose Rizal (Annotator), Historical Events of the Philippine Islands by Antonio De Morga, 1997 (NHI, 353 pages)
(04) Ma Soledad Lacson-Locsin (Translator), Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal, 1996 (Bookmark, 601 pages)
(05) Miscellaneous Writings of Dr Jose Rizal, 1992 (NHI, 314 pages)
(06) Letters Between Rizal And Family Members 1876-1896, 1993 (NHI, 445 pages)
(07) Leon Ma Guerrero's The First Filipino: A Biography Of Jose Rizal, 1963 (NHI, 549 pages)
(08) Mauro Garcia's "Translations of Mi Ultimo Adios," 1962 (Historical Bulletin, Philippine Historical Association, pages 355-425)
(09) Miguel A Bernad's Rizal And Spain: An Essay In Biographical Context, 1986 (National Book Store, 188 pages)
(10) Asuncion Lopez-Rizal Bantug's Indio Bravo: The Story Of Jose Rizal, 1997 (Tahanan Books, 164 pages)
(11) Ambeth R Ocampo's Rizal Without The Overcoat, 1990 (Anvil Publishing, 160 pages)
(12) Gregorio F Zaide's Jose Rizal: Life, Works & Writings, 2003 (National Book Store, 318 pages).

I'm writing of only 30 Rizal secrets this time just to match the date of death. Sometimes, I like Numbers. Sometimes, figures don't lie. If nothing else, this time, I want to show you that the life, works and writings of the greatest Filipino hero is more exciting and more intellectually stimulating than any historian or biographer of Rizal has ever made it appear to be. I studied to be a teacher (I passed the very first Teacher's Exam, mind you, 80.6%, probably #1 in San Pablo City, no review class, no leakage, in 1965); when I write about Rizal, I am teaching history; this is creative writing, and love of something or other. If I can't dream to be a hero, at least I can dream to be the greatest creative writer teaching about an authentic hero. Let me now help you rediscover Jose Rizal, the National Hero of the Philippines.

Secret #1. Jose Rizal retracted without retracting. Brilliant!
I do declare under oath: The retraction letter itself is the evidence of Jose Rizal's retraction. Serendipity! He had always been a bright boy, so I have no doubt that he retracted - what all those claimers and disclaimers so far failed to realize is that Rizal did it his way - subtly. Here is circumstantial and circumscissile if circumspect evidence, you know what I mean. We don't need the original copy of his retraction letter (for the complete text, see page 223 of Zaide's book); all we need to examine is one sentence, and this is the crucial one: "I retract with all my heart anything in my words, writings, publications and conduct that has been contrary to my character as a child of the Church.” Did you notice Rizal's genius there? Probably not.

To explain, I will now summarize the lengthier discussion on this subject that I did years earlier, 2006, in my "Rizal's Retraction," Rizal In Our Time, blogspot.com): That crucial sentence I quoted was so constructed that it can be rewritten like this: "Whatever I had said, written or done, anything contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, I retract." Note the word "Whatever" - if you really think you have neither written nor done anything contrary to being a Roman Catholic, you really have nothing to retract, no? Your conscience is clear, yes? That's what I call clever. Whatever.

Secret #2. Jose Rizal was an anti-hero.
Deliberate or not, in 1993 the Technical Committee of the National Heroes Committee rejected Jose Rizal as a hero, much less a national hero! The committee members were? Alphabetically now: Bernardita R Churchill, Onofre D Corpuz, Marcelino Foronda, Minerva Gonzales, Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil, Alfredo Lagmay, Ambeth Ocampo, Serafin D Quiason, and Samuel K Tan. Let’s examine the evidence at hand professionally, if not objectively. They declared these as their hero criteria (ncca.gov.ph):

1. Heroes are those who have a concept of nation and thereafter aspire and struggle for the nation's freedom. Our own struggle for freedom was begun by Bonifacio and finished by Aguinaldo ... 2. Heroes are those who define and contribute to a system or life of freedom and order for a nation. 3. Heroes are those who contribute to the quality of life and destiny of a nation. (As defined by Dr Onofre D Corpuz)

Freedom is the operative word there - we must dismiss the #3 criterion because it was defined by a Committee of One. Thus, in fact, in the second sentence the committee explicitly excluded Rizal altogether! I forgive them, for they knew not what they knew not. That also excluded Marcelo H Del Pilar and Graciano Lopez Jaena among other patriots in Europe, all of whom preceded Andres Bonifacio as far as agitating for change was concerned. Among these heroes, Rizal was the first Asian to have a concept of nation; he aspired for it briefly but never struggled for Philippine freedom. With his Dimasalang pen, he fought for reforms in the islands as well as Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes, not independence, not freedom from the Mother Country. Thousands of words for reforms, and not one word for freedom! Remember the Propaganda Movement? Rizal was the supernova of that galaxy. The propagandists wanted the winds of change, not the winds of war. They knew they couldn’t afford it. If only freedom fighters can be called heroes, since Rizal's struggles were in effect anti-freedom, he was an anti-hero. He was the best of them all.

Secret #3. Ateneo did not teach Rizal patriotism.
No, the Ateneo did not teach Jose Rizal love of country; the Jesuits never did, and he never learned from them. Instead, the Ateneo taught Rizal love of fellowman, and he was their greatest student. There's a big difference. One is exclusive, the other is inclusive. The Jesuits' motto has always been, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!" To the Greater Glory of God! Such love is what you feel when you read his swan song properly translated and in context: "Adios, Patria Adorada." It actually goes beyond love of country; it ventures into the valley of the shadow of Christian love, which has built-in forgiveness for everyone, including hangmen and oppressors.

Secret #4. It's "Laon Laang," not "Laong Laan."
Everybody knows Jose Rizal had taken as one of his pen names "Laong Laan" - well, everybody is wrong, including Filipiniana.net and The Big NM and Boub Couttie and even the Knights of Rizal. How do I know that? Rizal told me so! In a letter to Mariano Ponce, he wrote: "Take note that I sign it Laon Laang and not Laóng Laan, for in fact it is Laón" (diacritical marks included in the original letter). Laong Laan means Old Ready while Laon Laang means Old Only. I'm not kidding; I’ll tell you which book and on what page you can find it if you email me: frankahilario@gmail.com. It was a Rizal pun. Some people can't take a joke.

Secret #5. Rizal agitated for a bloody revolution.
There was a time he agitated for a bloody uprising in the Philippine Islands. When his friend Blumentritt learned of this foolish preoccupation, he warned Rizal that he would have the blood of his own people in his own hands if he persisted. He listened; he didn’t want blood spilled, even if they were not his own. So Rizal gave up his dreams of gore. Some dreams must die. He then remembered that he who lives by the gun dies by the bullet.

Secret #6. Rizal was agitated by the Katipunan.
After Blumentritt's extreme admonition, Rizal was a chastened man. He then continued to persist in playing what he saw was his role in what was known as the Propaganda Movement. He denounced the Katipunan when it broke out and he learned about it while in prison at Fort Santiago, and especially that they were using his name to convince the others to join. As a matter of fact, he had opposed the Katipunan before the Revolution was launched: "I was convinced that the idea of a revolution was highly absurd and what is worse, perverse" (quoted by Rudy A Arizala, infanta.org). In fact, he offered his life if only to suppress it. And he did; and he did not. He died for his people to live in peace, for good; he died for the Katipunan to die, for naught.

Secret #7. Rizal was Bonifacio's hero.
Andres Bonifacio sent Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan seeking Jose Rizal's advice on the launching of a bloody revolution against the Spaniards. They needed the advice; they also needed to be able to invoke the highly respected name of Rizal in recruiting more brave souls as rebels of the Katipunan variety - armed warriors. Bonifacio won the battle for recruitment; Rizal lost his life.

Secret #8. Rizal's final poem gives him a final bad image.
It has been arbitrarily assigned the titles "Mi Ultimo Adios" (by Mariano Ponce) and "Ultimo Adios" (by Mariano Dacanay), and historians and scholars have accepted those titles without fear or favor. You call that poetic? They didn't realize that both titles effectively declared that Rizal was a nobody, that the poem was a plain rhyme of parting words, nothing more, the last sounds of a dying man whose dreams were to accompany him to the grave. That is far from the truth! Pity the poet who gave his life for his fellowmen, and wrote of love instead of hate. Remember: It's easier to hate than to love. (You might also want to see my "Love, the impossible gift," iMaques, blogspot.com.) Neither title of the Marianos does justice to the poem; neither reflects nor intimates the essence of Rizal's valedictory - for it is not really about saying goodbye but really about showing love of fellowman. An unintelligent title is what this sublime poem deserves?

Secret #9. I have the best title for Rizal's best poem.
No ordinary mortals themselves, the American, European, Australian, and Asian historians, translators or scholars of Rizal all forgot that literary tradition dictates that where a poem is without a title, the first line is written as the title. That's what happened to Shakespeare's 100 plus sonnets, such as the ones I memorized long ago (I remember the titles at least): "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" I can recite the next line. "When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." I can recite the next line of this one too. "Full many a glorious morning have I seen." "Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing." The most unforgettable poems are those with the most memorable first lines.

Now, in the case of Rizal's ultimate poem, the first line reads, "Adios, Patria adorada, region del sol querida." An adorable first line. I take a little exception from literary tradition and say the first 3 words are perfect for what has always been considered, in my words now, "the greatest Spanish poem without the least of a title" - "Adios, Patria Adorada." In fact, I came out with this title in 29 December 2004 yet in an article of which electronic copies were sent as individual emaiIs to 3 major Manila newspapers - Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, Today - who immediately confirmed by phone (when I called again a few minutes after clicking my Yahoo Mail Send) that they just received those emails, but none printed my Rizal article the next day - or ever. (And I remember where I was at that time, at the house of a friend, Pat Dugan; I was using his PC and his PLDT connection - anyway, thanks, Pat!) That article was also memorable because I used lowercase throughout, from the title ("a small case rizal: my firsts in translation") to the last sentence ("enough of mechanical translations and present-day reverse-martyrdoms").

If truth be told, I was the one who caused the entry in Wikipedia of these words under Jose Rizal: Mi Ultimo Adios (wikipedia.org): "The poem is more aptly titled 'Adios, Patria Adorada' (literally, Farewell, Beloved Country), by virtue of logic and literary tradition, the words coming from the first line of the poem itself." I deliberately planted that one in Wikipedia to make the point that we had to stop calling a virile poem with a lame name. (You can read my 2006 translation here: "Adios, Beloved Country," My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com).

Secret #10. Derbyshire has my saddest Rizal translation.
I'm sorry to say this, but to my mind, the world's unhappiest translation of Rizal's swan song is the most known, a version exalted, as it appears engraved on metal at the Rizal Park, that of Charles Derbyshire, along with the translation of Nick Joaquin, a writer whose original reportage I most admire (I admired him at the Philippines Free Press and Asia-Philippines Leader). I say that on 3 counts. (1) To his "Last Farewell" (my "Adios, Beloved Country"), Derbyshire added his own weighty ideas (like clime, caress'd, lost, best, blest, cost) that did not exist in Rizal's original. Derbyshire revised Rizal. That makes me sad. (2) Derbyshire deleted vital ideas that were in the original (like land, love, ruin, give, more, still, your, good in the first stanza alone), I guess so he could translate more easily, as if he didn't have time. Derbyshire diminished Rizal. That makes me sadder. (3) The whole translation is less Rizal's and more Derbyshire's; for instance, Rizal's uplifting lyricism and original turns of phrase were sacrificed on the altar of the translator's workplace. Thus, Derbyshire's most memorable line, "I die just when I see the dawn break," is not Rizal's. Rizal's original line reads, "Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora" - literally, it means "I die just when I see the sky takes color." Derbyshire changed Rizal. Something is always lost in the translation - in this one, the original. That makes me saddest of all.

Secret #11. His last poem referred to Ferdinand Blumentritt.
The 3rd and 4th lines of the 8th stanza of "Adios, Patria Adorada" say (please refer to my translation):
Let a friend weep over my inopportune death,
And in serene evenings, a prayer for me state.
If there ever was someone Jose Rizal considered a true friend, it was the Austrian Ferdinand Blumentritt, who neither abandoned him nor betrayed him. This Filipino considered this Austrian his blood brother, and the feeling was mutual. When Blumentritt received Rizal's last letter, he broke down. The farewell letter was short and to the point: "My dear Brother, / When you receive this letter, I shall be dead by then. Tomorrow at seven, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion. / I am going to die with a tranquil conscience. / Adieu, my best, my dearest friend, and never think ill of me!"

Secret #12. His last poem referred to the Virgin Mary.
Let's go back to #11, to the 4th line of the 8th stanza in my translation. It speaks of "serene evenings" that are occasions for prayers. Now, remember, Blumentritt was a Roman Catholic faithful; in the Catholic faith, there is only one supreme prayer in "serene evenings," and this is the Angelus, a devotional prayer commemorating the Annunciation, which is the angel proclaiming to the Virgin Mary that she was going to have a child by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ! What’s the Virgin Mary doing in a place like this - unless she is being honored?

Secret #13. His last poem violated grammar 13 times.
And now, it's time for me to say that Grammar Manners & Right Conduct states that one should not begin a sentence with "And" and some other preposterous injunctions I don't care to remember - and Jose Rizal violated this rule 13 times in "Adios, Patria Adorada." (To count for yourself in the original Spanish, which I included in my earlier essay, click here: "Adios, Beloved Country!" My Jose Rizal, blogspot.com.) Why did Rizal do that? You can break a rule if you have a good reason for doing it. Rizal was too creative to follow constricting rules in GMRC: He was writing to prove the rule silly.

I just discovered another explanation today, 22 December 2009: There were 13 members of his family: 2 parents: (1) Francisco Mercado Rizal, father (2) Teodora Alonso, mother; and 11 sisters and brothers: (1) Saturnina, (2) Paciano, (3) Narcisa, (4) Olimpia, (5) Lucia, (6) Maria, (7) Jose, (8) Concepcion, (9) Josefa, (10) Trinidad, and (11) Soledad. He wanted them to know he loved all of them equally; they were all firsts in his heart.

Secret #14. He wrote the Noli Me Tangere as history.
At first, the Filipino patriots agreed to write a book on the Philippines and the Filipinos in order to show the world that they were not barbarians. The chapters were assigned; the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak – eventually, no chapters were being contributed, so no book was going to come out. The patriots were each too busy attending to their personal business and pleasure. So Rizal decided to write the book alone, and out came the Noli. He said it was the history of the last 10 years of his country, and I have no reason not to believe him. (And, as things happen, the Noli made Rizal history.)

Secret #15. The Noli is a diatribe against Catholicism.
As it was written, the too numerous attacks on the faith and practice of the Filipinos as Roman Catholics, especially the women, were too much it all became in effect an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. Plainly, Rizal had not only lost his Catholic faith; he was now its enemy. The book was published in 1887, 5 years after Rizal abruptly left for Spain in 1882; that's how long it took to transform himself from a rabid Catholic to a rabid anti-Catholic. Rizal had gone to Europe to learn; he learned something else.

In any case, Padre Faura, a Jesuit friend of his, told Rizal he could lose his head for writing the Noli Me Tangere. Personally, I think Rizal had already lost his head when he wrote the book. The Noli is satire but it's just too much. His friend Evaristo Aguirre wrote him and praised the Noli highly, using such words as (from the translation by Encarnacion Alzona): excellent, masterly, photographic, magnificent, fantastic, entertaining, inimitable, superior, very original, most interesting, notable, valuable … in just one paragraph! What did Dale Carnegie quote Charles Schwab as saying about something like this? "Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise." Two weeks later, in another letter, Aguirre said the truth portrayed in the Noli savaged the friars as well as the Filipinos (my words), especially the women. If truth be told, the Noli was too true to be good.

Secret #16. The Noli is funny, very funny.
Nevertheless, while being anti-Catholic in content if not in intent, Noli Me Tangere is a very funny book. It is satire. I laughed hard when I read this first paragraph in Ma Soledad Lacson-Locsin's translation:

Towards the end of October, Don Santiago de los Santos, popularly known as Capitan Tiago, was hosting a dinner which, in spite of its having been announced only that afternoon, against his wont, was already the theme of all conversation in Binondo, in the neighboring districts, and even in Intramuros. Capitan Tiago was reputed to be a most generous man, and it was known that his home, like his country, never closed its door to anything, as long as it was not business, or any new or bold idea.

That tells me Jose Rizal was also happy, or hopeful, or both, when he was writing the Noli.

Secret #17. His "Sa Aking Mga Kabata" is not about language.
When I translated that poem of his written when he was 8 years old, I found that, contrary to popular belief, the poem seems to be about language but actually is about freedom. Here is my translation of the first stanza:

If the people naturally love
its tongue that is a gift from Heaven
pawned freedom too it will seek to gain
as the bird that flies the sky above.

(For my full translation, see "Modern Generation Gaps," 2005, FiSH Magazine.) The boy of 8 seems to be telling the adults of his generation: "We still own our tongue, but we have pawned our freedom! So why doesn't anyone speak and do something about it?" He vowed that he would. Later, he changed his mind.

Secret #18. He went to Europe to be a European.
What I mean by that is he went to study in Europe not only for his medical degree but more so to learn progressive theories and practices from the Europeans that he could borrow for the good of his country. He left the islands also to free himself from the restrictions of Spanish colonialism, frailocracy and elitist education. Soon, he found Masonry richly satisfying, exalting:

Science is free as the light which is its inspiration! Masonry has been its wet nurse, has guarded it like a sacred flame while the storm raged, and when calmness returned, it surrendered it to the world to illumine it with its rays!

He slyly refers to the attacks by authorities of the Roman Catholic Church on scientists who they thought were harboring sacrilegious ideas, like Galileo Galilei's theory that the Sun is the center of the universe, not the Earth. It turned out, to Rizal, that knowledge (science) was greater than faith. Becoming a Mason was Rizal's way of saying, "Goodbye, Mother." His mother Teodora Alonzo was a devout Catholic. "Goodbye, Mother Mary." He had been a devotee of the Virgin Mary. When children grow up, they think mothers are dispensable.

Secret #19. He put science over faith.
In one of his Masonic lectures, he talked about science, virtue and labor, and his ardent faith in them. He was in Europe in much of the 2nd half of the 19th century, which has been called "The Positivist Age," as it was "an age of faith in all knowledge which would derive from science and scientific objective methods which could solve all human problems" (huntfor.com). Rizal put too much faith in science and not enough trust in religion. He did not differentiate the religious from their religion. He hated the sin along with the sinner.

Secret #20. He didn't like what he saw in the US.
Trying to absorb what he observed as he had done in his first sojourn, going back to the safer haven of Europe, Rizal traversed the United States from coast to coast, from California to New York by train. He was witness to the American prejudice against foreigners, including himself. America was the land of the free and the home of the brave – if you happened to be Caucasian, not Asian, not Japanese, and certainly not Negro. White rules!

Secret #21. There were 2 factions among the Madrid patriots.
Eventually, there arose 2 factions within the Propaganda Movement based in Spain, one group drawn towards Rizal and the other towards Marcelo H Del Pilar. In Manila, the Committee of Propaganda, the financing arm, also split for the same reason, and so another and new committee headed by Moises E Salvador was formed precisely because it recognized that fact of division and believed more in Rizal than in Del Pilar.

Secret #22. Del Pilar attacked Rizal.
Rizal learned that Eduardo Lete wrote the article attacking him anonymously, but as Editor of La Solidaridad (Solidarity) already at that time (replacing Graciano Lopez Jaena, who favored Rizal), Marcelo H Del Pilar was equally guilty, if not more so. As Editor, you have command responsibility; I was Editor of many publications for too many years that I should know. "Why did you attack me?" Rizal asked Del Pilar in a letter, in those exact words. If you don’t own up to command responsibility, you don’t deserve to be an Editor at all. If you're not a figurehead, or a coward, then you don't know what you're doing!

Secret #23. Blumentritt tried to get Rizal out of the country.
Rizal may not have known it, but his friend Blumentritt never tired of pulling strings to get him out of the country, out of the clutches of his enemies. He never stopped; also, he never succeeded.

Secret #24. Rizal was a 19th-century miracle worker.
His successful operation of his mother's eyes was called a miracle in Calamba. Here was someone who could make the blind see! That's where the cult of Rizal started.

Secret #25. He prophesied his own heroism.
When he was only that high, his sisters used to tease him about his small size and the clay he was toying with. One time, he told them to go ahead and make fun of him, because someday people will honor him and will erect monuments of him. The sisters laughed at him all the more. His descendants are not laughing now.

Secret #26. His nonviolent campaign predated Gandhi’s.
I wrote on 19 January 2006, "Great Soul, Mahatma Gandhi: But Jose Rizal was Asia's first" (Asia's First Great Soul, blogspot.com). An excellent example: Rizal was already dead (executed in 1896) in 1902 when erudite Congressman Henry Cooper of Wisconsin thundered his appeal for reason and faith in considering the passage of the bill that would provide a Bill of Rights for Filipinos, among other things. The US Congress scoffed at the idea of monkeys being given human rights. Then Cooper recited to them Rizal's valedictory poem, and they were awed. I quote myself:

The passage of the Philippine Bill of 1902 by the Filipino-hating United States Congress is extreme proof of the power of the eloquence of a heroic spirit, perhaps the first major triumph after death of Asia's First Great Soul - Jose Rizal happened in the 19th century, Mahatma Gandhi in the 20th century.

Secret #27. He had many chances to escape but didn't want to.
When he was exiled in Dapitan, he had many chances to escape, but he did not allow the temptation to overcome his sense of proper behavior. He was a gentleman to the end.

Secret #28. The Katipunan's Military Brains was Rizal's.
The Military Brains of the Katipunan was no one else but Rizal's friend, Antonio Luna. It was Rizal who, as a last resort, when he could not stop the Katipunan from forming, recommended him as the secret society's military commander, as he knew Juan Luna's brother had "much knowledge and expertise in military tactics" (philippine-history.org).

Secret #29. Many were a sad Juliet to his Romeo.
He was international in taste, even in girls. There were at least 8 pretty girls that Jose Rizal had really romantic interludes with: Belgian Susan Jacoby, British Gertrude Beckett, Filipina namesakes Leonor Rivera and Leonor Valenzuela, French Nelly Boustead, Irish Josephine Bracken, Japanese O Sei San, and Spanish Consuelo Ortiga y Rey. I believe those were passionate, powerful attractions, but none was enough for him. Leonor Rivera was #1 for a while, and he cried when he learned she had gotten married. And then came Josephine Bracken, and he loved her enough to treat her as his wife even without the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church who wanted him to retract first. But he really was madly in love with only one somebody else, and he would retract only for that woman, and her name was Filipinas.

Secret #30. Aguinaldo made Rizal the National Hero.
On 20 December 1898, President and General Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree declaring 30 December of every year as "a day of national mourning in honor of Dr Jose Rizal and other victims of the Philippine Revolution" (ncca.gov.ph). Aguinaldo did it before the Americans brought to this country what they called “our manifest destiny to overspread the Continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions” (history-world.org). Ah, manifest destiny. The Americans were thinking of their own welfare, of course, thinking of those "multiplying millions." Well, even if the Americans consider themselves heroes of the world, the Filipinos can create their own heroes themselves, can't they?

Rizal in June. What color is blush?

2009-06-15T06:41:00.019+08:00

Revised 15 June at 0917 Manila time
I BLUSH. I PROTEST! In Protestant country, on 01 June 2009,

President Barack Obama, BO proclaimed June 2009 as the Pride Month for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (ANN, author not named, 02 June, radaronline.com). Will the Americans take that lying down? As for the rest of the world, the US President has just polluted the aura of June as the marrying month. Killjoy! I'm not surprised. I have always thought of BO as spoilsport (he spoiled the spirited run of Sarah Palin), as stuffed shirt (he's full of stuff, like bailing out a few of the rich failures of American business using the money of millions of poor Americans! He will surprise US some more). Is he or is he not? Look all around the world: People get the President that they deserve, they do.

As a Roman Catholic, as a Filipino, I much value June because it is the Birth Month of the National Hero of the Philippines, 19 June 1861, and he certainly wasn't gay or anything like that. But for lack of law, June would be the Pride Month for the Gentleman, Heterosexual, Virile, Malayan Genius Dr Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y De Quintos Alonzo Realonda, native of the town of Calamba in the province of Laguna in the Philippines, martyr to the cause of emancipation of his race, not to the cause of frivolity. (Oh, he renounced Catholicism, yes, but more frivolity. And in the end he retracted.)

Austin Craig calls him the 'Greatest Man of the Brown Race' (joserizal.info). As a man, when I visited 03 June 2009 Rizal's ancestral home, that is to say the facsimile, in the City of Calamba, I saw it painted gay, I mean green (see my essay 'House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red,' 04 June 2009, myjoserizal.blogspot.com). Light green, in fact. I'm embarrassed up to now. What's the color of blush? If Barack Obama blushes, I imagine he will turn purple.

June is much too important to be left to Barack Obama alone! The month of June was very meaningful to the Philippines' National Hero in more ways than one. Let me tell you some of them.

On 30 June 1882, a month after Jose Rizal departs unexpectedly for Madrid, Spain, one of his friends, Vicente Gella intimates in his letter he knows exactly why Rizal has left his country, in these words: 'seeking the welfare that we all desire.' That of course is a translation from the Spanish; it could easily have been 'seeking the good that we all desire.' My guess is that it is higher education that they all are in Europe for, because the Spaniards in the Philippines have been making it extremely difficult for Filipinos to study in the Philippines. What's the matter: The Whites are afraid the Browns will learn that they are better?

On 27 June 1984, 2 years after Rizal's French leave, Mariano Katigbak writes him about Leonor Rivera:

Your fiancée is languishing, the effect undoubtedly of what is worrying her. I believe that it is the first time that she loves. Devoted to the man of her heart, she sees that instead of the happy ending coming near, it is moving away at gigantic steps. What heart will not melt at such a prospect?

It is in this letter on the girlfriend's sadness I discover that Katigbak prophesies his friend's greatness:

At the risk of wounding your modesty, I permit myself to tell you that you are destined to soar, for which reason I pray God for your prosperity and the glory of the Philippines.

A prophecy that will come true. In seeking reforms to remedy the ills of Spanish misrule in the islands, he has found his destiny.

On 09 June 1886, Rizal writes his family from Germany worried and hungry because he has been receiving neither letter nor draft (money) from them:

It is my serious and ardent desire to go home, for it seems to me that I cause too much expense and I wish to help the family in whatever way I can. I'm tired of Europe and I'm afraid to ruin the family, for they say the business is very bad.

The Rizals are into the business of growing sugarcane. The buyers dictate the price of sugar, as they do even today. Sugar seems historically to be always a buyer's market.

On May or June 1887, Enrique Rogers, a friend writes Rizal about the incendiary Noli Me Tangere, which came off the press a few months before (in March): 'It it enough to tell you that it has awakened great enthusiasm among the few who have understood it.' I'm not surprised. The Noli is after all satire that is very well written.

But all is not well in the Filipino colony in Madrid. On 20 June 1887, Eduardo De Lete writes Rizal:

My encouragements are few, though not my good intentions. The best glory for me is that which I may win in working for our country. The inconstancy, incivility, and susceptibility of the fools cost me a good many displeasures; we are many censuring and giving lessons and few working.

Lete is complaining that many members of the colony of Filipinos in Madrid prefer to work with their mouths rather than with their heads and hands for the good of the country. They have the ability to criticize but not the ability to work. (Alas, as it turns out 4-5 years later, Marcelo Hilario y Del Pilar takes over La Solidaridad; Lete divides the colony and attacks Rizal, and Del Pilar publishes that attack. The lion is wounded; he withdraws.)

On 21 June 1887, friend Jose M Cecilio writes Rizal that 'your brother (Paciano) is repenting for having written you to come (back home):

For this reason, I beg you to remain there until a better occasion for you. Your whole family agrees with this opinion, which is that of all who esteem you. ... I repeat, don't come (back), because we shall lose everything good of your brilliant career. Send enough copies to diffuse your idea etc. We shall do everything possible to make your work known, but you must remain there. All who have read it (the Noli) are enthusiastic.

Of course he comes back; on 06 August 1887, he is back in his hometown Calamba. But because of the continuing threat to his life, he leaves for Europe again February 1888.

On 16 June 1888, from London, Rizal writes Mariano Ponce in Barcelona and urges him to write in the name of the country in these words:

Why, having the ability to use the pen, the only weapon left to us, you do not use it for our moral amelioration?

In that same letter, Rizal says, 'I believe that we should be united.' Ponce replies on 22 June:

You are right in saying that we should be solidly united to ward off all the evils in our beloved country. Let us work together, every one of us within his own sphere, towards the same end. Let us have faith.

About writing, Ponce says, 'Not all those who wish to write can write.' But later, he will write for the Propaganda Movement.

On 26 June 1888, Evaristo Aguirre writes Rizal about hurrying political change in the islands:

I was expecting your bitter complaints, your disenchantment, the precursor of terrible discouragement! But no, my friend: Don't ask for the impossible; do not expect expansion within the narrow regime, reckless courage, open fight, imposing clamor amidst the state of things, that special situation, the product of time and the institutions in which an entire people have been educated, without experimenting even. What do I say? Without even a glimpse of the excellence of a better government, of another more advantageous system to substitute for the existing one.

Look at the Philippines today and you see history repeating itself! Let the people first see a better model of government at work, Aguirre seems to be saying, before the people will take notice. (Do I see a parliamentary form of government?) Aguirre continues:

Time alone, and with time the patience and constant work of those called upon to carry out the regeneration of that people, beginning with ideas, enlightening their minds, showing them new horizons, awakening in their hearts and minds the true ideals, can demolish the secular work, change and improve gradually their way of living.

There are no shortcuts to social reformation.

On 27 June 1888, Rizal writes Mariano Ponce that copies of the Noli have not been allowed to enter the country legally. About Ponce's ability to write, Rizal says:

That you have had little success in journalism does not mean that you are not fit to write. Not all of us are born journalists, nor are literary men all journalists. As for me, the question of writing in more or less literary style is secondary; the principal thing is to think and feel rightly, work with a purpose, and the pen will take care of transmitting it.

Do it for a damn good cause - your country. If not demand a damn good writer, what?

The principal thing that should be demanded from a Filipino of our generation is not to be a literary man but to be a good man, a good citizen, who would help his country to progress with his head, his heart, and if need be, with his arms. With the head and the heart we ought to work always; with the arms when the time comes.

I prefer the pen.

Now the principal instrument of the heart and the head is the pen. Others prefer the brush, others the chisel; I prefer the pen. Now it does not seem to us that the instrument is the primordial object. Sometimes with a poor one great works can be produced; let the Philippine bolo speak. Sometimes in poor literature great truths can be said.

On 22 June 1889, Rizal writes Marcelo H Del Pilar from Paris to Madrid:

Be convinced that for every good example a Filipino gives, thousands and thousands in geometrical progression are won, for God or Destiny is on our side, because justice and reason are on our side, and because we are fighting not for selfish reasons but for the sacred love of our country and our compatriots.

If we are. On 04 June 1890, Rizal writes Ponce and asks him:

May you finally take that trip to Madrid. Awaken there the goodwill of the (fellows). Those of Paris have many complaints against our compatriots in Madrid who are devoting their time to gambling.

Rizal has more important things to do than gamble. On 08 June 1890, Marcelo Del Pilar writes Rizal:

I have received your letter of 28 May and your statement in it that you have purposely refrained from sending us any article and that you will stop helping La Solidaridad is worrying me.

On 11 June 1890, Rizal denies that he is leaving La Solidaridad. He is now writing the second volume of the Noli (the Fili actually) and is busy. He ends his letter mentioning about the frivolous young Filipinos in Europe:

May our compatriots there obey the voice of their heart and devote the precious time of their youth to something great, which is worthy of them. We do not have the good luck of other young men who can dispose of their time and their future. We have upon us a duty: To redeem our mother from her captivity; our mother is pawned; we must redeem her before we amuse ourselves.

2 years later, the die is cast. On 20 June 1892, he writes a letter 'To the Filipinos' (he asks that this be published after his death) in which he says among other things, he has decided to go back to the Philippines despite the grave danger he knows awaits him:

I know that at present the future of my country gravitates in some degree towards me, that at my death, many would rejoice, and consequently many are longing for my downfall. But what to do? I have duties of conscience above all else; I have moral obligations toward the families who suffer, toward my aged parents whose sighs pierce my heart; I know that I alone, even with my death, can make them happy by returning them to their native land to the tranquility of their home. My parents are all that I have, but my country has many sons still who can take it to advantage.

If you will notice, that letter is dated 20 June; I believe he makes that fatal decision on his birthday, 19 June 1892. He goes back to the Philippines, and he is going to be executed for the crime of rebellion he does not commit, in a little more than 4 years. The color of blush is pink; the color of extreme heroism is red.

House of Rizal. I saw it painted green, I saw red

2009-06-04T10:44:00.031+08:00

Revised 05 June 2009 at 0625 hr
THE GREEN-EYED MISTAH is what I shall call Ambeth Ocampo, Chair of the National Historical Institute of the Philippines starting today, as I write this, 03 June 2009, Wednesday in Manila. It was he who had the green fingers, who either gave the green light or he himself had the gay idea of painting green the Rizal Shrine in the City of Calamba, located South of Imperial Manila. Now the house of our National Hero looks effeminate, like someone I know, you know. Tell me what your paints are, and I'll tell you who you are.

How did I get to know about it? No, I don't read the papers anymore – too negative for my taste. One: I see fearless views but not balanced news. Two: Readers demand to know and insist that truth shall prevail – but truth is not enough. Ask any of the members of the Rotary Club; they can recite from memory 'The 4-Way Test' that is 77 years old (rotary.org):

Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

None of what we do can pass that test, right? Including that of Jun Lozada.

Notwithstanding, I came to know about The Greening of Rizal (my term) by The Green-Eyed Mistah because a good friend sent me an email, as is his wont, early today, at 0525 hours 03 June 2009, Wednesday Manila time, enclosing Ambeth Ocampo's whole column for today at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 'Why Rizal's house turned green' (opinion.inquirer.net). And so, before I wrote this, I went to the Rizal Shrine at Calamba, an hour away from where I reside. To see is to believe, or belie. I came, I saw, I concurred not.

It was about 1100 hours, wrong time to shoot – but I was amused with what I was shooting. I knew the best time for photography was the early morning hours, but I was not a procrastinator this time; I didn't want to wait for tomorrow what I could do today.

No, I cannot associate Rizal with this green. My Canon PowerShot A540 photograph shows the dog Usman watching the boy Pepe Rizal watching the family's house from the back, eyeing the old walls with their new coat of pale green paint. This naughty boy seems to be saying, 'No, I don't think so.' Or, 'Let's see what shapes and shades will come out of that!' He's not amused. His nurse had frightened him with stories of aswang (vampire) and nuno (dwarf) so he would return to the table and eat his supper (joserizal.info). (You doubt that the boy Pepe was naughty? Read Gregorio F Zaide's biography again, Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings (2003, National Bookstore), especially 'School Days in Biñan' starting page 21. Pepe knew how to use his brain and his brawn.)

Rizal and his ubiquitous coat of green? No Sir, I cannot associate him with that green either. How about Rizal, member of Greenpeace? No. Environmentalism was born yesterday, not in Rizal's time. Being a collector of black animal and green plant specimens hardly made him a conservationist.

I can associate Jose Rizal with red and green, yes. He wasn't color-blind, so what was green was green, what was red was red.

Red: Once, he was thinking of Revolution, in 1891-1892, at the same time if not along with Marcelo H Del Pilar in Madrid and Andres Bonifacio in Manila (Wikipedia). What I know is that his soul brother Ferdinand Blumentritt wrote Rizal an agitated letter when he learned of Rizal's serious intentions to incite people to Revolution. Blumentritt's letter, dated 30 January 1892, says in part: 'Above all, I beg you not to meddle in revolutionary agitations. Because one who initiates a revolution ought at least to have the probability of success, if he does not wish to burden his conscience with useless bloodshed.' Which, incidentally, predicted the outcome of the Katipunan. Revolution devours its own children. Imbibing from the wellsprings of knowledge in Europe, Rizal should have known that.

Green: He is my naughty hero, not Andres Bonifacio, and my hero died for peace in peace. There is no way to peace, says AJ Muste; peace is the way. Even if you have to die to prove it.

The House of Rizal is green! If you weren't paying attention, in front, the green poster at the gate to the compound will knock you down; but the green argument of the NHI that the poster displays doesn't knock me off my editorial perch:

Brilliant green stalks of rice blanketing lush fields are a common sight among lowland Filipino farming communities. Then and now, verdant rice fields heralding an abundant harvest teemed in Calamba, Laguna. Among the town's successful farmers in the 1850 was the family of Francisco Mercado, who adopted the surname Rizal from the Spanish ricial meaning green fields, indicating the family's occupation as cultivators of the soil.

Brilliant, lush, verdant, abundant, teeming yes, but not rice fields. Calamba is Sugarcane Country, remember? That much I know of history, and as far as I have seen since 1959, the first time I went to Los Baños, the town after Calamba, to study at the Cow College known as the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture. Calamba: I don't remember anybody's Canlubang Rice Estate. It was sugarcane that Jose’s brother Paciano grew, drew and sold sugar out of to produce the green stuff to finance the younger brother’s sojourns to study medicine as well as imbibe the cultures of Spain, France, England, Austria, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States – and initially to escape the ire of known and unknown enemies. The green fields of the Rizals were none but sugarcane.

Sugarcane is dark green; rice too – they must be green as green. If a plant is pale green, it means it is sick; it lacks the nutrient called nitrogen. Ask any self-respecting Municipal Agricultural Officer, MAO. And yes, any MAO knows it is the rice leaves and panicles that blanket lush fields ready for harvest, not the stalks.

And no, the Rizals were not themselves the cultivators of the soil; they were employers of the cultivators of the soil, contractors of the Corporation (Dominicans), as they were big, not small farmers. Sugarcane occupied them. Paciano wrote once to Jose: 'As the rains are keeping me at home and do not permit me to begin the work on the sugarcane, I'll take advantage of these days of the year to write you and will not do so again during the work in the sugarcane fields.' Sugar is sweet, but it occupies you.

Still from that green poster:

To honor the memory of the Rizal family and their way of life, the National Historical Institute (NHI) chose to paint the Rizal Shrine Calamba in hues of green. This choice is appropriate; in 19th century Philippines, the upper stories of the bahay na bato were painted in a variety of bright tints.

I don’t know about bright tints on stone houses. I come from Asingan in Pangasinan, and in the town plaza, the Spanish stone house that still stands at the crossing across from the Roman Catholic church is brick red, because it's made of bricks, and the upper story was never in a variety of bright tints. How do I know that? I saw it with my own eyes, and I'm not color-blind either. More than 50 years ago, from 1953 to 1957, I attended high school next to that house of the Salcedos, and that means I saw it at least a thousand times.

I also don't remember seeing any ancestral house of Spanish vintage painted green or any bright tint: none in Paoay and Vigan in the Ilocos Region, none in Cagayan De Oro City, none in Cebu, none in Puerto Princesa, none in Legazpi City, none in Manaoag, Pangasinan, none in Metro Manila, none in places I have visited or stayed in. This green house now blends with the grass instead of the house standing out, defined by the grass.

In his column, Ambeth Ocampo argues that the unstated reason behind the change from gray to green was to 'open our eyes to the agrarian roots of social unrest in the country.' And then he goes ahead and relates that the Rizals, as big tenants, refused to pay the rent – too high – imposed by the Corporate Dominicans. (Ocampo does not say it, but I know that in fact, the whole of Calamba protested against the sky-high rent, and went to court with the direct assistance of Jose Rizal, and all those who protested were evicted from their homes, not the least the Rizals.) I take it that Ocampo is implying that the agrarian root of social unrest in the country at that time was neither the farmers nor the farming. If so, green is not the proper symbolic color. What is the color of a greedy corporation?

Still from Ocampo's column:

Rizal’s house in Calamba is not just a tourist spot, it is a place that should inform, educate and inspire. It should open our eyes to new ways of seeing.

Yes, inform, educate, inspire. New ways of seeing, yes. We must look, think out of the box. Well, I have been inspired to write this. Sorry, but I can't see the green the way The Green-Eyed Mistah sees it. And no, the Reformation that Jose Rizal gave his life to is not a new way of seeing, except that the Spaniards refused to see it, except that the radicals among us refuse to see it.

Here are 2 new ways of seeing in case you have not seen or have so far refused to see in the life, faith and works of Jose Rizal:

(1) Frank C Laubach calls him 'the apostle of Filipino freedom' (joserizal.info). Yes and no. You will want to read again his poem when he was 8 years old, which is what activists cite as proof of his nationalism. That would be narrow. I have written about this; I have presented the original 'Sa Aking Mga Kabata' and published my own English translation 'To Kids Of My Own Time' in my essay of 19 June 2007, 'A Dangerous Peace' (frankahilario.blogspot.com). The freedom he wrote about was not independence but freedom from ignorance (the Filipinos' own) and freedom from abuse (the Spaniards'). He wanted education; he wanted representation in the Spanish Cortes.

(2) Why did he write his incendiary novels in Spanish when he knew that the illiterate masses could neither write nor read in Spanish? Simple: Those ignorant masses were not his target readers, that's why. You don't write for those who can't read – except if you're writing for Grade 1.

As a writer, I write for certain readers, neither for the faceless majority nor the faithless minority. Jose Mercado Rizal and Frank Agapito Hilario have the same target readers: Intellectuals. He chose Spanish; the rich and educated in the Philippines at that time spoke that language. I chose English; the rich and educated in the world speaks English. 2 writers at 2 different times with 1 overall purpose: AIDA. Creating Awareness leading to Interest leading to Desire leading to Action.

Of course, the House of Rizal that we’re looking at is only a replica, a facsimile, a look-alike. Near the front door of the house is a plaque that says the real Rizal house was destroyed during World War 2; by Executive Order of President Elpidio Quirino, the house was restored with the design and supervision of pioneer and innovator Architect Juan Nakpil (philippine-builder.com) and paid for by contributions of schoolchildren all over the country. It was inaugurated on 19 June 1950. No, Nakpil didn't have the house painted green, and he should have known. He is the

Philippines

' 1st National Artist.

Ocampo also argues that the choice of green as color is inspired by the meaning of the surname Rizal, which he says comes from the Spanish ricial, 'which describes a green field ready for harvest.' Sorry, but, a green field of rice ready for harvest is not pale green. In fact, it is not at all green - it is golden yellow, and it's beautiful!

Finally, from Ocampo's column:

Let’s go into some history. Contrary to popular belief, the present Rizal Shrine is not the original home of the National Hero. It is not covered by the same rigid conservation principles applied to a 19th century house.

Let's go into sane history. I want the House of Rizal
looking like an authentic gray ancestral home, not
looking like an authentic greened contemporary, layered,
imperial chocolate cake!

Translating a hero. When Words Collide and Meanings Get Lost

2007-12-30T08:06:00.001+08:00

Now that I’ve done my own bit of translating 19th century Spanish to 21st century English, I personally know that something is always lost in the translation. In the case of the greatest patriotic poem of that century, ‘Adios, Patria Adorada,’ I hope the loss is not too much of a good thing.

Why did I a non-linguist translate the Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal’s ultimate poem? I didn’t feel comfortable with the translations I had read. While I couldn’t speak Spanish to save my life, I was vaguely unimpressed with what I saw when I compared those translations with the original (consulting the English-Spanish dictionary) and against each other (consulting my own English translation that I kept revising).

Both Filipinos, was Jose Rizal who was a Tagalog writing in Spanish different from a Frank Hilario who is an Ilocano writing in English? That is a question of colonialism. In the late 19th century, wasn’t Rizal a colonial of the Spanish friars, and in the early 21st century am I not a colonial of the Yankees who in the early 20th century came to my beloved Philippine Islands and welcomed themselves and stayed for 50 years?

It was not, it is not a matter of colonialism. Have you forgotten the cardinal rules of communication? One of the major commandments is: Select your target. A writer cannot write for everyone. Journalists and columnists know that, so they go down to the level of the man on the street. That’s freedom of speech along with freedom of choice – I choose to leave them alone. Rizal wanted the intellectuals to read him, not the common man (embracing woman). So do I. So he wrote his best works in Spanish. So I write in English. He was writing to say ‘Goodbye’ while I’m writing to say ‘Hello.’ Our words differ, our aims do not: In the midst of so much obfuscation, to help make the Filipinos think not merely more clearly but more creatively.

Of all the 35 or so English translations in my hands of Rizal’s valedictory poem, why did I choose to compare in this essay Charles Derbyshire’s, Nick Joaquin’s, Edwin Agustin Lozada’s, Luis Garcia’s and Encarnacion Alzona with Isidro Escare Abeto’s? Because Derbyshire’s (1911) is the most popular edition; Joaquin’s (1944) is that of the most popular Filipino writer; Alzona & Abeto’s (1961) is that of Rizal’s translator (Alzona); Lozada’s (2001) and Garcia’s (2003) are the newest translations in the new millennium I’ve seen, except mine dated 2004, 2005, 2006, and this one dated today, 2007 December 30, a revision of the one I published as Adios, Beloved Country’ in 2006 September 1 (adiosfarewellgoodbye.blogspot.com); I have revised it in 4 key places. (For the Spanish original and my newest translation, see Attachmentsbelow.)

What do people say of Rizal’s last goodbye? Liberal International calls it ‘a masterpiece of 19th-century Spanish verse’ (liberal-international.org). I know King of Spain Juan Carlos I considers it ‘one of the most beautiful pages of Spanish literature’ (‘GMA’s Journey To History,’ americanchronicle.com). Gregorio F Zaide (Jose Rizal: Life, Works And Writings, 2003, Quezon City: National Book Store, pages 226-228) says of it:

A most touching poem, with exquisite finesse and sublime feeling, it is a worthy swan song of a great soul.

Of this swan song, I have my own collection of English translations; here are others who have full texts of specific translations:

Philippines Travel Guide publishes the English translation entitled ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ by Encarnacion Alzona & Isidro Escare Abeto (philippines-travel-guide.com). Filipino American Student Association (FASA) displays the same English translation but titles it ‘My Last Farewell’ (ac.wwu.edu).

Fabulous Philippines displays on its webpage the English translation entitled ‘My Final Farewell’ by Charles Derbyshire (fabulousphilippines.com).

Commission on Higher Education shows the English translation entitled ‘The Last Poem Of Rizal’ (joserizal.ph).

Wikipedia showcases the English translation entitled ‘My Last Farewell’ by TAU (the author unnamed) (wikipedia.org). The Wikipedia translation is quite similar with Edwin Agustin Lozada’s (2001) that I think this is a revised version by Lozada; else, this is cheap plagiarism. Or another Wikipedia vandalism. (In any case, why doesn’t Wikipedia cite its source?)

The Jose P Rizal website has Charles Derbyshire’s ‘My Last Farewell’ (jose-rizal.eu).

The Life and Writings of Dr Jose Rizal reproduces Frank C Laubach’s revised translation (1936) entitled ‘My Last Farewell’ as well as a complete copy of his book Rizal: Man And Martyr (joserizal.info).

The Philippine Headline News Online has the English translation entitled ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ by Luis L Garcia (newsflash.org).

123explore! lists ‘Modern English translation by Frank A Hilario, December 2005’ and links it to my adiosfarewellgoodbye.blogspot.com website. It also states:

‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ (Spanish for ‘My Last Farewell’) is a poem written by Jose Rizal on the eve of his execution. Although the poem was untitled, this title served as an artifice useful as a quick reference.

Now, about the title, all the other English translations (I have copies of more than 35 of them) have it as a variation of ‘My Last Farewell” or ‘My Last Goodbye,’ following the artificial title ‘Mi Ultimo Adios.’ I am the first to assign it an original title – ‘Adios, Patria Adorada’ – following literary tradition and, dare I say it? common sense. So, my English translation is based on that title – ‘Adios, Beloved Country.’ I don’t translate ‘Adios’ as ‘Farewell’ or ‘Goodbye’ because ‘Adios’ is already its own translation; it’s an English word (check your dictionary!), and it evokes its Spanish heritage that neither ‘Goodbye’ nor ‘Farewell’ does.

Now we go and analyze the translations I listed above. (If you want more comparisons, I can email you a copy of Chapter 13 of my book indios bravos! In that chapter, I name my Top Ten English Translations of Rizal’s swan song.)

Sol Jose Vanzi (newsflash.org) says of Luis Garcia’s 2003 translation:

He felt compelled to create a new version that would take into consideration the poem’s literary content, language imposed in the context of the past, Rizal’s unrivaled command of the Spanish language, and his expressive style and genius, among others.

Garcia tells Vanzi, ‘I have come up with what I feel faithfully reflects all these.’ Noble aim.
Garcia doesn’t quite measure up to his own expectations. Nice try.

Let me simplify my analysis and concentrate on comparing the versions using only the first stanza of the Spanish original:

Adios, Patria adorada, region del sol querida,
Perla del Mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre la triste, mustia vida;
Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida,
Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.

In this first stanza, Rizal expresses his love of country. He refers to her 3 times, twice dearly: ‘Perla del Mar de Oriente’ (literally, Pearl of the Orient Sea) and ‘region del sol querida’ (region beloved of the sun), once dejectedly: ‘nuestro perdido Eden’ (our ruined Eden).

If you knew these were the last words of a just man about to die because of unjust men, even if you didn’t know Spanish (I didn’t), if you recited the first stanza, you would get a lump on the throat. Try it!

Here is Luis Garcia’s translation:

Farewell! land that I love, embraced by sun’s caress
The Pearl of Orient Seas, our Paradise so lost;
Yours is the sad and dreary life that I possess,
But had it been more brilliant, fresh or flower-tossed,
All that it could have been, I’d have given you, no less.

Thankfully, what I have quoted Sol Jose Vanzi as saying (above) of Luis Garcia’s 2003 translation provides us the criteria for judging that and all the other translations:
(a) content
(b) context
(c) command of language
(d) style
(e) genius.

By your measure, you shall be measured. So now, let us examine Garcia’s translation against his own, very handy list of criteria:

Content. Sorry, Garcia’s translation does not contain ‘a darte voy alegre’ (my translation: ‘I go give gladly’). This is the most powerful, most poignant, most expressive phrase of the whole poem. In 4 words, the poet summarizes what he is about to do, that is, to give his life willingly for his loved ones, for his country. That brings tears to my eyes. And, horrors! The translator omits that phrase. What’s the matter with Luis Garcia: He doesn’t want to make me cry?

Context. Sadly, Garcia imposes a metaphor that is not found in the original: That Rizal’s life reflects that of his country. ‘Yours is the sad and dreary life that I possess.’ This is an excellent metaphor but it is incorrect. Rizal’s life was that of the privileged; he had also obtained excellent education abroad. Most important of all, he had transcended the colonial mentality of his own people. I never did like mixed (signals) metaphors.

Command of language. The 5th and last line of the stanza shows what I think is the most brilliant example of Rizal’s command of Spanish: ‘Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.’ Note that the words separated by the single comma are mirror images, that is, they reflect on each other – la diera & la diera, por ti and por tu, tambien and tu bien. That is supreme command of the Spanish language if ever I saw one, or any language for that matter. And what does Garcia do when he encounters this superb, joyful Spanish? He makes me sad.

Style. I note that Rizal has an a/b/a/a/b/ pattern of rhymes. Garcia has the same, so I give him full credit for it. But consider Rizal’s ‘Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida’ and the translator’s ‘But had it been more brilliant, fresh or flower-tossed’ – I note that Garcia does not follow the more (‘mas, mas, mas’) iterative style of the original. That makes Garcia’s translation the less.

Genius. Rizal’s genius, I dare say, is to pack in the first stanza of his Adios poem of 14 stanzas the fullness of his self in his act and his faith in the eventual redemption of his country. Garcia’s translation does not equal Rizal’s genius.

That takes care of the last English translation before mine. Before 2003, there was Edwin Agustin Lozada’s 2001 translation, ‘My Last Farewell’ (carayanpress.com):

Farewell, beloved country, treasured region of the sun,
Pearl of the Sea of the Orient, our lost Eden!
To you eagerly I surrender this sad and gloomy life;
And were it brighter, fresher, more florid,
Even then I’d give it to you, for your sake alone.

So, how does this translation fare with the original Spanish? Lozada’s is much better than Garcia’s in content, context, command of language, but not much better in style; Lozada even changes the rhyming pattern from a/b/a/a/b/ to a/a/b/b/a/. Adept in both Spanish and English, poet Lozada falters in the last 2 lines, failing to translate the reiteration of ‘more, more, more’ and fading in reproducing the last line into reflecting English. That’s the problem with genius translating once and thinking you’re done with it, no revisions necessary. With my genius, I had to revise my translation 4 times in 9 years, starting in 1998.

And now we go to Charles Derbyshire’s most famous translation:

Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress’d,
Pearl of the Orient Seas, our Eden lost!
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life’s best,
And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest,
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.

Does it deserve being the most popular? It is to my mind as good as Lozada’s in context alone and not as good in content, command of language, style. Overall, Lozada’s is much better than Derbyshire’s translation. Derbyshire’s ‘clime of the sun caress’d’ is wrong while Lozada’s ‘treasured region of the sun’ is correct; this is an important difference. If you aren’t be faithful to the original in the first stanza, how faithful are you in the rest of your translation?

And what about our beloved writer Nick Joaquin’s English version?

Land that I love. farewell! O Land the sun loves!
Pearl in the Sea of the Orient: Eden lost to your brood!
Gaily go I to present you this hapless hopeless life;
Were it more brilliant, had it more freshness, more bloom
Still for you would I give it. would give it for your good.

Here’s another genius not revising. Nick Joaquin gravely disappoints me with his lack of rhyme, and so no matter how good the rest of the translation is, I’m going to pass. There is no rhyme to his reason for not translating Rizal in the meticulous manner that he composed his Spanish. And, I understand, Nick Joaquin knew Spanish like a native. So I’m not going to disappoint myself any further by analyzing Nick Joaquin’s lines.

Here is Encarnacion Alzona & Isidro Escare Abeto’s translation:

Farewell, my adored Land, region by the sun caressed,
Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost;
With gladness I give you my life, sad and repressed;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.

This is better than Nick Joaquin’s and as good as Lozada’s. I need not say more.

And what about Frank A Hilario‘s English translation?

Adios, beloved country, EarthLove of the Sun,
Pearl of the Sea Orient, Eden in ruins bad!
I go give gladly my life shrunk and forsaken;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh, more floral then,
Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.

You be the judge of that: Is it good, better, best?
Don’t ask me; I have already judged it to be better.

Attachments

Adios, Patria Adorada
Spanish Original by Jose Rizal, 1896 December

Adios, Patria adorada, region del sol querida,
Perla del Mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre, la triste, mustia vida;
Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida,
Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.

Deja que el sol ardiendo las lluvias evapore
Y al cielo tornen puras con mi clamor en pos;
Deja que un ser amigo mi fin temprano llore,
Y en las serenas tardes cuando por mi alguien ore;
Ora tambien, oh Patria, por mi descanso a Dios!

En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio,
Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar;
El sitio nada importa; cipres, laurel o lirio,
Cadalso o campo abierto, combate o cruel martirio,
Lo mismo es si lo piden La Patria y el hogar.

Ora por todos cuantos murieron sin ventura,
Por cuantos padecieron tormentos sin igual;
Por nuestras pobres madres que gimen su amargura,
Por huerfanos y viudas, por presos en tortura,
Y ora por ti que veas tu redencion final.

Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora
Y al fin anuncia el dia, tras lobrego capuz;
Si grana necesitas para teñir su aurora,
Vierte la sangre mia, derramala en buen hora,
Y dorela un reflejo de su naciente luz.

Y cuando, en noche oscura, se envuelva el cementerio,
Y solos solo muertos queden velando alli,
No turbes su reposo, no turbes el misterio;
Tal vez acordes oigas de citara o salterio:
Soy yo, querida Patria, yo que te canto a ti.

Mis sueños cuando apenas muchacho adolescente,
Mis sueños cuando joven ya lleno de vigor,
Fueron el verte un dia, Joya del Mar de Oriente,
Secos los negros ojos, alta la tersa frente,
Sin ceño, sin arrugas, sin manchas de rubor.

Y cuando ya mi tumba de todos olvidada,
No tenga cruz ni piedra que marquen su lugar,
Deja que la are el hombre, la esparza con la azada,
Y mis cenizas, antes que vuelvan a la nada,
El polvo de tu alfombra que vayan a formar.

Ensueño de mi vida, mi ardiente vivo anhelo:
¡Salud! te grita el alma que pronto va a partir!
¡Salud! ah, que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
Morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
Y en tu encantada tierra la eternidad dormir.

Entonces nada importa me pongas en olvido:
Tu atmosfera, tu espacio, tus valles cruzare;
Vibrante y limpia nota sere para tu oido,
Aroma, luz, colores, rumor, canto, gemido,
Constante repitiendo la esencia de mi fe.

Si sobre mi sepulcro vieres brotar un dia,
Entre la espesa yerba sencilla humilde flor,
Acercala a tus labios y besa el alma mia;
Y sienta yo en mi frente bajo la tumba fria,
De tu ternura el soplo, de tu halito el calor.

Mi Patria idolatrada, dolor de mis dolores,
Querida Filipinas, oye el postrer adios!
Ahi te dejo todo: mis padres, mis amores;
Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.

Deja a la luna verme con luz tranquila y suave;
Deja que el alba envie su resplandor fugaz,
Deja gemir al viento con su murmullo grave;
Y si desciende y posa sobre mi cruz un ave,
Deja que el ave entone su cantico de paz.

Adios, padres y hermanos, trozos del alma mia,
Amigos de la infancia, en el perdido hogar.
Dad gracias que descanso del fatigoso dia;
Adios, dulce extranjera, mi amiga, mi alegria,
Adios, queridos seres. Morir es descansar.

Adios, Beloved Country
Translation by Frank A Hilario, 2007 December 30

Adios, beloved Country, EarthLove of the Sun,
Pearl of the Sea Orient, Eden in ruins bad!
I go give gladly my life shrunk and forsaken;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh, more floral then,
Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.

In the fields of battle, struggling with delirium,
Others give their lives, without doubts, without regret;
Site matters not; cypress, laurel or lily bloom,
Gallows or open field, fight or cruel martyrdom
Notwithstanding, if but hearth and country request.

I die as I see the sky wash out with color
And at last announce the day, after a dark night;
When a scarlet you need to tinge its aurora,
Empty my blood, pour at such beneficial hour,
And so gild a reflection of the nascent light.

My dreams when I was just a boy adolescent,
My dreams when in youth I had vigor in fullness,
Were to watch you one day, Gem of the Sea Orient,
With those dark eyes now light, head now held eminent,
Sans frown, sans furrows, sans smudges of shamefulness.

Dream of my life, my ardent living fantasy:
Salute! Cries out the soul presently to depart!
Salute! Ah, how lovely to fall so you may fly,
To die so you may live, to die beneath your sky,
And sleep eternally in your enchanted earth.

Should one day you see over my sepulcher burst,
Amidst the thick grass a single humble flower,
Bring but near your lips and you shall kiss my spirit;
And I on my face shall feel down in the cold crypt,
In your tenderness a touch, in your breath ardor.

Let the moon strew over me its light calm and suave;
Let the dawn spread over me its resplendent rays,
Let the wind expel over me its murmur grave;
And if on my cross a bird descends with resolve,
Let that bird there intone its canticle of peace.

Let the passionate sun the rains evaporate
And give back to the sky pure with my last cry heard;
Let a friend weep over my inopportune death,
And in serene evenings, a prayer for me state;
Pray too, oh Country, I may be at peace with God!

Pray for all of those who perish without gladness,
For all those who suffer torments without equal;
For our hapless mothers who wail in bitterness,
For orphans and widows, for captives in distress,
And pray for you to see your redemption final.

And when the dark evening shrouds the cemetery,
And the dead alone in vigil lone keep watching,
Disturb not the repose, disturb not the mystery;
Perceive a note of zither or psalter you may:
‘Tis I, cherished country, ‘tis to you am singing.

And when where I fall by all is recalled no more,
Neither cross standing nor stone indicating place,
Let man by plow work on it and by spade scatter,
And before my ashes to nothing they return,
Turn powder on your floor to carpet your surface.

Then it matters not I am pushed to oblivion:
I shall cross your valleys, your atmosphere, your space;
Vibrant and clear note shall be for you to listen,
Aroma, light, colors, murmur, melody, moan,
Constantly repeating the essence of my faith.

My country idolized, despair of my despairs,
Dearest Filipinas, hear now my last adios.
I bequeath all to you: my elders, my amours;
I go where are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors,
Where faith does not kill, where God is the Lord of hosts.

Adios, parents and kindred, fragments of my soul,
Friends from my childhood then, all in that damaged house;
Give thanks I lay me down from the weary day’s toil;
Adios, sweet stranger, my friend, my joy, my angel;
Adios, my cherished ones. To die is to repose.

Violating Rizal. Our Schools Violate The Rizal Law And We Approve?

2006-12-07T02:55:00.000+08:00

Warning: Violate means (thanks to the American Heritage Dictionary), among other things, take by force, misuse, transgress, desecrate, debauch, ravish, rape. Violate, as in 'You violate morals when you lie.' 'You violate the rules of argumentation if you argue ad hominem.' 'Nicole claims she was violated by American servicemen.' Apt image from TigerzEye who captions it 'Violated Vegetable' (flickr.com/). Remember, even vegetables can be violated.

This one started with this message I picked up a few minutes ago today, Thursday, 07 December, at the RP-Rizal Yahoogroup:

Rizal may be officially recognized as the ‘National Hero’ of the Philippines but he is largely a Tagalog hero (or is he?) and peoples of the rest of the country can't really relate to him as their ‘hero’ other than what they have learnt from school. – Dindo Generoso

I replied in RP-Rizal:

This looks like homework, but it's good mental exercise, and I want to write long, so I'll do it in my blogsite and will tell you when I'm done and where. The interesting concepts are national hero, largely Tagalog, peoples of the rest of the country, hero, learnt from school.

So, if I may continue:

As far as I know, Rizal officially became the National Hero with the passage of Republic Act 1425 on 12 July 1956, which mandates that all public and private schools include in their curricula the life, works and writings of the hero. The schools complied, and so Rizal became a truly national hero.

Tagalog hero? He is. And he is not.

Following the Rizal Law, and following the nationalistic fervor of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s up to the 1990s, Rizal’s writings were translated to Tagalog, which of course the nationalists called Pilipino and now call Filipino. Those translations insist on using quaint Tagalog words like I don’t remember, which drives my point home. I don’t have a copy of any translation with me right now, so I’ll do the next best thing: Pick from one of the translations of Rizal’s ultimate poem, the one everyone calls ‘Ultimo Adios’ (variant of ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’) but which I call ‘Adios, Patria Adorada’ – someone translates it thus: ‘Huling Pahimakas’ (Last Farewell). Pahimakas is as old as your grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother; why not simply Huling Paalam and that’s it? Because the purists insist, and the purists rule the roost.

In other words, armed with the Rizal Law, the Tagalogs laid claim to Rizal as their hero and their hero alone, just because Rizal was a Tagalog. Look: The Rizal Law does not say ‘Translate Rizal into the national language’ or words to that effect. But what do you find in most high schools and colleges? The Tagalog (Filipino) translations of his novels, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. (And no, they don’t translate the titles – why not, I don’t know: Can’t?)

So, don't be surprised that the peoples of the Philippines – like the Ilocanos (like me), Cebuanos, Ilonggos, Warays, Pampangos, Pangasinenses, Bicolanos, Igorots, Gaddangs, Chabacanos, Muslims – don't understand Rizal. (Renato Constantino says we don’t understand Rizal either, but that’s another story.)

I’m re-reading the Rizal Law; it’s a very short one, not more than 667 words, and it’s only now that I notice the law emphasizes the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli and the Fili – and English translations of these – to be used as basic texts. The original reads:

Section 1. Courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges and universities, public or private: Provided, That in the collegiate courses, the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their English translation shall be used as basic texts.

The originals are better, of course, but I don’t know enough Spanish to read them in that language. What it means is that all those schools (high schools and colleges public and private) that made Tagalog translations of the Noli and Fili as their textbooks are guilty of violating the Rizal Law! The nationalists have been gang-raping Rizal and we have been cheering them on.

If that's the way we treat the Rizal Law, we might as well abolish it: No violation. In the meantime, we continue violating Rizal, and he is not a vegetable.

Peoples of the rest of the country can’t really relate to him as their ‘hero’ other than what they have learnt from school.

Dindo, that is correct. And what the students have learned from school is negligible, because those Tagalog translations are not that good and the students are made to memorize quaint Tagalog words masquerading as Filipino. How good are we in translating English? Not very. If you want another and ‘better’ example, read the Bible translation in any of our languages, compare with the KJV or NIV or NAB or Jerusalem Bible, and you’ll see what I mean.

And what have they learnt from school? One, that Rizal is a difficult read. Two, that Rizal does not deserve to be the national hero, that Andres Bonifacio deserves to be. That’s the lesson they get from the instructors, who are mostly nationalists. I disagree, but they have academic freedom, which includes the right to be wrong.

Is Rizal relevant in our time? That’s a long story, and I’m going to write about more of that here. (I have also rewritten my book on rediscovering Rizal, now awaiting publishing funds.) Rizal was for people power, even if the term had not been invented yet. In the meantime, if you're in a hurry, you can start, if you like, by reading my thoughts on the matter at this address: http://rizalinourtime.blogspot.com/ (Rizal In Our Time). Even if you disagree, that should start you thinking. And that’s one lesson we can learn from Rizal: Think, and think in terms of your country. His whole life was dedicated to thinking in terms of his people. Now, remembering Rizal, at the risk of being branded pro-American, I like it better said by John F Kennedy in his inaugural address:

Ask not what your country can do for you;
rather, ask what you can do for your country.

Adios, Beloved Country!

2006-09-01T07:41:00.008+08:00

Adios, Beloved Country

31 August 2006 / Frank A Hilario

Adios, beloved country, EarthLove of the Sun,
Pearl of the Sea Orient, our Eden made bad!
Glad am I to give my life shrunk and forsaken;
And were it more radiant, more fresh, more floral then,
Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.

I die as I see the sky flushes with color
And announces day at last, after a dark night;
When a scarlet you need to tinge its aurora,
Spill my blood and pour at such beneficial hour,
And so gild a reflection of the nascent light.

Adios, parents and kindred, fragments of my soul,
Friends from my childhood then, all in that damaged house;
Give thanks I lay me down from the weary day’s toil;
Adios, sweet stranger, my boon companion, my joy;
Adios, loved ones all. To die is to repose.

Adios, Patria Adorada

Jose Rizal / 30 Diciembre 1896

En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio,
Otros te dan sus vidas, sin dudas, sin pesar;
El sitio nada importa; cipres, laurel o lirio,
Cadalso o campo abierto, combate o cruel martirio,
Lo mismo es si lo piden La Patria y el hogar.

Ensueño de mi vida, mi ardiente vivo anhelo:
¡Salud! Te grita el alma que pronto va a partir!
¡Salud! Ah, que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
Morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
Y en tu encantada tierra la eternidad dormir.

Mi Patria idolatrada, dolor de mis dolores,
Querida Filipinas, oye el postrer adios.
Ahí te dejo todo: mis padres, mis amores;
Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.

HERO AS REDEEMER Rediscovering Jose Rizal

2006-09-01T07:13:00.001+08:00

31 August 2006: I just finished my revision of my earlier book, indios bravos! Jose Rizal As Messiah Of The Redemption, which I published last year, December 2005. The next edition is for December 2006, to commemorate the 110th anniversary of his martyrdom. That 1st edition came out with quite a few revelations on the most documented national hero of the world, including the hidden title of the poem, ‘Adios, Patria Adorada.’ Apt image by Ngarat Hinliliit who captions it 'Rizal Psychedelic' (flickr.com/) - if there is a correct view of Rizal, this approximates it. He was multi-faceted, as all those who reads Gregorio F Zaide's book knows: Jose Rizal: Life, Works & Writings.

In the new version of indios bravos! I offer a brand-new translation of Rizal's farewell poem, my 4th, which I have titled 'Adios, Beloved Country.' I have also retitled my book, HERO AS REDEEMER: Rediscovering Jose Rizal, to emphasize the fact that we have much to discover about our own national hero, such as that Rizal was not a patriot! and that the most beloved of all translations of his valedictory poem, Charles Derbyshire's is the most un-Rizal of all.

Noli Me Tangere, Touch Me Not.

2006-07-28T05:55:00.000+08:00

Noli Me Tangere, Touch Me Not. The Untouchables. If you touch the Filipinos the wrong way, you will suffer an unmentionable indignity. That is how the world up to the 20^th century treats the Filipinos. Stung, that is why in Europe in 1889, Jose Rizal annotates and publishes Antonio De Morga’s Sucesos De Las Islas Pilipinas (Historical Events of the Philippine Islands), the Spanish original being published in 1609 (De Morga 1997, annotated by Rizal, translated by Encarnacion Alzona), ‘in order to rectify what has been falsified and slandered’ (vii), referring to the civilized past of the Filipinos.

Another excerpt from my book Indios Bravos!

Independence Days

2006-07-04T11:27:00.000+08:00

Image from Shimon21 (flickr.com) with the title ‘Independence Day' except that I distorted it to make more like a square shot, to add depth.

It used to be that the Philippines celebrates its Independence Day on the 4^th of July, because that was the day the United States granted our independence or, which is the same, when the US finally knew better and yielded political authority over the Filipinos to the Filipinos themselves. I knew that was the right thing to do; I didn’t know any better. That was until President Diosdado Macapagal had Philippine Independence Day changed to the 12^th of June, because it was that day in 1898 when we (through the brave mouth of General Emilio Aguinaldo and the brave bolos of the Katipuneros) declared our independence from Spain. The French Revolution was our model. That was the right thing to do. I didn’t know any better either.

Now, here is Wikipedia on the French Revolution:

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. During this time, republicanism replaced the absolute monarchy in France, and the country's Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo a radical restructuring. While France would oscillate among republic, empire, and monarchy for 75 years after the First Republic fell to a coup d'état, the Revolution is widely seen as a major turning point in the history of Western democracy – from the age of absolutism and aristocracy, to the age of the citizenry as the dominant political force.

I quote: ‘to the age of the citizenry as the dominant political force.’ I didn’t know until now that that is incorrect. I just peeked into Encarta 2006 (in DVD) and Thomas E Kaiser puts it this way in his chapter on the French Revolution – that the historic change was ‘to a republic of theoretically free and equal citizens’ (my emphasis). Theoretically enjoying liberty, equality, fraternity! This was one of the major turning points of Western civilization? The world turns and, having turned, turns some more.

Not knowing better, the Filipinos made the French Revolution their model. And they rose in arms. That was something, also historical: A declaration of Independence after 350 years? Finally! The Filipinos were hotheads too but not warlike people; they had been conquered by the Spanish friars, by the Roman Catholic Church, by Roman Catholicism. Thank you! The Church did not teach the Filipinos love of country, or patriotism; instead, the Church taught love of fellowman. Thanks again. That was the right thing to do. You can never equate love of country with love of fellowman.

And so the bloody Philippine Revolution of 1896 was the first in the Philippines – the first in Asia even – and it would be the last in these islands. After that, we Filipinos reinvented in February 1986 the French Revolution into People Power. The people as truly the dominant political force. That was a watershed in Western civilization, even if the Westerners will never admit it. After People Power, Poland went People Power. After that, the Berlin Wall fell to People Power, thanks also to Mikhail Gorbachev who fell to the charisma of People Power. The world will never be the same again. What the Filipinos had done was declare independence on war as an instrument of peace. There is no instrument to peace but peace.

UP Prof Randy David & Helen's pragmatic coyote

2006-06-15T16:28:00.000+08:00

I watched today, 15 June (Thursday), a replay of Cito Beltran's Straight Talk show at ANC with Patricia Evangelista pinchhitting for Cito. Patricia was interviewing Randolph David, a Professor of the University of the Philippines who is also a major columnist of the Philippines Daily Inquirer, the fightingest newspaper in Manila, so that Prof David fits in nicely.

Patricia asked Prof David to explain what is 'pragmatism' or who is a 'pragmatist' as he has written himself to be. I didn't take notes but I remember him saying something that the truth to a pragmatist is what works. He mentioned among others William James as a pragmatist. William James is not an easy fellow to understand so I surfed the Internet instead and found Helen Longest-Slaughter Saccone's website Nature Photography (blackrabbit.com/), with her article titled 'Pragmatism and Romanticism' - I like all that, including photography, one of my old interests (with the 'interetingness' of flickr, all I need is a digital camera to go back to a love affair that would not die). Helen says:

A successful nature photojournalist is both a pragmatist and a romantic. As a photographer who desires to translate moments in the natural world to film, you approach your nature photography in a realistic manner, solving the technical problems of photography in a practical manner.

So I get from Helen this: To be a pragmatist is to be a realist, a practical person. You work with 'what works' in life and in danger. Prof David tells Patricia that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, our President, has betrayed the people's trust, and so she has to be replaced. That's pragmatism. I don't approve, but I understand. Then, Helen tells me more about the photojournalist that I should (could) be:

Yet, you have a romantic side. Without the romanticism, you would not have the deep love affair with nature that is vitally important to your success as a natural history's photojournalist.

It is this love affair that causes nature photographers to sit for hours watching a single subject - waiting for that special moment. You are compelled to return to wild and natural places season after season to photograph changes as well as times of significance. It is your passion for the universe that drives you ...

I will edit that to read: 'You have to have a romantic side.' The photo of what I call The Pragmatic Coyote' is Helen's - the coyote waits. He too is a romantic! So I get from the interview that Prof David is a journalist who is a pragmatist but not a romantic. I don't appreciate that either, but I understand that too. I know Prof David has always been a (young) man in a hurry. He has always had the passion. I was young once and passionate and in a hurry too. Now we both have gray hair. I don't know about Randy but I know we cannot hurry up those seasons of change and those times of significance. So now I'm happy to be simply a writer and a romantic.

Kat out of the blue

2006-06-10T06:19:00.000+08:00

Comment received 9 June:
I have to admit that I like Derbyshire's version, too. I think he captures the beauty of the words in a poem and is much more emotional than other translations that are technically more faithful to the original. However, I do like the way you've translated the breaking of dawn. I would suggest, though, that it should read "I die as I see the sky flush with color" or similar, as "flushes" doesn't sound grammatically correct in that sense (it could be "I die as the sky flushes with color" but then I don't know if that would still be faithful to the original). - Kat

So, Kat, what do you think of Nick Joaquin's English translation that is now enshrined along with Carles Derbyshire's at the Rizal Park, near Rizal's Monument, etched on marble or some other precious material?

Golden Grains

2006-06-01T22:47:00.000+08:00

These are golden grains to be sure, ears of corn that each promises to be delicious to the bite. If this is the picture of Philippine agriculture – and I have no doubt that it is – haven’t we reason to celebrate what modern technology (like Bt corn) has wrought to the Filipino farmer?

Me, I don’t want to celebrate yet. I’m thinking of other golden grains, those of rice, of which we also have plenty of. I’m also thinking of all these golden grains being processed by a machine called Value Added Agriculture, which we don’t have yet. One of the major objectives of Republic Act 8435, the Agricultural & Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), which was passed in 1997 yet, is to promote ‘value-added processing, agribusiness activities, and agro-industrialization.’ Now, where are we in adding value to our golden grains? Nowhere.

We are not only 10 years late – in fact, we are 100 years late! Did you know that the State of Iowa started practicing value-added agriculture more than 100 years ago? (extension.iastate.edu/) Through the Iowa State University, they organize value-added groups, assist in determining project feasibilities, develop niche markets and enhance business profitability. Our very own University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) is nowhere doing that. Which all means we are the Rip Van Winkle of agriculture. Gising! Bangon!

The Filipinos Redeemed? Modern Mother and Child

2006-05-24T09:59:00.000+08:00

'Adios, Beloved Patria' - Jose Rizal. ' The Filipino is worth dying for' - Ninoy Aquino. 'The Filipino is worth living for' - Frank Hilario. The original image is gone, I must have done something wrong - the Filipinos too must have done something wrong, and must have done something right. At right is an untitled image from Workshop Visuals (flickr.com/), which I distorted a bit, but the reality is stark: a Filipina with a baby smiling at helmeted police in a 'protest' rally in front of the American embassy in Manila. I don't like the rally; I like the mother and baby in focus: this is the Filipino redeemed! Revised 04 July 2006

Only one genius?

2006-05-24T09:05:00.001+08:00

Question: Do the Filipinos have only one genius in their race, only Jose Rizal? Answer: Oh, they have too many! That explains why they cannot be united, they fight each other tooth and nail, they hate their own country, they hate their own people, they think they have all the answers.

The 3 Eternal Questions: Truth, beauty and goodness

2006-05-12T08:48:00.001+08:00

When some people talk about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President of the

Philippines

, they can talk neither articulately nor intelligently about her. She gets their goat! They simply condemn her as someone who is bad (black), implying that they are simply good (white), especially calling her as simply a liar, someone who cannot or refuses to tell the truth. That is because some people don’t look beyond their own truths.

You will be surprised what you learn if you look beyond your reach. Today, just a few minutes ago, I decide to look in the Internet what ‘arroyo' means and babylon.com brings me to Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia), which tells me that an ‘arroyo is an intermittently dry creek.’ Actually, the original reads like this: ‘an intermittantly dry creek.’ The footnote says that the Arroyo page was last modified 5 May 2006 by Phatty; I look deeper and it says the first entry was made by BDAbramson on 8 July 2005. Remember, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia anyone can edit – what I have just found out means that for almost 10 months now, nobody has noticed the mistake and/or cared enough to correct it. (I’m not going to edit it – let’s see how much more time passes by before someone rights the wrong. In any case, I have just print-screened the page in case I need it for reference or proof later. If you want to check right now, clink http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo - where ‘clink’ is a word I’m coining from ‘click the link.’)

To me, that ‘Arroyo' page is an excellent illustration not that Wikipedia is bad but that you can find human errors even when you’re not looking for them: they’re everywhere. Which means if you go out looking for them, you will find a million more. Which means you can make it a career looking for mistakes. Which is exactly the preoccupation of those who oppose GMA. Which means if all you can see is that GMA can’t do anything right, you too are in the opposition, and your mental exercise is jumping to conclusions. I pity you because you’re not enjoying your own exercise! An exercise in futility.

You want GMA to tell the truth. What is Truth? asks Pontius Pilate and does not stay for an answer. The GMA oppositionists are like that, the outs, the dreamers too, including the putchists, including those who are not using their head, or only using their head, whether they are in wolf’s or sheep’s clothing. All they want is truth, rightness, verity, veracity. They want the truth from others, but not from themselves. Veracity, how many crimes are committed in thy name!

It’s biblical. Why does not Pontius Pilate wait for the answer? Today, I believe it is because he knows the question is not enough: ‘What is Truth?’ I, along with the Pontius Pilates and the Judases among us, must also ask two other questions: ‘What is Beauty?’ and ‘What is Goodness?’ The 3 Questions. The 3 Eternal Questions. I pray your answers are not as good as mine – but better!

Speaking in tongues, in Ilocano, in Tagalog, in English

2006-05-11T06:54:00.001+08:00

Speaking in tongues, in Ilocano, in Tagalog, in English, the ones I understand very well, and speaking of translations of his valedictory poem poorly titled as ‘Mi Ultimo Adios,’ and I have read as many as 50, I prefer the ones in English, a tongue foreign to me, over and above Tagalog or Filipino, a tongue foreign to the Ilocano that I am. Now, why did Rizal write in Spanish and not in English or Tagalog? A lesson in targeting readers. You can accuse Rizal of being pro-Spanish, and you can accuse me of being pro-American; notwithstanding, Rizal knew his target readers, and I would not change that. He also knew Spanish better than English or Tagalog. He wanted to leave a message that his target intellectuals would understand and appreciate; he wanted to impress the Europeans that the Filipino had genius enough to master a foreign language, to impress the Spanish world (including territories of conquest like Cuba) that the Filipino was worth thinking for, that the Filipino knew how to die for principles, that the Filipino was not afraid of an angry God because there was no angry God, although there were angry men in black.[1] ‘Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores / Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.’ I translate that as ‘I go where are no slaves, hangmen, nor oppressors / Where faith does not kill, where God is the Lord of hosts.’ Also, I suspect, Rizal wanted the Spaniards to eat his last words and feel sick in the stomach for having done what they did to him. Do not repay evil with evil; instead, repay evil with good (Romans 12).

Excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

[1] Remember what his mother told his father before he was sent to Manila to study? ‘Don’t send him anymore to Manila; he knows enough; if he gets to know more, they are going to behead him.’ (In Rizal’s letter to his friend Blumentritt, 8 November 1888.) He was then 16. They sent him anyway. His brother took him to Manila; his father approved – in their hearts, they knew they were doing the right thing. His mother cried. In her heart, she knew she was right. Brother and father knew him, and so did the mother.

The Patria Challenge (May 2006)

2006-05-06T15:19:00.001+08:00

For College Students Only Revised 11 May

A peso for your thoughts. The challenge is to reply to any of the following questions, which I collectively call The Patria Challenge, using your own intellectual resources. Otherwise, always cite your source. Remember two things: One, none of the questions is easy. Two, you may interpret any of my questions either literally or figuratively: that’s part of the challenge. The first one to send the email with the right answer gets the prize if there are more than 1 correct or acceptable responses. If you win, you will receive P 500 for each response that I alone will judge to be correct and/or acceptable. If you argue by name-calling, personal attacks, beating around the bush, splitting hairs or some other faults of argumentation, you lose. There is no limit to the length of your reply, but be sure what you include is relevant.

I will publish here the winning response and the name and school of each winner. If you win, I will ask for your cell phone and you get your prize either in Laguna or Metro Manila. Or I send it by mail.

Questions for The Patria Challenge

This list will get longer and longer as the days go by.

1Q. Who was the first love of Jose Rizal: Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Rivera, or an unknown girl in Calamba? Remember to cite your source.

2Q. Did Josephine Bracken truly love Jose Rizal? Argue directly or indirectly.

3Q. Rizal wrote Sa Aking Mga Kabata when he was only 8 years old. What is this poem all about: Love of country? Love of language? Love of God? Explain.

4Q. What are the 4 prerequisites of a revolution (armed struggle) according to Ferdinand Blumentritt? Tip: He gave the list in a letter to Rizal.

5Q. Why did Rizal oppose the 1896 Revolution?

6Q. The US Congress did not want to pass the Philippine Bill eventually granting independence of the Philippines because they considered the Filipinos barbarians, savages, pirates. The bill was passed into law when someone convinced them that the Filipinos were capable of sublime thoughts. Tip: How could this man do that when he was already dead?

7Q. If my English translation is not the best among available English translations of the valedictory poem of Jose Rizal, why not? This one is worth 1K in prize. Remember that your response can either be an expected Yes but it must be argued beautifully, or a difficult No and argued not necessarily beautifully but reasonably.

8Q. Which one is the correct complete name of Jose Rizal (the spellings differ)?
Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.
Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda.

9Q. Which one is the best Spanish title of the last poem of Jose Rizal? Be able to defend your answer well, if only in one short paragraph. Tip: The last two are found in the poem itself.
Mi Ultimo Adios
Ultimo Adios
El Postrer Adios
Morir Es Descansar.

10Q. What are the criteria for judging whether someone deserves to be the national hero or not? List and explain each criterion.

11Q. What big mistake did Rizal make in the Noli Me Tangere?

12Q. The Noli written as an indictment of the Roman Catholic Church: Why or why not?

13Q. Can you improve the plot of the Noli? Or the characterization?

14Q. Compare Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal as leaders or their respective groups or movements.

15Q. Why do you say Jose Rizal was a nationalist?

16Q. Did Jose Rizal fight for the freedom of his country: Why or why not?

17Q. The Ateneo did not teach in Rizal’s time love of country: True or False? Support your answer.

Rumors of another coup

2006-04-30T17:28:00.001+08:00

Before I wrote what Kristine Steakley on 25 April 2006 calls in her blogsite with the long name (childofdivorce-childofgod.blogspot.com/) my ‘crazily long and rambling article’ in the American Chronicle to which I gave the title ‘The Gospel Whisperer’), I did a 1-week research on Steven Curtis Chapman, the subject of my long and ambling story of the greatest Gospel music artist in the world; I call him a ‘Superstar’ in my American Chronicle article ‘The Gospel Whisperer’ (click link below to jump there). I found Steven talking of reading a book Rumors Of Another World: What On Earth Are We Missing? by Philip Yancey. In my country, the Filipinos, who are not fond of reading, it is as if they are reading avidly the book printed daily in the newspapers and shown daily on the 6 o’clock TV news rewritten daily by opposition politicians titled Rumors Of Another Coup: What On Earth Are We Thinking?

Subversive book, Noli Me Tangere

2006-04-27T06:36:00.001+08:00

That culture is damaged. Rizal sees it differently in his subversive book, Noli Me Tangere, saying it has social cancer. He identifies the cause of that cancer as the friars. Knowing the doctor that he is, I shall now use the jargon of science: the friars are the ‘causal organism,’ the devil in disguise. All of Noli is designed to prove that point. Sadly, I must say Rizal’s analysis is damaged. I like the plot, characters, presentation of the materials, findings, and I appreciate the logic, but I find I must disagree with the conclusion. The friars are not the organic cause of the social cancer. To mix metaphors, did not he himself say? ‘There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.’ Do not blame the tempter: blame the tempted. ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ A disease happens when a weak body happens.

Or are we misreading Rizal and is he in fact identifying religion as the causal organism? It is not that clear, but in the Noli he overdoes the presentation of facts that he runs over the Roman Catholic Church itself. In his letter of 15 July 1889 to Blumentritt, more than 2 years after the Noli, he does write: ‘Oh, I tell you that our Catholic religion is no longer a religion of God; no, I deny it. God ought not to be responsible for such a religion.’ In Rizal’s eyes, the church has become the enemy of the people.

25 November 2005. There is another view. Let us not forget the Noli as a masterpiece of satire. It now seems to me it was written much in the same spirit as Jonathan Smith wrote Gulliver’s Travels, a world classic in satire, written 140 years before Rizal. The Victorian Web says of Smith’s masterpiece (2000):

Gulliver’s Travels is a misanthropic anatomy of human nature, a sardonic looking-glass. It asks its readers to refute it, to deny that it has not adequately characterized human nature and society.

I confess I didn’t see Noli like that before. What I saw was that it portrayed religion itself as the problem when it was not; it was the practice of religion that was the problem. Not the catechism but the catechist. Not the theory but the practice. Theory was Roman Catholicism; practice was both Friar Catholicism as well as Filipino Catholicism. As a Catholic, I find nothing wrong with my religion, but I find something wrong with this practical Catholic!

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

3rd Stanza of his valedictory poem

2006-04-18T09:09:00.001+08:00

3^rd stanza: Rizal is telling us to look at his own love offering using rose-colored glasses:

I die as I see the sky flushes with color
And announces day at last, after a dark night;
When a scarlet you need to tinge its aurora,
Empty my blood, pour at such beneficial hour,
And so gild a reflection of the nascent light.

This is his brand of sacrifice. His love is in the form of enlightenment, no matter how tiny it is. It is freely and fully given without doubt, without regret. He dies. After this, these words in his letter of 31 December 1888 to his compatriots in Barcelona come to life: ‘Without wishing to parody the sublime words of Christ, I say to you nevertheless, why I think and feel that wherever two Filipinos meet in the name of the native land and for her welfare, there also I should like to be to join them.’

Another except from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

Sucesos: Was it more propaganda than historical?

2006-04-13T16:23:00.001+08:00

Paris dLR writes (13 April): ‘Wasn't Sucesos considered to be one work of Rizal that was more propaganda than historical? But, I don't blame him for wanting to make it known that the

Philippines

was at a Renaissance, culturally, before the Spanish arrived. After all, there was Spanish propaganda that ‘Mother Spain’ brought culture and civilization to the

Philippines

.’

My reply: I welcome comments because then I have a chance to improve that which is inferior or a chance to explain that which is not. Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas (literally, Events of the Islands of the Philippines) was written by Antonio De Morga and published in 1609 as a historical account of the pre-Spanish Filipinos. Sucesos shows that the Filipinos were already civilized even before the coming of the Spaniards. No, neither Morga nor Rizal tried to show that the Filipinos were in fact at a cultural Renaissance when the conquerors came. There were other historical accounts of the Philippines at that time, but Rizal chose this book because he saw in it some impartiality, even though Morga was a Spaniard, not a Filipino. Morga’s book was not a propaganda for the Filipinos – it didn’t praise them; it just told their history. Just for the pun of it, I say it was historical, not hysterical. Rizal annotated it because he saw errors, inconsistencies, and some biases. The footnotes (annotations) total 613 (my count) in 353 pages, and some notes are long and tell their own stories. And no: We don’t owe the Spaniards our civilization – in fact they proved to be the ones who were uncivilized, barbarians, pirates of the high seas and the low.

Filipinos as untouchables

2006-04-12T12:57:00.001+08:00

Another except from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

Guinness world record: bad rhymes with good

2006-04-12T12:55:00.001+08:00

So, I would like to claim a Guinness world record: In July 2005, mine was first and the only poem in the world to rhyme the greatest enemies of the world: ‘bad’ and ‘good’ – serendipity. And in December 2005, I changed ‘give my shrunken life forsaken’ to ‘give my life shrunk and forsaken’ for a smoother flow of thought. And in 29 December 2005 ‘our Paradise made bad!’ became ‘Eden in ruins bad!’

Another except from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-04-12T12:51:00.000+08:00

Biography is history. History is boring only if you think so, if the historian is, if the author is. Even if you’re not a historian – and I am not – why look at history as uninteresting, uninspiring, only so much dull gray matter, when you can look at it as fresh and new and radiant as the sunlight after the dawn breaks? Why should you allow historians to determine your view of history? Now then, you can change perspective and read this book and learn about:

(1) secrets contained in ‘Adios, Patria Adorada’

(2) the many things lost in the many English translations of Rizal’s last poem

(3) how Rizal said the Jesuits greatly failed in education

(4) where he did not realize he greatly failed himself

(5) his happiness in dying for his country

(6) his being the Brown Christ

(7) Josephine Bracken’s true love

(8) his ultimate dream for his country

(9) the poem that has no title

(10) why his last words were, ‘Consummatum est!’

(11) the country he described but nobody noticed

(12) learning love from an unknown lover

(13) learning from translations.

Another except from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-04-10T01:07:00.000+08:00

A Revolution of the Masses? A Revolution of the Mind. While I was revising my translation of the valedictory poem in late November or early December 2004, I stumbled on The Untold Tale of the Two Revolutions of 1896. The tale of the two revolutions is told in the same year, 1896; it is a true story, twice told, that revolutions devour their own children. One was Andres Bonifacio’s; look at the 2^nd stanza (of his valedictory poem) again. The other was Jose Rizal’s; look at the 3^rd stanza again. Bonifacio’s Revolution was violent, Rizal’s Revolution was non-violent – although it met with violence from violent people, the uncivilized.

Teodoro Agoncillo asserts that Bonifacio’s was a Revolution of the Masses; I assert that Rizal’s was a Revolution of the Mind. Bonifacio’s Revolution was dangerous, as it could topple a government. And it did. Rizal’s Revolution was more dangerous, as it could topple an empire. And it did.

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-03-25T22:42:00.000+08:00

So, according to Ayn Rand, the thinkers are important, crucial, the lynchpin. Precisely! They are not the rest of us. We need the rest of us. Where would the lynchpin be without the wheel? And where would the wheel be without the spokes?

Rizal writes to us as he writes to his nephew who he is told knows exactly what he wants to be (a doctor, like his uncle who he knows is admired by everyone) when he grows up: ‘We cannot all be doctors.’ Neither can we all be thinkers. There must be doers also. And who is to say who is more important, whether the thinker or the doer? Judge yourselves soberly, writes the apostle Paul:

Just as each of our bodies has several parts and each part has a separate function, so all of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other. Our gifts differ according to the grace given us. Romans 12 Jerusalem Bible

Rizal was both a thinker and a doer. And therein lies the heroic difference. The important history is both the past and the present. With the heroic virtue, we should be writing history. We can write a poem, or we can write a life. Except the lazy ones, those who think only that they deserve to be served, those who lay waste the heroic virtue in themselves – they are the ones who, not having ventured outside their comfort boxes, outside their selfish dreamworlds, rich or poor, already are left behind.

Another except from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption of a Damaged Culture

2006-03-15T09:53:00.000+08:00

Yes, I must admit, for ‘Yo muero cuando veo que el cielo se colora,’ I like Derbyshire’s ‘I die just when I see the dawn break.’ No, it’s not a faithful translation, but it is memorable, it comes easy to the lips and it has its own shock value. Nonetheless, mine is faithful to the original and it has power of its own: ‘I die as I see the sky flushes with color.’ Mine emphasizes the changing of the color of the sky. At the moment of death, the poet sees the light coming on, the dark fading. For all its beauty, this particular dawn comes achingly slowly. ‘Whatever my fate,’ he had written in his sealed letter (‘to be opened after my death’) 4 years earlier, ‘I shall die blessing it and longing for the dawn of its Redemption’ (Zaide 2003: 182).

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-03-15T03:28:00.000+08:00

Education, education, education. And his whole idea of it he expressed beautifully in his 2 February 1890 letter to Blumentritt from Brussels, telling this little story about a Jesuit’s reaction to the Noli (Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence 1992: 328):

‘Are you not afraid of the consequences of your audacity?’ asked Father Sanchez – he treats me familiarly. ‘Father,’ I replied, ‘you are a missionary. If you go on your mission, are you not afraid of the consequences of its fulfillment?’ ‘Oh, that is entirely different!’ he replied. ‘Not at all,’ I replied, ‘your mission is to baptize the heathens, mine is to make men worthy.’

‘To make men worthy.’ Through education. The Ateneo’s teaching, his words. This became his mission in life.

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

Actually, we are 100 damaged cultures

2006-03-10T12:54:00.002+08:00

The Filipinos a damaged culture? Actually, we are 100 damaged cultures. 12 of them major: 1 Cebuano, 2 Tagalog, 3 Ilocano, 4 Hiligaynon, 5 Waray-Waray, 6 Northern Bicol, 7 Kapampangan, 8 Pangasinan, 9 Southern Bicol, 10 Kinaray-a. What keeps us divided? The root cause is the 50-year old martial law of 1 language imposed over all the other 99 languages. Tagalog as the sole basis of the national language was dictated on us in 1937; 50 years later, this historical error was corrected in the 1987 Constitution. But too late. The irreparable damage has been done; we are now a damaged culture called Filipino. You impose a language and you impose a culture, including ways of thinking. I look at this as the basic cause of the fractured Filipino culture.

You can read more on this if you click the link American Chronicle below to read my article on the fractious Filipino culture. If you want a copy of James Fallows' article in the Atlantic Monthly, type your request on the comment box and I'll send you an electronic copy free of charge.

2006-03-09T10:54:00.000+08:00

A fractious, fractured, damaged culture. Now we have two articles on the disjointed Filipino culture; one old, James Fallows' 'A Damaged Culture' that appeared in The Atlantic Monthly of November 1987; one new, Frank A Hilario's 'The Asian Flu, The Virus of Militarism & The Filipinos, A Separate Peace' that appears now in the American Chronicle. The first identifies the problem; the second identifies a solution. Click on the link below to read my article. If you want a free complete electronic copy of Fallows' article, write on the comment box.

I challenge those who challenge the status quo

2006-03-07T18:39:00.001+08:00

Adios! Beloved! Patria! I challenge those who challenge the status quo to say those words as they look into the mirror every morning. Honestly, can you say those words with a lump in your throat and a certain tightness in the pit of your stomach? If you can, then I know you love your country.

2006-03-07T18:15:00.000+08:00

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption, 2005

2006-03-06T07:51:00.000+08:00

A Damaged Culture. Education for Redemption. Redemption is not freedom, not release from Spanish dominion, not release from bondage. ‘To make men worthy.’ To make the Filipino – and the Spaniard, not the least the friar – realize and work for the good that God had intended them to do. Or, at least, release them from the bondage of their ignorance being masters on one hand and being slaves on the other. That was in Rizal’s time, more than 100 years ago. In our time, in 2006, going back to James Fallows, we still have a damaged culture. My English translation has it in the 1st stanza (2nd line) and in the last stanza (2nd line):

Adios, beloved Patria, EarthLove of the Sun,
Pearl of the Sea Orient, Eden in ruins bad!
Glad am I to give my life shrunk and forsaken;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh, more floral then,
Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.

Adios, parents and kindred, fragments of my soul,
Friends from my childhood then, all in that damaged house;
Give thanks I lay me down from the weary day’s toil;
Adios, sweet stranger, my boon companion, my joy;
Adios, loved ones all. To die is to repose.

Through Fallows, Rizal has come back to haunt us with the truth. Since we have a damaged culture still, we Filipinos are all men without a country still.

Excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-03-04T02:25:00.000+08:00

Dawn Feliciano calling Rizal ‘Hamlet’ is mild, somewhat respectful; Domingo De Guzman disparages Rizal (and the rest of us), saying ‘We are brainwashed to glorify traitors and enemies of the Revolution and the Motherland’ (Philippine Journal, ‘An open letter to Erap on why we have to rewrite our history,’ 3 September 1998: 3). And I agree; Rizal was traitor and enemy to Bonifacio’s Revolution; he was faithful and honest and true to his own. He did not betray his ideals, peace and love; he did not turn traitor to his mission, ‘to make men worthy.’ Bonifacio’s Revolution drew blood from himself and others willing and unwilling; Rizal’s Revolution drew blood from himself, and he was glad to do it, as these lines in the first stanza of his last poem show (my translation):

And so to Ms Feliciano’s rhetorical question, ‘Or is Rizal’s faith still tinged with wants and needs that he is still unwilling to give up?’ I have my own rhetorical question: ‘Don’t you understand that I am doing this all for you?’ Clearly that means, and Rizal’s faith lies in – Love.

Excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-02-24T02:05:00.000+08:00

'Impossible to translate poetry.' Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St James Señor Leon Ma Guerrero has only one word for his and anybody else’s attempt to translate poetry: Impossible. To quote him in full in his book, The First Filipino: A Biography of Jose Rizal (1963: xii): ‘I have transcribed Rizal's poems in their original form because it is impossible to translate poetry.’ xxx With due respect, Señor, if you want me to do it, say ‘It’s impossible.’ It becomes a challenge. No Señor, the impossible just takes a little longer to do. You see, it took me about 8 years to come up with my new translation of the valedictory poem of our hero that I felt and knew was faithful and honest and worthy of the hero. You don’t know how good that feels!

Excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-02-24T01:22:00.000+08:00

Translating Rizal in the American way? I am a new columnist of American Chronicle based in California and I try to inject the ideas and ideals of Rizal into whatever I write – click first link on the left to view my articles. Being published is a great feeling, and I'm glad for the 1,997 readers for 4 feature articles (0705 hours 23 February 2006). For more of me, click any link on the page. For more of Rizal and my intellectual biography of him (indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption), click the link Indios Bravos.

2006-02-24T01:14:00.000+08:00

Conversations on translations of Rizal's ultimate poem

(1)
Hi! I would like to borrow your, you said, 35 translations of Mi Ultimo Adios? Yours is a good one, but let me read the one I only vaguely remember now, and I will decide which one is better. Hope you don't mind.
God bless!
Abelle

(2)
Abelle,
I congratulate you on your interest in Rizal.
I have a problem. I wanted to send you all those 35 translations, but I formatted (in the book) using a font or two probably not in your PC, so I have to reformat those pages first in Times New Roman, which everybody has.
In the meantime, I am attaching Chapter 13 of my book, which is my comparison of all the translations, with the texts of all the first stanzas of all the translations. You are free to copy and send to whomever you like, no charge.
Frank

(3)
Hi Frank! (I am probably as old as your eldest child but let me call you by your first name anyhow; I am not less respectful for it)

Thank you for the attachment. However, I have difficulty transforming it into something more readable. So maybe I will wait until you're done with the book, and then perhaps I will go to the launching, buy a copy, and have you autograph it.

Maybe you were being facetious to call your translation the best. Were you? No offense, because you know it's self-serving, and so unfair. Really. It's like me calling myself the best lawyer. I believe it but not all of you will. So maybe I should keep it a secret.

Pardon my Italian; I think they said "traddutore, traditore", something like translator, traitor. It is, well, you said it, impossible, to capture the nuances and peculiarities of the original language in a translation. Sometimes you preserve only to destroy. I am by no means a writer, but sometimes I try to translate English songs to Tagalog, and precision is just impossible, and so I do what I can to just make the Tagalog version sound independently beautiful, as if it had always been written in that language. Works with me.

Just a thought. But really, your translation is, hmmm... not bad. Ok, it's good.
So I will wait for the 35 versions. Thanks a lot, from the bottom of my heart.
God bless you!
Adelle

(4)
Abelle,
I don't mind being called by my first name with no title at all, but Tito would be nice. I am 65 going 66. I'm Ilocano.

I was serious when I said my translation is #1 or the most Rizal of all the English translations - that's the point of the whole Chapter 13, isn't it? You can question the criteria of course, which came from me, and/or my use of those criteria. I may not be right but I'm serious. If I were worried about whether it would be self-serving, I would not have done the comparison. With the attachment, you can now be the judge.

I am reattaching the first file (Chapter 13), with my corrections.
I finished transforming the file for the 35 translations, so I'm also sending it to you now.

I don't understand why you should have trouble transforming it - it's in Times New Roman, which is the most common font. Anyway, you can try saving it in text: If you are using Word, Click 'File Save As,' then go to 'Save as type' and click 'Plain text.' Or you can use OpenOffice.

You are the first one to say that my translation is 'good' and not 'very good' or 'excellent' - well, there's always a first time!

By the way, on my instigation, my hometown Asingan is holding a declamation contest using my translation as part of the town fiesta celebration in April 18-24. I should then inadvertently be hearing opinions about my translation one way or the other. If you are a teacher, why don't you assign a term paper comparing the translations? Then you can tell me about it, positive or negative. The students are entitled to their opinion, and so are you.

Enjoy your search/research.
Frank

(5)
Tito Frank, this is what I call constructive criticism

Farewell, beloved Patria, Earthlove of the Sun
Pearl of the Orient Seas, our Eden sullied!
Glad am I to give this life withered and lonely
And were it more radiant, more fresh, and more lovely
For You I'd give it still, would give it for your good.

Look what rich conceptions there are in "sullied".
Eden cannot be in ruins good to say it is in ruins bad.
Look how one letter turns lonely to lovely.
Withered makes his life a flower, offered withered or fresh, lonely or lovely,
a thing of beauty.
And see, I didn't have to cheat with "then" just to rhyme with forsaken.
And see, now he doesn't just give, he gives his life as a flower for Patria, his girl,
the way life is offered at the altar of religion.
I say this version is excellent, excellent, excellent, restoring what was
lost in the translation: poetry.

A poem should be wordless as the flight of birds...
A poem should not mean, but be.
Archibald Macleish

Macleish is a poet and lawyer nonpareil.

Ultimately, I think a translation should be able to stand on its own as a work of art, even without reference to the translated work. I wouldnt quibble with precision, for what profit does it give us to be precise but lose the beauty?
Abelle

(6)
Tito Frank, thank you, thank you, thank you. Please give me time to savor these - also, 2mb take long to download. But for now, is " Eden in ruins bad?" non-negotiable? I am incorrigible.

For your consolation, really, I am just a pretender. No literary scholar am I, judging on my reading fare nowadays- Food?Vogue? Architectural Digest? - but this last one I recommend to the poet. No teacher, too, so sorry, can't have hapless kids writing critiques- oh, but I teach some barrio kids on weekends, just Bible lessons. I am Catholic; this last sentence just to anticipate your question.

I was looking for the English translation of the poem just for my appreciation, the way I reach for my CD player to listen to music I love. But you will love me- Rizal is my hero.

I am a lawyer- oh yes, the best of them, too- pretending to be many things. I have taken desultory interest in quite a number of subjects; right now, it's Rizal. And so sincerely, I do thank you for taking the trouble to send me these.

I like what you said about character. Stubbornness bordering on stupidity. Talking to me?
God bless you!
Abelle

(7)
Abelle,
A lawyer! Did you know one of my (many) dreams when I was younger was to be a lawyer? In high school (ca 1956) I was reading Erle Stanley Gardner and I just loved Perry Mason. I can't get hold of him anymore; still, I'm a good debater - win or lose.

I sympathize with you. Very few (like John Grisham, Louis Nizer) can be a damn good lawyer (logician) and be a damn good writer at the same time. I don't read Grisham (I don't read Stephen King either), but I like Nizer. I suspect that like snakes they shed off their skins first before they can write their books. Thinking logically (critically) gets in the way of thinking productively (creatively) - the lawyers prove my case!

I too am a Catholic, but I don't teach kids weekends. Good for you. Good for the kids? I don't know - depends on how you teach. Do you teach rote? I'm a teacher too - I mean, I studied to be a teacher. (About being Catholic, I invite you to read my profile in American Chronicle; just click this link:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewByAuthor.asp?authorID=700
and read any of my articles there.

You are negotiating Eden. Ah, just like my first girlfriend - she doesn't like it either, the bad thing. She is a thousand miles away and I haven't seen her in years; she's married & with kids, so no problem. Note that in the earliest version (1998), my Eden in ruins was my Paradise Lost, like everybody else. But 'perdido' actually means 'damaged' (ruined). My bad Eden is non-negotiable. For now, I want bad to be good for good!

Please tell me how you found me - it could help me 'attract' more people to the fact that I have a new English translation of Rizal's valedictory poem and to my claim that it is the best. Whatever history will say of it, I want more people to know of it. We need the spirit of Rizal to animate us today, and his last poem (also a reminder of his life and death) is the perfect medium for this. In this case, my translation may not be perfect, but Rizal is perfect!

You may now cross-examine.
Frank

2006-02-23T21:11:00.000+08:00

the unbelievable ten commandments of writing

the ideas of value, the value of ideas

unthinkable, incredible, even improbable, and they’re for you, whether you are creative or un-creative, writer or non-writer, whether good or bad. some of the rules i have borrowed, the others i have gathered traveling one journey of a thousand miles after another. yes, i have been lost, too, quite a few times in fact. i have been a drifter; now i have found myself again. it’s a different me this time.

but wait! how dare i write about writing when i’m not a published writer myself? actually, i have been published – when i have been the editor myself. mostly magazines and newsletters, public and private.

i am a writer-editor who has been involved in all kinds of manuscripts for many a project in many a field in the arts and sciences for the last 35 years – and, for many of the last 5 years, in the christian faith – and i have had my share of submitting an untold number of manuscripts and being published once in a blue moon. i could write a book about how not to write, but that would be defeatist. i learned long ago never to say die until you’re dead.

the unbelievable ten commandments according to frank. if you ask which is the greatest, i’ll tell you it’s the first. it’s also the hardest lesson of all.

1. unburden yourself.

learn first to live with yourself.

if you just want to be an average writer, you don’t need any advice: you already are. the only way to become a better writer is to become a better person. if you are vain, a hypocrite, or deceiver, all you can be is a better liar. if you are an atheist, there is only one excuse for arrogance: genius. (and then you won’t take my advice.) if you already believe in god, you have to learn to surrender all your cares to the almighty. until you can do that, you’re just mediocre, even miserable. you can hardly learn anything new, let alone master it. to learn to live with yourself is to learn to accept your inadequacies, to admit your failings, to learn to be humble. then you can be a better observer of people, then you can be a better writer. then, whatever it is, your language will just be perfect. i’m just learning this lesson myself now. yes, it might also save your sanity, even as it has saved mine.

2. write on!

the only way to learn to write is to write – and again and again.

so what if you have no dreams of one day becoming a great writer? you still want to write and expect to be proud of your letter, story, essay, book, report or proposal. this has always been true since the first time it was said, even if it wasn’t said of writing: ‘practice makes perfect.’

but practice also makes you frustrated because you can’t publish everything you write – if you see print at all. if you can’t handle frustration well, you can’t handle writing well.

3. begin anywhere.

you’ll have to tolerate sloppy writing.

most any writing has a beginning, middle and an end – and a title. the reason many people can’t write is the same reason many known (and unknown) writers experience writer’s block or burnout. they don’t know where to begin, so they won’t. or they want to begin best, so if it doesn’t sound right the first time, they stop. if that happens again and again, they burn out. they can’t tolerate sloppy writing.

my experience is to the contrary! in 35 years of writing, i have never ever experienced writer’s block or burnout, because i learned early from rudolf flesch how to be creative, that is, from his book how to write, think & speak more effectively. one of the great lessons there is this: begin anywhere but begin. begin with the title, begin with the beginning, begin with the middle, or begin with the end. that is, begin sloppily. you must tolerate sloppy writing. you’ll find that sloppy writing is the secret for you to release more of your creative juice. you’ll find that sloppy writing is actually brainstorming with yourself on paper.

4. know more.

the only way to say more is to learn more.

more often than not, you have to know more than you know now about what you would like to write about. this is true even if you are writing about your very own personal experience. read on the subject; ask questions. then you’ll become more interested to read on the subject; then you’ll become more interesting to read. how do you know when to stop your research? you will know; experience will tell you. research will give you the content you need, and, more importantly, this is the only way you can get into the heart of the matter at hand – and put you on your way to great writing. and you will discover, in serendipity, one or two things to help you along. serendipity, according to horace walpole, is ‘the phenomenon of happy things happening when one is intent on doing something else.’

5. write less.

write more about less.

limit your subject matter to something you can handle at one time. for instance, do not write about ‘his good work habits made him prolific as a writer’ – there are too many ideas to tackle there: what makes a work habit good? what are his good work habits? explain each one? instead, write about, for instance, ‘his forcing himself to write a quota of words everyday helped him to become prolific.’ that’s something you can handle, something within your grasp.

if the topic is something familiar, something already written about, but you want to write about it anyway, ask the question: ‘so, what else is new?’ then look for the answer. the answer you find will make your writing interesting. if nothing else, you can always write about the search itself.

6. relax.

learn to stop, look & listen – to something else.

don’t force yourself to finish. not ever. i mean, after any writing session, finished or not finished, forget about the manuscript and concentrate on something else – it can be another manuscript or something you have put off doing for the last 13 years. doing something else unrelated to the article will – surprise – refresh your mind.

one way to relax is to flip the pages of a color magazine with plenty of photographs (and plenty of advertisements), not necessarily to read but just to look at the beautiful pictures and the nice typefaces. this will help you relax and, pretty soon, you’ll have fresh or new ideas about your current manuscript or some other projects in mind. (i learned this from nonoy gallardo and telly bernardo while my good friend orli ochosa and i was one of the copywriters for pacifica publicity bureau of fame in the mid-70s. we would buy old magazines to ‘read’ and get ideas from. now that i’m a man, i still do this childish thing.)

7. rewrite.

there’s always room for improvement.

my favorite writer and textbook teacher, rudolf flesch, a german immigrant to america, says it well: ‘there is no good writing, only good rewriting.’ the best way to write is to rewrite. you can’t be too lazy to rewrite. even the best writers have to rewrite. if you don’t rewrite, you will never have the satisfaction of being as good as you can be. and, when you rewrite, you will catch your own mistakes. (you have a problem with grammar? that’s the editor’s problem; if s/he judges you by your grammar, s/he’s the problem!)

among filipino writers, this one i admire for his reportorial writing: i distinctly remember him writing about imelda’s ‘pantheon or parthenon?’ and gloria diaz and nora aunor. in fact, i’ve copied his style, but i heard that nick joaquin never rewrites. no, i can’t believe that. perhaps he writes and rewrites in his head before committing words to paper. or, perhaps he is a genius. we can’t all aspire to be geniuses, can we? he’s also a winner, but if you ask him, he will tell you he didn’t win them all. win some, lose some – that’s the essence of rewriting too.

8. connect.

see the big picture.

this doesn’t come naturally; we are, like a horse pulling a carriage, usually wearing blinders. you must look hard and long at your topic or subject matter, and try to arrive at a perspective of how it fits into the overall scheme of something bigger than it is. nothing is unconnected; you must see the connection – that is your duty as a writer. for instance, if you are writing about the weekend spent by diners club staff in nasugbu, batangas on april 20, be sure you mention about how and why you happened to be there, and what good you (and they) expected to come out of it – aside from trying to relax. a picnic like that is part of the year-round project of nourishing the corporate family. get the picture? (another relevant question is: did they themselves get the picture?)

9. write onscreen.

the computer is a capitalist tool, so capitalize on it.

there’s no excuse anymore for not using the personal computer (pc) for writing. even if you don’t know many of the commands for word/idea processing, the pc is still much easier to work with than any typewriter when it comes to writing. for instance, there is no need to retype 10 pages just to correct 3 or 4 words in the middle of a 150-page report. and the output is so much nicer to look at and easier to read. and you can organize your thoughts faster and better.

you hesitate. if you are young, do you think the best (pc) is yet to come? if you’re no longer young, do you think you’re too old to learn? i was 45 when i started teaching myself how to master the pc so that i did not end up being its slave. i thank god i lived in the age of information.

10. write big.

now is the time for all good men to believe in something bigger than themselves.

if you want to be a great writer, believe in something bigger than yourself. believe in and write for the individual, family, village, town, country – always in the context of the world. then you’ll never go wrong; in fact, it will sustain you. whether your religion is reason, mysticism, science, islam or christianity. believing in god and that i am but a dot in the i doesn’t make me a great writer, but i find it such a blessing to feel so small i am able to relate to the big, the bigger, and the biggest of them all. and so i believe that writing, along with believing, is relating. and i feel great already!

written 1996

2006-02-23T02:05:00.000+08:00

The challenge to freedom. I say there are three freedoms: of the body, of the mind, and of the spirit. Gandhi’s challenge to the British rulers was for bodily freedom (political and economic independence); Rizal’s challenge to the Spanish conquistadors was for all three (political, intellectual, and spiritual independence).

Another excerpt from indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption

2006-02-21T17:41:00.000+08:00

Author's Profile, American Chronicle. Wit & without, writes out of the box (reads between lines too). Has turned into a WRINKER: writer & thinker in one body -> thinking creative -> thinking critical, in all hoping to make the impossible possible, the sterile productive. Prolific: 1 cockeyed optimist, 1 wife, 1 man, 13 children, 1 Catholic in theory. =============#001 THE WRINKER SAYS Learn from your errors - nobody else will.

2006-02-18T09:16:00.000+08:00

Earlier Author's Profile at American Chronicle. A science writer who thanks God for & loves logical minds Perry Mason & CSI Miami; creative minds Howard Gardner & Edward de Bono; progressive minds FVR, GMA, JDV; wits GBS & Ogden Nash; Mark Twain; musical artists Corrs, Beatles, Frank Sinatra; stories in NYT, RD, Wired; Crocodile Hunter; buoyant spirits CS Lewis, Scott Hahn & Patrick Madrid; JFK and Jackie; the Internet; imitating Ernest Hemingway & Nick Joaquin; wacky character Jen Ilustre.

2006-02-16T02:20:00.000+08:00

Filipinos: Barbarians, pirates, incapable of civilization!1902. Stalemate at the US Congress. Then a learned gentleman, a Congressman from Wisconsin, Henry Cooper, thunders his appeal for reason and faith, reason from American laws and tradition, and faith in the barbarians, pirates and savages who have given the world its first genius of a peacemaker by the name of Jose Rizal: he had died gladly and willingly for his country. Cooper tells his fellow lawmakers:

On the night before his death, he wrote a poem. I will read it, that the House may know what were the last thoughts of this ‘pirate,’ this ‘barbarian,’ this ‘savage,’ of a race ‘incapable of civilization!’

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

2006-02-15T18:00:00.000+08:00

So we begin with failure.We must learn from the past because we must continue the unfinished business. To learn about a successful Redemption, we must understand about the unsuccessful Redemption. Ours. That is why we remain a damaged culture.

We must understand failure. We must understand that ‘Mi Ultimo Adios’ itself is a 100-year old failure. There are other failures we must understand. So we begin with failure. Only after we examine failure can we can bid Adios! to failure.

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

2006-02-15T17:53:00.000+08:00

The mind of Jose Rizal.The mind of Rizal has always been an open book; if you want to learn more, you just have to learn how to turn more of the pages more often. And yes, the brain absorbs more when it reads between the lines.

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

2006-02-15T17:15:00.000+08:00

Make mine English: A poet, doctor, bookstore owner, writer.I am a slave to English, and I am glad that I am. Even proud. I am slave to some things American, like books, like the personal computer, like the Internet (yes, it started in the United States of America), like the cell phone, like the dictionary, like the theories of multiple intelligences (Howard Gardner) and experiential learning (David Kolb), like cable TV, like American movies and movie stars and my favorite writer Ernest Hemingway and favorite poet Robert Frost.

And Rizal? He was a slave to Spanish! But I do not love Rizal less. My book will tell you of my journey from being oblivious to being obsessed, from writing a book on Rizal that I didn’t finish to translating his ‘Adios, Patria Adorada’ that I finished, and wrote this book besides. His ideas have become my life’s passionate fancy, to borrow from his ultimate poem.

Why did I write this book? I’m a writer. ‘A doctor is advertised by the bodies he cures,’ Roger Mifflin says in Christopher Morley’s The Haunted Bookshop (1951: 16). Roger is a bookstore owner. ‘My business is advertised by the minds I stimulate.’ Roger is in the book business, and so am I; he sells ideas, and so do I. Let us listen, as next Roger tells Gilbert:

I am interested that you should have thought it worth while to come in here. It reinforces my conviction of the amazing future ahead of the book business. But I tell you that future lies not merely in systematizing it as a trade. It lies in dignifying it as a profession.

So, with the writing of this book, I hope I am contributing to all that.

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

2006-02-15T16:55:00.000+08:00

Atlas Shrugged: The Unknown Capitalist Manifesto.Never mind having to read (or reread) Atlas Shrugged now. Just remember, Ayn Rand was Russian before she was American; she was born in St Petersburg in 1905; she graduated from the University of Petrograd in 1924. Searching for freedom (aren’t they all?), 2 years later she immigrated to the United States. In 1966, she wrote Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. Capital. That is the known Capitalist Manifesto. Atlas Shrugged is the unknown Capitalist Manifesto.

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

2006-02-15T16:26:00.000+08:00

Continuing the Indio Bravo Campaign. To put up the irresistible force against the unmovable object that is the combined storied power of the articulate and the inarticulate, there is a need to continue The Great Indio Bravo Enterprise that our hero began – redeeming our¬selves from our damaged culture. I call it that, remembering Rizal and his gang of natives (called Indios by the Europeans) touring the 1889 Paris international exhibition where they saw the American Indians (also called Indios) on exhibit and they realized that these Indios were displaying pride in being called themselves Indios. Rizal was ashamed of himself, an Indio ashamed of his country. No more! And thus was born the group: Los Indios Bravos (The Brave Indios). The Indios had found themselves in the Indios.

But only a few then shared the Indios Bravos’ pride in themselves and their own country whoever they were, whatever it was. And only a few share it now, more than a hundred years later; and this Jewel of the Orient Sea, this Paradise of a country is still headed to destruction. To their credit, the modern-day pretenders to political wisdom want to save the country from ruin. But I reject their kind of war, I reject their kind of peace. My choice is Redemption. And in my list of Neo-Redeemers are these three:

There’s Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, my President, trying to save us from our holier-than-thou attitude.

And Fidel Valdez Ramos, my once President, trying to deliver us from the evils of the presidential form of government.

And Joe De Venecia, my once-future President, trying to rescue us from those trying to derail the train of progress. The three of them together is a happy combination. They are not perfect, not spotless, but they are all trying to liberate us from the tyranny of the minority, which to me is paramount. We have to help them help ourselves.

Still and all, Jose Rizal is my ultimate human, intellectual Redeemer.

To redeem, according to American Heritage, is to (a) set free, rescue or ransom, (b) save from a state of sinfulness and its consequences, (c) restore the honor, worth, or reputation of. To me, Redemption means all of the above.

By definition, I say Redemption is exactly Rizal’s mission and the reason he went abroad abruptly in May 1882. Not seeing much hope in the status quo, he pursued his studies in Europe, ultimately ‘seeking the welfare we all desire’ (Vicente Gella, letter of 30 June 1882, RCFR/Rizal’s Correspondence With Fellow Reformists 1992: 1). He would apply himself to ‘study and civic virtues, without which there can be no Redemption’ (Guerrero 1991: 423).

To set free the Filipinos of his time from their colonial mentality, from Spanish cultural imperialism. To save the Filipinos from the sins of their fathers: apathy, ignorance, sloth. To restore the honor of the Filipinos from cultural slavery to cultural independence.

That is all. That is all? No. Jose Rizal’s mission in life was to set free, to save from sin, to restore the honor, that is to say, to rescue from inferiority the Filipinos – but not Jose Rizal doing it all by himself.

No. Everyone must be for himself, doing it for himself: redeeming himself. I say that that is the essence of Redemption. Redemption is a do-it-yourself thing.

Another excerpt from my book indios bravos!

#1, by Frank A Hilario

2006-02-08T03:52:00.000+08:00

New English Translation of Rizal's Ultimate Poem
Adios, Beloved Patria December 2005 Frank A Hilario
Adios, beloved Patria, EarthLove of the Sun, Pearl of the Sea Orient, Eden in ruins bad! Glad am I to give my life shrunk and forsaken; And were it more radiant, more fresh, more floral then, Would for you give I still, still I give for your good.	Let the passionate sun the rains evaporate And give back to the sky pure with my last cry heard; Let a friend weep over my inopportune death, And in serene evenings, a prayer for me state; Pray too, oh Patria, I may be at peace with God!
In the fields of battle, struggling with delirium, Others give their lives, without doubts, without regret; Site matters not; cypress, laurel or lily bloom, Gallows or open field, fight or cruel martyrdom Notwithstanding, if but hearth and Patria request.	Pray for all of those who perish without gladness, For all those who suffer torments without equal; For our hapless mothers who wail in bitterness, For orphans and widows, for captives in distress, And pray for you to see your redemption final.
I die as I see the sky flushes with color And announces day at last, after a dark night; When a scarlet you need to tinge its aurora, Spill my blood and pour at such beneficial hour, And so gild a reflection of the nascent light.	And when the dark evening shrouds the cemetery, And the dead alone in vigil lone keep watching, Disturb not the quiet, disturb not the mystery; Perceive a note of zither or psalter you may: ‘ Tis I, cherished Patria, ‘tis to you am singing.
My dreams when I was just a boy adolescent, My dreams when in youth I had vigor in fullness, Were to watch you one day, Gem of the Sea Orient, With those dark eyes now light, head now held eminent, Sans frown, sans furrows, sans smudges of shamefulness.	And when where I fall by all is recalled no more, Neither cross standing nor stone indicating place, Let man by plow work on it and by spade scatter, And before my ashes to nothing they return, Turn powder on your floor to carpet your surface.
Dream of my life, my ardent living fantasy: Salute! Cries out the soul presently to depart! Salute! Ah, how lovely to fall so you may fly, To die so you may live, to die beneath your sky, And sleep eternally in your enchanted earth.	Then it matters not I am pushed to oblivion: I shall cross your valleys, your atmosphere, your space; Vibrant and clear note shall be for you to listen, Aroma, light, colors, murmur, melody, moan, Constantly repeating the essence of my faith.
Should one day you see over my sepulcher burst, Amidst the thick grass a single humble flower, Bring but near your lips and you shall kiss my spirit; And I on my face shall feel down in the cold crypt, In your tenderness a touch, in your breath ardor.	My Patria idolized, despair of my despairs, Dearest Filipinas, hear now my last adios. I bequeath all to you: my elders, my amours; I go where are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors, Where faith does not kill, where God is the Lord of hosts.
Let the moon strew over me its light calm and suave; Let the dawn spread over me its resplendent rays, Let the wind expel over me its murmur grave; And if on my cross a bird descends with resolve, Let that bird there intone its canticle of peace.	Adios, parents and kindred, fragments of my soul, Friends from my childhood then, all in that damaged house; Give thanks I lay me down from the weary day’s toil; Adios, sweet stranger, my boon companion, my joy; Adios, loved ones all. To die is to repose.

2006-02-06T23:29:00.000+08:00

The Manila Overlords.Overlords. My book identifies some of them. But you can identify them yourselves. They are overlords, whoever they are, if they acquire the air of superiority, adopt the attitude of the incorruptible, and assume the posture of the patriot. They may be in the minority, but certainly they are noisy. They may cackle like hens, they may gaggle like geese, they may bleat like sheep, or they may howl like canines. They may be are literate people, even with doctorate degrees in their fields, but their vocabulary certainly is limited to only one word in relation to our President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo: Resign! Or two words, Get out! Or three words: We know better. Or four words: We are the world, meaning they speak for everyone. They don’t; they speak for themselves.

They are patriots of the mouth. What this country needs is patriots of the hand, patriots of the mind, patriots of the heart. Not to mention patriots of the pen, as the pen is mightier than the sword if it writes for others. In the classroom, we need patriots of history, those who can excite us with their telling of our past, their describing our present, and their imagining our future. We want to enjoy our learning of history if we can’t make it ourselves.If you want to take pleasure in history written while it is being made, click here for your free electronic copy of Chapter 1 of my book indios bravos! subtitled Jose Rizal as the Messiah of Redemption of a Damaged Culture.

And why should you do that? Because it’s free. Because you want to do something. Because you don’t want to simply allow patriotism to be the refuge of scoundrels.

To encourage you more, click here to visit my other blogsite.

2006-01-27T18:30:00.000+08:00

The intellectual mess we are in. Nicky, Right now, 1337 hours 26 January, my wife and I are watching Straight Talk Cito Beltran interviewing Panjie Lopez and Susan Calalay at ANC. And right now I’m reading your editorial ‘Have we betrayed Rizal?’ I’m happy with them, I’m unhappy with you.

Yes, as Susan says, ‘Change must come from within.’ Yes, as Panjie says, ‘We want to show the other side, the positive side. We want to shift focus, we are creating a whole new world for our children.’

Sorry, but I find I must disagree with you. No, we have not betrayed Rizal. What we have done is betray ourselves. When we denounce the government, we are denouncing ourselves – we are the government.

Apathy is something we learned from (a defense mechanism against the abuses of) the Spaniards (read again his ‘Indolence of the Filipinos’), and even Jose Rizal failed to awaken us from our ‘profound lethargy’ (his exact words). The Filipinos awakened long enough to drive the Spaniards out, but not long enough to drive the Americans out. Our apathy is historical, ancient. And no, we did not do anything about the corruption in government except to intensify it from the first Republic to this one. Who was it who said, ‘I prefer a government run by hell by Filipinos then run by heaven by Americans!’ That’s what we got – be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. And no, corruption is not to be blamed on the corrupt – it must be blamed on the corruptor, who is us.

About the current political mess we are in, we brought it to ourselves and nobody else. Why, don’t we know how to get out of it? We do, but the noisy among us who can catch the attention of the media do nothing except complain. We are willing tools of those who are out who want in.

About the translation of Rizal’s valedictory poem, I have just published a book based on my own English translation; I titled my translation ‘Adios, Beloved Patria’ – if you’re interested, you can go to http://adiosfarewellgoodbye.blogspot.com/. The one you are quoting from is that of Alzona and Abeto (1961) – in my blogsite, you can see if it belongs to my Top 10 English translations or not. In my book, Rizal’s ultimate poem has a surprising one-word message: Love. Love your friends. Love your enemies! What greater love has a man than to die for his friends – and enemies? And I like that commandment because it’s impossible to love your enemies. God must be a sadist. That is, if in the first place you think it’s impossible. That is, if all you do is hate your enemies because it’s easier – no sweat.

No, Nicky, Rizal did not die to liberate his country from Spanish colonization. He was not after independence, or political liberation. Rather, he was after spiritual liberation. He died hoping to set his countrymen free from the tyranny of the friars as masters as well as set the Filipinos free from their own tyranny, the tyranny of their own inferiority complex which they acquired from and was nurtured by the Spaniards themselves for so many centuries. His fight can be summarized in three words, and these are his own words: Education, education, education.

You can call it imperialism, but globalization is here, and it is an irresistible force and we are not an immovable object. So, what do we do? We compete. We compete with our best. We rise to the occasion. You can derail the meeting of the WTO, but that is all we do. And not again. Nothing positive.

Bad Philippine politics is not practiced by the politicians – it is practiced by the small men, the men in the street, and the men with money. The ones who cater for special favors, the ones who beg for jobs, the ones who buy public works contracts, the ones who will pay anything so that they can get what they want. These are the real politicians, the real corruptors. We have seen the enemy, and it is us.

It is time to stop complaining about corruption, about the Philippines being #2 among the corrupt countries in the world – why, the amount stolen by our politicians is nothing compared to the amount stolen by only one head honcho in the United States! And yet you don’t call the United States #1 in corruption. What about corrupt morals? The United States exports war – war can never be justified. Abortion too.

I no longer look at the Noli as if it were the best novel any Filipino in any language can write. It is not. It is very funny, yes; it is excellent satire, yes. In that sense, it is probably the best novel the Filipino has ever written. But it is also history, as Rizal said it is, but it is bad history like his annotation of Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Pilipinas is good history. I don’t know about you, but I am a Roman Catholic (again), and I am sorry to tell you that the Noli is not a fair presentation of things Catholic. Rizal mistakes the practices of the Catholics with Catholicism. The excesses of the friars (and their flocks) are not the excesses of Catholicism; they are wrong practices arising from correct theory (dogma). Yes, there were Popes who were dupes, as someone said, but they were following their own dictates, not the dictates of Catholicism. If you blame Catholicism for the bad practices of Catholics, then you must blame government (policies) for the corrupt practices of government (persons).

You are wrong when you say that what we have today is ‘a government that is totally rejected by most Filipinos.’ In fact, most Filipinos don’t care! (I care – I’m pro-GMA, no matter what: ‘He who has no sin, let him cast the first stone!’) That’s precisely why we need such movements as your Karangalan. That’s precisely what Rizal was complaining and did something about – he wrote the Noli. On my part, I have written a book invoking the spirit of Rizal: indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption. If you didn’t realize it, Karangalan is part of the continuing Rizal revolution. My book says I am an active part of that revolution. What Rizal wanted to do was redeem the Filipinos from the sins of the Spaniards and from the sins unto themselves. And I have only one message in my book: Redemption is a do-it-yourself thing. You cannot shout at a corrupt government to redeem you, not even a good government. If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. In that sense, I agree with the raison d’etre for Karangalan.

Why are not the youth coming forth to prove Rizal right in saying they are the hope of the fatherland? Because we adults have not shown them good examples except to march in the streets and carry placards and denounce people. That is not positive. The youth are discouraged by their elders saying one thing and doing the opposite. Who wants to listen to denunciations everyday? We have not given our youth the alternative of thinking better than we do. Our schools do not teach them creative thinking, only critical thinking. So I’m not surprised that after they criticize, they go their way and you will find them in Internet cafes playing games. (By the way, better than doing drugs!)

We do not have to die like Rizal to sacrifice for our country. It is enough that we do the best we can whatever we are supposed to be doing. That is heroism enough. But we are not teaching this to our children, to the youth. We are not teaching this to our teachers. Our teachers don’t have time to learn to think creatively because they are out in the streets demonstrating. We have to will ourselves to do something positive.

We have betrayed ourselves. And only we can right the wrong we have done. If only we will. Panjie is right; she is doing what she can, like buying organic. Like not lying. And Susan is right: she is doing what she can, like not cheating in business. All we have to do is do things right, whatever we are doing, and we will be all right. Social transformation cannot happen overnight. Even the greatest teacher in the world couldn’t do it. Otherwise, it’s ningas cogon, a fast burn. That’s why I too believe in what Karangalan is doing: a slow burn.

Frank A Hilario

Patria Adorada without Adios

2006-01-24T00:23:00.000+08:00

The I Complex and the A Complex of the Filipino

Today, 23 January 2006, having read & reread the full article of James Fallows, ‘A Damaged Culture’ that appeared in the November 1987 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, and thinking of the hero’s first novel, the Noli, which was written exactly 100 years before that and which described the corruption of morals of the Filipinos (not to mention the Spaniards), and of his valedictory poem, Adios, Patria Adorada, which told of a ‘perdido Eden’ (‘our Eden in ruins bad’) and a ‘perdido hogar’ (‘damaged house’), a different thought occurred to me about the cultural inferiority complex of the Filipino. I am now thinking of two complexes, both of them of very old origin, and which I shall call the I complex of the Filipinos and the A complex of their hero.

The I complex. The I stands for the inadequacy, insecurity & identity crisis of the Filipino, which drives him to extremes of hope and despair, extremes of achievement and distraction, even destruction. That explains his selfishness, his regionalism, his lack of nationalism. That explains, for instance, his current preoccupation with misinformation and disinformation and designs and rumors of coup.

The A complex. The A stands for adoration, advocacy & amplification by Jose Rizal. Indeed, he adored his country, his Patria adorada; he advocated for her in the name of justice and fairness; instead of trying to diminish it, he tried to amplify the strength of the Filipino spirit.

Unless we become heroes ourselves in our own right, we will always be the victims of our own I complex.

This site is dedicated to English translations of the ultimate poem of our national hero. If you want more on Rizal, click here.