tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54615232638881643472024-03-08T23:51:15.809+08:00Kathang PinoyFilipino in thoughts and words.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-39211902145291377062014-04-19T12:55:00.005+08:002020-12-01T20:44:04.636+08:00Nick Joaquin: The Biography<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Nick Joaquín (Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín) was born in the old district of Pacò in Manila, Philippines, on September 15, 1917, the feast day of Saint Nicomedes, a protomartyr of Rome, after whom he took his baptismal name. Although some claimed the writer's correct birthdate was May 04, 1917. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Whichever was right, Nick was born to a home deeply Catholic, educated, and prosperous family. His father, Leocadio Joaquín, was a procurador (attorney) in the Court of First Instance of Laguna at the time of the Philippine Revolution. Around 1906, after the death of his first wife, he married Salomé Márquez, Nick’s mother. A friend of General Emilio Aguinaldo, Leocadio was a popular lawyer in Manila and the Southern Tagalog provinces.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">The fifth child of ten children, Nick had an extremely happy childhood. Their parents were able to provide them a decent and privileged life. However in 1920s, Leocadio lost the family's fortune in an oil exploration investment somewhere in the Visayas. This was the turning point in the life of the Joaquin's. After that, Nick dropped out of school and his intention of entering the seminary to pursue his religious vocation was abandoned. Later, his work in the composing department of the Tribune, of the TVT (Tribune-Vanguardia-Taliba) publishing company, got him started on what would be a lifelong association with the world of print.</span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"> Right after the war, he published in rapid succession stories as “Summer Solstice,” “May Day Eve,” and “Guardia de Honor.” These stories have become Nick Joaquín’s signature stories and classics in Philippine writing in English.</span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"> In 1947, Joaquin's earlier dream of leaving Manila after the war came to reality when he was awarded a scholarship to the Saint Albert’s College, a Dominican monastery in Hong Kong after the publication of his essay “La Naval de Manila” (1943), a description of Manila’s fabled resistance to 17th-century Dutch invaders. His stay at Saint Albert’s schooled him in Latin and the classics. He stayed less than two years and returned to Manila thereafter.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;"> In 1950 Joaquin joined the country's premiere magazine, Philippine's Free Press working as a proofreader, copywriter, and then member of the staff. His Free Press years established him as a leading public figure in Philippine letters. He wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila (“Manila Old-Timer”).</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">He wrote with eloquence and verve on the most democratic range of subjects, from the arts and popular culture to history and current politics. He was a widely read chronicler of the times, original and provocative in his insights and energetic </span><span style="font-family: times;">and compassionate in his embrace of local realities. (Biography of Nick Joaquín, Resil B. Mojares).</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"> The novel The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961) examines his country’s various heritages. A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966), a celebrated play, attempts to reconcile historical events with dynamic change.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila. He was eighty-six. He was then editor of Philippine Graphic magazine where he worked with Juan P. Dayang, who was the magazine's first publisher. Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. Joaquin was also publisher of its sister publication, Mirror Weekly, a women’s magazine. He also wrote the column (“Small Beer”) for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Isyu, an opinion tabloid.</span><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">He is considered one of the most important Filipino writers in English, and the third most important overall, after <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">José Rizal</a> and <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Claro M. Recto</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">For a detailed biography of Nick Joaquin, <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">click here.</a></span></p><div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-2381214271574505082014-04-19T11:01:00.001+08:002020-12-01T20:35:43.510+08:00Carmen Guerrero Nakpil: The Biography<p style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/aliww/images/women_pics/CNakpil_big.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/aliww/images/women_pics/CNakpil_big.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil (Photo credit: http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/)</td></tr>
</tbody></table></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Carmen Guerrero- Nakpil</b> is a prominent Filipino journalist, author, historian and public servant. She was born on July 19, 1922 in Ermita, Manila— in what then the epicenter of the Hispano-Filipino community, into the Guerrero clan of that town, who were renown literary artists (painters and poets), as well as scientists and doctors.</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Her parents were Alfredo Leon Guerrero, a doctor, and Filomena Francisco, celebrated as Philippine's first pharmacist. Brother Leon Ma. III, lawyer and diplomat is a renown essayist and fictionist who was best known for his translations of Rizal's two novels, <i>Noli Me Tangere </i>and <i>El Filibusterismo</i>, as well as the prize-winning work on Jose Rizal, <i>The First Filipino</i>. Her second brother Mario X. Guerrero, was one of the country's first foreign-trained cardiologists. Nakpil studied at St. Theresa’s College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942. While there she edited the campus paper, <i>The Orion</i>. She taught literature at the same college.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">She married Lt. Ismael A. Cruz in 1942, with whom she had two children, one of whom, Gemma Cruz- Araneta, a fictionist and Ismael G. Cruz. Carmen was widowed in World War II. Years after her first husband’s death, she married Harvard-trained modernist, the city planner and architect Angel E. Nakpil in 1950 with whom she had three children: Ramon Guerrero Nakpil, Lisa Guerrero Nakpil, and Luis Guerrero Nakpil.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Between the year 1946 and 2006, Nakpil worked either as staff member, editor or editorial columnist for the <i>Manila Chronicle</i> for 12 years where she wrote a daily column and a weekly column for the <i>Sunday Times Magazine</i>; she was also a columnist or editor at <i>Evening News Saturday Magazine</i>, <i>Weekly Women’s Magazine, Malaya</i>, and other newspapers. In 1960s, Nakpil served as the chairperson of the National Historical Commission and the Cultural Committee of the Philippine Commission for UNESCO. In 1983-1986 she worked as a representative elected by the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris. And between 1984-1986 she was managing director of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Guerrero-Nakpil’s published works include: <i>Woman Enough and Other Essays</i>, 1963;<i> Question of Identity,</i> 1973; <i>The Philippines and the Filipino,</i> 1977; <i>The Philippines: The Land of the People</i>, 1989; a novel, <i>The Rice Conspiracy</i>, 1990; <i>History Today</i>, the <i>Centennial Reader and Whatever</i>; as well as a wildly successful autobiographical trilogy <i>Myself, Elsewhere; Legends & Adventures</i>; and<i> Exeunt.</i></span></p><p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-73756724244286122112014-04-18T21:35:00.001+08:002014-04-18T21:37:01.821+08:001983 Arrival Speech of Ninoy Aquino<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights and freedoms through non-violence.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation founded on justice.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political mentors.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the courts.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Three years ago when I left for an emergency heart bypass operation, I hoped and prayed that the rights and freedoms of our people would soon be restored, that living conditions would improve and that blood-letting would stop.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis. I never sought not have I been given any assurances, or promise of leniency by the regime. I return voluntarily armed only with a clear conscience and fortified in the faith that in the end, justice will emerge triumphant. According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God and man.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Rather than move forward we have moved backward. The killings have increased, the economy has taken a turn for the worse and the human rights situation has deteriorated.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">During the martial law period, the Supreme Court heard petitions for habeas corpus. It is most ironic after martial law has allegedly been lifted, that the Supreme Court last April ruled it can longer entertain petitions for habeas corpus for person detained under the Presidential Commitment Order, which covers all so-called national security cases and which under present circumstances can cover almost anything.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The country is far advanced in her times of trouble. Economic, social and political problems bedevil the Filipino. These problems may be surmounted if we are united. But we can be united only if all the rights and freedoms enjoyed before September 21, 1972 are fully restored.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The Filipino asked for nothing more, but will surely accept nothing less, than all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the 1935 constitution – the most sacred legacies from the founding fathers.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Yes, the Filipino is patient, but there is a limit to his patience. Must we wait until that patience snaps?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The nationwide rebellion is escalating and threatens to explode into a bloody revolution. There is a growing cadre of young Filipinos who have finally come to realize that freedom is never granted, it is taken. Must we relive the agonies and the blood-letting of the past that brought forth our republic or can we sit down as brothers and sisters and discuss our differences with reason and goodwill?</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I have often wondered how many disputes could have been settled easily had the disputants only dared to define their terms.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">So as to leave no room for misunderstanding, I shall define my terms:</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Six years ago, I was sentenced to die before a firing squad by a military tribunal whose jurisdiction I steadfastly refused to recognize. It is now time for the regime to decide. Order my immediate execution or set me free.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I was sentenced to die for allegedly being the leading communist leader.</b><span style="background-color: white;"> I am not a communist, never was and never will be.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">National reconciliation and unity can be achieved, but only with justice, including justice for our Muslim and Ifugao brothers. There can be no deal with a dictator. No compromise with dictatorship.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">In a revolution there can really be no victors, only victims. We do not have to destroy in order to build.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Subversion stems from economic, social, and political causes and will not be solved by purely military solution: It can be curbed not with ever increasing repression but with a more equitable distribution of wealth, more democracy and more freedom.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">For the economy to get going once again, the working man must be given his just and rightful share or his labor, and to the owners and managers must be restored the hope where there is so must uncertainty if not despair.</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">On one of the long corridors of Harvard University are carved in granite the words of Archibald Macleish: ‘How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms; by truth when it is attacked by lies; by democratic faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always and in the final act, by determination and faith.’</span><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I return from exile and an uncertain future with only determination and faith to offer – faith in our people and faith in God.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-78685691655429819112014-04-18T21:29:00.000+08:002014-04-18T21:29:10.758+08:00The Filipino Is Worth Dying For by Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I have asked myself many times: Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? Is he not a coward who would readily yield to any colonizer, be he foreign or homegrown? Is a Filipino more comfortable under an authoritarian leader because he does not want to be burdened with the freedom of choice? Is he unprepared, or worse, ill-suited for presidential or parliamentary democracy?<br /><br /><br />I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nation’s greatest untapped resource.</span>*<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
*<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Asian Journal, </i>August 4, 1980.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-84027593453302095372014-04-18T20:37:00.000+08:002014-04-18T20:37:03.444+08:00This I Believe by Carlos P. Romulo<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I believe above all that a man should be true to himself. I believe a man should be prepared at all times to sacrifice everything for his convictions. Twice during my life I have been called upon to make this kind of sacrifice. After Pearl Harbor, the Philippines was invaded by Japan. I had never been a soldier. I was a journalist. But something impelled me to enlist.<br /><br />I was attached to General Macarthur’s staff and went with him first to Bataan and later to Corregidor. In Corregidor, I was placed in charge of the broadcast called the Voice of Freedom. The Japanese reacted violently to the broadcast. I learned that a prize had been put on my head, and worse that they had gone after my wife and four sons who had been left behind in the occupied territory. I suffered indescribable torment, worrying about my loved ones. I wanted to go back to Manila at whatever cost. But I was ordered to proceed to Australia on the eve of the fall of Bataan.<br /><br />From Australia, I was sent on to the United States, where I continued to make the Voice of Freedom heard, regardless of the consequences to my family. I did not see them again until after the liberation of my country by the American forces under General Macarthur, aided by the Filipino guerillas who had carried on a vigorous resistance during the more than three years of enemy occupation.<br /><br />The second time I was called upon to make a considerable sacrifice for my convictions was during the 1953 national elections in the Philippines. I had never been a politician, but having become convinced that I should do everything I could to help effect a change of government in my country, I resigned as Ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the United Nations in order to enter the field against the incumbent president. I founded a third party, the Democratic Party, and accepted the nomination for president—started a vigorous campaign to awaken the Filipino people to the need for a change in administration.<br /><br />Midway in the campaign, it became apparent that the two opposition parties might lose the election if they remained divided, but had an excellent chance to win if they would present a united front. I made the painful decision to withdraw my candidacy. After withdrawing my own candidacy, I was the campaign managed of Mr. Ramón Magsaysay and campaigned up and down the land for him. I could not have worked harder if I had been the candidate myself.<br /><br />Magsaysay won by a landslide. The temptation was strong for all those who had worked for him to share in the rewards of victory. I was convinced, however, that the first duty of everyone who had helped to bring about a change of government was to give the new president a completely free hand in making appointments to keep positions in his administration. Immediately after the elections, I left for the United States.<br /><br />As I look back, I see this pattern of action and renunciation repeated over and over again in my life—in things great and small, in war and in peace. Some may call this a credo of self-sacrifice. I prefer to describe it as being true to one’s self, no matter what the cost.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-8763106396970022912014-04-18T20:06:00.000+08:002014-04-18T20:06:00.219+08:00The Indolence of the Filipinos by José Rizal (Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire)<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Doctor Sanciano, in his <i>Progreso de Filipinas,</i> has taken up this question, <i>agitated,</i> as he calls it, and relying upon facts and reports furnished by the very same Spanish authorities that ruled the Philippines has demonstrated that such indolence does not exist, and that all said about it does not deserve a reply or even passing choice.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nevertheless as discussion of it has been continued, not only by government employees who make it responsible for their own shortcomings, not only by the friars who regard it as necessary in order that they may continue to represent themselves as indispensable, but also by serious and disinterested persons: and as evidence of greater or less weight may be adduced in opposition to that which Dr. Sanciano cites, it seems expedient to us to study this question thoroughly, without superciliousness or sensitiveness, without prejudice, without pessimism. As as we can only serve our country by telling the truth, however, bitter it be, just as flagrant and skillful negation cannot refute a real and positive fact, in spite of the brilliance of the arguments; as mere affirmation is not sufficient to create something possible, let us calmly examine the facts, using on our part all the impartiality of which a man is capable who is convinced that there is no redemption except upon solid bases of virtue.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The word indolence has been greatly misused in the sense of little love for work and lack of energy, while ridicule has concealed the misuse. This much-discussed question has met with the same fate as certain panaceas and specifics of the quacks who by ascribing to them impossible virtues have discredited them. In the Middle Ages, and even in some Catholic countries now, the devil is blamed for everything that superstitious folk cannot understand or the perversity of mankind is loath to confess. In the Philippines one's and another's faults, the shortcomings of one, the misdeeds of another, are attributed to indolence. And just as in the Middle Ages he who sought the explanation of phenomena outside of infernal influences was persecuted, so in the Philippines worse happens to him who seeks the origin of the trouble outside of accepted beliefs.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The consequence of this misuse is that there are some who are interested in stating it as a dogma and others in combating it as a ridiculous superstition, if not a punishable delusion. Yet it is not to be inferred from the misuse of a thing that it does not exist.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We think that there must be something behind all this outcry, for it is incredible that so many should err, among whom we have said there are a lot of serious and disinterested persons. Some act in bad faith, though levity, through levity, through want of sound judgment, through limitation in reasoning power, ignorance of the past, or other cause. Some repeat what they have heard, without examination or reflection; others speak through pessimism or are impelled by that human characteristic which paints as perfect everything that belongs to oneself and defective whatever belongs to another. But it cannot be denied that there are some who worship truth, or if not truth itself at least the semblance thereof which is truth in the mind of the crowd.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Examining well, then, all scenes and all the men that we have known from childhood; and the life of our country, we believe that indolence does exist there. The Filipinos, who can measure up with the most active peoples in the world, will doubtless not repudiate his admission, for it is true there one works and struggles against the climate, against nature and against men. But we must not take the exception for the general rule, and should rather seek the good of our country by stating what we believe to be true. We must confess that indolence does actually and positively exist there, only that, instead of holding it to be the<i>cause</i> of the backwardness and the trouble, we regard it as the<i>effect</i> of the trouble and the backwardness, by fostering the development of a <i>lamentable predisposition.</i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Those who have as yet treated of indolence, with the exception of Dr. Sancianco, have been content to deny or affirm it. We know of no one who has studied its causes. Nevertheless, those who admit its existence and exaggerate it more or less have not therefore failed to advise remedies taken from here and there, from Java, from India, from other English or Dutch colonies, like the quack who saw a fever cured with a dozen sardines and afterwards always prescribed these fish at every rise in temperature that he discovered in his patient.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We shall proceed otherwise. Before proposing a remedy we shall examine the causes, and even though strictly speaking a predisposition is not a cause, let us, however, study at its true value this predisposition due to nature.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The predisposition exists? Why shouldn't it?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A hot climate requires of the individual quiet and rest, just as cold incites to labor and action. For this reason the Spaniard is more indolent than the Frenchman; the Frenchman more so than the German. The Europeans themselves who reproach the residents of the colonies so much (and I am not now speaking of the Spaniards but of the Germans and English themselves), how do they live in tropical countries? Surrounded by a numerous train of servants, never-going afoot but riding in a carriage, needing servants not only to take off their shoes for them but even to them! And yet they live and eat better, they work for themselves to get rich, with the hope of a future, free and respected, while the poor colonist, the <i>indolent colonist</i>, is badly nourished, has no hope, toils for others, and works under force and compulsion! Perhaps the reply to this will be that white men are not made to stand the severity of the climate. A mistake! A man can live in any climate, if he will only adapt himself to its requirements and conditions. What kills the European in hot countries is the abuse of liquors, the attempt to live according to the nature of his own country under another sky and another sun. We inhabitants of hot countries live well in northern Europe whenever we take the precautions of the people there do. Europeans can also stand the torrid zone, if only they would get rid of their prejudices.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact is that in tropical countries violent work is not a good thing as it is in cold countries, there it is death, destruction, annihilation. Nature knows this and like a just mother has therefore made the earth more fertile, more productive, as a compensation. An hour's work under that burning sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from nature in activity, is equal to a day's work in a temperate climate; it is, then, just that the earth yields a hundred fold! Moreover, do we not see the active European, who feels the fresh blood of spring boil in his veins, do we not see him abandon his labors, during the few days of his variable summer, close his office -- where the work is not violent and amounts for many to talking and gesticulating in the shade beside a lunch stand -- flee to watering places, sit in the cafes or stroll about. What wonder then that the inhabitant of tropical countries, worn out and with his blood thinned by the continuous and excessive heat is reduced to inaction? Who is the indolent one in the Manila offices? Is it the poor clerk who comes in at eight in the morning and leaves at one in the afternoon with only his parasol, who copies and writes and works for himself and for his chief, or is it the chief, who comes in a carriage at ten o'clock, leaves before twelve, reads his newspaper while smoking and with his feet cocked up on a chair or a table, or gossiping about all his friends? What is indolent, the native coadjutor, poorly paid and badly treated, who has to visit all the indigent sick living in the country, or the friar curate who gets fabulously rich, goes about in a carriage, eats and drinks well, and does not put himself to any trouble without collecting an excessive fee?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Without speaking further of the Europeans in what violent labor does the Chinaman engage in tropical countries, the industrious Chinaman, who flees from his own country driven by hunger and whose whole ambition is to amass a small fortune? With the exception of some porters, an occupation that the natives also follow, he nearly always engages in the trade, in commerce; so rarely does he take up agriculture that we do not know of a single case. The Chinaman who in other colonies cultivates the soil does so only for a certain number of years and then retires.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We find, then, the tendency to indolence very natural, and have to admit and bless it, for we cannot alter natural laws, and without it the race would have disappeared. l Man is not a brute, he is not a machine, his object is not merely to produce, in spite of the pretensions of some Christian whites who would make of the colored Christian a kind of motive power somewhat more intelligent and less costly than steam. Man's object is not to satisfy the passions of another man, his object is to seek happiness for himself and his kind by traveling along the road of progress and perfection.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The evil is not that indolence exists more or less latently but that it is fostered and magnified. Among men, as well as among nations, there exist not only, aptitudes but also tendencies good and evil. To foster the good ones and aid them, as well as correct the evil and repress them, would be the duty of society and government, if less noble thoughts did not occupy their attention. The evil is that the indolence in the Philippines is a magnified indolence, an indolence of the snowball type, if we may be permitted the expression, an evil that increases in direct proportion to the periods of time, and <i>effect</i> of misgovernment and of backwardness, as we have said, and not a <i>cause</i> thereof. Others will hold the contrary opinion, especially those who have a hand in the misgovernment, but we do not care; we have made an assertion and are going to prove it.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">...</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;">When in consequence of a long chronic illness the condition of the patient is examined, the question may arise whether the weakening of the fibers and the debility of the organs are the cause of the malady's continuing or the effect of the bad treatment that prolongs its action. The attending physician attributes the entire failure of his skill to the poor constitution of the patient, to the climate, to the surroundings, and so on. On the other hand, the patient attributes the aggravation of the evil to the system of treatment followed. Only the common crowd, the inquisitive populace, shakes its head and cannot reach a decision.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Something like this happens in the case of the Philippines. Instead of a physician, read government, that is friars, employees, etc. Instead of patient, Philippines; instead of malady, indolence.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And just as happens in similar cases when the patient gets worse, everybody loses his head, each one dodges the responsibility to place it upon somebody else, and instead of seeking the causes in order to combat the evil in them, devotes himself at best to attacking the symptoms; here a blood-letting, a tax; there a plaster, forced labor, further on a sedative, a trifling reform. Every new arrival proposes a new remedy; one, seasons of prayer, the relics of a saint, the viaticum, the friars; another shower-bath; still another, with pretensions to modern ideas, a transfusion of blood. "It's nothing, only the patient has eight million indolent red corpuscles; some few white corpuscles in the form of an agricultural colony will get us out of the trouble."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, on all sides there are groans, gnawing of lips, clenching of fists, many hollow words, great ignorance, a deal of talk, a lot of fear. The patient is near his finish!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, transfusion of blood, transfusion of blood! New life, new vitality! Yes, new white corpuscles that you are going to inject into its veins, the new white corpuscles that were a cancer in another organism will withstand all the depravity of the system, will have more stamina than all the degeneration, all the trouble in the principal organs. Be thankful if they do not become coagulations and produce gangrene, be thankful if they do not reproduce the cancer!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While the patient breathes, we must not lose hope, and however late we may be, a judicious examination is never superfluous; at least the cause of death may be known. We are not trying to put all the blame on the physician, and still less on the patient, for we have already spoken of a predisposition, in the absence of which the race would disappear, sacrificed to excessive labor in a tropical country.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Indolence in the Philippines is a chronic malady, but not a hereditary one. The Filipinos have not always been what they are, witnesses whereto are all the historians of the first years after the discovery of the Islands.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Malayan Filipinos carried on an active trade, no only among themselves but also with all the neighboring countries. A Chinese manuscript of the 13th century, translated by Dr. Hirth (<i>Globus</i>, September, 1889), which we will take up at another time, speaks of China's relations with the islands, relations purely commercial, which mention is made of the activity and honesty of the traders of Luzon, who took the Chinese products and distributed them throughout all the islands, for the merchandise that the Chinaman did not remember to have given them. The products which they in exchange exported from the islands were crude wax, cotton, pearls, tortoise shell, betel-nuts, dry goods, etc.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The first thing noticed by Pigafetta who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at the first island of the Philippines, Samar, was the courtesy and kindness of the inhabitants and their commerce. "To honor our captain," he says, "they conducted him to their boats where they had their merchandise, which consisted of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmegs, mace, gold and other things; and they made us understand by gestures that such articles were to be found in the islands to which we were going."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Further on he speaks of the vessels and utensils of solid gold that he found in Butuan where the people worked in mines. He describes the silk dresses, the daggers with long gold hilts and scabbards of carved wood, the gold sets of teeth, etc. Among cereals and fruits he mentions rice, millet, oranges, lemons, panicum, etc.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That the islands maintained relations with neighboring countries and even with distant ones is proven by the ships from Siam, laden with gold and slaves, that Magellan found in Cebu. These ships paid certain duties to the king of the island. In the same year, 1521, the survivors of Magellan's expedition met the son of the Rajah of Luzon, who, as captain-general of the Sultan of Borneo and admiral of his fleet, had conquered for him the great city of Lave (Sarawak ?). Might this captain, who was greatly feared by all his foes, have been the Rajah Matanda whom the Spaniards afterwards encountered in Tondo in 1570?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1539 the warriors of Luzon took part in the formidable contests of Sumatra, and under the orders of Angi Sity Timor, Rajah of Batta, conquered and overthrew the terrible Alzadin, Sultan of Atchin, renowned in the historical annals of the Far East. (Marseen, <i>History of Sumatra</i>, chapter 20)</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">At that time, that sea where float the islands like a set of emeralds on a paten of bright glass, that sea was everywhere traversed by junks, <i>paraus</i>, <i>barangays</i>, <i>vintas</i>, vessels swift as shuttles so large that they could maintain a hundred rowers on a side (Morga); that sea bore everywhere commerce, industry, agriculture, by the force of the oars moved to the sound of warlike songs of the genealogies and achievements of the Philippine divinities. (Colin, Chapter 15)</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wealth abounded in the islands. Pigafetta tells us of the abundance of foodstuffs in Pragua and of its inhabitants, who nearly all tilled their own fields. At this island the survivors of Magellan's expedition were well received and provisioned. A little later, these same survivors captured a vessel, plundered and sacked it and took prisoner in it the chief of the Island of Paragua with his son and brother.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In this same vessel they captured bronze lombards, and this is the first mention of artillery of the Filipino, for these lombards were useful to the chief of Paragua against the savages of the interior.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They let him ransom himself within seven days, demanding 400 measures (<i>cavanes</i> ?) of rice, 20 pigs, 20 goats, and 450 chickens. This is the first act of piracy recorded in Philippine history. The chief of Paragua paid everything, and moreover, voluntarily added coconuts, bananas, and sugar-cane jars filled with palm wine. When Caesar was taken prisoner by the corsairs and required to pay twenty-five talents ransom, he replied, "I'll give you fifty, but later I'll have you crucified!" The chief of Paragua was more generous: he forgot. His conduct, while it may reveal weakness, also demonstrates that the islands ere abundantly provisioned. This chief was named Tuan Mahamud; his brother, Guantil, and his son, Tuan Mahamud. (Martin Mendez, Purser of the ship <i>Victoria</i>: Archivo de Indias.)</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A very extraordinary thing, and one that shows the facility with which the natives learned Spanish, is that fifty years before the arrival of the Spaniards in Luzon, in that very year 1521, when they first came to the islands, there were already natives of Luzon who understood Castilian. In the treaties of peace that the survivors of Magellan's expedition made with the chief of Paragua, when the servant-interpreter died they communicated with one another through a Moro who had been captured in the island of the King of Luzon and who understood some Spanish (Martin Mendez; <i>op cit.</i>) Where did this extemporaneous interpreter learn Castilian? In the Moluccas? In Malacca, with the Portuguese? Spaniards did not reach Luzon until 1571.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Legazpi's expedition met in Butuan various traders of Luzon with their boats laden with iron, cloths, porcelain, etc. (Gaspar de San Agustin) plenty of provisions, activity, trade, movement in all the southern islands.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They arrived at the Island of Cebu, "abounding in provisions, with mines and washings of gold, and peopled with natives, "as Morga says: "very populous, and at a port frequented by many ships that came from the islands and kingdoms near India," as Colin says: and even though they were peacefully received discord soon arose. The city was taken by force and burned. The first destroyed the food supplies and naturally famine broke out in that town of a hundred thousand people, as the historians say, and among the members of the expedition, but the neighboring islands quickly relieved the need, thanks to the abundance they enjoyed.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">All the histories of those first years, in short, abound in long accounts about the industry and agriculture of the natives; mines, gold-washings, looms, farms, barter, naval construction, raising of poultry and stock, weaving of silk and cotton, distilleries, manufactures of arms, pearl fisheries, the civet industry, the horn and hide industry, etc., are things encountered at every step, and considering the time and the conditions in the islands, prove that there was life, there was activity, there was movement.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And if this, which is deduction, does not convince any minds imbued with unfair prejudices perhaps, of some avail may be the testimony of the oft-quoted Dr. Morga, who was Lieutenant-Governor of Manila for seven years and after rendering great service in the Archipelago was appointed criminal judge of the Audiencia of Mexico and Counselor of the Inquisition. His testimony, we say, is highly credible, not only because all his contemporaries have spoken of him in terms that border on veneration but also because his work, from which we take these citations, is written with great circumspection and care, as well with reference to the authorities in the Philippines as to the errors they committed. "The natives," says Morga, in Chapter Seven, speaking of the occupations of the Chinese, "are very far from exercising those trade and have forgotten much about farming, raising poultry, stock and cotton, and weaving cloth. As they used to do in their Paganism and for a long time after the country was conquered."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The whole Chapter 8 of his work deals with this moribund activity, this much forgotten industry, and yet in spite of that, how long is his eighth chapter!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And not only Morga, not also Chirinco, Colin, Argensola, Gaspar de San Agustin and others agree to this matter, but modern travelers, after two hundred and fifty years, examining the decadence and misery, assert the same thing. Dr. Hans Meyer, when he saw the tribes not subdued cultivating beautiful fields and working energetically, asked if they would not become indolent when they in turn should accept Christianity and a paternal government.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Accordingly, the Filipinos in spite of the climate, in spite of their few needs (they were less then than now), were not the indolent creatures of our time, and, as we shall see later on, their ethics and their mode of life were not what is not complacently attributed to them.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How then, and in what way, was that active and enterprising infidel native of ancient times converted into the lazy and indolent Christian, as our contemporary writers say?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We have already spoken of the more or less latent predisposition which exists in the Philippines toward indolence, and which must exist everywhere, in the whole world, in all men, because we all hate work more or less, as it may be more or less hard, more ore less unproductive. The <i>dolce far niente</i> of the Italian, the <i>rascarse la barriga</i> of the Spaniard, the supreme aspiration of the bourgeois to live on his income in peace and tranquility, attest this.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What causes operated to awake this terrible predisposition from its lethargy? How is it that the Filipino people, so fond of its customs as to border on routine, has given up its ancient habits of work, of trade, of navigation, etc., even to the extent of completely forgetting its past?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">... </span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A fatal combination of circumstances, some independent of the will in spite of men's efforts, others in offspring of stupidity and ignorance, others the inevitable corollaries of false principles, and still others the result of more or less base passions, has induced the decline of labor, an evil which instead of being remedies by prudence, mature reflection and recognition of the mistakes made, through a deplorable policy, through regrettable blindness and obstinacy, has gone from bad to worse until it has reached the condition in which we now see it.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">First came the wars, the internal disorders which the new change of affairs naturally brought with it. It was necessary to subject the people either by cajolery or force; there were fights, there was slaughter; those who had submitted peacefully seemed to repent of it; insurrections were suspected, and some occurred; naturally there were executions, and many capable laborers perished. Add to this condition of disorder the invasion of Li-Mahong; add continual wars into which the inhabitants of the Philippines were pledged to maintain the honor of Spain, to extend the sway of her flag in Borneo, in the Moluccas and in Indo-China; to repel the Dutch foe; costly wars, fruitless expeditions, in which each time thousands and thousands of native archers and rowers were recorded to have embarked, but whether they returned to their homes was never stated. Like the tribute that once upon a time Greece sent to the Minotaur of Crete, the Philippine youth embarked for the expedition, saying goodbye to their country forever; on their horizon were the stormy sea, the interminable wars, the rash expeditions. Wherefore, Gaspar de San Agustin says: "Although anciently there were in this town of <i>Dumangas</i> many people, in the course of time<i>they have very greatly diminished because the natives are the best sailors and most skillful rowers </i>on the whole coast, and so the governors in the port of Iloilo take <i>most of the people</i> from this town for the ships that they send abroad . . . </span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When the Spaniards reached this island (Panay) it is said that there were on it more than fifty thousand families; but these diminished greatly . . . and at present they may amount to some fourteen thousand tributaries." From fifty thousand families to fourteen thousand tributaries in little over half a century!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We would never get through, had we to quote all the evidence of the authors regarding the frightful diminution of the inhabitants of the Philippines in the first years after the discovery. In the time of their first bishop, that is, ten years after Legazpi. Philip II said that they had been reduced to less than two-thirds.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Add to these fatal expeditions that wasted all the moral and material energies of the country, the frightful inroads of the terrible pirates from the south, instigated and encouraged by the government, first in order to get a complaint and afterwards disarm the islands subjected to it, inroads that reached the very shores of Manila, even Malate itself, and during which were sen to set out for captivity and slavery, in the baleful glow of burning villages, strings of wretches who had been unable to defend themselves, leaving behind them the ashes of their homes and the corpses of their parents and children. Morga, who recounts the first piratical invasion, says: "The boldness of these people of Mindanao did great damage to the Visayan Island, as much by what they did in them as by the fear and fright which the native acquired, because the latter were in the power of the Spaniards who held them subject and tributary and unarmed, <i>in such manner that they did not protect them from their enemies or leave the means with which to defend themselves, </i>AS THEY DID WHEN THERE WERE NO SPANIARDS IN THE COUNTRY." These piratical attacks continually reduce the number of the inhabitants of the Philippines, since the independent Malays were especially notorious for their atrocities and murders, sometimes because they believed that to preserve their independence it was necessary to weaken the Spaniard by reducing the number of his subjects, sometimes because a greater hatred and a deeper resentment inspired them against the Christian Filipino who, being of their own race, served the stranger in order to deprive them of their precious liberty. These expeditions lasted about three centuries, being repeated five and ten times a year, and each expedition cost the island over eight hundred prisoners.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"With the invasions of the pirates from Sulu and Mindanao," says Padre Gaspar de San Agustin, (the island of Bantayan, near Cebu) "has greatly reduced, because they easily captured the people there, since the latter had no place to fortify themselves and were far from help from Cebu. The hostile Sulus did great damage in this island in 1608, leaving it almost depopulated." (Page 380)</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These rough attacks, coming from without, produced a counter effect in the interior, which, carried out medical comparisons was like a purge or diet in an individual who has just lost a great deal of blood. In order to make headway against so many calamities, to secure their sovereignty and take the offensive in these disastrous contests, to isolate the warlike Sulus from their neighbors in the south, to care for the needs of the empire of the Indies (for one of the reasons why the Philippines were kept, as contemporary documents prove, ws their strategic position between New Spain and the Indies), to wrest from the Dutch their growing colonies of the Molluccas and get red of some troublesome neighbors, to maintain, in short, the trade of China and New Spain, it was necessary to construct new and large ships which, as we have seen, costly as they were to the country for their equipment and the rowers they required, were not less so because of the manner in which they were constructed. Padre Fernando de lost Rios Coronel, who fought in these wards and later turned priest, speaking of these King's ships, said, "As they were so large, the timber needed was scarcely to be found in the forests (of the Philippines?), and thus it was necessary to seek it with great difficulty in the most remote of them, where, once found, in order to haul and convey it to the shipyard the<i> towns of the surrounding country had to be depopulated of natives, who get it out with immense labor, damage, and cost to them.</i> The natives furnished the masts for a galleon, according to the assertion of the Franciscans, and I heard the governor of the province where they were cut, which is Laguna de Bay, say that to haul them seven leagues over very broken mountains 6,000<i>natives were engaged three months, without furnishing them food, which the wretched native had to seek for himself!"</i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And Gaspar de San Agustin says: "In these times (1690), Bacolor has not the people that it had in the past because of the uprising in that province when Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara was Governor of these islands and because of the continual labor of cutting timber for his Majesty's shipyards, which hinders them from cultivating the very fertile plain they have.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If this is not sufficient to explain the depopulation of the islands and the abandonment of industry, agriculture and commerce, then add "the natives who were executed, those who left their wives and children and fled in disgust to the mountains, those who were sold into slavery to pay the taxes levied upon them," as Fernando de los Rios Coronel says; add to all this what Philip II said in reprimanding Bishop Salazar about "natives sold to some<i>encomenderos</i> to others, those flogged to death, the women who are crushed to death by their heavy burdens, those who sleep in the fields and bear and nurse their children and die bitten by poisonous vermin, the many who are executed and left to die of hunger and those who eat poisonous herbs . . . and the mothers who kill their children in bearing them," and you will understand how in less than thirty years the population of the Philippines was reduced one-third. We are not saying this: it was said by Gaspar de San Agustin, the preeminently anti-Filipino Augustinian, and he confirms it throughout the rest of his work by speaking every moment of the state of neglect in which lay the farms and field once so flourishing and so well cultivated, the town thinned that had formerly been inhabited by many leading families!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How is it strange, then, that discouragement may have been infused into the spirit of the inhabitants of the Philippines, when in the midst of so many calamities they did not know whether they would see sprout the seed they were planting, whether their field was going to be their grave or their crop would go to feed their executioner? What is there strange in it, when we see the pious but impotent friars of that time trying to free their poor parishioners from the tyranny of the encomenderos by advising them to stop work in the mines, to abandon their commerce, to break up their looms, pointing out to them heaven for their whole hope, preparing them for death as their only consolation?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Man works for an object. Remove the object and you reduce him to inaction. The most active man in the world will fold his arms from the instant he understands that it is madness to bestir himself, that this work will be the cause of his trouble, that for him it will be the cause of vexations at home and of the pirate's greed abroad. It seems that these thoughts have never entered the minds of those who cry out against the indolence of the Filipinos.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Even were the Filipino not a man like the rest, even were we to suppose that zeal in him for work was as essential as the movement of a wheel caught in the gearing of others in motion; even were we to deny him foresight and the judgment that the past and present form, there would still be left us another reason to explain the attack of the evil. The abandonment of the fields by their cultivators, whom the wars and piratical attacks dragged from their homes was sufficient to reduce to nothing the hard labor of so many generations. In the Philippines abandon for a year the land most beautifully tended and you will see how you will have to begin all over again: the rain will wipe out the furrows, the floods will drown the seeds, pants and bushes will grow up everywhere, and on seeing so much useless labor the hand will drop the hoe, the laborer will desert his plow. Isn't there left the fine life of the pirate?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus is understood that sad discouragement which we find in the friar writers of the 17th century, speaking of once very fertile plains submerged, of provinces and towns depopulate, of leading families exterminated. These pages resemble a sad and monotonous scene in the night after a lively day. Of Cagayan, Padre Agustin speaks with mournful brevity: "A great deal of cotton, of which they made good cloth that the Chinese and Japanese every year <i>bought</i> and <i>carried </i> away." In the historian's time, the industry and the trade had come to an end.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It seems that there are causes more than sufficient to breed indolence in the midst of a beehive. Thus is explained why, after thirty-two years of the system, the circumspect and prudent Morga said that the natives <i>have forgotten much about farming, raising poultry, stock and cotton and weaving cloth, as they used to do in their paganism and</i> for a long time after the country had been conquered!"</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Still they struggled a long time against indolence, yes: but their enemies were so numerous that at last they gave up!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">...</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We recognize the causes that awoke the predisposition and provoked the evil: now let us see what foster and sustain it. In this connection government and governed have to bow our heads and say: "We deserve our fate."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We have already truly said that when a house becomes disturbed and disordered, we should not accuse the youngest child or the servants, but the head of it, especially if his authority is unlimited. He who does not act freely is not responsible for his actions; and the Filipino people, not being master of its liberty, is not responsible for either its misfortunes or its woes. We say this, it is true, but, as well as seen later on, we also have a large part in the continuation of such a disorder.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The following other causes contributed to foster the evil and aggravate it; the constantly lessening encouragement that labor has met with in the Philippines. Fearing to have the Filipinos deal frequently with other individuals of their own race, who were free and independent, as the Borneans, the Siamese, the Cambodians, and the Japanese, people who in their customs and feeling differ greatly from the Chinese, the government acted toward these others with great mistrust and great severity, as Morga testifies in the last pages of his work, until they finally ceased to come to the country. In fact, it seems that once an uprising planned by he Borneans was suspected: we say; <i>suspected</i>, for there was not even an attempt, although there were many executions. And as thse nations wee the very ones that consumed Philippine products, when all communication with them had been cut off, consumption of these products also ceased. The only two countries with which the Philippines continued to have relations were China and Mexico, or New Spain, and from this trade only China and a few private individuals in Manila got any benefit. In fact, the Celestial Empire sent her junks laden with merchandise, that merchandise which shut down the factories of Seville and ruined the Spanish industry, and returned laden in exchange with the silver that was every year sent from Mexico. Nothing from the Philippines at that time went to China, not even gold, for in those years the Chinese trades would accept no payment but silver coin. To Mexico went a little more: some cloth and dry goods which the <i>encomenderos</i> took by force or bought from the natives at a paltry; price, wax, amber, gold, civet, etc; but nothing more, and not even in great quantity, as is stated by Admiral Don Jeronimo de Benelos y Carrilo, when he begged the King that <i>"the inhabitants of the Manilas be permitted (1) to load as many ships as they could with native products, such as wax, gold, perfumes, ivory, cotton cloths, which they would have to buy from the natives of the country. . . Thus friendship of these peoples would be gained, they would furnish New Spain with their merchandise and the money that is brought to Manila would not leave this place."</i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The coastwise trade, so active in other times, had to die out, thanks to the piratical attacks of the Malays of the south; and trade in the interior of the islands almost entirely disappeared, owing to restrictions, passports and other administrative requirements.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of no little importance were the hindrance and obstacles that from the beginning were thrown in the farmer's way by the rules, who were influenced by childish fear and saw everywhere signs of conspiracies and uprisings. The natives were not allowed to go to their labors, that is, their farms, <i>without permission of the governor, or of his agents and officers, and even of the priests</i> as Morga says. Those who know the administrative slackness and confusion in a country where the officials work scarcely two hours a day; those who know the cost of going to and returning form the capital to the little tyrants will well understand how with this crude arrangement it is possible to have the most absurd agriculture. True it is that for sometime this absurdity which would be ludicrous had it not been so serious, had disappeared; but even if the words have gone out of use other facts and other provisions have replaced them. The Moro pirate has disappeared but there remains the outlaw who infests the fields and waylays the farmer to hold him for ransom. Now then, the government, which has a constant fear of the people, denies to the farmers even the use of a shotgun, or if it does allow it does so very grudgingly and withdraws it at pleasure; whence it results with the laborer, who, thanks to his means of defense, plants his crops and invests his meager fortune in the furrows that he has so laboriously opened, that when his crop matures it occurs to the government, which is impotent to suppress brigandage, to deprive him of his weapon; and then, without defense and without security, he is reduced to inaction and abandons his field, his work, and takes to gambling as the best means of securing a livelihood. The green cloth is under the protection of the government, it is safer! A mournful counselor is fear, for it not only causes weakness but also in casting aside the weapons, strengthens the very persecutor!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The sordid return the native gets from his work has the effect of discouraging him. We know from history that the<i>encomenderos</i>, after reducing many to slavery and forcing them to work for their benefit, made others give up their merchandise for a trife or nothing at all, or cheated them with the measures.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of Ipion, in Panay, Padre Gaspar de San Agustin says: "It was in ancient times very rich in <i>gold</i> . . . but provoked by he annoyances they suffered from some governors they have <i>ceased</i>to get it out, preferring to live in poverty than to suffer such hardships." (page 378) Further on, speaking of other towns, he says: "Boaded by ill treatment of the <i>encomenderos</i> who in administering justice have treated the natives as their slaves and not as their children, and have only looked after their own interests at the expense of the wretched fortunes and lives of their charges. . . (Page 422) Further on, "In Leyte, they tried to kill an<i>encomendero</i> of the town of Dagami on account of the great hardships he made them suffer by exacting tribute of wax from them with a steelyard which he had made twice as long as others. . ."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This state of affairs lasted a long time and still lasts, in spite of the fact that the breed of <i>encomenderos</i> has become extinct. A term passes away but the evil and the passions engendered do not pass away so long as reforms are devoted solely to changing the names.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The wars with the Dutch, the inroads and piratical attacks of the people of Sulu land Mindanao disappeared; the people have been transformed; new towns have grown up while others have become impoverished; but the frauds subsisted as much as or worse than they did in those early years. We will not cite our own experiences for aside from the fact that we do not know which to select, critical persons may reproach us with partiality; neither will we cite those of other Filipinos who write in the newspapers, but we shall confine ourselves to translating the words of a modern French traveler who as in the Philippines for a long time.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The good curate," he says with reference to the rosy picture a friar had given him of the Philippines, "had not told me about the governor, the foremost official of the district, who was too much taken up with the ideal of getting rich to have time to tyrannize over his docile subjects; the governor, charged with ruling the country and collecting the various taxes in the government's name, <i>devoted himself almost wholly to trade; in his hands the</i>high and noble functions he performs are nothing more <i>than instruments of gain. He monopolizes all the business and instead of developing on his part the love of work, instead of stimulating the too natural indolence of the natives, he with abuse of his powers thinks only of destroying all competition that may trouble him or attempts to participate in his profits. It maters little to him that the country is impoverished, without cultivation, without commerce, without industry, just so the governor is quickly enriched."</i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet the traveler has been unfair in picking out the <i>governor</i>especially. Why only the governor?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We do not cite passages from other authors, because we have not their works at hand and do not wish to quote from memory.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The great difficulty that every enterprise encountered with the administration contributed not a little to kill off all commercial and industrial movement. All the Filipinos, as well as all those who have tried to engage in business in the Philippines, know how many documents, what comings, how many stamped papers, how much patience is needed to secure from the government a permit for an enterprise. One must count upon the good will of this one, on the influence of that one, on a good bribe to another in order that the application be not pigeon-holed, a present to the one further on so that it may pass it on to his chief; one must pray to God to give him good humor and time to see and examine it; to another, talent to recognize its expediency; to one further on sufficient stupidity not to scent behind the enterprise an insurrectionary purpose land that they may not all spend the time taking baths, hunting or playing cards with the reverend friars in their convents or country houses. And above all, great patience, great knowledge of how to get along, plenty of money, a great deal of politics, many salutations, great influence, plenty of presents and complete resignation! How is it strange that the Philippines remain poor in spite of the fertile soil, when history tells us that the countries now the most flourishing date their development from the day of their liberty and civil rights? The most commercial and most industrious countries have been the freest countries. France, England and the United States prove this. Hong Kong, which is not worth the most insignificant of the Philippines, has more commercial movement than all the islands together, because it is free and is well governed.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The trade with China, which was the whole occupation of the colonizers of the Philippines, was not only prejudicial to Spain but also the life of her colonies; in fact, when the officials and private persons in Manila found an easy method of getting rich they neglected everything. They paid no attention either to cultivating the soil or to fostering industry; and wherefore? China furnished the trade, and they had only to take advantage of it and pick up the gold that dropped out on its way from Mexico toward the interior of China, the gulf whence it never returned. The pernicious example of the dominators in surrounding themselves with servants and despising manual or corporal labor as a thing unbecoming the nobility and chivalrous pride of the heroes of so many centuries; those lordly airs, which the natives have translated into <i>tila ka castila</i>, and the desire of the dominated to be the equal of the dominators, if not essentially, at least in their manners; all this had naturally to produce aversion to activity and fear or hatred of work.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moreover, "Why work?" asked the natives. The curate says that the rich man will not go to heaven. The rich man on earth is liable to all kinds of trouble, to be appointed a <i>cabeza de barangay</i>, to be deported if an uprising occurs, to be forced banker of the military chief of the town, who to reward him for favors received seizes his laborers and his stock in order to force him to beg money and thus easily pays up. Why be rich? So that all the officers of justice may have a lynx eye on your actions, so that at the least slip enemies may be raised up against you, you may be indicted, a whole complicated and labyrinthine story may be concocted against you, for which you can only get away, not by the tread of Ariadme but by Dane's shower of gold, and still give thanks that you are not kept in reserve for some needy occasion. The native, whom they pretend to regard as an imbecile, is not so much so that he does not understand that it is ridiculous to work himself to death to become worse off. A proverb of his says <i>the pig is cooked in its own lard</i>, and as among his bad qualities he has the good one of applying to himself all the criticisms and censures he refers to live miserable and indolent rather than play the part of the wretched beast of burden.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Add to this the introduction of gambling. We do not mean to say that before the coming of the Spaniards the natives did not gamble: the passion for gambling is innate in adventuresome and excitable races, and such is the Malay, Pigafetta tells us of cockfights and of bets in the Island of Paragua. Cock-fighting must also have existed in Luzon and in all the islands, for in the terminology of the game are two Tagalog words: <i>sabong</i> and <i>tari</i>(cockpit and gaff). But there is not the least doubt that the fostering of this game is due to the government, as well as the perfecting of it. Although Pigafetta tells us of it, he mentions it only in Paragua, and ot in Cebu nor in any other island of the south, where he stayed a long time. Morga does not speak of it, in spite of his having spent seven years in Manila, and yet he does describe the kinds of fowl, the jungle hens and cocks. Neither does Morga speak of gambling, when he talks about vices and other defects, more or lest concealed, more or less insignificant. Moreover excepting the two Tagalog words<i> sabong</i> and<i> tari</i>, the others are of Spanish origan as<i> soltada</i> (setting the cocks to fight, then the fight itself), <i>pusta</i> (<i>apusta</i>,<i> </i>bet)<i>,</i> <i>logro</i> (winning), <i>pago</i>(payment), etc. We say the same about gamblilng; the word<i>sugal</i> (<i>jugar</i>, to gamble), like<i> kumpistal </i>(<i>confesar</i>, to confess to a priest), indicates that gambling was unknown in the Philippines before the Spaniards. The word <i>laro </i>(Tagalog: to play) is not the equivalent of the word <i>sugal</i>. The word play (<i>baraja</i>, playing card) proves that the introduction of playing cards was not due to the Chinese, who have a kind of playing cards also, because in that case they would have taken the Chinese name. l Is nto this enough? The word <i>taya</i> (<i>tallar</i>, to bet), <i>paris-paris</i> (Spanish,<i>pares</i>, pairs of cards), <i>politana</i> (<i>napolitana</i> a winning sequence of cards), <i>sapote</i> (to stack the cards), <i>kapote</i> (to slam), <i>monte</i>, and so on, all prove the foreign origin of this terrible plant, which only produces vice and which has found in the character of the native a fit soil, cultivated circumstances.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Along with gambling, which breeds dislike for steady and difficult toil by its promise of sudden wealth and its appeal to the emotions, with the lotteries, with the prodigality and hospitality of the Filipinos, went also, to swell the train of misfortunes, the religious functions, the great number of fiestas, the long masses for the women to spend their mornings and the novenaries to spend their afternoons, and the nights for the processions and rosaries. Remember, that lack of capital and absence of means paralyze all movement, and you will see how the native was perforce to be indolent for if any money might remain to him from the trials, imposts and exactions, he would have to give it to the curate for bulls, scapularies, candles, novenaries, etc. And if this does not suffice to form an indolent character, if the climate and nature are not enough in themselves to daze him and deprive him of all energy, recall then that the doctrine of his religion teach him to irrigate his fields in the dry season, not by means of canals but with amasses and prayers; to preserve his stock during an epidemic with holy water, exorcisms and benedictions that cost five dollars an animal, to drive away the locusts by a procession with the image of St. Augustine, etc. It is well, undoubtedly, to trust greatly in God; but it is better to do what one can not trouble the Creator every moment, even when these appeals redound to the benefit of His ministers. We have noticed that the countries which believe most in miracles are the laziest, just as spoiled children are the most ill-mannered. Whether they believe in miracles to palliate their laziness or they are lazy because they believe in miracles, we cannot say; but he fact is the Filipinos were much less lazy before the word <i>miracle</i> was introduced into their language.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The facility with which individual liberty is curtailed, that continual alarm of all from the knowledge that they are liable to a secret report, a governmental ukase, and to the accusation of rebel or suspect, an accusation which, to be effective, does not need proof or the production of the accuser. With the lack of confidence in the future, that uncertainty of reaping the reward of labor, as in a city stricken with plague, everybody yields to fate, shuts himself in his house or goes about amusing himself in an attempt to spend the few days that remain to him in the least disagreeable way possible.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The apathy of the government itself toward everything in commerce and agriculture contributes not a little to foster indolence. Three is no encouragement at all for the manufacturer or for the farmer, the government furnishes no aid either when a poor crop comers, when the locusts sweep over the fields, or when cyclone destroys in its passage the wealth of the soil; nor does it take any trouble to seek a market for the products of its colonies. Why should it do so when these same products are burdened with taxes and imposts and have no free entry into the ports of the mother country, nor is their consumption there encouraged? While we see all the walls of London covered with advertisements of the products of its colonies, while the English make heroic efforts to substitute Ceylon for Chinese tea, beginning with the sacrifice of their taste and their stomach, in Spain, with the exception of tobacco, nothing from the Philippines is known; neither its sugar, coffee, hemp, fine cloths, nor its Ilocano blankets. The name of Manila is known only from those cloths of China or Indo-China which at one time reached Spain by way of Manila, heavy silk shawls, fantastically but coarsely embroidered, which no one has thought of imitating in Manila since they are so easily made; but the government has other cares, and the Filipinos do not know that such objects are more highly esteemed in the Peninsula than their delicate <i>piña</i>embroideries and their vey fine <i>jusi</i> fabrics. Thus disappeared our trade in indigo, thanks to the trickery of the Chinese, which the government could not guard against, occupied as it was with other thoughts; thus die now the other industries, the fine manufacturers of the Visayas are gradually disappearing from trade and even from use; the people, continually getting poorer, cannot afford the costly cloths, and have to be contented with calico or the imitations of the Germans, who produce imitations even of the work of our silversmiths.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact that the best plantations, the best tracts of land in some provinces, those that from their easy access are more profitable than others, are in the hands of the religious corporations, whose desideratum is ignorance and condition of semi-starvation of the native, so that they may, continue to govern him and make themselves necessary to his wretched existence, is one of the reasons why many tows do not progress in spite of the efforts of their inhabitants. We will be met with the objection, as an argument on the other side, that the towns which belong to the friars are comparatively richer than those which do not belong to them. They surely are! just as their brethren in Europe, in founding their convents, knew how to select the best valleys, the best uplands for the cultivation of the vine or the production of beer, so also the Philippine monks have known how to selecte the best towns, the beautiful plains, the well-watered fields, to make of them rich plantations. For some time the friars have deceived many by making them believe that if these plantations were prospering, it was because they were under their care, and the indolence of the natives was thus emphasized; but they forget that in some provinces where they have not been able for some reason to get possession of the best tracts of land, their plantations, like Bauan and Liang, are inferior to Taal, Balayan, and Lipa, regions cultivated entirely by the natives without any monkish interference whatsoever.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Add to this lack of material inducement the absence of moral stimulus and you will see how he who is not indolent in that country must needs be a madman or at least a fool. What future awaits him who distinguishes himself, him who studies, who rise above the crowd? At the cost of study and sacrifice a young man becomes a great chemist, and after a long course of training, wherein neither the government nor anybody has given him the least help, he concludes his long stay in the University. A competitive examination is held to fill a certain position. The young man wins this through knowledge and perseverance, and after he has won it, it is abolished, because. . . we do not care to give the reason, but when a municipal laboratory is closed in order to abolish the position of director, who got his place by competitive examination, while other officers, such as the press censor, are preserved, it is because the belief exists that the light of progress may injure the people more than all the adulterated foods. In the same way, another young man won a a prize in a literary competition, and as long as his origin was unknown his work was discussed, the newspapers praised it and it was regarded as a masterpiece but the sealed envelopes were opened, the winner proved to be a native, while among the losers there are Peninsulars; then all the newspapers hasten to extol the losers! Not one word from the government, nor from anybody, to encourage the native who with so much affection has cultivated the language and letters of the mother country!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally passing over many other more or less insignificant reasons, the enumeration of which would be interminable, let us close this dreary list with the principal and most terrible of all: the education of the native.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From his birth until he sinks into his grave, the training of the native is brutalizing, depressive and anti-human (the word "inhuman" is not sufficiently explanatory; whether or not the Academy admits it, let it go). There is no doubt that the government, some priests like the Jesuits and some Dominicans like Padre Benavides, have done a great deal by founding colleges, schools of primary instruction, and the like. But this is not enough; their efforts is neutralized. They amount ot five or ten years (years of a hundred and fifty days at most) during which the youth comes in contact with books selected by those very priests who boldly proclaim that it is evil for the natives to know Castilian, that the native should not be separated from his carabao, that he should not value any further aspirations, and so on; five to ten years during which the majority of the students have grasped nothing more than that no one understands what the books say, nor even the professors themselves perhaps; and these five to ten years have no offset the daily preachment which lowers the dignity of man, which by degrees brutally deprives him of the sentiment of self-esteem, that eternal, stubborn, constant labor to bow the native's neck, to make him accept the yoke, to place him on a level with the beast -- a labor aided by some persons, with or without the ability to write, which if it does not produce in some individuals the desired effect in others it has the opposite effect, like that of breaking of a cord that is stretched too tightly. Thus while they attempt to make of the native a kind of animal, yet in exchange they demand of him divine actions. And we say divine actions, because he must be a god who does not become indolent in that climate, surrounded by the circumstances mentioned. Deprive a man, then, of his dignity, and you not only deprive him of his moral strength but you also make useless for those who wish to make use of him. Every creature has its stimulus, its mainspring; man's is his self-esteem. Take it away from him and he is a corpse, and he who seeks activity in a corpse will encounter only worms.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus is explained how the natives of the present time are no longer the same as those of the time of the discovery, neither morally nor physically.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The ancient writers, like Chirino, Morga, and Colin, take pleasure in describing them a <i>well-featured, with good aptitudes for any thing they take up, keen and susceptible and of resolute will, very clean and neat in their persons and clothing, and of good mien and bearing</i> (Morga). Others delight in minute accounts of their intelligence and pleasant manners, of their aptitude for music, the drama, dancing and singing, of the faculty with which they learned, not only Spanish but also Latin, which they acquired almost by themselves (Colin); others of their exquisite politeness in their dealings and in their social life, others, like the first Augustinians, whose accounts Gaspar de San Agustin copies, found them more gallant and better mannered than the inhabitants of the Moluccas. <i>"All live off their husbandry,"</i> adds Morga, <i>"their farms, fisheries and enterprises</i>, for they travel from island to island by sea and from province to province by land."</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In exchange, the writers of the present time, without being more gallant than Herman Cortez and Salcedo, nor more prudent than Legazpi, nor more manly than Morga, nor more prudent than Colin and Gaspar de San Agustin, our contemporary writers we say find that the native is a <i>creature something more than a monkey but much less than a man, an anthropoid, dull-witted, stupid, timid, dirty, cringing, ill-clothed, indolent, lazy brainless, immoral, etc. etc.</i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To what is this retrogression due? Is it the delectable civilization, the religion of salvation of the friars, called of Jesus Christ by euphemism, that has produced this miracle that has atrophied his brain, paralyzed his heart and made of the man this sort of vicious animal that the writers depict?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Alas! The whole misfortune of the present Filipinos consists in that they have become only half-way brutes. The Filipino is convinced that to get happiness it is necessary for him to lay aside his dignity as a rational creature, to attend mass, to believe what is told him, to pay what is demanded of him, to pay and forever to pay; to work, suffer, and be silent, without aspiring any thing, without aspiring to know or even to understand Spanish, without separating himself from his carabao, as the priests shamelessly say, without protesting against any injustice, against any arbitrary action, against an assault, against an insult; that is, not to have heart, brain, or spirit; a creature with arms and a purse of gold. . . there's the ideal native! unfortunately, or because of the brutalization is not yet complete and because the nature of man is inherent in his being in spite of his condition, the native protests; he still has aspirations, he thinks and strives to rise, and there's the trouble!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">...</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the preceding chapter we set forth the causes that proceed from the government in fostering and maintaining the evil we are discussing. Now it falls to us to analyze those that emanate from the people. Peoples and governments are correlated and complementary: a stupid government would be an anomaly among righteous people, just as a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws. Like people, like government, we will say in paraphrase of a popular adage.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We can reduce all these causes to two classes: to defects of training and lack of national sentiment.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Of the influence of climate we spoke at the beginning, so we will now treat of the effects arising from it.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The very limited training in the home, the tyrannical and sterile education of the rare centers of learning that blind subordination of the youth to one of greater age, influence the mind so that a man may not aspire to excel those who preceded him but must merely be content to go along with a march behind them. Stagnation forcibly results from this, and as he who devotes himself merely to copying divests himself of other qualities suited to his own nature, he naturally becomes sterile; hence decadence. Indolence is a corollary derived from the lack of stimulus and of vitality.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That modesty infused into the convictions of everyone, or, to speak more clearly, that insinuated inferiority, a sort of daily and constant depreciation of the mind so that it may not be raised to the regions of life, deadens the energies, paralyzes all tendencies toward advancement, and of the least struggle a man gives up without fighting. If by one of those rare incidents, some wild spirit, that is some active one, excels, instead of his example stimulating, it only causes others to persist in their inaction. "There's one who will work for us; let's sleep on!" say his relatives and friends. True it is that the spirit of rivalry is sometimes awakened, only that then it awakens with bad humor in the guise of envy, and instead of being a lever for helping, it is an obstacle that produces discouragement.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nurtured by the example of anchorites of a contemplative and lazy life, the natives spend theirs in giving their gold to the Church in the hope of miracles and other wonderful things. Their will is hypnotized: from childhood they learned to act mechanically, without knowledge of the object, thanks to the exercise imposed upon them from the most tender years of praying for whole hours in an unknown tongue, of venerating things that they do not understand, of accepting beliefs that are not explained to them, to having absurdities imposed upon them, while the protests of reason are repressed. Is it any wonder that with this vicious<i>dressage</i> of intelligence and will the native, of old logical and consistent -- as the analysis of his past and of his language demonstrates -- should now be a mass of dismal contradictions? That continual struggle between reason and duty, between his organism and his new ideals, that civil war which disturbs the peace of his conscience all his life, has the result of paralyzing all his energies, and aided by the severity of the climate, makes that eternal vacillation, of the doubts in his brain, the origin of his indolent disposition.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"You can't know more than this or that old man!" "Don't aspire to be greater than the curate!" "You belong to an inferior race!" "You haven't any energy!" This is what they tell the child and they repeat it so often, it has perforce to become engraved in the mind and thence mould and pervade all his action. The child or youth who tries to be anything else is blamed with vanity and presumption; the curate ridicules him with cruel sarcasm, his relatives look upon him with fear, strangers regard him with great compassion. No forward movement -- Get back in the ranks and keep in line!</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With his spirit thus molded the native falls into the most pernicious of all routines: routine not planned but imposed and forced. Note that the native himself is not naturally inclined to routine but his mind is disposed to accept all truth, just as his house is open to all strangers. The good and the beautiful attract him, seduce and captivate him although like the the Japanese he often exchanges the good for the evil, if it appears to him garnished and gilded. What he lacks is in the first place liberty to allow expansion to his adventuresome spirit, and good examples, beautiful prospects for the future. It is necessary that his spirit, although it may be dismayed and cowed by the elements and the fearful manifestation of their mighty forces, store up energy, seek high purposes, in order to struggle against obstacles in the midst of unfavorable natural conditions. In order that he may progress it is necessary that a revolutionary spirit, so to speak, should boil in his veins, since progress necessarily requires the present; the victory of new ideas over the ancient and accepted one. It will not be sufficient to speak to his fancy, to talk nicely to him, nor that the light illuminate him like the ignis fatuus that leads travelers astray at night: all the flattering promises of the fairest hopes will not suffice, so long as his spirit is not free, his intelligence is not respected.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The reasons that originate in the lack of natural sentiment are still more lamentable and more transcendental.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Convinced by the insinuation of his inferiority, his spirit harassed by his education, if that brutalization of which we spoke above can be called education, in that exchange of usages and sentiments among different nations, the Filipino, to whom remain only his susceptibility and his poetical imagination, allows himself to be guided by his fancy and his self-love. It is sufficient that the native product for him to hasten to make the change, without reflecting that everything has its weak side and the most sensible custom is ridiculous in the eyes of those who do not follow it. They have dazzled him with tinsel, with strings of colored glass beads, with noisy rattles, shining mirrors and other trinkets, and he has given in return his gold, his conscience, and even his liberty. He changed his religion for the external practices of another cult; the convictions and usages derived from his climate and needs, for other convictions that developed under another sky and another inspiration. His spirit, well-disposed toward everything that looks good to him, was then transformed, at the pleasure of the nation that forced upon him its God and its law, and as the trader with whom he dealt did not bring a cargo of useful implements of iron, hoes to till the fields, but stamped papers, crucifixes, bulls and prayer-books, as he did not have for ideal and prototype the tanned and vigorous laborer, but the aristocratic Lord carried in a luxurious litter, the result was that the imitative people became bookish, devout, prayerful; it acquired ideas of luxury and ostentation, without thereby improving the means of its substance to a corresponding degree.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The lack of national sentiment brings another evil, moreover which is the absence of all opposition to measures prejudicial to the people and the absence of any initiative in whatever may redound to its good. A man in the Philippines is only an individual, he is not a member of a nation. He is forbidden and denied the right of association, and is, therefore, weak and sluggish. The Philippines is an organism whose cells seem to have no arterial system to irrigate it or nervous system to communicate its impressions; these cells must, nevertheless, yield their product, get it where they can; if they perish, let them perish. In the view of some this is expedient so that a colony may be a colony; perhaps they are right, but not the effect that a colony may flourish.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The result of this is that if a prejudicial measure is ordered, no one protests, all goes well apparently until later the evils are felt. Another blood-letting, as as the organism has neither nerves nor voice the physician proceeds in the belief that the treatment is not injuring it. It needs a reform, but as it must not speak, it keeps silent and remains with the need. The patient wants to eat, it wants to breathe the fresh air, but as such desires may offend the susceptibility of the physician who thinks that he has already provided everything necessary, it suffers and pines away from</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> fear of receiving a scolding, of getting another plaster and a new blood-letting and so on indefinitely.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to this, love of peace and the honor many have of accepting the few administrative positions which fall to the Filipinos on account of the trouble and annoyance these cause them places at the head of the people the most stupid and incapable men, those who submit to everything, those who can endure all the caprices and exactions of the curate and of the officials. Will this inefficiency in the lower spheres of power and ignorance and indifference in the upper, with the frequent changes and the eternal apprenticeships, with great fear and many administrative obstacles, with a voiceless people that have neither initiative nor cohesion, with employees who nearly all strive to amass a fortune and return home, with inhabitants who live in great hardship from the instant they begin to breathe, create prosperity, agriculture and industry, found enterprises and companies, things that still hardly prosper in free and well-organized communities?</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, all attempt is useless that does not spring from a profound study of the evil that afflicts us. To combat this indolence, some have proposed increasing the native's needs and raising the taxes. What has happened? Criminals have multiplied, penury has been aggravated. Why? Because the native already has enough needs with his functions of the Church, with his fiestas, with the public offices forced on him, the donations and bribes that he had to make so that he may drag out his wretched existence. The cord is already too taut.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We have heard many complaints, and every day we read in the papers about the efforts the government is making to rescue the country from its condition of indolence. Weighing its plans, its illusions and its difficulties, we are reminded of the gardener who spent his days tending and watering the handful of earth, he trimmed the plant frequently, he pulled at it to lengthen it and hasten its growth, he grafted on its cedars and oaks, until one day the little tree died, leaving the man convinced that it belonged to a degenerate species attributing the failure of his experiment to everything except the lack of soil and his own ineffable folly.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Without education and liberty, which are the soil and the sun of man, no reform is possible, no measure can give the result desired. This does not mean that we should ask first for the native the instruction of a sage and all imaginable liberties, in order then to put a hoe in his hand or place him in a workshop; such a pretension would be an absurdity and vain folly. What we wish is that obstacle be not put in his way, not to increase the many his climate and the situation of the islands already create for him that instruction be not begrudged him for fear that when he becomes intelligent he may separate form the colonizing nation or ask for the rights of which he makes himself worthy. Since some day or other he will become enlightened, whether the government wishes it or not, let his enlightenment be as a gift received and not as conquered plunder. We desire that the policy be at once frank and consistent, that is highly civilizing, without sordid reservations, without distrust without fear or jealously, wishing the good for the sake of the good, civilization without ulterior thoughts of gratitude, or else boldly exploiting tyrannical and selfish, without hypocrisy or deception, with a whole system well-panned and studied out for dominating by compelling obedience, for commanding to get rich, to be happy. If the former, the government may act with the security that some day or other it will reap the harvest and will find people its own in heart and interest; there is nothing like a favor for securing the friendship or enmity of man, according to whether it be conferred with good will or hurled into his face and bestowed upon him in spite of himself. If the logical and regulated system of exploitation be chosen, stifling with the jingle of gold and the sheen of opulence the sentiments of independence in the colonies, paying with its wealth for its lack of liberty, as the English do in India, who moreover leave the government to native rulers, then build roads, lay out highways, foster the freedom of trade; let the government heed material interests more than the interests of four orders of friars; let it send out intelligent employees to foster industry; just judges, all well paid, so that they be not venal pilferers, and lay aside all religious pretext. This policy has the advantage in that while it may not lull the instincts of liberty wholly to sleep yet the day when the mother country loses her colonies she will at least have the gold amassed and not the regret of having reared ungrateful children.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; text-indent: 25px;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-63887297431229721872014-04-18T19:56:00.001+08:002014-04-18T19:56:31.337+08:00The Philippines A Century Hence by José Rizal (Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire) Part IV<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">History does not record in its annals any lasting domination exercised by one people over another, of different races, of diverse usages and customs, of opposite and divergent ideals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the two had to yield and succumb. Either the foreigner was driven out, as happened in the case of Carthaginians, the Moors and the French in Spain, or else these autochthons had to give way and perish, as was the case with the inhabitants of the New World.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the longest dominations was that of the Moors in Spain, which lasted seven centuries. But, even though the conquerors lived in the country conquered, even though the Peninsula was broken up into small states, which gradually emerged like little islands in the midst of the great Saracen inundation and in spite of the chivalrous spirit, the gallantry and the religious toleration of the caliphs, they were finally driven out after bloody and stubborn conflicts, which formed the Spanish nation and created the Spain of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The existence of a foreign body within another endowed with strength and activity is contrary to all natural and ethical laws. Science teaches us that it is either assimilated, destroys the organism, is eliminated or becomes encysted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Encystment of a conquering people is possible, for it signifies complete isolation, absolute inertia, and debility in the conquering element. Encystment thus means the tomb of the foreign invader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now applying these considerations to the Philippines, we must conclude, as a deduction from all we have said, that if their population be not assimilated to the Spanish nation, if the dominators do not enter into the spirit of their inhabitants, if equitable laws and free and liberal reforms do not make each forget that they belong to different races, or if both peoples be not amalgamated to constitute one mass, socially and politically, homogeneous, that is, not harassed by opposing tendencies and antagonistic ideas and interests some day the Philippines will fatally and infallibly declare themselves independent. To this law of destiny can be opposed neither Spanish patriotism, nor the love of all Filipinos for Spain, not the doubtful future of dismemberment and intestine strife in the Islands themselves. Necessity is the most powerful divinity the world knows, and necessity is the resultant of physical forces set in operation by ethical forces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We have said and statistics prove that it is impossible to exterminate the Filipino people. And even were it possible what interest would Spain have in the destruction of the inhabitants of a country she can not populate or cultivate, whose climate is to a certain extent disastrous to her? What good would the Philippines be without the Filipinos? Quite otherwise, under her colonial system and the transitory character of the Spanish who go to the colonies, a colony is so much the more useful and productive to her as it possesses inhabitants and wealth. Moreover, in order to destroy the six million Malays, even supposing them to be in their infancy and that they have never learned to fight and defend themselves, Spain would have to sacrifice at least a fourth of her population. This we commend to the notice of the partisans of colonial exploitation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But nothing of this kind can happen. The menace is that when the education and liberty necessary to human existence are denied by Spain to the Filipinos, then they will seek enlightenment abroad, behind the mother country’s back or they will secure by hook or by crook some advantages in their country with the result that the opposition of purblind and paretic politicians will not only be futile but even prejudicial because it will convert motives for love and gratitude into resentment and hatred.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hatred and resentment on one side, mistrust and anger on the other, will finally result in a violent terrible collision, especially when there exist elements interested in having disturbances, so that they may get something in the excitement, demonstrates their mighty power, foster lamentations and recriminations, or employ violent measures. It is to be expected that the government will triumph and be generally (as is the custom) severe in punishment, either to teach a stern lesson in order to vaunt its strength or even to revenge upon the vanquished the spells of excitement and terror that the danger caused it. An unavoidable concomitant of those catastrophes is the accumulation of acts of injustice committed against the innocent and peaceful inhabitants. Private reprisals, denunciation, despicable accusations, resentments, covetousness, the opportune moment for calumny, the haste and hurried procedure of the court martials, the pretext of the integrity of the fatherland and the safety of the state, which cloaks and justifies everything, even for scrupulous minds, which unfortunately are still rare and above all the panic-stricken timidity, the cowardice that battens upon the conquered -- all these things augment the severe measures and the number of the victims. The result is that a chasm of blood is then opened between the two peoples that the wounded and the afflicted, instead of becoming fewer, are increased, for to the families and friends of the guilty, who always think the punishment excessive and the judge unjust, must be added the families and friends of the innocent, who see no advantage in living and working submissively and peacefully. Note, too, that if severe measures are dangerous in a nation made up of homogeneous population, the peril is increased a hundred-fold when the government is formed a race different from the governed. In the former an injustice may still be ascribed to one man alone, to a governor actuated by personal malice, and with the death of the tyrant the victim is reconciled to the government of his nation. But in a county dominated by a foreign race, even the most just act of severity is construed as injustice and oppression, because it is ordered by a foreigner, who is unsympathetic or is an enemy of the country, and the offense hurts not only the victim but his entire race, because it is not usually regarded as personal and so the resentment naturally spreads to the whole governing race and does not die out with the offender.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hence the great prudence and fine tact that should be exercised by colonizing countries, and the fact that government regards the colonies in general and our colonial office in particular, as training schools, contributes notably to the fulfillment of the great law that the colonies sooner or later declare themselves independent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Such is the descent down which the peoples are precipitated. In proportion as they are bathed in blood and drenched in tears and gall, the colony, if it has any vitality, learns how to struggle and perfect itself in fighting while the mother country whose colonial life depends upon peace and the submission of the subjects, is constantly weakened and even though she makes heroic efforts, as her number is less and she has only a fictitious existence, she finally perishes. She is like the rich voluptuary accustomed to be waited upon by a crowd of servants toiling and planting for him and who on the day his slaves refuse him obedience, as he does not live by his own efforts, must die.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Reprisals, wrongs and suspicions on one part and on the other the sentiment of patriotism and liberty, which is aroused in these incessant conflicts, insurrections and uprisings, operate to generalize the movement and one of the two peoples must succumb. The struggle will be brief, for it will amount to a slavery much more cruel than death for the people and to a dishonorable loss of prestige for the dominator. One of the peoples must succumb.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Spain, from the number of her inhabitants, from the condition of her army and navy, from the distance she is situated from the Islands, from her scanty knowledge of them, and from struggling against a people whose love and goodwill she has alienated, will necessarily have to give way, if she does not wish to risk not only her other possessions and her future in Africa, but also her very independence in Europe. All this is at the cost of bloodshed, and crime, after mortal conflicts, murders, conflagrations, military executions, famine and misery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Spaniard is gallant and patriotic, and sacrifices everything in favorable moments, for his country’s good. He has the intrepidity of his bull. The Filipino loves his country no less and although he is quieter, more peaceful and with difficulty stirred up, when he is once aroused he does not hesitate and for him the struggle means death to one or the other combatant. He has all the meekness and all the tenacity and ferocity of his carabao. Climate affects bipeds in the same way that it does quadrupeds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The terrible lessons and the hard teachings that these conflicts will have afforded the Filipinos will operate to improve and strengthen their ethical nature. The Spain of the fifteenth century was not the Spain of the eighth. With their bitter experience, instead of intestine conflicts of some islands against others, as is generally feared, they will extend mutual support, like shipwrecked persons when they reach an island after a fearful night of storm. Nor may it be said that we shall partake of the fate of the small American republics. They achieved their independence easily and their inhabitants are animated by a different spirit from what the Filipinos are. Besides the danger of falling again into other hands, English or German, for example, will force the Filipinos to be sensible and prudent. Absence of any great preponderance of one race over the others will free their imagination from all mad ambitions of domination, and as they tendency of countries that have been tyrannized over, when they once shake off the yoke, is to adopt the freest government, like a boy leaving school, like the beat of the pendulum or by a law of reaction, the Islands will probably declare themselves a federal republic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If the Philippines secure their independence after heroic and stubborn conflicts, they can rest assured that neither England or Germany, nor France, and still less Holland will dare to take up what Spain has been unable to hold. Within a few years Africa will completely absorb the attention of the Europeans, and there is no sensible nation which, in order to secure a group of poor and hostile islands, will neglect the immense territory offered by the Dark Continent, untouched, undeveloped and almost undefended. England has enough colonies in the Orient and is not going to sacrifice her Indian Empire for the poor Philippine Islands -- if she had entertained such an intention she would not have restored Manila in 1763, but would have kept some point in the Philippines whence she might gradually expand. Moreover, what need has John Bull the trader to exhaust himself over the Philippines, when he is already lord of the Orient, when he has Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai? It is probable the England will look favorably upon the independence of the Philippines, for it will open their ports to her and afford greater freedom to her commerce. Furthermore, there exist in the United Kingdom tendencies and opinions to the effect that she already has too many colonies, that they are harmful, that they greatly weaken the sovereign country.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For the same reasons Germany will not care to run any risk, and because a scattering of her forces and a war in distant countries will endanger her existence on the continent. Thus we see her attitude, as much in the Pacific as in Africa, is confined to conquering easy territory that belongs to nobody. Germany avoids any foreign complications.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">France has enough to do and see more of a future in Tongking and China, besides the fact that the French spirit does not shine in zeal for colonization. France loves glory, but the glory and laurels that grow on the battlefields of Europe. The echo from battlefields in the Fear East hardly satisfies her craving for renown, for it reaches her quite faintly. She has also other obligations, both internally and on the continent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Holland is sensible and will be content to keep the Moluccas and Java. Sumatra offers her a greater future than the Philippines whose seas and coasts have a sinister omen for Dutch expeditions. Holland proceeds with great caution in Sumatra and Borneo, from fear of losing everything.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">China will consider herself fortunate if she succeeds in keeping herself intact and is not dismembered or partitioned among the European powers that they are colonizing the continent of Asia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The same is true with Japan. On the north side she has Russia, who envies and watches her, on the south England, with whom she is in accord even to her official language. She is, moreover, under such diplomatic pressure from Europe that she can not think of outside affairs until she is freed from it, which will not be an easy matter. True it is that she has an excess of population, but Korea attracts her more than the Philippines and is also easier to seize.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps the great American Republic, whose interests lie in the Pacific and who has no hand in the spoliation of Africa, may dream some day of foreign possession. This is not impossible, for the example is contagious, covetousness and ambition are among the strongest vices, and Harrison manifested something of this sort in the Samoan question. But the Panama Canal is not opened nor the territory of the States congested with inhabitants, and in case she should openly attempt it the European powers would not allow her to proceed, for they know very well that the appetite is sharpened by the first bites. North America would be quite a troublesome rival, if she should once get into the business. Furthermore, this is contrary to her traditions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Very likely the Philippines will defend with inexpressible valor the liberty secured at the price of so much blood and sacrifice. With the new men that will spring from their soil and with the recollection of their past, they will perhaps strife to enter freely upon the wide road of progress, and all will labor together to strengthen their fatherland, both internally and externally, with the same enthusiasm, with which a youth falls again to tilling the land of his ancestors who long wasted and abandoned through the neglect of those who have withheld it from him. Then the mines will be made to give up their gold for relieving distress, iron for weapons, copper, lead, and coal. Perhaps the country will revive the maritime and mercantile life for which the islanders are fitted by their nature, ability and instincts, and once more free, like the bird that leaves its cage, like the flower that unfolds to the air, will recover the pristine virtues that are gradually dying out and will again become addicted to peace -- cheerful, happy, joyous, hospitable and daring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These and many other things may come to pass within something like a hundred years, but the most logical prognostication, the prophecy based on the best probabilities, may err through remote and insignificant causes: An octopus that seized Mark Anthony’s ship altered the face of the world; a cross on Calvary and a just man nailed thereon changed the ethics of half the human race, and yet before Christ, how many just men wrongly perished and how many crosses were raised on that hill! The death of the just sanctified his work and made his teaching unanswerable. A sunken road at the battle of Waterloo buried all the glories of two brilliant decades, the whole napoleonic world, and freed Europe. Upon what chance accidents will the destiny of the Philippines depend?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nevertheless, it is not well to trust to accident, for there is sometimes an imperceptible and incomprehensible logic in the workings of history. Fortunately, peoples as well as governments are subjects to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, we repeat and we will ever repeat, while there is time, and that is better to keep pace with the desire of a people than to give way before them; the former begets sympathy and love, the latter contempt and anger. Since it is necessary to grant six million Filipinos their rights, so that they may be in fact Spaniards, let the government grant these rights freely and spontaneously, without damaging reservations, without irritating mistrust. We shall never tire of repeating this while a ray of hope is left us, for we prefer this unpleasant task to the need of some day saying to the mother country: “Spain, we have sent our youth in serving thy interests in the interests of our country; we have looked to thee, we have expended the whole light of our intellects, all the fervor and enthusiasm of our hearts in working for the good of what was tine, to draw from them a glance of love, a liberal policy and that would assure us the peace of our native land and thy sway over loyal but unfortunate islands! Spain, thou hast remained deaf, and wrapped up in thy pride, hast pursued thy fatal course and accused us of being traitors, merely because we love our country because we tell thee the truth and hate all kinds of injustice. What dost thou wish us to tell our wretched country when it asks about the result of our efforts? Must we say to it that, since for it we have lost everything -- youth, future, hope, peace, and family; since in its service we have exhausted all the resources of hope, all the disillusions of desire, it also takes the residue which we can not use, the blood from our veins and the strength left in our arms? Spain, must we some day tell Filipinas that thou hast no ear for her woes and that if she wishes to be saved, she must redeem herself?”</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-57645437826783818172014-04-18T19:54:00.002+08:002014-04-18T19:54:42.509+08:00The Philippines A Century Hence by José Rizal (Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire) Part III<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If the Philippines must remain under the control of Spain, they will necessarily have to be transformed in a political sense, for the course of their history and the needs of their inhabitants so required. This we demonstrated in the preceding article.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We also said that this transformation will be violent and fatal if it proceeds from the ranks of the people, but peaceful and fruitful if it emanates from the upper classes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Some governors have realized this truth, and impelled by their patriotism, have been trying to introduce needed reforms in order to forestall events. But notwithstanding all that have been ordered up to the present time, they have produced scanty results, for the government as well as for the country. Even those that promised only a happy issue have at times caused injury, for the simple reason that they have been based upon unstable grounds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We said and once more we repeat, and all will ever assert, that reforms, which have a palliative character, are not only ineffectual but even prejudicial when the government is confronted with evils that must be cured radically. And were we not convinced of the honesty and rectitude of some governors, we would be tempted to say that all the partial reforms are only plasters and salves of a physician, who, not knowing how to cure the cancer, and not daring to root it out, tries in this way to alleviate the patient’s sufferings or to temporize with the cowardice of the timid and ignorant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">All the reforms of our liberal ministers were, have been, are, and will be good -- when carried out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When we think of them, we are reminded of the dieting of Sancho Panza in this Barataria Island. He took his seat at a sumptuous and well-appointed table “covered with fruit and many varieties of food differently prepared,” but between the wretch’s mouth and each dish the physician Pedro Rezio interposed his wand, saying, “Take it away!” The dish removed, Sancho was as hungry as ever. Truth is that the despotic Pedro Rezio gave reasons, which seem to have been written by Cervantes especially for the colonial administrations. “You must not eat, Mr. Governor, except according to the usage and custom of other islands, where there are governors.” Something was found to be wrong with each dish: one was too hot, another too moist, and so on, just like our Pedro Rezio on both sides of the sea. Great good did his cook’s skill do Sancho!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the case of our country, the reforms take the place of the dishes, the Philippines are Sancho, while the part of the quack physician is played by many persons interested in not having the dishes touched, perhaps that they may themselves get the benefit of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The result is that the long suffering Sancho, or the Philippines, misses his liberty, rejects all government and ends up by rebelling against his quack physician.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In this manner, so long as the Philippines have no liberty of the press, have no voice in the Cortes to make known to the government and to the nation whether or not their decrees have been duly obeyed, whether or not these benefit the country, all the able efforts of the colonial ministers will meet the fate of the dishes in Barataria Island.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The minister, then, who wants his reforms to be reforms, must begin by declaring the press in the Philippines free and by instituting Filipino delegates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The free press in the Philippines, because their complaints rarely ever reach the Peninsula, very rarely, and if they do they are so secret, so mysterious that no newspaper dares to publish them, or if it does reproduce them, it does so tardily and badly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A government <i>that rules a country from a great distance</i> is the one that has the most need for a free press more so even than the government of the home country, if it wishes to rule rightly and fitly. The government that <i>governs in a country</i> may even dispense with the press (if it can), because it is on the ground, because it has eyes and ears, and because it directly observes what it rules and administers. But the government that <i>governs from afar</i> absolutely requires that the truth and the facts reach its knowledge by every possible channel so that it may weigh and estimate them better, and this need increases when a country like the Philippines is concerned, where the inhabitants speak and complain in a language unknown to the authorities. To govern in any other way may also be called governing, but it is to govern badly. It amounts to pronouncing judgment after hearing only one of the parties; it is steering a ship without reckoning its conditions, the state of the sea, the reefs and shoals, the direction of the winds and currents. It is managing a house by endeavoring merely to give it polish and a fine appearance without watching the money chest, without looking after the servants and the members of the family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But routine is a declivity down which many governments slide, and routine says that freedom of the press is dangerous. Let us see what History says: uprisings and revolutions have always occurred in countries tyrannized over, in countries where human thought and the human heart have been forced to remain silent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If the great Napoleon had not tyrannized over the press, perhaps it would have warned him of the peril into which he was hurled and have made him understand that the people were weary and the earth wanted peace. Perhaps his genius, instead of being dissipated in foreign aggrandizement would have become intensive in laboring to strengthen his position and thus have assured it. Spain herself records in her history more revolutions when the press was gagged. What colonies have become independent while they had a free press and enjoyed liberty? Is it preferable to govern blindly or to govern with ample knowledge?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Someone will answer that in colonies with a free press, the prestige of the rulers, that prop of false governments, will be greatly imperiled. We answer that the prestige of the nation is not by abetting and concealing abuses, but by rebuking and punishing them. Moreover, to this prestige is applicable what Napoleon said about great men and their valets. Who endure and know all the false pretensions and petty persecutions of those sham gods, do not need a free press in order to recognize them; they have long ago lost their prestige. The free press is needed by the government, the government which still dreams of the prestige which it builds upon mined ground.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We say the same about the Filipino representatives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What risks does the government see in them? One of three things, either that they will prove unruly, become political trimmers, or act properly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Supposing that we should yield to the most absurd pessimism and admit the insult, great for the Philippines but still greater for Spain, that all the representatives would be separatists and that in all their contentions they would advocate separatist ideas; does not a patriotic Spanish majority exist there, is there not present there the vigilance of the governing powers to combat and oppose such intentions? And would not this be better than the discontent that ferments and expands in the secrecy of the home, in the huts and in the field? Certainly the Spanish people does not spare its blood where patriotism is concerned but would not a struggle of principles in parliament be preferable to the exchange of shot in swampy lands, three thousand leagues from home in impenetrable forests, under a burning sun or amid torrential rains? These pacific struggles of ideas, besides being a thermometer for the government, have the advantage of being cheap and glorious, because the Spanish parliament especially abounds in oratorical paladins invincible in debate. Moreover, it is said that the Filipinos are indolent and peaceful -- then what need for government fear? Hasn’t it any influence in the elections? Frankly speaking, it is a great compliment to the separatists to fear them in the midst of the Cortes of the nation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now then, if the real objection to the Filipino delegates, is that they smell like Igorots, which so disturbed in open Senate the doughty General Salamanca, then Don Sinibaldo de Mas, who saw the Igorots in person and wanted to live with them, can affirm that they will smell at worst like powder, and Señor Salamanca undoubtedly has no fear of that odor. And if this were all, the Filipinos, who there in their own country are accustomed to bathe every day, when they become representatives may give up such a dirty custom, at least during the legislative session so as not to offend the delicate nostrils of Salamanca with the odor of the bath.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is useless to answer certain objections of some fine writers regarding the rather brown skins and faces with somewhat wide nostrils. Questions of taste are peculiar to each race. China, for example, which has four hundred million inhabitants and a very ancient civilization, considers all Europeans ugly and calls them “fankwai”, or red devils. Its taste has a hundred million more adherents than the Europeans. Moreover, if this is the question, we would have to admit the inferiority of the Latins, especially the Spaniards, to the Saxons, who are much whiter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And so long as it is not asserted that the Spanish parliament is an assemblage of Adonises, Antoniuses, pretty boys and other like paragons, so long as the purpose of resorting thither is to legislate and not to philosophize or wonder through imaginary spheres, we maintain that the government ought not to pause at these obligations. Law has no skin nor reason nostrils.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So we see no serious reason why the Philippines may not have representatives. By their institution many malcontents would be silenced, and instead of blaming its troubles upon the government, as now happens, the country would bear them better, for it could at least complain and with its sons among its legislators, would in a way become responsible for their actions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are not sure that we serve the true interests of our country by asking for representatives. We know that the lack of enlightenment, the indolence, the egotism, of our fellow countrymen, and the boldness, the cunning and the powerful methods of those who wish their obscurantism, may convert reform into a harmful instrument. But we wish to be loyal to the government and we are pointing out to it the road that appears best to us so that its effort may not come to grief, so that discontent may disappear. If after so just, as well as necessary, a measure has been introduced, the Filipino people are so stupid and weak that they are treacherous to their own interests, then let the responsibility fall upon them, let them suffer all consequences. Every country gets the fate it deserves and the government can say that it has done its duty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These are the two fundamental reforms, which properly interpreted and applied, will dissipate all clouds, assure affection toward Spain, and make all succeeding reforms fruitful. These are the reforms<i>sine quibus non.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is puerile to fear that independence may come thorough them. The free press will keep the government in touch with public opinion, and the representatives, if they are, as they ought to be, the best from among the sons of the Philippines, will be their hostages. With no cause for discontent, how then attempt to stir up the masses of the people?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Likewise inadmissible is the obligation offered by some regarding the imperfect culture of the majority of the inhabitants. Aside from the fact that it is not so imperfect as is averred, there is no plausible reason why the ignorant and the defective (whether through their own or another’s fault) should be denied representation to look after them and see that they are not abused. They are the very ones who most need it. No one ceases to be a man, no one forfeits his rights to civilization merely by being more or less uncultured, and since the Filipino is regarded as a fit citizen when he is asked to pay taxes or shed his blood to defend the fatherland why must this fitness be denied him when the question arises of granting him some right? Moreover, how is he to be held responsible for his ignorance, when it is acknowledged by all, friends and enemies that his zeal for learning is so great that even before the coming of the Spaniards every one could read and write, and that we now see the humblest families make enormous sacrifices to the extent of working as servants in order to learn Spanish? How can the country be expected to become enlightened under present conditions when we see all the decrees issued by the government in favor of education meet with Pedro Rezios who prevent execution whereof because they have in their hands what they call education? If the Filipino, then, is sufficiently intelligent to pay taxes, he must also be able to choose and retain the one who looks after him and his interests, with the product whereof he serves the government of his nation. To reason otherwise is to reason stupidly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When the laws and the acts of officials are kept under surveillance, the word justice may cease to be a colonial jest. The thing that makes the English most respected in their possessions is their strict and speedy justice so that the inhabitants repose entire confidence in the judges. Justice is the foremost virtue of the civilized races. It subdues the barbarous nations, while injustice arouses the weakest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Offices and trusts should be awarded by competition, publishing the work and the judgment thereon, so that there may be stimulus and that discontent may not be bred. Then, if the native does not shake off his <i>indolence</i> he can not complain when he sees all the offices filled by <i>Castilas.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We presume that it will not be the Spaniard who fears to enter in this contest, for thus will he be able to prove his superiority by the superiority of intelligence. Although this is not the custom in the sovereign country, it should be practiced in the colonies, for the reason that genuine prestige should be sought by means of moral qualities, because the colonizers ought to be, or at least to seem, upright, honest and intelligent, just as a man stimulates virtues when he deals with a stranger. The offices and trusts so earned will do away with arbitrary dismissal and develop employees and officials capable and cognizant of their duties. The offices held by natives, instead of endangering the Spanish domination, will merely serve to assure it, for what interest would they have in converting the sure and stable into the uncertain and problematical? The native is, moreover, very fond of peace and prefers a humble present to a brilliant future. Let the various Filipinos still holding office speak in this matter, they are the most unshaken conservatives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We could add other minor reforms touching commerce, agriculture, security of the individual and of property, education, and so on, but these are points with which we shall deal in other articles. For the present we are satisfied with the outlines and no one can say that we ask too much.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There will be lacking critics to accuse us of Utopianism: but what is Utopia? Utopia was a country imagined by Thomas Moore, wherein existed universal suffrage, religious toleration, almost complete abolition of the death penalty and so on. When the book was published these things were looked upon as dreams, impossibilities, that is Utopianism. Yet civilization has left the country of Utopia far behind, the human will and conscience have worked greater miracles, have abolished slavery and the death penalty for adultery -- things impossible for even Utopia itself!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The French colonies have their representatives. The question has also been raised in the English parliament of giving representation to the Crown colonies, for the others already enjoy some autonomy. The press there is also free. Only Spain, which in the sixteenth century was the model nation in civilization, lags far behind. Cuba and Puerto Rico, whose inhabitants do not number a third of those of the Philippines, and who have not made such sacrifices for Spain, have numerous representatives. The Philippines in the early days had theirs, who conferred with the King and Pope on the needs of the country. They had them in Spain’s critical moments, when she groaned under the Napoleonic yoke, and they did not take advantage of the sovereign country’s misfortunes like other colonies but tightened more firmly the bonds that united them to be the nation, giving proofs of their loyalty and they continued until many years later. What crime have the Islands committed that they are deprived of their rights?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To recapitulate: the Philippines will remain Spanish if they enter upon the life of law and civilization, if the rights of their inhabitants are respected, if the other rights due them are granted, if the liberal policy of the government is carried out without trickery or meanness, without subterfuges or false interpretations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Otherwise, if an attempt is made to see in the Islands a lode to be exploited, a resource to satisfy ambitions, thus to relieve the sovereign country of taxes, killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, and shutting its ears to all cries of reasons the, however, great may be the loyalty of the Filipinos, it will be impossible to hinder the operations of the inexorable laws of history. Colonies established to subserve the policy and the commerce of the sovereign country, all eventually become independent said Bachelet, and before Bachelet, all the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, English, Portuguese, and Spanish colonies have said it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Close indeed are the bonds that unite us to Spain. Two peoples do not live for three centuries in continual contact, sharing the same lot, shedding their blood on the same fields, holding the same beliefs, worshipping the same God, interchanging the same ideas, but that ties are formed between them stronger than those engendered by affection. Machiavelli, the great reader of the human heart said:<i>la natura degli huomini, e cosi obligarsi pe li beneficii che essi fanno come per quelli che essi ricevono</i> (it is human nature to be bound as much by benefits conferred as by those received). All this, and more, is true but it is pure sentimentality, and in the arena of politics stern necessity and interests prevail. Howsoever much the Filipinos owe Spain, they can not be required to forego their redemption, to have their liberal and enlightened sons wander about in exile from their native land, the rudest aspirations stifled in its atmosphere, the peaceful inhabitants living in constant alarm, with the fortune of the two peoples dependent upon the whim of one man. Spain can not claim, nor even in the name of God himself, that six millions of people should be brutalized, exploited and oppressed, denied light and the rights inherent to a human being and then heap upon them slights and insults. There is no claim of gratitude that can excuse, there is not enough power in the world to justify the offenses against the liberty of the individual, against the sanctity of the home, against the laws, against peace and honor, offenses that are committed three daily. There is no divinity that can proclaim the sacrifice of our dearest affections, the sacrifice of the family, the sacrileges and wrongs that are committed by persons who have the name of God on their lips. No one can require an impossibility of the Filipino people. The noble Spanish people, so jealous of its rights and liberties, cannot bid the Filipinos to renounce theirs. A people that prides itself on the glories of the past cannot ask another, trained by it, to accept abjection and dishonor its own name!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We, who today are struggling by the legal and peaceful means of debate so understand it, and with our gaze fixed upon our ideals, shall not cease to plead our cause, without going beyond the pale of the law, but if violence first silences us or we have the misfortune to fall (which is possible for we are mortal) then we do not know what course will be taken by the numerous tendencies that will rush in to occupy the places that we leave vacant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If what we desire is not realized. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent: 50px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In contemplating such an unfortunate eventuality, we must not turn away in horror, and so instead of closing our eyes we will face what the future may bring. For this purpose, after throwing the handful of dust due to Cerberus, let us frankly descend into the abyss and sound its terrible mysteries.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-78806408499952264292014-04-18T19:52:00.001+08:002014-04-18T19:52:08.467+08:00The Philippines A Century Hence by José Rizal (Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire) Part II<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What will become of the Philippines within a century? Will they continue to be a Spanish colony?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Had this question been asked three centuries ago, when at Legazpi’s death the Malayan Filipinos began to be gradually undeceived and, finding the yoke heavy, tried in vain to shake it off without any doubt whatsoever the reply would have been easy. To a spirit enthusiastic over the liberty of the country, to those unconquerable Kagayanes who nourished within themselves the spirit of Mgalats, to the descendants of the heroic Gat Pulintang and Gat Salakab of the Province of Batangas, independence was assured, it was merely a question of getting together and making a determination. But for him who, disillusioned by sad experience, saw everywhere discord and disorder, apathy and brutalization in the lower classes, discouragement and disunion in the upper, only one answer presented itself, and it was: extend his hands to the chains, bow his neck beneath the yoke and accept the future with the resignation of an invalid who watches the leaves fall and foresees a long winter amid whose snows he discerns the outlines of his grave. At the time discord justified pessimism -- but three centuries passed, the meek had become accustomed to the yoke, and each new generation, begotten in chains, was constantly better adapted to the new order of things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now then, are the Philippines in the same condition they were three centuries ago?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For the liberal Spaniards the ethical condition of the people remains the same, that is, the native Filipinos have not advanced; for the friars and their followers the people have been redeemed from savagery, that is, they have progressed; for many Filipinos ethics, spirit and customs have decayed, as decay all the good qualities of a people that falls into slavery that is, they have retrograded.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Laying aside these considerations, so as not to get away from our subject let us draw the brief parallel between the political situation then and the situation at present, in order to see if what was not possible at that time can be so now, or vice versa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Let us pass over the loyalty the Filipinos may feel for Spain; let us suppose for a moment, along with Spanish writers, that there exist only motives for hatred and jealousy between the two races; let us admit the assertions flaunted by many that three centuries of domination have not awakened in the sensitive heart of the native a single spark of affection or gratitude; and we may see whether or not the Spanish cause has gained ground in the Islands.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Formerly the Spanish authority was upheld among the natives by a handful of soldiers, three to five hundred at most, many of whom were engaged in trade and were scattered about not only in the Islands but also among the neighboring nations, occupied in long wars against the Mohammedans in the south, against the British and Dutch, and ceaselessly harassed by Japanese, Chinese, or some tribes in the interior. Then communication with Mexico and Spain was slow, rare and difficult; frequent and violent the disturbances among the ruling powers in the Islands, the treasury nearly always empty, and the life of the colonists dependent upon one frail ship that handled the Chinese trade. Then the seas in those regions were infested with pirates, all enemies of the Spanish name, which was defended by an impoverished fleet, generally manned by rude adventurers, when not by foreigners and enemies, which was checked and an expedition of Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, which was checked and frustrated by the mutiny of the Chinese rowers, who killed him and thwarted all his plans and schemes. Yet in spite of so many adverse circumstances the Spanish authority had been upheld for more than three centuries and, though it has been curtailed, still continues to rule the destinies of the Philippine group.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, the present situation seems to be gilded and rosy -- as we might say, a beautiful morning compared to the vexed and stormy night of the past. The material forces at the disposal of the Spanish sovereign have now been trebled; the fleet relatively improved: there is more organization in both civil and military affairs; communication with the sovereign country is swifter and surer; she has no enemies abroad; her possession is assured and the country dominated seems to have less spirit, less aspiration for independence, a world that is to it almost incomprehensible. Everything then at first glance presages another three centuries, at least, of peaceful domination and tranquil suzerainty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But above the material considerations are arising others, invisible, of an ethical nature, far more powerful and transcendental.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Orientals and the Malays, in particular, are a sensitive people: delicacy of sentiment is predominant with them. Even now, in spite of contact with the Occidental nations, who have ideas different from his, we see the Malayan Filipino sacrifice everything -- liberty, ease, welfare, name for the sake of an aspiration or a conceit sometimes scientific, or of some other nature but at the least word which wounds his self-love he forgets all his sacrifices, the labor expended, to treasure in his memory and never forget the slight he thinks he has received.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So the Philippine peoples have remained faithful during three centuries, giving up their liberty and their independence, sometimes dazzled by the hope of the Paradise promised, sometimes cajoled by the friendship offered them by a noble and generous people like the Spanish, sometimes also compelled by superiority of arms of which they were ignorant and which timid spirits invested with a mysterious character, or sometimes because the invading foreigner took advantage of internecine feuds to step in as the peacemaker in discord and thus after to dominate both parties and subject them to his authority.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Spanish domination once established, was firmly maintained, thanks to the attachment of the people, to their mutual dissensions, and to the fact that the sensitive self-love of the native had not yet been wounded. Then the people saw their own countrymen in the higher ranks of the army, their general officers fighting beside the heroes of Spain and sharing their laurels, begrudged neither character, reputation nor consideration; then fidelity and attachment to Spain, love for the fatherland, made of the native<i>encomendero</i> and even general, as during the English invasion; then there had not yet been invented the insulting and ridiculous epithets with which recently the most laborious and painful achievements of the native leaders have been stigmatized; not then had it become the fashion to insult and slander in stereotyped phrase, in newspapers and books published with governmental and superior ecclesiastical approval, the people that paid, fought and poured out its blood for the Spanish name, nor was it considered either noble or witty to offend a whole race, which was forbidden to reply or defend itself, and if there were religious hypochondriacs who in the leisure of their cloisters dared to write against it, as did the Augustinian Gaspar de San Agustin and the Jesuit Velarde, their loathsome abortions never saw the light, and still less were they themselves rewarded with miters and raised to high offices. True it is that neither were the natives of that time such as we are now: three centuries of brutalization and obscurantism have necessarily had some influence upon us, the most beautiful work of divinity in the hands of certain artisans may finally be converted into a caricature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The priests of that epoch, wishing to establish their domination over the people, got in touch with it and made common cause with it against the oppressive encomenderos. Naturally, the people saw in them learning and some prestige and placed its confidence in them, followed their advice, and listened to them in the darkest hours. If they wrote, they did so in defense of the rights of the native and made his cry reach even to the distant steps of the Throne. And not a few priests, both secular and regular, undertook dangerous journeys, as representatives of the country, and this, along with the strict and public residencia then required of the governing powers, from the captain-general to the most insignificant official, rather consoled and pacified the wounded spirits, satisfying, even though it were only in form, all the malcontents.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">All this has passed away. The derisive laughter penetrates like mortal poison into the heart of the native who pays and suffers and it becomes more offensive the more immunity it enjoys. A common sore the general affront offered to a whole race, has wiped away the old feuds among different provinces. The people no longer have confidence in its former protectors, now its exploiters and executioners. The masks have fallen. It has been that the love and piety of the past have come to resemble the devotion of a nurse, who, unable to live elsewhere, desires the eternal infancy, eternal weakness, for the child in order to go on drawing her wages and existing at its expense, it has seen not only that she does not nourish it to make it grow but that she poisons it to stunt its growth and at the slightest protest she flies into a rage! The ancient show of justice, the holy residencia has disappeared; confusion of ideas begins to prevail; the regard shown for a governor-general, lie La Torre, becomes a crime in the government of his successor, sufficient to cause the citizen to lose his liberty and his home; if he obeys the order of one official, as in the recent matter of admitting corpses into the church, it is enough to have the obedient subjects later harassed and persecuted in every possible way; obligations and taxes increase without thereby increasing rights, privileges and liberties or assuring the few in existence; a regime of continual terror and uncertainty disturbs the minds, a regime worse than a period of disorder for the fears that the imagination conjures up are generally greater than the reality; the country is poor; the financial crisis through which it is passing is acute, and every one points out with the finger the persons who are causing the trouble, yet no one dares lay hands upon them!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">True it is that the Penal Code has come like a drop of balm to such bitterness. But of what use are all the codes in the world, if by means of confidential reports, if for trifling reasons, if through anonymous traitors any honest citizen may be exiled or banished without a hearing, without a trial? Of what use is that Penal Code, of what use is life, if there is no security in the home, no faith in justice and confidence in tranquility of conscience? Of what use is all that array of terms, all that collection of articles, when the cowardly accusation of a traitor has more influence in the timorous ears of the supreme autocrat than all the cries for justice?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If this state of affairs should continue, what will be come of the Philippines within a century?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The batteries are gradually becoming charged and if the prudence of the government does not provide an outlet for the currents that are accumulating, some day the spark will be generated. This is not the place to speak of what outcome such a deplorable conflict might have, for it depends upon chance, upon the weapons and upon a thousand circumstances which man cannot foresee. But even though all the advantages should be on the government’s side and therefore the probability of success, it would be a Pyrrhic victory, and not government ought to desire such.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If those who guide the destinies of the Philippines remain obstinate, and instead of introducing reforms try to make the condition of the country retrograde; to push their severity and repression to extremes against the classes that suffer and think they are going to force the latter to venture and put into play the wretchedness of an unquiet life, filled with privation and bitterness, against the hope of securing something indefinite. What would be lost in the struggle? Almost nothing: the life of the numerous discontented classes has no such great attraction that it should be preferred to a glorious death. It may indeed be a suicidal attempt -- but then, what? Would not a bloody chasm yawn between victors and vanquished and might not the latter with time and experience become equal in strength, since they are superior in numbers to their dominators? Who disputes this? All the petty insurrections that have occurred in the Philippines were the work of a few fanatics or discontented soldiers, who had to deceive and humbug the people or avail themselves of their powers over their subordinates to gain their ends. So they all failed. No insurrection had a popular character or was based on a need of the whole race or fought for human rights or justice, so it left no ineffaceable impressions, but rather when they saw that they had been duped the people bound up their wounds and applauded the overthrow of the disturbers of their peace! But what if the movement springs from the people themselves and based its causes upon their woes?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So then, if the prudence and wise reforms of our ministers do not find capable and determined interpreters among the colonial governors and faithful perpetrators among those whom the frequent perpetrators among those whom the frequent political changes send to fill such a delicate post; if met with the eternal <i>it is out of order</i>, preferred by the elements who see their livelihood in the backwardness of their subjects, it just claims are to go unheeded, as being of a subversive tendency; if the country is denied representation in the Cortes and an authorized voice to cry out against all kinds of abuses, which escape through the complexity of the laws; if in short, the system, prolific in results of alienating the goodwill of the natives, is to continue, pricking his apathetic mind with insults and charges of ingratitude, we can assert that in a few yeas the present state of affairs will have been modified completely -- and inevitably. There now exists a factor which was formerly lacking -- the spirit of the nation has been aroused and a common misfortune, a common debasement has united all the inhabitants of the Islands. A numerous enlightened class now exists within and without the Islands, a class created and continually augmented by the stupidity of certain governing powers, which forces the inhabitants to leave the country, to secure education abroad, and it is maintained thanks to the provocation and the system of espionage in vogue. This class, whose number is cumulatively increasing, is in constant communication with the rest of the Islands, and if today it constitutes only the brain of the country in a few years it will form the whole nervous system and manifest its existence in all its acts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, statecraft has various means at its disposal for checking a people on the road to progress; the brutalization of the masses through a caste addicted to the government, aristocratic, as in the Dutch colonies, or theocratic as in the Philippines; the impoverishment of the country; the gradual extermination of the inhabitants; and fostering of feuds among the races.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Brutalization of the Malayan Filipinos has been demonstrated to be impossible. In spite of the dark horde of friars in whose hands rests the instruction of youth, which miserably wastes years and years in the colleges, issuing therefrom tired, weary and disgusted with books: in spite of the censorship which tries to close every avenue to progress; in spite of all the pupils, confessionals, books, and missals that inculcate hatred toward not only all scientific knowledge but even toward the Spanish language itself; in spite of this whole elaborate system perfected and tenaciously operated by those who wish to keep the Islands in holy ignorance; there exist writers, freethinkers, historians, philosophers, chemists, physicians, artists, and jurists. Enlightenment is spreading and the persecution it suffers quickens it. No, the divine flame of thought is inextinguishable in the Filipino people and somehow or other it will shine forth and compel recognition. It is impossible to brutalize the inhabitants of the Philippines!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">May poverty arrest their development? Perhaps, but it</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> is a very dangerous means. Experience has everywhere shown us and especially in the Philippines, that the classes which are better off have always been addicted to peace and order, because they live comparatively better and may be the losers in civil disturbances. Wealth brings with it refinement, the spirit of conservation, while poverty inspires adventurous ideas, the desire to change things and has little care for life. Machiavelli himself held this means of subjecting of a people to be perilous, observing that loss of welfare stirs up more obdurate enemies than loss of life. Moreover, when there are wealth and abundance, there is less discontent, less compliant and the government, itself wealthier, has more means for sustaining itself. On the other hand, there occurs in a poor country what becomes in a house where bread is wanting? And further, of what use to the mother country would a poor and lean colony be?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Neither is possible gradually to exterminate the inhabitants. The Philippine races, like all the Malays, do not succumb before the foreigner, like the Australians, the Polynesians and the Indians of the New World. In spite of the numerous wars the Filipinos have had to carry on, in spite of the epidemics that have periodically visited them, their number has trebled, as has that of the Malays of Java and the Moluccas. The Filipino embraces civilization and lives and thrives in every clime, in contact with every people. Rum, that poison which exterminated the natives of the Pacific islands, has no power in the Philippines, but rather, comparison of their present condition with that described by the earlier historians, makes it appear that the Filipinos have grown soberer. The petty wars with the inhabitants of the south consume only the soldiers, people who by their fidelity to the Spanish flag, far from being a menace, are surely one of its solidest supports.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Three remains the fostering of internecine feuds among the provinces.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This was formerly possible, when communication from one island to another was rare and difficult, when there were not steamers or telegraph lines, when the regiments were formed according to the various provinces, when some provinces were cajoled by awards of privileges and honor and other were protected from the strongest. But now that the privileges have disappeared, that through a spirit of distrust the regiments have been reorganized, that the inhabitants move from one island to another, communication and exchange of impressions naturally increase, and as all see themselves threatened by the same peril and wounded in the same feelings, they clasp hands and make common cause. It is true that the union is not yet wholly perfected, but to this end the measures of good government, the vexations to which the townspeople are subjected, the frequent changes of officials, the scarcity of centers of learning, forces of the youth of all the islands to come together and begin to get acquainted. The journeys to Europe contribute not a little to tighten the bonds, for abroad the inhabitants of most widely separated provinces are impressed by their patriotic feelings, from sailors even to the wealthiest merchants, and at the sight of modern liberty and the memory of the misfortunes of their country, they embrace and call one another brothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In short, then, the advancement and ethical progress of the Philippines are inevitable, are decreed by fate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Islands cannot remain in the condition they are without requiring from the sovereign country more liberty. <i>Mutatis mutandis</i>. For new men, a new social order.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To wish that the alleged child remain in its swaddling clothes is to risk that it may turn against the nurse and flee, tearing away the old rags that bind it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Philippines, then, will remain under Spanish domination, but with more law and greater liberty, or they will declare themselves independent after steeping themselves and the mother country in blood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As no one should desire or hope for such an unfortunate rupture, which would be an evil for all and only the final argument in the most desperate predicament, let us see by what forms of peaceful evolution the Islands may remain subjected to the Spanish authority, with the very least detriment to the rights, interests and dignity of both parties.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-5786078261523111432014-04-18T19:48:00.000+08:002014-04-18T19:48:11.721+08:00The Philippines A Century Hence by José Rizal (Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire) Part I<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Following our usual custom of facing squarely the most difficult and delicate questions related to the Philippines, without weighing the consequences that our frankness may bring upon us, we shall in the present article treat of their future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In order to read the destiny of a people, it is necessary to open the book of its past, and this, for the Philippines may be reduced in general terms to what follows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Scarcely had they been attached to the Spanish crown than they had sustained with their blood and the efforts of their sons the wars and ambitions, and conquest of the Spanish people, and in these struggles, in that terrible crisis when a people changes its form of government, its laws, usages, customs, religion and beliefs; the Philippines was depopulated, impoverished and retarded -- caught in their metamorphosis without confidence in their past, without faith in their present and with no fond home of the years to come. The former rulers who had merely endeavored to secure the fear and submission of their subjects, habituated by them to servitude, fell like leaves from a dead tree, and the people, who had no love for them nor knew what liberty was, easily changed masters, perhaps hoping to gain something by the innovation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then began a new era for the Filipinos. They gradually lost their ancient traditions, their recollections, -- they forgot their writings, their songs, their poetry, their laws in order to learn by heart other doctrines, which they did not understand, other ethics, other tastes, different from those inspired in their race by their climate and their way of thinking. Then there was a falling-off, they were lowered in their own eyes, they became ashamed of what was distinctively their own, in order to admire and praise that was foreign and incomprehensible; their spirit was broken and they acquiesced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thus years and centuries rolled on. Religious shows, rites that caught the eye, songs, lights, images arrayed with gold, worship in a strange language, legends, miracles and sermons, hypnotized the already naturally superstitious spirits of the country but did not succeed in destroying it altogether, in spite of the whole system afterwards developed and operated with unyielding tenacity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When the ethical abasement of the inhabitants had reached this stage, when they had become disheartened and disgusted with themselves, an effort was made to add the final stroke for reducing so many dormant wills and intellects to nothingness, in order to make of the individual a sort of toiler, a brute, a beast of burden and to develop a race without mind or heart. “Then the end sought was revealed, it was taken for granted, and the race was insulted, an effort was made to deny it every virtue, every human characteristic, and there were even writers and priests who pushed the movement still further by trying to deny to the natives of the country not only capacity for virtue but also even the tendency to vice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then this which they had thought would be death was sure salvation. Some dying persons are restored to health by a heroic remedy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So great endurance reached its climax with the insults, and the lethargic spirit woke up to life. His sensitiveness, the chief trait of the native, was touched, and while he had the forbearance to suffer and die under a foreign flag, he had it not when they whom he served repaid his sacrifices with insults and jests. Then he began to study himself and to realize his misfortune. Those who had not expected this result, like all despotic masters, regarded as a wrong every complaint, every protest, and punished it with death, endeavoring thus to stifle every cry of sorrow with blood, and they made mistake after mistake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The spirit of the people was not thereby cowed, and even though it had been awakened in only a few hearts, its flame nevertheless was surely and consumingly propagated, thanks to abuses and the stupid endeavors of certain classes to stifle noble and generous sentiments. Thus when a flame catches a garment, fear and confusion propagate it more and more, and each shake, each blow, is a blast from the bellows to fan it into life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Undoubtedly during all this time there were not lacking generous and noble spirits among the dominant race that tried to struggle for the rights of humanity and justice, or sordid and cowardly ones among the dominated that aided the debasement of their own country. But both were exceptions and we are speaking in general terms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Such is an outline of their past. We know their present. Now what will their future be?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Will the Philippine Islands continue to be a Spanish colony, and if so, what kind of colony? Will they become a province of Spain, with or without autonomy? And to reach this stage, what kind of sacrifices will have to be made?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Will they be separated from the mother country to live independently, to fall into the hands of other nations, or to ally themselves with neighboring powers?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is impossible to reply to these questions, for to all of them both yes and now may be answered, according to the time desired to be covered. When there is in nature no fixed condition, how much less must there be in the life of a people, being endowed with mobility and movement! So, it is that in order to deal with those questions, it is necessary to presume an unlimited period of time, and in accordance therewith try to forecast future events.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-21713471129747151622014-04-18T19:27:00.002+08:002014-04-18T19:27:42.723+08:00Ang Alamat Ni Mariang Makiling<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">SABI sa mga alamat, nagka-panahon nuong nakaraan, ang mga diwata o diyos ay namuhay tulad at kasa-kasama ng mga tao. Kahit na sila ay may hiwaga, nagsalita sila at umibig, namili sa talipapa at iba pang karaniwang gawain ng mga tao hanggang ngayon. Ang alamat ni<b>Mariang Makiling</b> ay tungkol sa 2 ganitong diwata nuong Unang Panahon, sina Gat Panahon at Dayang Makiling, at ang kaisa-isa nilang anak, si Maria.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px;"></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px;" /></span>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Maganda at magiliw si Maria, at wiling-wili ang mag-asawang diwata sa anak na itinuring nilang kanilang kayamanan at ligaya sa buhay. Diwata rin tulad ng mga magulang, hindi karaniwan si Maria subalit naki-halubilo siya at nakipag-usap sa mga tao.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Naging ugali niya ang mamasyal sa talipapa kapag araw, naka-damit ng sutla na may borda ng mga bulaklak, ang uso nuon. Ang makapal niyang buhok, abot hanggang sakong ang haba, ay may sabit na mga bulaklak ng suha. Marikit ang kanyang mga mata kaya pati mga babae ay naakit makiharap sa kanya. Pagdaan niya, yumuyuko ang mga tao sa magalang na pagbati.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Dalawang katulong na Aeta ang lagi niyang kasama pagpunta sa talipapa. Hindi lumalayo ang mga Aeta, bitbit ang isang buslo ng luya na ipinagpa-palit ni Mariang Makiling - wala pang salapi nuon, at ang “bilihan” sa katunayan ay palitan lamang ng mga dala-dalang bagay - sa mga salakot, banig, at sutla.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Isang araw, nagtungo sa talipapa ng Makiling si Gat Dula, ang panginuon sa nayon ng Bai, upang mamili at mag-aliw. Siksikan ang mga tao duon sapagkat “araw ng pamilihan” nuon, at lahat sa nayon ay nasa talipapa. Pati ang mga taga-kalapit baranggay at nayon ay dumayo upang magkalakal din, bitbit ang kanilang mga “paninda.” Nanduon din nuon si Mariang Makiling at nagkataon, nakasabay niya si Gat Dula sa “pagtawad” sa isang piraso ng balat ng hayop. Kapwa nakaharap sa nagtitinda, nagkadikit ang kanilang mga balikat, at nagkatinginan silang dalawa. Hindi sinasadya, nahipo pa ni Gat Dula ang kamay ni Mariang Makiling sapagkat hawak nilang magka-sabay ang balat ng hayop.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Bilang hindi ng paumanhin, yumuko si Gat Dula kay Maria na, sa hinhin, ay hindi sumagot at tumingin sa malayo. Nagkakilala sila at pagkaraan ng mahabang pag-uusap, nakangiti nang bahagya si Maria nang maghiwalay sila. Mula nuon, madalas dumalaw si Gat Dula sa bahay nina Gat Panahon at Dayang Makiling, subalit kahit kailan man, hindi na niya nakaharap si Mariang Makiling. Lagi siyang wala sa bahay at tumutulong sa mga tao. Nuon kasi, gawi ng mga tao kapag nagigipit na lumapit sa mga diwata at humingi ng tulong, at pakay naman ng mga diwata ang tumulong sa mga tao.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Isa pang dahilan hindi na nakita uli ni Gat Dula si Mariang Makiling: Siya ay isang nilalang na tao samantalang si Maria ay isang diwata. Gaano man katalik sila, hindi maaaring mag-ibigan ang 2 magka-ibang nilalang.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-51140159891503316222014-04-18T19:14:00.000+08:002014-04-18T19:14:35.647+08:00Alamat ng Pinagmulan ng Sansinukob at Lahi<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Noon daw kauna-unahang panahon ay walang anumang bagay sa daigdig kundi langit at dagat lamang. Ang bathala ng langit ay si<b>Kaptan</b>. Ang bathala ng dagat ay si <b>Magwayen</b>.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px;" /></span>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Si Kaptan ay may isang anak na lalake- si Lihangin. Si Magwayen naman ay may isang anak na babae- si Lidagat. Pinagpakasal ng dalawang bathala ang kanilang mga anak at sila’y nagkaanak naman ng apat na lalake- sina Likalibutan, Ladlaw, Libulan, at Lisuga.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px;"></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px;" /></span>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nang lumaki ang mga bata, si Likalibutan ay naghangad na maging hari na sansinukob at ito’y ipinagtapat niya kina Ladlaw at Libulan. Wala pa noon si Lisuga. Ppagkat takot noon sina Ladlaw at Libulan kay Likalibutan ay sumama sila rito sa sapilitang pagbubukas ng pinto ng langit. Galit na galit si Kaptan. Inalpasan ni Kaptan ang mga kulog upang ihampas sa mga manghihimagsik. Nang tamaan ng kidlat, naging bilog na parang bola sina Libulan at Ladlaw, ngunit ang katawan ni Likalibutan ay nagkadurog- durog at nangalat sa karagatan.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nang magbalik si Lisuga ay hinanap niya ang kanyang mga kapatid. Nagpunta siya sa langit. Pagkakita sa kanya ni Kaptan ay pinatamaan siya agad ng isang kulog. Ang katawan ni Lisuga ay nahati at lumagpak sa ibabaw ng mga pirapirasong katawan ni Likalibutan.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tinawag ni Kaptan si Magwayen at sinisi sa pagkapanghimasok ng mga anak,ngunit sinabi ni Magwayen na hindi niya alam ang nangyari pagkat siya’y natutulog. Nang humupa ang galit ni Kaptan, sila ni Magwayen ay nagiliw sa apat na apo. Kaya, pagkaraan ng di matagal na panahon ay binuhay uli ni Kaptan ang mga pinarusahan. Si Ladlaw ay ginawang adlaw[araw], si Libulan ay naging bulan[buwan]. Si Likalibutan ay tinubuan ng mga halaman at naging sanlibutan. Ang kalahati ng katawan ni Lisuga ay naging silalak (lalake) at ang kalahati naman ay naging sibabay (babae), ang unang lalaki at babae ng daigdig.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-16869390196976415852014-04-18T19:06:00.000+08:002014-04-18T19:06:12.347+08:00Alamat ng Dalagang Bukid<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Noong unang panahon ay may tatlong dalagang magkakapatid na pawang nag-gagandahan. Ang kanilang mga kanayon ay lubhang nagtataka kung bakit mamula-mula ang kutis nga magkakapatid at manilaw-nilaw naman ang mahahaba nilang buhok, gayong mula pagkabata ay katulong na sila sa mga gawaing bukid ng kanilang ama na si Ramon.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Hindi iniinda ng magkakapatid na Lala, Dada at Sasa ang nakapapasong init ng araw sapagkat ito ay nagpapakinis pa nga ng kanilang kutis.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;"></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Namamangha at nananaghili sa ganda ng magkakapatid ang mga dalaga sa kanilang nayon. Humahanga at lihim namang umiibig ang maraming kabinataan sa tatlong dalaga. Ang kabaitan at kasipagan ng mga anak nina Tarcila at Ramon ay puring-puri ng mga kanayon, at dahil sila’y anak ng magbubukid kaya binansagan nila ang magkakapatid ng “mga dalagang-bukid”.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Kung mababatid lang ng mga tagaroon ang katotohanan, marahil hindi na sila magtataka kung bakit namumukod-tangi ang kagandahan nina Lala, Dada at Sasa. Lingid sa lahat, si Tarcila ay isang diwata. Nang umibig siya sa taga-lupang si Ramon, ang kanyang pagka-diwata’y tinalikdan niyang lubos upang mamuhay bilang ganap na tao. Bagama’t nawalan ng kapangyarihan ay naging maligaya naman ito sa piling ni Ramon at ng kanilang mga anak.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Subalit ang mapayapa at matiwasay na pamumuhay ng mga taga-nayon ay biglang binulabog ng masasamang-loob. Nahintakutan ang lahat at hindi magawang lumaban sa magbabagsik na tulisang-dagat. Nilimas ang kanilang kabuhayan at sapilitang dinala sa tabing dagat ang kadalagahang napili. Kabilang na roon sina Lala, Dada at Sasa. Habang hinihintay ang bangkang sasakyan ng mga bihag upang makarating sa sasakyang-dagat na nasa laot ay walang tigil ang pag-iiyakan at pagmamakaawa ng mga ina.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Tanging si Tarcila lang ang walang imik ngunit malalim ang iniisip. Bagama’t walang kapangyarihan ay nagsikap pa rin itong makipag-ugnayan sa dati niyang daigdig… sukdulang hininga niya ay mapatid, mailigtas lamang ang mga mahal na anak gayundin ang nayon na kanya ngayong tahanan! Hindi naman nabigo ang dating diwata sapagkat ang nawalang kapangyarihan ay muling ibinalik sa kanya.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Sa pamamagitan ng isip ay pinaglagablab ni Tarcila ang barko ng mga pirata. Sa bilis ng pangyayari, ang mga tulisan naman ngayon ang nasindak at sa pagsabog ng mga bala na nakasabit sa kanilang katawan, sila ay naubos nang wala namang kalaban. Ngunit isang sugatang pirata ang nagkaroon pa ng pagkakataong mamaril bago ito binawian ng buhay. Sa kasawiang-palad ay tinamaan ang magkakapatid at agaw-buhay na bumagsak sa tubig.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Napasigaw ang naghihnagpis na ina! Hindi nito maatim ang nakikitang paghihingalo ng mga anak. Bilang diwata ay wala siyang kapangyarihang magdugtong ng buhay, datapuwa ang magbigay ng panibagong buhay sa bagong anyo ay kanyang magagawa. Tumingin muna si Tarcila sa asawa at…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">“Ramon, nanaisin ko pa na sila’y magbagong-anyo kaysa tuluyang mawala na sa atin.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">“Nasa iyo ang kapasyahan. Gawin mo ang nararapat.”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Nabigkas ni Tarcila ang mahiwagang kataga bago nalagutan ng hininga sina Lala, Dada at Sasa kaya sa isang kisapmata ang tatlong dalaga ay naging ISDA!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Matapos masaksihan ang kababalaghang iyon ay saka pa lang nalaman ng mga kanayon ang pagiging “diwata” ni Tarcila. Lahat ay nagpasalamat sa nagawang tulong ni Tarcila at nakiramay rin sila sa sinapit ng mga anak nito. Nagilalas ang lahat at napatingin sa mga isda, sa kahanga-hanga nitong kulay na wari’y mamula-mula kaya sa halip na malungkot ay kagalakan ang kanilang nadama.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Sa huling pagkakataon ang mga isda ay nagsalita.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“INA, AMA, HUWAG KAYONG MALULUNGKOT, NARIRITO LAMANG KAMI SA DAGAT. AMING INA, IPINAGMAMALAKI KA NAMIN. IKAW PALA AY ISANG DIWATA. MAHAL NAMIN KAYO NI AMA…”</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">“Paalam na sa inyong lahat, mga kanayon,” ang sabay na wika nina Lala, Dada at Sasa – at marahan silang lumangoy patungong laot.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">“Paalam na rin sa inyo mga dalagang-bukod…!” ang sagot ng kanilang mga kanayon habang kumakaway.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.404001235961914px; text-align: justify;">Ito ang dahilan kung bakit nasa dagat ang mga “dalagang-bukid”.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-31001888281831862382014-04-18T18:52:00.003+08:002014-04-18T18:52:45.858+08:00Bernardo Carpio<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nang ang Pilipinas ay sakop pa ng mga Kastila ay may mag-asawang naninirahan sa paanan ng bundok ng San Mateo, Rizal. Ang mag-asawa ay mahirap lang subali’t sila ay mabait, masipag, matulungin, at makadiyos. Sa mahabang panahon nang kanilang pagsasama ay hindi sila agad nagkaanak. Ganun pa man sila ay masaya sa kanilang buhay at matulungin sa kapwa lalu na tulad nilang naghihirap, at sa mga may sakit. Ang mga bata sa kanilang pook ay inaaruga nilang parang mga tunay na anak habang patuloy silang umaasa na balang araw ay magkakaruon din sila ng sariling anak.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Dahil sa kanilang ipinamalas na kabutihan, pagtitiis, at pananalig ay kinaawaan din sila ni Bathala at dininig ang kanilang panalangin na magkaruon ng sariling anak. Sa wakas ay biniyayaan sila ng isang malusog na sanggol na lalaki. Bukod duon, biniyayaan din ni Bathala ang sanggol ng pambihirang lakas at kisig simbolo ng lakas ng pananalig at kagandahang loob na ipinamalas ng kanyang mga magulang.<br /><br />Maliit pa lang ay kinakitaan na si Bernardo ng pambihirang lakas at kisig. Ilang linggo pa lang mula nang siya'y ipinapanganak ay nagagawa na niyang dumapa at gumapang mag-isa kaya minsan ay muntik na siyang mahulog sa hagdanan ng kanilang munting kubo kundi naagapan ng isang kastilang pari na nuon ay dumadalaw sa kanilang pook upang magturo ng Kristiyanismo.<br /><br />Sa suhestiyon ng kastilang pari na humanga sa lakas at kisig ng sanggol, siya ay pinangalanang Bernardo Carpio ng kanyang mga magulang. Hinango ang kanyang pangalan kay Bernardo de Carpio, isang matapang, bantog, makisig, at maalamat na mandirigma sa bansang Espanya. Eto ay parang nagbabadya sa magiging maalamat ding buhay ni Bernardo Carpio sa Pilipinas.<br /><br />Habang lumalaki ay lalung nagiging kagila-gilalas ang pambihirang lakas ni Bernardo. Mahigit isang taon pa lang ay nagagawa niyang bunutin ang mga pako sa kanilang sahig sa kanyang paglalaro. At kapag isinasama siya ng ama sa pangangaso ay parang walang anuman na binubunot ni Bernardo ang ilang mga puno upang makagawa ng daanan sa masukal na kagubatan ng San Mateo.<br /><br />Tulad ng kanyang mga magulang si Bernardo ay lumaking mabait, matulungin, at matatag ang loob. Minsan sa kanyang pamamasyal sa gubat, ay may natanaw siyang kabayo na nahulog sa bangin at napilay. Agad na nilusong ni Bernardo ang bangin upang sagipin at tulungan ang kabayo. Parang walang anuman na pinasan at iniahon niya ang kabayo sa bangin at dinala sa kanilang bahay upang gamutin at alagaan.<br /><br />Sa kanyang pag-aalaga, ang bahagi ng enerhiya ni Bernardo ay dumaloy mula sa kanyang mga kamay at bumahagi sa kabayo na naging dahilan upang mabilis etong gumaling at nagsimulang nagpamalas din ng pambihirang lakas at bilis. Dahil sa tanglay na lakas at bilis ang kabayo ay tinawag niyang si Hagibis at mula nuon si Bernardo at si Hagibis ay laging magkasama sa pamamasyal sa kabundukan ng San Mateo.<br /><br />Samantala, ang pagmamalupit at paninikil ng mga Kastila sa mga karapatan at kalayaan ng mga Pilipino ay lalung nag-ibayo. Mapagtiis man ang mga Pilipino ay dumating din ang panahon na hindi na nila matanggap ang pang-aapi ng mga dayuhan. Ang mga kalalakihan ay nagsimulang magpulong-pulong at bumuo ng mga pangkat sa hangaring ipaglaban ang karapatan at kalayaan ng mga Pilipino. Dahil sa kanyang taglay na pambihirang lakas at pagiging makabayan ay napili si Bernardo na namuno sa namimintong himagsikan laban sa mga Kastila.<br /><br />Nang makarating sa kanilang kaalaman ang nagbabantang himaksikan ng mga Pilipino, lalu na nang mapag-alaman nilang si Bernardo ang napipisil na mamuno, ay labis na ikinabahala eto g mga Kastila. Dahil sa pambihirang lakas at tapang na taglay nito ay alam nilang mahihirapan silang igupo ang anumang himagsikan at malamang na magtagumpay pa eto.<br /><br />Dahil sa kanyang matatag na pamumuno at pambihirang lakas ay nabahala ang mga kastila sa magagawa ni Bernardo upang maging matagumpay ang himaksikan laban sa mga mananakop. Dahil dito ay gumawa ng patibong ang mga kastila. Diumano ay inanyayahan nila si Bernardo sa isang pagpupulong upang diumano ay dinggin ang karaingan ng mga Pilipino subalit eto ay bitag lamang upang sa tulong ng isang engkanto ay maipit sa nag-uuntugang bato at hindi na makapamuno sa himagsikan.<br /><br />Lihim sa mga mamamayan, nuong panahon na iyon, ang mga Kastila ay may nahuling isang engkantado na kasalukuyan nilang isinasailalim sa eksorsismo (exorcism), isang pamamaraan ng simbahan upang sugpuin ang masamang ispiritu na sumapi sa katawan ng engkantado.<br /><br />Dahil sa takot na magtagumpay ang himagsikan sa pamumuno ni Bernardo ay nakipagkasundo ang mga paring Kastila sa ispiritu na sumapi sa engkantado na ititigil nila ang eksorsismo (exorcism) kung tutulungan sila nito na masupil si Bernardo. Sa paniniwala ng mga Kastila, ang pambihirang lakas ni Bernardo ay matatapatan lamang ng agimat na taglay ng engkantado.<br /><br />Hindi nag-aksaya nang panahon ang mga Kastila. Agad nilang inanyayahan si Bernardo sa isang pagpupulong upang diumano ay dinggin ang karaingan ng mga Pilipino. Subali't sila ay may nakahandang bitag kay Bernardo. Sa pagdaraanan patungo sa isang yungib ay naghihintay ang engkantado na nagtatago sa likuran ng magkaparis na naglalakihang bato. Pagdaan ni Bernardo ay ginamit ng engkantado ang kanyang agimat upang pag-umpugin nito ang naglalakihang bato sa pagnanais na ipitin at patayin si Bernardo.<br /><br />Dahil sa pagkabigla ni Bernardo ay hindi siya nakaiwas at unti-unting siyang naipit ng nag-uuntugang bato. Ginamit niya ang kanyang lakas upang pigilan ang mga bato subalit ang kanyang lakas ay may katapat na lakas na nagmumula sa agimat ng engkantado.<br /><br />Nang hindi bumalik si Bernardo kay Hagibis na naghihintay sa may paanan ng yungib ay naramdaman nitong may masamang nangyayari kay Bernardo. Mabilis na bumalik si Hagibis sa kapatagan upang humingi ng tulong sa mga mamamayan subali't natagalan bago naunawaan ng mga tao ang ibig sabihin ng mga halinghing at pag- aalma ng kabayo. Sa bandang huli nang mapansin nila ang pagkawala ni Bernardo ay naisipan ng ilang kalalakihan na sundan si Hagibis dahil lagi silang magkasama.<br /><br />Dinala ni Hagibis ang mga kalalakihan sa paanan ng yungib at tinangka nila etong pasukin. Subalit nang sila ay papalapit na ay sinalubong sila ng nagbabagsakang mga bato na ikinasugat at ikinapilay ng ilang kalalakihan. Natanaw nila ang malalaking nag-uumpugang mga bato at nuon ay napagtanto nila na ang yungib ay pinagpupugaran ng engkantado. Sila ay nangatakot at bumalik sa kapatagan ng hindi nakita si Bernardo.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-56579304535748479782014-04-18T18:36:00.002+08:002014-04-18T18:38:34.498+08:00Si Juan Tamad At Ang Mga Alimango<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Isang araw si Juan ay inutusan ng kanyang inang si Aling Maria. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Juan, pumunta ka sa palengke at bumili ng mga alimangong maiuulam natin sa pananghalian." </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Binigyan ng ina si Juan ng pera at pinagsabihang lumakad na nang hindi tanghaliin.<br /><br />Nang makita si Juan sa palengke ay lumapit siya sa isang tinderang may tindang mga alimango at nakiusap na ipili siya ng matataba. Binayaran ni Juan ang alimango at nagpasalamat sa tindera.<br /><br />Umuwi na si Juan ngunit dahil matindi ang sikat ng araw at may kalayuan din ang bahay nina Juan sa palengke ay naisipan ni Juan na magpahinga sa ilalim ng isang punungkahoy na may malalabay na sanga. Naisip niyang naghihintay sa kanya ang ina kaya't naipasya niyang paunahin nang pauwiin ang mga alimango. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Mauna na kayong umuwi, magpapahinga muna ako, ituturo ko sa inyo ang aming bahay. Lumakad na kayo at pagdating sa ikapitong kanto ay lumiko kayo sa kanan, ang unang bahay sa gawing kaliwa ang bahay namin. Sige, lakad na kayo."<br /><br />Kinalagan ni Juan ang mga tali ng mga alimango at pinabayaan nang magsilakad ang mga iyon. Pagkatapos ay humilig na sa katawan ng puno. Dahil sa malakas ang hangin ay nakatulog si Juan. Bandang hapon na nang magising si Juan. Nag-inat at tinatamad na tumayo. Naramdaman niyang kumakalam ang knyang sikmura. Nagmamadali nang umuwi si Juan. Malayu-layo pa siya ay natanaw na niya ang kanyang ina na naghihintay sa may puno ng kanilang hagdan. Agad na sinalubong ni Aling Maria ang anak pagpasok nito sa tarangkahan. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Juan, bakit ngayon ka lang umuwi, nasaan ang mga alimango?"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Bakit po? Hindi pa po ba umuuwi?" Nagulat ang ina sa sagot ni Juan. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Juan, ano ang ibig mong sabihin?" </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Nanay, kaninang umaga ko pa po pinauwi ang mga alimango. Akala ko po ay narito na."<br /><br />"Juan, paanong makauuwi rito ang mga alimango? Walang isip ang mga iyon." </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hindi naunawaan agad ni Juan ang paliwanag ng ina. Takang-taka siya kung bakit hindi nakauwi ang mga alimango. Sa patuloy na pagpapaliwanag ng ina ang mga alimango ay hindi katulad ng mga tao na may isip ay pagpapaliwanag ni Juan na mali nga ang ginawa niyang pagpapauwi sa mga alimango.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-16667189805271275152014-04-18T09:33:00.000+08:002014-04-18T09:33:24.131+08:00Ermita In the Rain by Angela Manalang Gloria<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">It is not the rain that wanly
Sobs its tale across the bay,
Not the sobs of lone acacias
Trembling darkly in the gray,
Not the groans of harried breakers
Flinging tatters on the shore,
But the phantom of your voice that
Stays me dreaming at my door.
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">From the <i>POEMS</i> (1940).</pre>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-64812911481178552162014-04-18T09:28:00.002+08:002014-04-18T09:28:55.491+08:00Words by Angela Manalang Gloria<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">I never meant the words I said,
So trouble not your honest head
And never mean the words I write,
But come and kiss me now goodnight.
The words I said break with the thunder
Of billows surging into spray:
Unfathomed depths withhold the wonder
Of all the words I never say.
</pre>
<pre style="background-color: #f9f9ea;">
</pre>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">From the <i>POEMS </i>(1940).</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-91382552223808641532014-04-18T09:24:00.003+08:002014-04-18T09:24:25.348+08:00Soledad by Angela Manalang Gloria<br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It was a sacrilege, the neighbors cried, </span><div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The way she shattered every mullioned pane </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">To let a firebrand in. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">They tried in vain </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">To understand how one so carved from pride </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And glassed in dream could have so flung aside </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Her graven days, or why she dared profane </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The bread and wine of life for some insane </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Moment with him. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The scandal never died.</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br />
But no one guessed that loveliness would claim </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Her soul's cathedral burned by his desires </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Or that he left her aureoled in flame… </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And seeing nothing but her blackened spires, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The town condemned this girl who loved too well </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">and found her heaven in the depths of hell.
<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">From the <i>POEMS (</i>1940).</span><div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-79998679752648972092014-04-18T09:18:00.000+08:002014-04-18T09:18:07.713+08:00Any Woman Speaks by Angela Manalang Gloria<br />
<blockquote>
<pre>Half of the world's true glamour
Is held--you know by whom?
Not by the gilt Four Hundred
Parading in perfume,
Nor by the silvered meteors
That light the celluloid sky--
But by these eyes that called you,
Blind fool who passed me by!
</pre>
</blockquote>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">POEMS</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> (1940).</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-8625115466266278692014-04-18T08:46:00.001+08:002014-04-18T08:46:29.706+08:00ZITA by Arturo B. RotorTURONG brought him from Pauambang in his small sailboat, for the coastwise steamer did not stop at any little island of broken cliffs and coconut palms. It was almost midday; they had been standing in that white glare where the tiniest pebble and fluted conch had become points of light, piercing-bright--the municipal president, the parish priest, Don Eliodoro who owned almost all the coconuts, the herb doctor, the village character. Their mild surprise over when he spoke in their native dialect, they looked at him more closely and his easy manner did not deceive them. His head was uncovered and he had a way of bringing the back of his hand to his brow or mouth; they read behind that too, it was not a gesture of protection. "An exile has come to Anayat… and he is so young, so young." So young and lonely and sufficient unto himself. There was no mistaking the stamp of a strong decision on that brow, the brow of those who have to be cold and haughty, those shoulders stooped slightly, less from the burden that they bore than from a carefully cultivated air of unconcern; no common school-teacher could dress so carelessly and not appear shoddy.<br /><br />They had prepared a room for him in Don Eliodoro's house so that he would not have to walk far to school every morning, but he gave nothing more than a glance at the big stone building with its Spanish azotea, its arched doorways, its flagged courtyard. He chose instead Turong's home, a shaky hut near the sea. Was the sea rough and dangerous at times? He did not mind it. Was the place far from the church and the schoolhouse? The walk would do him good. Would he not feel lonely with nobody but an illiterate fisherman for a companion? He was used to living alone. And they let him do as he wanted, for the old men knew that it was not so much the nearness of the sea that he desired as its silence so that he might tell it secrets he could not tell anyone else.<br /><br />They thought of nobody but him; they talked about him in the barber shop, in the cockpit, in the sari-sari store, the way he walked, the way he looked at you, his unruly hair. They dressed him in purple and linen, in myth and mystery, put him astride a black stallion, at the wheel of a blue automobile. Mr. Reteche? Mr. Reteche! The name suggested the fantasy and the glitter of a place and people they never would see; he was the scion of a powerful family, a poet and artist, a prince.<br /><br />That night, Don Eliodoro had the story from his daughter of his first day in the classroom; she perched wide-eyed, low-voiced, short of breath on the arm of his chair.<br /><br />"He strode into the room, very tall and serious and polite, stood in front of us and looked at us all over and yet did not seem to see us.<br /><br />" 'Good morning, teacher,' we said timidly.<br /><br />"He bowed as if we were his equals. He asked for the fist of our names and as he read off each one we looked at him long. When he came to my name, Father, the most surprising thing happened. He started pronouncing it and then he stopped as if he had forgotten something and just stared and stared at the paper in his hand. I heard my name repeated three times through his half-closed lips, 'Zita. Zita. Zita.'<br /><br />" 'Yes sir, I am Zita.'<br /><br />"He looked at me uncomprehendingly, inarticulate, and it seemed to me, Father, it actually seemed that he was begging me to tell him that that was not my name, that I was deceiving him. He looked so miserable and sick I felt like sinking down or running away.<br /><br />" 'Zita is not your name; it is just a pet name, no?'<br /><br />" 'My father has always called me that, sir.'<br /><br />" 'It can't be; maybe it is Pacita or Luisa or--'<br /><br />"His voice was scarcely above a whisper, Father, and all the while he looked at me begging, begging. I shook my head determinedly. My answer must have angered him. He must have thought I was very hard-headed, for he said, 'A thousand miles, Mother of Mercy… it is not possible.' He kept on looking at me; he was hurt perhaps that he should have such a stubborn pupil. But I am not really so, Father?"<br /><br />"Yes, you are, my dear. But you must try to please him, he is a gentleman; he comes from the city. I was thinking… Private lessons, perhaps, if he won't ask too much." Don Eliodoro had his dreams and she was his only daughter.<br /><br />Turong had his own story to tell in the barber shop that night, a story as vividly etched as the lone coconut palm in front of the shop that shot up straight into the darkness of the night, as vaguely disturbing as the secrets that the sea whispered into the night.<br /><br />"He did not sleep a wink, I am sure of it. When I came from the market the stars were already out and I saw that he had not touched the food I had prepared. I asked him to eat and he said he was not hungry. He sat by the window that faces the sea and just looked out hour after hour. I woke up three times during the night and saw that he had not so much as changed his position. I thought once that he was asleep and came near, but he motioned me away. When I awoke at dawn to prepare the nets, he was still there."<br /><br />"Maybe he wants to go home already." They looked up with concern.<br /><br />"He is sick. You remember Father Fernando? He had a way of looking like that, into space, seeing nobody, just before he died."<br /><br />Every month there was a letter that came for him, sometimes two or three; large, blue envelopes with a gold design in the upper left hand comer, and addressed in broad, angular, sweeping handwriting. One time Turong brought one of them to him in the classroom. The students were busy writing a composition on a subject that he had given them, "The Things That I Love Most." Carelessly he had opened the letter, carelessly read it, and carelessly tossed it aside. Zita was all aflutter when the students handed in their work for he had promised that he would read aloud the best. He went over the pile two times, and once again, absently, a deep frown on his brow, as if he were displeased with their work. Then he stopped and picked up one. Her heart sank when she saw that it was not hers, she hardly heard him reading:<br /><br />"I did not know any better. Moths are not supposed to know; they only come to the light. And the light looked so inviting, there was no resisting it. Moths are not supposed to know, one does not even know one is a moth until one's wings are burned."<br /><br />It was incomprehensible, no beginning, no end. It did not have unity, coherence, emphasis. Why did he choose that one? What did he see in it? And she had worked so hard, she had wanted to please, she had written about the flowers that she loved most. Who could have written what he had read aloud? She did not know that any of her classmates could write so, use such words, sentences, use a blue paper to write her lessons on.<br /><br />But then there was little in Mr. Reteche that the young people there could understand. Even his words were so difficult, just like those dark and dismaying things that they came across in their readers, which took them hour after hour in the dictionary. She had learned like a good student to pick out the words she did not recognize, writing them down as she heard them, but it was a thankless task. She had a whole notebook filled now, two columns to each page:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">esurient greedy.</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Amaranth a flower that never fades. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">peacock a large bird with lovely gold and green feathers. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mirash </span></span></blockquote>
</div>
<br />The last word was not in the dictionary.<br /><br />And what did such things as original sin, selfishness, insatiable, actress of a thousand faces mean, and who were Sirse, Lorelay, other names she could not find anywhere? She meant to ask him someday, someday when his eyes were kinder.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-23856361341013409732014-04-17T17:48:00.003+08:002014-04-17T17:48:23.082+08:00Florante at Laura<div class="answer_text" id="editorText">
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Madilim, masukal, tahimik at mapanganib. Ito ang mga <br />
katangian ng isang gubat na mapanglaw at dito rin magsisimula ang kwento ng matamis na pag-iibigan nila Florante at Laura. <br />
<br />
Sa gitna ng gubat, may isang lalaking nakatali sa puno na animo'y
binugbog ng paulit-ulit at hinabol ang kanyang hininga. Ang pangalan
niya'y Florante. <br />
<br />
Habang nakatali sa puno, sinasabi niya ang
kanyang mga nakaraan at isa na rito ang Albanya, isang kaharian kung
saan siya'y isinilang na ngayo'y nanganganib. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>O, aking Diyos Ama, nasan, nasan, ang iyong awa! Ako'y nananaghoy,</i><br />
<i>nakikiusap, humihingi ng tulong niyo (bugtong hininga) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Patawarin niyo akong lahat dahil hindi ko nagawang ipagtanggol ang
ating kaharian laban sa taksil at walang awang si Adolfo. Tila yata wala
nang nagmamahal sakin! Napakapait ng aking buhay! </i><br />
<i>Inagaw niya ang
korona ni Haring Linceo upang magawa niya ang kanyang ninanais. Pati si
Duke Briseo na aking ama ay kanyang dinamay. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Sandaling nanahimik si Florante dahil sa sama ng loob <br />
(umiyak sandali) matapos manahimik ay muli siyang tumawag sa Panginoon. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>O aking Diyos Ama, tila yata di mo dinidinig ang aking mga </i><br />
<i>panalangin sa'yo. Hindi ko tuloy maalis saking isipan na ayaw nyo na akong tulungan. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Kung gayon, papaano na ako, sinong aking malalapitan at makakapitan kung ang Diyos mismo ay ayaw na akong tulungan! </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paalam na Albanya, aking sinilangan, patawarin mo na lang ako dahil Hindi kita naipagtanggol. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Paalam na bayan ko, paalam rin sa'yo. Adolfong malupit, Laurang taksil! Paalam na sa inyo! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Habang nagdudusa si Florante sa gubat, isang Gererong <br />
Morong nagngangalang Aladin ang dumating sa gubat na pagod na pagod at naghahanap ng pagpapahingahan. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>O, Flerida…… O tadhana, kay lupit mo, kinuha mo ang minamahal ko! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Habang si Aladin ay umiiyak at nagdudusa ay may narinig <br />
siyang tinig sa kagubatan at pagkatapos ay may nakita siyang lalaki. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>O, ano yung tinig na aking naririnig? Tinig ng isang naghihinagpis na </i><br />
<i>tao. Sino kaya siya? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Talagang ako'y minamalas. Ako'y pinapahirapan sa kamay nang taksil </i><br />
<i>na si Adolfo. Si Adolfong malupit at higit pa sa halimaw kung manakit. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Aladin</b>: <i>Kaawa-awang tao, ang lahat ng kanyang tuwa'y natapos nang siya'y </i><br />
<i>pinahirapan at pinagtaksilan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Pagkatapos na marinig ni Aladin si Florante ay nagmuni siya <br />
ng isang malaking problema. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:<i> </i></b><i>Tadhana'y masakit, problema ko'y napakahirap lutasin dahil sa aking </i><br />
<i>sintang inagaw. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Nagmamadali na si Aladin nang mapansing humina ang <br />
boses na kanyang narinig… <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>Kailangan ko ng magmadali kundi, Hindi ko na maabutan ang taong </i><br />
<i>iyon… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Habang tumatakbo ay hinahawi niya ang mga sagabal sa <br />
pamamagitan ng kanyang kalis. Nang Makita niya ang nakagapos ay
napansin niyang may nakapalibot ditong dalawang leon. Siya ay naghanda
at nilusob ang mga leon. Pagkatapos niyang mapatay ang dalawang leon ay
pinakawalan niya si Florante. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin: </b><i>Parang nakita ko na ang taong ito? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Pagkalipas ng ilang oras ay namulat si Florante at…… <br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Laura nasaan ka? Tulungan mo akong makaalis dito… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Hindi na sumagot si Aladin at baka sa kawalang pag-asa ay matuluyan na si Florante… <br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Sino ka at bakit ako narito? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Aladin: </b><i>Magpahinga ka na lang. Ako ang nagligtas sa iyo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Hindi mo ba napapansin na tayo ay magkaaway? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>Marahil, pero ika'y nangangailangan ng tulong. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Siguro nga ay patay na ako kung Hindi ka dumating. Ngunit ang </i><br />
<i>pagkamatay ang siyang tunay kong kaligayahan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>Hangal! Hindi mo ba alam na dinadagdagan mo lang ang iyong pasakit?! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Hindi nagpansinan ang dalawa ngunit isinama ni Aladin si <br />
Florante sa kanyang pagpapahingahan at doon sila nagpalipas ng gabi. <br />
<br />
Pagdating ng umaga ay napansin ni Aladin na malakas na si Florante kaya ito'y kanyang niyakap. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Maraming salamat sa lahat ng tulong mo kaibigan! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Inaliw ni Aladin si Florante ngunit napansin nitong <br />
malungkot pa rin siya. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b><i> Ano ba ang iyong problema? Maaari ko bang malaman? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Sige. Sisimulan ko ang aking kwento simula ng ako'y ipinanganak. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Ang dalawa ay naupo upang magkuwetuhan. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Pinanganak ako sa bayan ng Albanya kung saan si Duke Briseo, </i><br />
<i>ang aking ama, ay naninirahan. Ang ina ko na si Prinsesa Floresca ay nakatira sa Krotona. Ako ay pinangalanan nilang Florante. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Noong sanggol pa lamang ako ay muntik na akong dagitin ng isang buwitre. (sinasalaysay habang inaarte ng batang Florante) </i><br />
<br />
<b>Prinsesa Floresca</b>: <i>Florante! Tulong! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Menalipo:</b> <i>Bakit po anong problema? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Nakita ng pinsan kong si Menalipo na ako ay dadagitin ng buwitre </i><br />
<i>kaya Dali-Dali niya itong pinana at napatay. At noon namang naglalakad
ako ay kinuha ng isang areon sa aking dibdib ang aking Cupidong
Dyamante. Buti na lang at Hindi ako napahamak. (isinasalaysay habang
inaarte ng batang Florante) </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Nang ako'y naging siyam na taong
gulang ay lagi akong nasa burol at dala ang aking pana't busog at ako'y
naghahanap ng hayop upang tirahin ng aking pana. Kapag ako'y napagod ay
nagpapahinga at naliligo ako sa batis kung saan masasayang nag-aawitan
ang mga nayades habang tinutugtog nila ang kanilang lira. Ang kanilang
tawana'y nakapagpapawala ng aking pagod. (sinasalaysay habang inaarte ng
batang Florante)(nagkakantahan ang mga nayades) </i><br />
<br />
<i>Pagkalipas ng ilang taon ay pinag-aral ako ng aking ama ngunit ayaw pumayag ng aking ina dahil ako'y lilisan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Prinsesa Floresca:</b> <i>Bakit kailangan pa niyang umalis? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo:</b> <i>Dahil mas maganda ang pagtuturo roon. Kung Hindi siya mag- </i><br />
<i>aaral ano ang kanyang magiging kinabukasan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Pronsesa Floresca:<i> </i></b><i>Sino ang mag-aaruga sa kanya roon? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo:</b> <i>Aalagaan siya ng kanyang mga guro't kaibigan doon. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Sa mga sinabi ng ama ko ay nakumbinse niya si ina upang ako'y </i><br />
<i>lumisan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Sa pagdating ni Florante sa Atenas… <br />
<br />
<b>Antenor:</b> <i>Florante, maligayang pagdating! Ako nga pala si Antenor at ako ang </i><br />
<i>magiging guro mo dito sa Atenas. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b>(malungkot na malungkot)<i> Salamat po! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Antenor:</b><i> O, bakit tila kay lungkot mo? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Ayaw ko po kasing umalis sa Albanya. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Antenor:</b> <i>Hayaan mo, lilipas din yan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Sa isang buwang pagtigil ni Florante sa Atenas ay <br />
kapansin-pansin na palagi siyang tulala at di makakain. <br />
<br />
Isang araw habang naglalakad si Florante ay nakasabay niya si Adolfo,
ang kanyang kababayan. Napansin niya ang pinong pagkilos nito. <br />
<br />
Makaraan pa ang anim na taong pag-aaral…… <br />
<br />
<b>Antenor: </b><i>Binabati kita Florante! May talento ka sa pilosopiya, astrolohiya at </i><br />
<i>matematika. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Salamat po! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Dito nagsimulang magalit si Adolfo dahil nasasapawan na <br />
siya ni Florante. <br />
<br />
Isang hapon, tinipon ni Antenor ang mga estudyante. <br />
<br />
<b>Antenor</b>: <i>Magkakaroon ng pagsasadula ng trahedya ng dalawang Apo. Si </i><br />
<i>Florante ang mangunguna bilang Polinise at si Adolfo bilang Etyokles. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Nang magsimula na ang dula-dulaan. Nanlisik ang mata ni <br />
Adolfo kay Florante. <br />
<br />
<b>Adolfo:</b> (Handa nang paslangin si Florante)<i> Ikaw ang umagaw ng kapurian ko, </i><br />
<i>dapat kang mamatay. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Menandro:</b> (Sinaklolohan si Florante)<i> Adolfo, itigil mo ang iyong kahibangan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay</b>:<br />
Natapos ang pagdiriwang at di na nakita si Adolfo. <br />
<br />
Makalipas pa ang isang taon, isang sulat ang dumating para kay Florante. <br />
*babasahin ang sulat* <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:(</b>malungkot)<i> HINDI!!!!!Mahal na ina, bakit mo ako iniwan? Di
man lang tayo nagkita sa matagal na panahon. HINDI!! Hindi ka maaring
mamatay!(walang patid ang pag-iyak) </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Dalawang buwan pa si Florante sa Atenas bago dumating <br />
ang kanyang sundo. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante</b>: <i>Maestro, paalam na po. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Antenor: </b><i>Florante, tandaan mo palaging mag-iingat kay Adolfo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b><i> Salamat po sa lahat. Tatandaan ko po ang inyong bilin. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Menandro:</b> <i>Mag-iingat ka Flortante. Kapag kailangan mo ng tulong ay nandito </i><br />
<i>lang kami. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Antenor:</b> <i>Menandro, sumama ka kay Florante sa Albanya. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Menandro:</b> <i>Salamat po. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante at Menandro</b>:<i> Paalam na po. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Pagdating sa Albanya…… <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> (humalik sa kamay ng ama) <i>O aking ama! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo:</b> (niyakap ang ama) <i>O bunso. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b> <i>Biglang may dumating na isang mensahero. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Mensahero:</b> <i>Magandang araw po.Humihingi ng tulong ang Krotona sa inyo dahil nanganganib po na masakop ni Heneral Osmalik. </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo:</b> <i>Asahan niyo ang tulong namin. Florante, pupunta tayo kay haring Linceo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay</b>: <i>Pagdating sa palasyo, sinalubong sila ni Haring Linceo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo</b>: <i>Mahal na hari, ang aking anak na si Florante. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo:</b> <i>Ah, ang binata sa aking panaginip. Siya ang papalit sa aking </i><br />
<i>trono. Pansamantala pamunuan mo ang hukbong patungo sa Krotona. </i><br />
<i>Tulungan mo ang iyong ninuno doon at magkamit ng karangalan. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Nabalitaan ko kay Antenor na nagpamalas ka ng iyong kahusayan sa </i><br />
<i>Atenas. Walang pagdududa na iyong namana ang mga katangian ng iyong </i><br />
<i>ama. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Maraming salamat po sa papuri. Ginawa ko lang po ang nararapat. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Kasilayan ni Florante si Laura sa hardin ng palasyo. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Maari ko po bang malaman kung ano ang pangalan ng magandang </i><br />
<i>binibining iyon? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo:</b> <i>Siya nga pala ang aking anak na si Laura. Maiwan muna kita at mag-uusap lang kami ng iyong ama. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Pumasok si Haring Linceo sa loob ng palasyo at nilapitan <br />
naman ni Florante si Laura. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Magandang umaga sa iyo prinsesa. Kanina pa kita napapansin. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Magandang umaga, Florante. Salamat sa papuri. Lagi kang </i><br />
<i>ikinukwento sa akin ng iyong ama. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Sana'y makilala pa kita ng lubusan. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Gayon din ako. Ngunit ilang araw na lang at aalis ka na rin. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Oo nga. Halika Laura, pumasok na tayo at magsisimula na ang </i><br />
<i>piging. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b> <i>Pagkatapos ng tatlong gabing piging… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo:</b> <i>Magandang gabi sa iyo Florante. Dapat ka ng maghanda para </i><br />
<i>bukas. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Maraming salamat po sa paalala. Magandang gabi rin po. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b> <i>Kinabukasan… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Duke Briseo: </b><i>Handa ka na ba? Malayo ang iyong lalakbayin. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Handa na po aking ama. Karangalan ko po ang maglingkod sa inyo, </i><br />
<i>Haring Linceo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo:</b> <i>Mabuti kung ganon. Mag-iingat ka. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Salamat po. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Mag-iingat ka Florante, ipangako mong babalik ka. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Pangako, Laura. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Paalam. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Paalam sa inyong lahat. Mga kawal, tayo ng lahat! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Pagdating nila Florante sa Krotona, nakita nila ang hukbo ni Heneral Osmalik. <br />
<br />
<b>Osmalik:</b> <i>Sugod! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Sugod! </i><br />
<br />
*digmaan* <br />
<br />
<b>Natitirang kawal ni Osmalik:</b> <i>Nasan ang kalaban?! (makikita sila
Florante, Menandro at isa pang kawal) Isa… Dalawa… Tatlo… Takbo! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Nanalo tayo!! Mabuhay ang Albanya! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Mga kawal:</b> <i>Mabuhay!! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Mga kawal, babalik tayo sa Albanya. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay</b>:<br />
Sa pagnalik nila sa Albanya ay may nakasalubong silang mga di-binyagan na may dalang isang babae. <br />
<br />
<b>Di-binyagan:</b> <i>Sino kayo at bakit kayo narito? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Kami'y mga taga-Albanya./ Pakawalan niyo ang babaeng iyan! </i><br />
<br />
*labanan* <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Binibini, mawalang-galang na pero ngayon lang kita nakita rito. </i><br />
<i>Maari ko bang malaman ang iyong pangalan? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura</b>: <i>Ako ito, Florante. Si Laura. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Laura? Bakit ka nandito? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura: </b><i>Gusto ko lang malaman ang iyong kalagayan. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Florante: </b><i>Salamat sa pag-aabala. Kamusta ka na? Sana'y naging mabuti ka. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Mabuti naman ako, pero Florante, kailangan ko ng tulong mo. May </i><br />
<i>bayang malapit dito na pinagtataguan ng mga morong dumakip sa aking
ama. Iligtas mo siya. Paano kung may masamang mangyari sa kanya? Paano
kung... </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Shhhh. Ako na ang bahala. Ililigtas ko ang iyong ama sa abot ng aking makakaya. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Makalipas ang ilang linggo… <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Nanalo ulit tayo!!! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo: </b><i>Salamat naman at dumating ka. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>Ginawa ko lang po ang aking tungkulin. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Matapos noon ay bumalik na ang lahat sa Albanya. <br />
<br />
<b>Haring Linceo:</b> <i>Florante, pasensya ka na ngunit ipapadala ulti kita sa Etolya </i><br />
<i>para lumaban sa mga turko. Mag-ingat ka. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Pupunta po kami kaagad. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Makalipas ang ilang araw ng paglalakbay… <br />
<br />
<b>Miramdin:</b> <i>Kapag nakita niyo na sila ay sugurin niyo kaagad. </i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Florante: </b><i>Sugod!! </i><br />
<br />
*digmaan* <br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Makalipas ang ilang araw… <br />
<br />
<b>Kawal:</b> <i>Heneral Florante, dala ko po ay isang sulat galing kay Haring Linceo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Maraming salamat, maaari ka ng umalis. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay</b>:<br />
Pagkatapos basahin ni Florante ang liham, pinatawag niya si Menandro. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Florante:<i> </i></b><i>Menandro, babalik ako sa Albanya, pinapupunta ako ng hari. Ikaw </i><br />
<i>muna ang mamahala dito. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Menandro:</b><i> Ikararangal ko ito. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Umuwi si Florante sa Albanya nang nag-iisa. Pagdating <br />
niya ay pinaligiran siya ng mga kawal. <br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Anong ibig sabihin nito?! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Kawal2:</b> <i>Sumama ka sa amin kung ayaw mong masaktan. </i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Tagapagsalaysay: </b><br />
Dinala si Florante sa palasyo at nakita si Adolfo. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Adolfo:</b> <i>Kamusta na Florante? Matagal na tayong Hindi nagkakausap. </i><br />
<i>Kuwentuhan mo naman ako. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Walang hiya ka!! Anong ginawa mo kay Laura?!! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Adolfo:</b> <i>Huminahon ka. Maayos ang kalagayan niya ngunit ikinalulungkot ko.. </i><br />
<i>Magpaalam na ang iyong amang si Duke Briseo. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante</b>: <i>Papatayin kita, papatayin kita! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Adolfo:</b><i> Mga kawal, alisin niyo ang taong ito sa harapan ko… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
At doon nagwakas ang pagsasalaysay ng buhay ni <br />
Florante… <br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
<b>Florante: </b><i>At ganoon nga ang nagyari. </i><br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>Hayaan mong ako naman ang magsalaysay ng aking buhay… Ang
ngalan ko'y Aladin mula sa syudad ng Persya. Anak ng bantog na sultan
Ali- </i><br />
<i>Adab. Kaya ako nandito dahil ako ay pinagtaksilan ng sarili kong ama. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapaagsalaysay: </b><i>Sasmantala, sa kabilang bahagi ng kagubatan…. </i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Anong gagawin mo sakin?! Saan mo ko dadalhin?! </i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Adolfo:</b><i> Sumama ka na lang! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Flerida:</b> <i>Itigil mo yan! </i><br />
(pinana ni Flerida si Adolfo at napatay) <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin: </b>(maririnig sila Flerida at Laurang nag-uusap ngunit Hindi nila alam na <br />
sila pala ito) <i>Huh?!... Nakarinig ka ba ng mga nag-uusap? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>Oo, halika't hanapin natin kung saan ito nagmumula.</i> (pinakinggan <br />
nila ito) <br />
<br />
<b>Flerida:</b> <i>Nang mabalitaan ko na pupugutan ng ulo ang aking minamahal,
ako ay nagmakaawa sa hari na huwag na itong ituloy, matapos nito, ako ay
nagdamit gerero upang makatakas sa kaharian. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b> <i>Di na nakatiis si Florante at Aladin… Kaagad nilang </i><br />
<i>nilapitan ang kanilang sinisinta. Wari bang sabik sa pagmamahal ng isa't-isa. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b> <i>O Laura aking mahal kay tagal nating Hindi nagkita! </i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Mahal ko! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Aladin:</b> <i>Flerida! Aking sinta! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Flerida:</b> <i>O Aladin… </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b><i> Pano ka napadpad dito, Laura? </i><br />
<br />
<b>Laura:</b> <i>Hayaan mong ikwento ko ang mga nangyari sakin sa bingit ng </i><br />
<i>kamatayan… </i><br />
<i>(malungkot at iiyak) Nang ikaw ay mawala, naging magulo na ang bayan.
Madalas akong pagtangkaan ni Adolfo… Higit pa dito, pinaslang niya ang
aking amang hari at maging ang iyong ama na si Duke Briseo. </i><br />
<b>Flerida:</b><i> Ako'y nahabag kay Laura ng makita kong nilalapastangan siya ni </i><br />
<i>Adolfo kaya kinuha ko ang busog at palaso at pinana ko sa dibdib ang walag-awang hangal. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Florante:</b><i> Sadyang kay lupit ng tadhana sa ating lahat. Ngunit ngayon ay </i><br />
<i>masaya na tayong lahat at magkakasama. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay:</b><br />
Habang sila ay nag-uusap ay dumating si Menandro at ang <br />
kanyang mga sundalo. Dapat ay hahanapin nila si Adolfo upang singilin
sa kanyang mga kasalanan nang Makita nilang maayos na ang lahat.. <br />
<br />
Matapos ang sandaling pag-uusap ay bumalik ang lahat sa Albanya. Masaya
ang mga tao na nakita silang maayos na nakabalik. Kaagad naman dinaos
ang kasal Nina Florante at Laura at maging Nina Aladin at Flerida
matapos sila kapwa magpabinyag. <br />
<br />
<b>Aladin: </b><i>Florante, ako muna ay
panandaliang magpapaalam sayo. May nagbalita kasi sa akin na
sumakabilang buhay na ang aking ama. Kailangan ko siyang puntahan. Sa
kabila ng mga kasalanan niya sakin, siya'y mananatiling ama ko pa rin.
Ako ang papalit sa puwesto niya kaya't matatagalan bago tayo magkita
muli. Ipinapangako namin na kami ay babalik dito upang kamustahin kayong
mag-asawa. Paalam kaibigan! </i><br />
<br />
<b>Tagapagsalaysay</b>: Dahil sa pagkamatay ni Haring Linceo at Duke Briseo ay <br />
pinalitan sila ni Florante. Sa kanyang, paghahari, nanumbalik ang
dating katangian ng kaharian. Namauli ang kapayapaan, umunlad muli at
bumalik rin sa dati ang mga tao.</div>
<h2>
</h2>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-57191477450478899202012-03-05T11:50:00.001+08:002014-04-18T22:03:11.086+08:00Where is the Patis? by Carmen Guerrero- Nakpil<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
A Filipino may denationalize himself but not his stomach. He may travel over the seven seas, the five continents, the two hemispheres and lose the savor of home, forget his identity and believes himself a citizen of the world. But he remains- gastronomically, at least, always a Filipino. For, if in no other way, the Filipino loves his country with his stomach.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Travel has become the great Filipino dream. In the same way that an American dreams of becoming a millionaire or an English boy dreams of going to one of the great universities, the Filipino dreams of going abroad. His most constant vision is that of himself as a tourist.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To visit Hongkong, Tokyo and other cities of Asia, perchance or to catch a glimpse of Rome, Paris or London or to go to America (even for only a week in a fly- specked motel in California) is the sum of all delights.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Yet having left Manila International Airport in a pink cloud of <i>despedidas</i> and <i>sampaguita</i> garlands and <i>pabilin</i>, the dream turns into a nightmare very quickly. But why? Because the first bastion of the Filipino spirit is the palate. And in all the palaces and fleshpots and skyscrapers of that magic world called "abroad" there is no<i> patis</i> to be had.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Consider the <i>Pinoy</i> abroad. He has discarded the <i>barong tagalog</i> or "polo" for a dark, sleek Western suit. He takes to the hailiments from Hongkong, Brooks Brothers or Savile Row with the greatest of ease. He has also shed the casual informality of manner that is characteristically Filipino. He gives himself the airs of a cosmopolite to the credit-card born. He is extravagantly courteous (especially in a borrowed language) and has taken to hand-kissing and to planty of American "D'you mind's?"</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
He hardly misses the heat, the native accents of <i>Tagalog</i> or <i>Ilongo</i> or the company of his brown- skinned cheerful compatriots. He takes, like duck to water, to the skyscrapers, the temperate climate, the strange landscape and the fabled refinements of another world. How nice, after all, to be away from good old R.P. for a change!</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
But as he sits down to meal, no matter how sumptuous, his heart sinks. His stomach juices, he discovers, are much less neither as <i>apahap</i> nor <i>lapu-lapu</i>. Tournedos is meat done in barbarian way, thick and barely cooked with red juices still oozing out. The safest choice is a steak. If the <i>Pinoy</i> can get it well done enough and sliced thinly enough, it might remind him of<i> tapa</i>.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
If the waiter only knew enough about Philippine cuisine, he might suggest venison which is really something like <i>tapang usa</i>, or escargots which the unstylish poor on Philippine beaches know as snails. Or even frog' legs which are a <i>Pampango</i> delight.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
But this is the crux of the problem, where is the rice? A silver tray offers varieties of bread: slices of crusty French bread, soft yellow rolls, rye bread, crescents studded with sesame seeds. There are also potatoes in every conceivable manner, fried, mashed, boiled, buttered. But no rice.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The <i>Pinoy</i> learns that rice is considered a vegetable in Europe and America. The staff of life a vegetable!</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Where is the <i>patis</i>?</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And when it comes a special order which takes at least half an hour the grains are large, oval and foreign- looking and what's more, yellow with butter. And oh horrors!- one must shove it with a fork or pile it with one's knife on the back of another fork.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
After a few days of these debacles, the <i>Pinoy</i>, sick with longing, decides to comb the strange city for a Chinese restaurant, the closest thing to the beloved gastronomic country. There, in the company of other Asian exiles, he will put his nose finally in a bowl of rice and find it more fragrant than an English rose garden, more exciting than a castle on the Rhine and more delicious than pink champagne.</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To go with the rice there is <i>siopao</i> (not so rich as at Salazar), <i>pancit guisado</i> reeking with garlic (but never so good as any that can be had on the sidewalks of <i>Quiapo</i>), fried <i>lumpia</i> with the incorrect sauce, and even <i>mami</i> (but nothing like the down-town wanton)</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Better than a Chinese restaurant is the kitchen of a <i>kababayan</i>. When in a foreign city, a <i>Pinoy</i> searches every busy sidewalk, theater, restaurant for the well- remembered golden features of a fellow-<i> pinoy</i>. But make it no mistake.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-7099684078351099162012-03-05T10:31:00.000+08:002012-03-05T10:31:23.793+08:00TONG by F. Sionil JoséConrado Lopez fell deeply in love for the first time when he was thirty. It was one of those beautiful things destined to bleakness and from the very beginning, he had an inkling that this was how it would be. And all because Alice Tan was Chinese.<br />
<br />
When he first saw her, it seemed as if she had blossomed straight out of a Chinese art book; she had a complexion as clear as it was fair. When he got to know her better, he used to trace the blue veins in her arms, the blood vessels in her cheeks. Her nose was perfect, and her Chinese eyes had a brightness that could dispel the gloom which came over him. Long afterwards, when he remembered her eyes, how she looks, how she smiled, an intense feeling akin to physical pain would lance him. <br />
<br />
Alice Tan’s parents used to run a small grocery store in Ongpin; both came from Fookien and Alice could trace her family back to Amoy. Conrado Lopez did not know his lineage beyond his great grandfather and not interested in the Chinese traditional kinship system. But he got so interested afterwards, he started to delve into his own background. He lived with his spinster sister, Remedios, in a small house in Makati, a sidestreet parallel to Rizal Avanue in Santa Cruz. He had inherited the house with its pocket-size yard from his parents. The lower floor which had its own entrance was rented out to a lawyer who was adept at fixing things at City Hall. He and his sister lived in the second floor which had two bedrooms, a living-dining room and a toilet and kitchen with antique fixtures. His sister looked after the house, his clothes and his general well being. Conrado had finished accounting at one of the Azcarraga universities and would have accounted to something more than being an accountant in Makati and his older sister whom he supported. It was because of such a responsibility that he had never really been serious with any girl. <br />
<br />
He was unprepared for Alice Tan; in fact, in the beginning, he was not sure at all about his feelings for her. It started in March when brownouts were frequent so that when the lights went out that early evening, he thought it was another brownout. But he noticed that the lights in the other house were on so he immediately concluded there must be something wrong with the fuse so he threw the main switch off and change it. But he had hardly thrown the switch on when the line on the ceiling started sputtering. Then a loud report and darkness. <br />
<br />
By now, Meding was alarmed but Conrado assured her the house would not burn down as long as the switches were off. He dashed off to Bambang two blocks away to one of the electrical shops there. <br />
<br />
He had passed the New Life Electrical Supply a few times but had rarely looked in; for once, he never bought electrical supplies in the neighborhood as he always bought them in the supermarket in Makati. It was then that he saw Alice Tan; she was in jeans and a katsa blouse with a high, lace collar and long sleeves that imparted to her an appearance at once regal and demure. <br />
<br />
It was not a big shop. It carried hardware, nails, ropes, flashlights, but mostly electrical goods. She sat behind the glass counter and when he came in, she put down the weekly women’s magazine she was reading. <br />
<br />
“I don’t think I would need an electrician,” he said. “It is just a burned line, I think. I put the switch off.” <br />
<br />
“That is the first thing one should do,” she said with a professional tone. “I think you will need rubberized tape, and a pair of new fuses.” <br />
<br />
“I am sure of that,” he said. “But how do I go about fixing it?” He was not sure now, having forgotten most of his physical classes in high school, the positive, the negative . . . <br />
<br />
“Simple,” she said, bring out a roll of blue tape from the counter. “The lines should never get mixed up. When the covering is worn out and they cross each other, that’s when the trouble starts.” <br />
<br />
“It is like a boy and a girl then,” he said with a laugh. “If they really get mixed up, there’s bound to be some result . . .” <br />
<br />
She smiled at his little joke. “I hope you are not fooling me.” She said <br />
<br />
“You can come to my house – its close by, in Makati,” he said. “It is dark.” <br />
<br />
“I believe you,” she said. “Well then, first see to it that the main switch is off. Then look for the line that was burned. Sometimes rats gnaw the line. If you touch it and it is live . . .” <br />
<br />
“I will not forget that,” he said. <br />
<br />
“Clean the wires, then tape them individually. See to it that they do not meet. That they do not touch.” <br />
<br />
“No touch, no fireworks,” he said. “Thanks for the lesson.” <br />
<br />
In three months, Conrado Lopez learned a bit more about electricity and a lot about Alice Tan. She was studying in one of the Recto universities in the morning and in the afternoons, immediately after school, she came to the shop where she had lunch, usually cooked by her aunt. At eight in the evening, she walked to Avenida for her ride to Ongpin and the apartment she shared with her brothers. She seldom went out even on the Sundays when the shop was closed. She looked at televisions or play Ping-Pong in one of the Chinese clubs in Binondo. <br />
<br />
Conrado Lopez took to having a late merienda at the shabby Chinese reataurant across the street. The restaurant was never full – there was always an empty table dirty with noodle drippings and dried blobs of beef, the loud of jeepney drivers who frequented the place, and the juke box oozing Rico Puno and Nora Aunor songs. It was a good place to watch Alice Tan as she went anout her chores. <br />
<br />
Many a night, too, he would return to the restaurant for a cup of bad coffee and wait for her to leave and walk the short stretch to her jeepney stop, sometimes with him just a few steps behind. <br />
<br />
In three months, too, Conrado could have opened a small shop for electrical supplies. He was buying yet another light bulb when Alice finally accosted him. <br />
<br />
“I will not sell it to you,” she said simply. <br />
<br />
He was taken aback <br />
<br />
“I don’t know what you are trying to do but I know that you are not buying the goods to use. You don’t need all those bulbs. I have been counting them. A light bulb lasts more than six months. You have bought more than a dozen in a month.” <br />
<br />
“I like changing them, you know different watts.” <br />
<br />
“Mr. Lopez, tell me the truth.” <br />
<br />
“I also like collecting lengths of electric wires, sockets, rubber tapes. Have you heard of Thomas Alva Edison? Maybe, I am an inventor . . .” <br />
<br />
“You are a liar,” Alice Tan said, her eyues crinkling in a smile. <br />
<br />
Conrado Lopez melted. “Yes, a terrible liar, am I not?” <br />
<br />
“What are you really trying to do?” <br />
<br />
Conrado Lopez stammered. “I . . . I wanted to talk to you. I want to see you. I enjoy talking with you. That’s the simple truth. Believe me. And I don’t mind buying all this useless stuff as long as I can see you . . .” <br />
<br />
“But you can talk with me anytime as long as there are no customers. My uncle does not mind . . .” <br />
<br />
He sighed. “That is good to know. But I was not sure. You are Chinese . . .” <br />
<br />
“I am a human being.” She said. “Will you stop buying things then?” <br />
<br />
“No, I cannot come here without a reason. I must talk with you again even if I have to spend doing it . . .” <br />
<br />
She appeared thoughtful. “All right, as long as it is not too often. And there are no customers . . .” <br />
<br />
The door at the rear opened and Alice’s uncle came into a cup of coffee. He looked at Conrado without a flicker of recognition then sat before his table, impassive and still. <br />
<br />
“Thank you, Miss Tan,” Conrado said gratefully. <br />
<br />
The following night, he finally found the courage to walk up to her. She thought, perhaps, he was one of those bag snatchers who had became a blatantly open, her first impulse was to hold her bag tightly and draw away when he moved closer to greet her. <br />
<br />
“You frightened me, Mr. Lopez,” she said. <br />
<br />
Bambang was never brightly lit. They walked slowly. “I would to take you home,” he said. “But I don’t have a car. We can take a taxi if you like.” <br />
<br />
“I prefer calesas,” she said,” but it is such a fine evening, can we walk?” <br />
<br />
Indeed, an evening washed with rain, the street glistening. Home was quit a distance but it pleased him nonetheless for they would have a lot of time to talk. <br />
<br />
He asked how long she had lived in Ongpin and she said, all her life, that she was familiar with its alleys, its shops, just as he knew Makati and Bambang and Misericordia – these were the names of the streets of his boyhood as he remembered them. <br />
<br />
“We are Ongpin Chinese,” she said. “Do you know what that means?” <br />
<br />
He shook his head. <br />
<br />
“That means we are not rich,” she said. “The rich Chinese are in Greenhills. That’s where they live anyway. Before the war, they said it was in Santa Mesa.” <br />
<br />
He did not realize there were social Distinctions among the Chinese, too; he had always thought they were all same class, that they were all Fookienese, and that to a man, they lokked down on Filipinos, what with their Chinese tong associations, their schools. <br />
<br />
He wondered if this was the time to bring out his clinché sentiments and he eorried that if he did, he would be creating a barrier between them. He decided it was better to be frank, to be honest. <br />
<br />
His difficulty was that he could not quite trust his feelings no matter how strong they were; he did not know enough about the Chinese really. “I must just as well admit, Alice,” he said, “that I have some views on our Chinese problem. I am really glad that the Chinese schools should have been closed a long time ago . . .” <br />
<br />
“What don’t you like in us?” she asked, looking at him briefly, a smile darting across her face, a smile so prêt that it disarmed him completely. <br />
<br />
“Your clannishness, for one,” he said. <br />
<br />
“But you are clannish, too,” she said. “Look at all the people in power, they are either Ilokanos or from Leyte.” <br />
<br />
“Chinese girls never marry Filipino Boys. It is always the other way around.” <br />
<br />
“You call us Intsik Baboy.” <br />
<br />
“Because it is true – you are filthy. No, not you personally.” <br />
<br />
“And the Filipinos are stupid. Not you personally,” she mimicked him. <br />
<br />
He checked himself. “Hey,” he said, “on our first time together – and look, we are quarreling.” <br />
<br />
“You started it,” she petulantly. <br />
<br />
“I don’t like quarrels. Can you imagine how it would be if we are married?” <br />
<br />
“You are going too fast,” she said. “Now, you are talking about us being married. We barely know each other.” <br />
<br />
“After all those things I bought from you? I could start another store . . .” <br />
<br />
“I don’t want you money wasted,” she said. <br />
<br />
“Give them back to me and I will sell them for you.” <br />
<br />
They had reached Recto and had crossed over, the air around them now thick with the scent of rotting vegetables and chicken droppings as they passed the public market. They walked on through a dimly lit neighborhood, the street pocked with craters, the gutter slimy with refuse and mud. Beyond, the lights of Ongpin shone. Chinese characters in red and blue. Now, the sidewalk was red brick, the shops bright with red candles, gold leaf pictures. Calesas jostled each other on the street and the uneven sidewalk was crammed with fruit stalls. Around them, the smell of Chinese cooking, of incense and acrid oils, the wail of Chinese flutes. They went beyond a stone arch, bright green and red, and creek which befouled the air, then turned right and after a few steps, she stopped. “This is as far as you go. I live over there,” she said, pointing to an alley. <br />
<br />
“But I want to see you to your door. I am not hiding. I am a bachelor. My intentions are honorable. I would like to visit your house, maybe not tonight, but someday, meet your parents . . .” <br />
<br />
“I have no parents,” she said. “I have three brothers and I am the youngest. My uncle – Mr. Tan, you have seen him in the store, he is our guardian; he took care of us when we were young . . .” <br />
<br />
“I still would like to see where you live.” He said. <br />
<br />
“No.” she was firm and there was an edge to her voice. “This is as far as you go, or you will not walk me home again.” <br />
<br />
He did not argue. “Is it because I am Filipino?” he asked dully, as she turned to go. She took three, four steps, and then she turned, and shook her head. <br />
<br />
He watched till she entered the alley and disappeared in its black maw. He stood there for a while, taking in the huddle of houses, the people talking in a language he could not understand, absorbing the feet of exotic distances. Then it started to drizzle. <br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
The following evening, Conrado Lopez passed by the shop before proceeding to the Chinese restaurant across the street. Her uncle was not there but Alice was and as he passed, their eyes locked. He positioned himself in the restaurant, toying with his cup of coffee, and watched her reading a magazine. Soon it was time to close. Mr. Tan went out to close the steel accordion door shut, and it was then that Conrado noticed the black Mercedes in front of the shop to which, as if she was in a hurry, Alice went. She sat in front with the driver and as they drove off, in the soft dark, he could see her turn and take a last look at him. <br />
<br />
He now realized with some apprehension, of panic even, that she was being cordoned off, and he wondered if this was her doing, if she did not really want to talk with him again. He reproached himself for having talked so openly when what he should have done was to say the usual niceties. In his office that Saturday, he asked to be excused in the afternoon. He proceeded to Bambang at once; he must see her, apologize to her, anything to have her talk with him again, walk with him again. <br />
<br />
She was at the store and he was vastly relieved when he saw that her uncle was not at his table. The moment Conrado went in, however, her eyes told him that this was not the time to talk. “I am sorry,” he said, barely raising his voice above a whisper, “but I would like to see you again.” <br />
<br />
He could not continue for the door at the rear opened and Mr. Tan came in, a coil of electric wiring in his arms. <br />
<br />
Without telling her, Alice stood up, got a bulb from the shelf and tested it. “It is three pesos and eight centavos,” she said, wrapping it in a sheet of old newspaper. She took some time writing receipt while Mr. Tan brought down another roll of writing from the rack and started measuring a length. <br />
<br />
“It is in the receipt,” she told Conrado, handling him the receipt. “The receipt,” she repeated with a smile. <br />
<br />
That evening, as he and his sister sat down to dinner, he told her about Alice Tan. “I have been thinking about our life,” he said. “I don’t think we would need to spend much more if I got married . . .” <br />
<br />
Meding looked at him; she was fifteen years older but she had taken good care of herself and really looked no older that forty or so. She could have easily got married – there was still that chance if she had a mind to – but she had been reclusive. It had often bothered Conrado to think that she had not got married so that she “could take care of him.” <br />
<br />
“And if I go get married, you will continue to live with us, of course, like it always has been. How does the idea look to you, Ate?” <br />
<br />
He had expected her to sulk and was pleasantly surprised when she beamed. “I have often wondered when it would be,” she said. “I am sure by now you know the right kind of girl . . .” <br />
<br />
It was then that he told her she was Chinese, that he was interested in having them meet . . . he did not realize till then the depths of his ignorance about his sister’s feelings, but from the expression on her face, he knew at once that Alice Tan – if and when the moment came – would have difficulty living in the same house with her. <br />
<br />
Through the night, he could not sleep, wondering how he would be able to talk with her, to see her without that Mercedes tailing them, without Mr. Tan eavesdropping on them. Sunday morning, he decided to go to Ongpin, to the maze of wooden houses and shop that made up Chinatown. He went up the alley where she had disappeared in the nigh; it was a dead-end, a dark and dispirited place, flanked by decrepit apartment houses, with laundry in the window and a pile of garbage at the end. Children were playing in the alley, and the houses were filled with people who did not once look at him as he passed. He peered briefly into open doorway, and soon reached the dead-end without seeing her. He walked back to the main street clogged with calesas and vehicles and entered the first movie house he passed. It was a Kung Fu movie in Chinese, without subtitles and he could not understand a word but with all that action, dialog was hardly necessary. It was when he finally went out long past noon, that he remembered how Alice gave him his receipt. She had repeated, “the receipt,” Then, it struck him, what she was trying to say. He grabbed a taxi and hoped to God that his sister had not emptied the wastebasket where he had thrown the piece of paper. Breathless, he dashed to his room and was greatly relieved to find the receipt still there. Sure enough, in her legible penmanship: “Rizal Park Post Office, Sunday four p.m.” <br />
<br />
He looked at his watch; it was three fifty. By no miracle could he get there in ten minutes by just the same, he raced down to Avenida and told the taxi driver to hurry, in heaven’s name. it had started to rain when they crossed the Pasig and it was really pouring when he reached the Park Post Office in front of the Manila Hotel. He was also fifteen minutes late. He dashed from the cab to the shade of the Post Office marquee. He cursed himself not so much for not bringing an umbrella but for being so stupid not to have understood what Alice wanted to know. She must have got tired waiting and had left. He sat, wet and forlorn, on the stone ledge. Maybe, if he went to her apartment – that was what his sister always said that a man whose intentions are honorable should always visit the girl in her house. <br />
<br />
The rain whipped the Park in gusty sheets. It was stormy weather and beyond the Park. The Walled City and all of Manila seemed enveloped with mist. But in half an hour, the rain diminished, then stopped altogether and in the direction of the Bay, the dark clouds were rimmed with silver. <br />
<br />
It was Alice Tan who was late and it was good that he did not leave; he saw her get out of her taxi and his heart leaped and pounded so hard he could hear it. He ran to her and hardly heard her apologies, how she had difficulty leaving; he was aware of nothing else but this creature who had come bringing light to this dismal afternoon. <br />
<br />
They walked to the sea and now, with the rain that still threatened the city, they had the whole sea-wall to themselves. <br />
<br />
“I am stupid,” he said, “for not having understood when you said, it is in the receipt.” <br />
<br />
“I was worried about that,” she said, sitting close to him so that their arms touched. “Filipinos are like that, anyway. Gong.” <br />
<br />
“What’s that?” <br />
<br />
“Stupid, like you said.” <br />
<br />
“Now,” he said. “I hope we will not start an argument again. What don’t you like in us, anyway?” <br />
<br />
“First,” she said, “you are lazy. You don’t know what industry is – and this is why, no matter what your leader say, you will never amount to anything.” <br />
<br />
“You don’t know what you are saying. We work very hard.” He said. “Our farmers work very hard.” <br />
<br />
“My father used to wake up at four in the morning.” Alice Tan said with pride. “And we never went to sleep earlier than eleven o’clock at night.” <br />
<br />
“Many Filipinos are like that.” <br />
<br />
“Show me,” she said. “And then, you are so corrupt. Why, almost every week, someone goes to the shop – policeman, revenue agents, all of them. All they want is money. My uncle always gives of course. And every time, he increases the price of what we sell. In the other end, it is the customer who suffers.” <br />
<br />
“He is just as then,” Conrado told her. <br />
<br />
“My father had to pay a bribe of ten thousand pesos – way back in 1950 – for his citizenship. It almost broke him.” <br />
<br />
“So you are a Filipino citizen then,” he said. “This is where you make your living, where the rich Chinese and your uncle make their money, exploiting the country, its resources, and its people. If you don’t like it here – why don’t you go back to Peking or Taipei, whichever you choose?” <br />
<br />
“Be careful now,” she told him. “You misunderstood me completely. My oldest brother – he was very impressed with what the communists were doing in Peking. He went there and returned, disillusioned. It was not so much that the life there is harsh . . . it was that he did not feel at home. Can you not see, Conrado? Our home is here. China – it would be foreign to me, although I could get sentimental about it. I just want this country to have better things – less corruption, less enmity, less poverty . . .” <br />
<br />
He realized then that he had spoken again in a way that wouldn’t endear him to her. He was determined to salvage the afternoon. “It is just as well that we have our arguments now. For when we get married . . .” <br />
<br />
The waves lapped on the rocks below them. She turned to him, wonder in her eyes. “Please don’t talk about something impossible,” she said. “Let us just be friends . . .” <br />
<br />
“But I am serious,” he said. “a am not making a lot just a thousand and a half a month. Plus that four hundred pesos rent from the house. I can support you, not in style. But I have a career still ahead of me. You can go on with your schooling if you want to. We may have some problems with my sister but she will adjust. Why don’t we go and meet her? There’s just the two of us . . .” <br />
<br />
It was then that she told him. “It cannot be, Conrado. I have been promised in marriage to someone already. There is just a little time for us . . .” <br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
For the rest of his life, Conrado Lopez would never really know why Alice Tan saw him again, and still again, every Sunday at four p.m. in the park. When he took her back to Ongpin that evening, she had extracted from him a promise that he should never go to the shop again, or sit like some corner thug in that restaurant across the street where it was obvious to her uncle even that he was watching her. He got her address in Ongpin and he promised too that he would never go there unless it was for some very, very serious reason. She would see him again that Sunday and the Sundays thereafter. Now, at least, Conrado Lopez had something to look forward to. He went eagerly back to his history books, to the references on the Chinese, Limahong, the Parian, the galleon trade which carried Chinese silks and other luxury goods to Mexico thence to Europe. He asked the Chinese embassy in Roxas for handouts and in the bookshops in Avenida, he searched for pocketbooks and other bargains that described China. He even fancied himself learning Mandarin and going to a Buddhist temple although Alice Tan had told him that she was Protestant. <br />
<br />
On the next Sunday, the sun was out; a storm had just blown over and the grass was soggy. Alice Tan arrived in a blue print dress; it was the first time he saw her in a dress and her legs, as he has always suspected, were shapely. They went to the Manila Hotel for a cup of coffee – that was all that he could afford when he studied the menu and he warned her about it. This time, they did not argue. Instead, she told him about herself, that it was her dream – as it was the dream of most Chinese girls – to get married and raise a family. She had gone out with Chinese boys to discos in Makati and had exchange confidences with her Chinese girlfriends who had dated Filipino boys and they were all agreed that their Filipino dates were more interesting, for the Chinese dates talk nothing but business. And yes, she said with a slight laugh, they told her, too, that Filipino boys were quicker and that they made better lovers. <br />
<br />
“And now,” he said, “you would like to find out for yourself.” <br />
<br />
She unwrapped her special hopia that she had brought while an amused waitress looks on. A couple of Chinese boys passed; they stared at her so she whispered to him: “See?” they never like Chinese girls to date Filipino boys. They think Filipino boys are just making fools of us . . .” <br />
<br />
“Am I?” he asked. <br />
<br />
She reached across the table and almost spilled the goblet, held his hand and pressed it. <br />
<br />
On the fifth Sunday, Conrado Lopez took Alice Tan to one of the motels on M. H. del Pilar. The August sky was threatened with rain clouds, it had become dark and they had embraced behind the palms near the sea-wall. He had told her simply that he wanted to hold her, make love to her and she had not replied but had, instead kissed him with passion. They walked to the boulevard and hailed a taxi. She sat wordless beside him, and even when they had finally entered the motel garage, and the door had shut behind them, still, she did not speak. <br />
<br />
Only when they were finally in the room, her face flushed, his hands eager and his whole being inflame, did she tell him that she had expected this to happen, but not too soon. <br />
<br />
She was a virgin and the sheet was soiled. They lay together for a long time and he told her what he knew of the old days, how the Filipino groom would hang the blood-stained blanket by the window the following morning for all his relatives to see. And she said it was the same Old China. <br />
<br />
It was when they made ready to leave that she started to cry, the sobs torn out of her in pain and trembling. He embraced her, kissed her cheeks wet with tears, her hair. <br />
<br />
“We will get married in the morning – if this is what worries you,” he said. “Now – if you wish, we can walk to Malate Church and ask. I did not do this to take advantage of you, to fool you . . .” <br />
<br />
“I know,” she said, pressing closer still to him. <br />
<br />
“Then what are you crying about?” <br />
<br />
“I cannot marry you,” she said. <br />
<br />
He drew away and looked at her tear-stained face. <br />
<br />
“Is it because you are Chinese?” <br />
<br />
She nodded. <br />
<br />
“But you love me, you said so. I am not rich but you will not starve . . .” <br />
<br />
“It is not the money.” <br />
<br />
“If it is not the money . . .?” <br />
<br />
“Tradition, custom. Whatever you call it.” <br />
<br />
“Hell with it!” Conrado cursed in his breath. <br />
<br />
Then it came out. “My uncle, Conrado. He took care of us when we were orphaned. I told you. And there is this rich Chinese who live in Greenhills. He is a widower. He has helped my uncle. Given my brother very good jobs . . .” <br />
<br />
He drew farther from her, looked at her, beautiful and true then he went to her, hugged her. “Don’t Alice,” he said in a voice hoarse with entreaty. “Let us elope. Let us go to my house now. They cannot find you there . . .” <br />
<br />
She looked at him and shook her head. “I am Chinese,” she said simply. <br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
When he passed the shop that Monday, he was surprised to see she was not at the counter; he hurried around the block, and when he got to the shop again, she was still not there. He returned shortly before eight when Mr. Tan would bring the accordion iron shutter down but neither the black Mercedes nor Alice were there. Every day that week, he passed by the shop. Sunday, he went to the Park and stayed there till dark. <br />
<br />
That Monday afternoon, straight from his office, he went to see Mr. Tan. There was no hint of recognition in the face of Alice’s uncle – just this bland, expressionless mien, as Conrado introduced himself. <br />
<br />
“Where is Alice, Mr. Tan?” he finally asked. <br />
<br />
He replied in excellent Tagalog; Alice was no longer working in the shop. <br />
<br />
“Where can I find her then?” <br />
<br />
The Chinese shook his head and did not reply. <br />
<br />
“Mr. Tan,” he said in a voice which quavered “I know you don’t like a Filipino husband for your niece. But I love her and I want to marry her. You think I am interested in her money – then don’t give her any dowry. No dowry, is that clear?” He took his wallet out and drew a calling card, laid it on the counter, “I have a good job with a big firm. I am young and industrious. A can support her and I can even continue sending her to school. I know you took care of her and I am grateful.” <br />
<br />
The Chinese shook his head again and this time, he smiled, gold teeth flashing, and held Conrado Lopez’ arm across the counter. “Don’t misunderstand,” he said. “But you are very, very late. You must leave and don’t bother us anymore. There is nothing I can do for you . . .” <br />
<br />
“What don’t you like in me?” he asked tersely as he backed away into the noisy sidewalk. <br />
<br />
He had memorized the address which she had given. He took a taxi to Ongpin. It was very dark, the neon lights were on. He walked up the alley, and when he got to the door, 14-D, on it was posted a sign in Chinese. A young man was at the next door playing a guitar and he asked where the people next door were. “They have moved,” he said, “to Greenhills.” Did he know the street? The number? No. and what is this sign? “For rent,” the young man said. <br />
<br />
For many days, it was as if Conrado Lopez was in a daze, in a limbo without rim. After office hours, he would wander around the shop in Binondo in the hope that he would see her visiting the old neighborhood. He made a list of the best Chinese restaurants in the city and on occasion, visited them especially at night when there were parties attended by the wealthy Chinese. He would wait in their lobbies, watching, searching. <br />
<br />
On Sunday and holidays, he frequented the supermarket in Greenhills knowing this was where the wealthy Chinese shopped and many a time, he would hurry after what seemed a familiar back, a turn of the head, only to find it was not her. <br />
<br />
He took to compulsively reading on China until he was quite familiar with contemporary happenings there. On Sundays, he made a round of Ongpin and even got to visiting funeral parlors – “La Paz” particularly, where the Chinese held the wake for their dead. And twice, he went to Benavides, to the air-conditioned Protestant chapel there, hoping that Alice would attend a service. <br />
<br />
He no longer went to the Park except one Sunday in mid-February; it was a cool, pleasant afternoon with a pure blue sky. He sat on the stone ledge as he had done in the past. It was four and for a time, he was lost in reverie, remembering how it was the first time, the splashing rain, the anxiety that he would miss her. <br />
<br />
It was then that he noticed the black Mercedes parked at the edge of the green and beyond it, Alice walking to the car, her arm held by a fat, bald Chinese, old enough to be her father. She was big with child and as she looked at Conrado, there was this brief, anguished look on her face which told him not to move, not to speak. She got into the car, her husband after her, and as they drove away, he still stood there reeling with emotion, knowing clearly now what it was all about, the tong that must be paid, the life that must be warped because it had to be lived.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-11278623567387167522012-03-05T09:56:00.000+08:002012-03-05T09:56:55.897+08:00LOVE IN THE CORNHUSKS by Aida L. RiveraTinang stopped before the Señora’s gate and adjusted the baby’s cap. The dogs that came to bark at the gate were strange dogs, big-mouthed animals with a sense of superiority. They stuck their heads through the hogfence, lolling their tongues and straining. Suddenly, from the gumamela row, a little black mongrel emerged and slithered through the fence with ease. It came to her, head down and body quivering. <br />
<br />
“Bantay. Ay, Bantay!” she exclaimed as the little dog laid its paws upon her shirt to sniff the baby on her arm. The baby was afraid and cried. The big animals barked with displeasure. <br />
<br />
Tito, the young master, had seen her and was calling to his mother. “Ma, it’s Tinang. Ma, Ma, it’s Tinang.” He came running down to open the gate. <br />
<br />
“Aba, you are so tall now, Tito.” <br />
<br />
He smiled his girl’s smile as he stood by, warding the dogs off. Tinang passed quickly up the veranda stairs lined with ferns and many-colored bougainville. On landing, she paused to wipe her shoes carefully. About her, the Señora’s white and lavender butterfly orchids fluttered delicately in the sunshine. She noticed though that the purple waling-waling that had once been her task to shade from the hot sun with banana leaves and to water with mixture of charcoal and eggs and water was not in bloom. <br />
<br />
“Is no one covering the waling-waling now?” Tinang asked. “It will die.” <br />
<br />
“Oh, the maid will come to cover the orchids later.” <br />
<br />
The Señora called from inside. “Tinang, let me see your baby. Is it a boy?” <br />
<br />
“Yes, Ma,” Tito shouted from downstairs. “And the ears are huge!” <br />
<br />
“What do you expect,” replied his mother; “the father is a Bagobo. Even Tinang looks like a Bagobo now.” <br />
<br />
Tinang laughed and felt warmness for her former mistress and the boy Tito. She sat self-consciously on the black narra sofa, for the first time a visitor. Her eyes clouded. The sight of the Señora’s flaccidly plump figure, swathed in a loose waist-less housedress that came down to her ankles, and the faint scent of agua de colonia blended with kitchen spice, seemed to her the essence of the comfortable world, and she sighed thinking of the long walk home through the mud, the baby’s legs straddled to her waist, and Inggo, her husband, waiting for her, his body stinking of tuba and sweat, squatting on the floor, clad only in his foul undergarments. <br />
<br />
“Ano, Tinang, is it not a good thing to be married?” the Señora asked, pitying Tinang because her dress gave way at the placket and pressed at her swollen breasts. It was, as a matter of fact, a dress she had given Tinang a long time ago. <br />
<br />
“It is hard, Señora, very hard. Better that I were working here again.” <br />
<br />
“There!” the Señora said. “Didn’t I tell you what it would be like, huh? . . . that you would be a slave to your husband and that you would work a baby eternally strapped to you. Are you not pregnant again?” <br />
<br />
Tinang squirmed at the Señora’s directness but admitted she was. <br />
<br />
“Hala! You will have a dozen before long.” The Señora got up. “Come, I will give you some dresses and an old blanket that you can cut into things for the baby.” <br />
<br />
They went into a cluttered room which looked like a huge closet and as the Señora sorted out some clothes, Tinang asked, “How is Señor?” <br />
<br />
“Ay, he is always losing his temper over the tractor drivers. It is not the way it was when Amado was here. You remember what a good driver he was. The tractors were always kept in working condition. But now . . . I wonder why he left all of a sudden. He said he would be gone for only two days . . . .” <br />
<br />
“I don’t know,” Tinang said. The baby began to cry. Tinang shushed him with irritation. <br />
<br />
“Oy, Tinang, come to the kitchen; your Bagobito is hungry.” <br />
<br />
For the next hour, Tinang sat in the kitchen with an odd feeling; she watched the girl who was now in possession of the kitchen work around with a handkerchief clutched I one hand. She had lipstick on too, Tinang noted. the girl looked at her briefly but did not smile. She set down a can of evaporated milk for the baby and served her coffee and cake. The Señora drank coffee with her and lectured about keeping the baby’s stomach bound and training it to stay by itself so she could work. Finally, Tinang brought up, haltingly, with phrases like “if it will not offend you” and “if you are not too busy” the purpose of her visit–which was to ask Señora to be a madrina in baptism. The Señora readily assented and said she would provide the baptismal clothes and the fee for the priest. It was time to go. <br />
<br />
“When are you coming again, Tinang?” the Señore asked as Tinang got the baby ready. “Don’t forget the bundle of clothes and . . . oh, Tinang, you better stop by the drugstore. They asked me once whether you were still with us. You have a letter there and I was going to open it to see if there was bad news but I thought you would be coming.” <br />
<br />
A letter! Tinang’s heart beat violently. Somebody is dead; I know somebody is dead, she thought. She crossed herself and after thanking the Señora profusely, she hurried down. The dogs came forward and Tito had to restrain them. “Bring me some young corn next time, Tinang,” he called after her. <br />
<br />
Tinang waited a while at the drugstore which was also the post office of the barrio. Finally, the man turned to her: “Mrs., do you want medicine for your baby or for yourself?” <br />
<br />
“No, I came for my letter. I was told I have a letter.” <br />
<br />
“And what is your name, Mrs.?” He drawled. <br />
<br />
“Constantina Tirol.” <br />
<br />
The man pulled a box and slowly went through the pile of envelopes most of which were scribbled in pencil, “Tirol, Tirol, Tirol. . . .” He finally pulled out a letter and handed it to her. She stared at the unfamiliar scrawl. It was not from her sister and she could think of no one else who could write to her. <br />
<br />
Santa Maria, she thought; maybe something has happened to my sister. <br />
<br />
“Do you want me to read it for you?” <br />
<br />
“No, no.” She hurried from the drugstore, crushed that he should think her illiterate. With the baby on one arm and the bundle of clothes on the other and the letter clutched in her hand she found herself walking toward home. <br />
<br />
The rains had made a deep slough of the clay road and Tinang followed the prints left by the men and the carabaos that had gone before her to keep from sinking mud up to her knees. She was deep in the road before she became conscious of her shoes. In horror, she saw that they were coated with thick, black clay. Gingerly, she pulled off one shoe after the other with the hand still clutching to the letter. When she had tied the shoes together with the laces and had slung them on an arm, the baby, the bundle, and the letter were all smeared with mud. <br />
<br />
There must be a place to put the baby down, she thought, desperate now about the letter. She walked on until she spotted a corner of a field where cornhusks were scattered under a kamansi tree. She shoved together a pile of husks with her foot and laid the baby down upon it. With a sigh, she drew the letter from the envelope. She stared at the letter which was written in English. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i style="color: #134f5c;">My dearest Tinay, </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">Hello, how is life getting along? Are you still in good condition? As for myself, the same as usual. But you’re far from my side. It is not easy to be far from our lover. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">Tinay, do you still love me? I hope your kind and generous heart will never fade. Someday or somehow I’ll be there again to fulfill our promise. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">Many weeks and months have elapsed. Still I remember our bygone days. Especially when I was suffering with the heat of the tractor under the heat of the sun. I was always in despair until I imagine your personal appearance coming forward bearing the sweetest smile that enabled me to view the distant horizon. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">Tinay, I could not return because I found that my mother was very ill. That is why I was not able to take you as a partner of life. Please respond to my missive at once so that I know whether you still love me or not. I hope you did not love anybody except myself. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">I think I am going beyond the limit of your leisure hours, so I close with best wishes to you, my friends Gonding, Sefarin, Bondio, etc. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;"> Yours forever, </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;">Amado </i><br style="color: #134f5c;" /><br style="color: #134f5c;" /><br style="color: #134f5c;" /><br style="color: #134f5c;" /><i style="color: #134f5c;">P.S. My mother died last month. </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;"> Address your letter: </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;"> Mr. Amado Galauran </i><br />
<br />
<i style="color: #134f5c;"> Binalunan, Cotabato </i></blockquote><br />
<br />
<br />
It was Tinang’s first love letter. A flush spread over her face and crept into her body. She read the letter again. “It is not easy to be far from our lover. . . . I imagine your personal appearance coming forward. . . . Someday, somehow I’ll be there to fulfill our promise. . . .” Tinang was intoxicated. She pressed herself against the kamansi tree. <br />
<br />
My lover is true to me. He never meant to desert me. Amado, she thought. Amado. <br />
<br />
And she cried, remembering the young girl she was less than two years ago when she would take food to Señor in the field and the laborers would eye her furtively. She thought herself above them for she was always neat and clean in her hometown, before she went away to work, she had gone to school and had reached sixth grade. Her skin, too, was not as dark as those of the girls who worked in the fields weeding around the clumps of abaca. Her lower lip jutted out disdainfully when the farm hands spoke to her with many flattering words. She laughed when a Bagobo with two hectares of land asked her to marry him. It was only Amado, the tractor driver, who could look at her and make her lower her eyes. He was very dark and wore filthy and torn clothes on the farm but on Saturdays when he came up to the house for his week’s salary, his hair was slicked down and he would be dressed as well as Mr. Jacinto, the schoolteacher. Once he told her he would study in the city night-schools and take up mechanical engineering someday. He had not said much more to her but one afternoon when she was bidden to take some bolts and tools to him in the field, a great excitement came over her. The shadows moved fitfully in the bamboo groves she passed and the cool November air edged into her nostrils sharply. He stood unmoving beside the tractor with tools and parts scattered on the ground around him. His eyes were a black glow as he watched her draw near. When she held out the bolts, he seized her wrist and said: “Come,” pulling her to the screen of trees beyond. She resisted but his arms were strong. He embraced her roughly and awkwardly, and she trembled and gasped and clung to him. . . . <br />
<br />
A little green snake slithered languidly into the tall grass a few yards from the kamansi tree. Tinang started violently and remembered her child. It lay motionless on the mat of husk. With a shriek she grabbed it wildly and hugged it close. The baby awoke from its sleep and cries lustily. Ave Maria Santisima. Do not punish me, she prayed, searching the baby’s skin for marks. Among the cornhusks, the letter fell unnoticed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461523263888164347.post-12657767062814177732012-03-01T11:36:00.000+08:002012-03-01T11:36:57.692+08:00Isang Dipang Langit by Amado V. Hernandez<div style="text-align: center;">A poem written by Amado V. Hernandez</div><div><i><br />
</i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5XqD9eH_fk/T07uhW-HM8I/AAAAAAAAAMk/lnaK5mvecow/s1600/393600_360072547342684_100000198247672_1699253_1754660002_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q5XqD9eH_fk/T07uhW-HM8I/AAAAAAAAAMk/lnaK5mvecow/s640/393600_360072547342684_100000198247672_1699253_1754660002_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />
</span></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Isang Dipang Langit</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ako'y ipiniit ng linsil na puno</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>hangad palibhasang diwa ko'y piitin,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>katawang marupok, aniya'y pagsuko,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>damdami'y supil na't mithiin ay supil.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ikinulong ako sa kutang malupit:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>bato, bakal, punlo, balasik ng bantay;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>lubos na tiwalag sa buong daigdig</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>at inaring kahit buhay man ay patay.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sa munting dungawan, tanging abot-malas</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>ay sandipang langit na puno ng luha,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>maramot na birang ng pusong may sugat,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>watawat ng aking pagkapariwara.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sintalim ng kidlat ang mata ng tanod,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sa pintong may susi't walang makalapit;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sigaw ng bilanggo sa katabing moog,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>anaki'y atungal ng hayop sa yungib.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ang maghapo'y tila isang tanikala</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>na kala-kaladkad ng paang madugo</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>ang buong magdamag ay kulambong luksa</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>ng kabaong waring lungga ng bilanggo.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kung minsa'y magdaan ang payak na yabag,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>kawil ng kadena ang kumakalanding;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sa maputlang araw saglit ibibilad,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sanlibong aninong iniluwa ng dilim.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kung minsan, ang gabi'y biglang magulantang</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sa hudyat - may takas! - at asod ng punlo;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>kung minsa'y tumangis ang lumang batingaw,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sa bitayang moog, may naghihingalo.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>At ito ang tanging daigdig ko ngayon -</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>bilangguang mandi'y libingan ng buhay;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sampu, dalawampu, at lahat ng taon</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>ng buong buhay ko'y dito mapipigtal.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Nguni't yaring diwa'y walang takot-hirap</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>at batis pa rin itong aking puso:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>piita'y bahagi ng pakikilamas,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>mapiit ay tanda ng di pagsuko.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ang tao't Bathala ay di natutulog</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>at di habang araw ang api ay api,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>tanang paniniil ay may pagtutuos,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>habang may Bastilya'y may bayang gaganti.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>At bukas, diyan din, aking matatanaw</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sa sandipang langit na wala nang luha,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>sisikat ang gintong araw ng tagumpay...</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>layang sasalubong ako sa paglaya!</i></div></i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0