this is a reaction to a Facebook Note (link) from 2011 that was reposted in 2016 (link). Terminology is not the issue for me, as I am a fan of Joe America’s Humpty Dumpty New World Dictionary and the Urban Dictionary, I believe words and meanings change. But fine, the author has decided to classify Rizal and Ninoy as heroe, not bayani. That in itself may even be right, as there are indeed Western and native aspects in Filipino culture. Beliefs in purity of culture are outdated. For example, the Lex Bavariorum, the first written law in Bavaria, was once assumed to be original Bavarian tribal law. It turns out – my layman’s interpretation of what I have read so far – that it was a mix of both tribal customary law and late Roman era military law, absorbed into the culture of ca. 700 AD.
Feed and F..
Thus, I can overlook at bit the aspect mentioned at the start: nagdudulot ng ginhawa sa bayan sa pamamagitan ng pangangayaw sa lupa (upang maging masagana ang ani at palaanak ang kababaihan at dumami rin ang mga alagang hayop at iba pa…ng halaman — sa madaling sabi, upang lumago at manatiling buon ang bayan; ibig sabihin, implisito na buo ito, kaya nga prinoprotektahan ang kabuuan nito). In short, it says that the well-being of the “bayan” consists of the harvest being plentiful, women being fertile, livestock multiplying. I live in Bayern, the bayan which fulfills all the criteria of ginhawa. That 13th century English used to say that seeds were fucked into the soil is irrelevant. King Lear’s daughter saying willst though husband me to his mortal enemy also is.
In high school in the Philippines, we used to laugh about the word animal husbandry. But let us look further: kung ang bayan ay nagkakawatak-watak habang naroroon ka o sa iyong pagbabalik, doon ka makikipaglaban — sa pamamagitan ng sandata at hindi ng dila — upang maging buo uli ang bayan [ang bayaning nasusugatan, nag-iibayo ang tapang]; alalahanin sa lektyur ni dr. teodoro ang sinabi ni Mabini, pag sinasakop na ang bayan, armas na ang dapat gamitin — i.e., hindi kadadaan. Meaning don’t blabber, fight. Unfortunately, the assumption made that the bayan or country is buo or whole may not hold. It may have been true for the agricultural society of around 1521, but not for the more modern and complex society of today. Imagine fighting by weapons all the time.
Fight or Flight?
Modern societies – and that includes the Bavaria I live in today – have decided to use democratic means to find decisions. The unity of simpler days where most people lived the same kind of life, had exactly the same perspective is gone, even in this country. Not even the Christian Social Union manages to get a majority anymore like in old days! And besides, even if a country is divided, talking may be needed to convince others. Might not be true for a country like the Philippines, where hardheadedness is a “virtue”. Now to the most disturbing point of the article – the language used. Kadadaan is the kind of word used on the street for “blabbering”. “Dakdak ka ng dakdak diyan” is what roughneck Dado says to Insiang’s mother in the movie “Insiang”. It is not used for MEN.
It is like using zickig (goatish) in Bavaria towards a man with a bad mood, it can get you a Watschn (a slap or a whack) or at the very least an Ansage that men can be in a bad mood, but never zickig, that is a term used for women who have their period or similar. This isn’t about approving of any misogyny, but there are circles over here where the old way of talking is still alive. And even if Ninoy may have been vain (he was, I think) it is not appropriate to somehow make him look effeminate. That insults a man who did sacrifice his life on the tarmac of the airport, including spending years in jail before that. Compared to that, “Laging KSP si Pepe” is mild: “Pepe (Rizal) always sook attention”. Filipino pride often is vain, coming from deep injuries to self-esteem due to oppression.
Privileges and Medals
And this: Libre namang makaalis uli si Pepe (26 anyos)noong 1887; may pasaporte siyang Kastila at tuwing nasa ibang bansa siya magalang naman kumakausap sa kanya ang mga konsul; eywan ko kung ganyan ang trato ng ating mga konsul atbp. sa mga batang Pinoy na 26 anyos lamang ang edad; o kaya sa kahit anong edad. Yes, Rizal was at some point favored over other Filipinos and was talked to by consuls, but there have been young men of that age treated just as well by consuls – usually elite “brats”. Besides, the author of the note also went to Europe like Rizal, was the toast of many a French and German intellectual, and even was knighted by the French Embassy as a Chevalier de Palmes Academique. I watched the somewhat vain acceptance speech.
Damn, I even know the name of the French Ambassador who pinned the order on my father – Monsieur Touze. And when my father got his passport stolen in Naples in 1985 – I remember vividly coming from the ship out of Capri and he was NOT wearing a coat, unusual for him who often was mistaken for a Japanese in Europe because he always wore a suit – he was treated correctly by the Consul there – Consul Hermes Dorado, because of his status as a UP Professor. In fact Dorado, who became Consul General by the time he was in Bonn remembered my father years later. This was his elite world. This was the world of a man who knew Leticia Ramos-Shahani from his Paris studies. Who knew Ambassador Felipe Mabilangan, “Spanky” from my parent’s conversations.
Forms of Apostasy
While it is perfectly legitimate to turn one’s back on things one no longer sees as right, and to rediscover one’s roots, it is not a sign of good character to malign those who have gone the same way. Ninoy according to Mila Gutierrez was changed by the time he was imprisoned. I personally see a similar process being undergone by Leila de Lima at this point – paradoxically my father (a Bicolano) is supportive of her struggle. Rizal was vain, loved having his picture taken, but it is very likely Dapitan humbled him.
This passage: Kailangan pang talakayin ang piryod 1898 hanggang Kasalukuyan kung kailan ang mga naging elit at Inglesero ay patuloy pang binubuhay ng mga Pilipinong naging tapat sa sariling Kalinangan at nagpatuloy sa kaisipan na ang kabayanihan ay nagdudulog ng kaginhawahan. First of all, Inglesero like “dilawan” is a bit derogatory. Second, who are those who are being supported by those who stayed true to their culture? Is every person who does NOT work on a farm, feed the pigs and f.. his wife so she has a kid per year, and fight with the bolo instead of discussing, not a true Filipino? We no longer live in an agricultural society HERE in Bavaria, the maginhawang bayan. Yet nobody will see me, a taxpayer, as a person living off the hard work of the natives.
Purity and Isolation
For one thing, the ruling classes here have always tolerated outspoken ordinary people There is a confirmed Celtic strain in this German tribe, a boldness like that of the Scots. There is a folk novel, the Miller of Sachrang, which has the miller’s wife speaking very clearly to a Prince of Bavaria. Could an ordinary Filipino speak like that, well, to Imee? Remember Archimedes Trajano. More likely that in a Philippine “bayan na buo”, those who make the wrong “dakdak” will at the very least get the kind of treatment the man gives to his woman in the telenovela background track to Apo Hiking Society’s “Huwag Masanay sa Pagmamahal”: “e paano ako gaganahan e puro ka naman DADA diyan?” followed by a resounding slap. Not that there was anything of that sort in our house!
There is also a comment that Ninoy may have been a “santo”, but not a bayani (link) and “huwag lapastanganin ang ating dalumat” (link) – “do not insult our culture”. What, after half a millenium, Christian terms are STILL not naturalized as Filipino culture? Well, it doesn’t surprise me a Filipino President today wants to have bishops killed. Something the son of a Bavarian Duke did 1 1/2 millenia ago to a French Bishop (link). Guess the Irishman St. Korbinian knew better how to deal with a part-Celtic tribe. Doesn’t surprise me either that Mocha can say EDSA nuns just did a drama (link). There is an amazing lack of pity among many Filipinos today which makes one wonder how deep Christianity truly ever was over there. How deep the ethical topsoil is (link).
Somehow I do think I understand. The Philippines was isolated for a long, long time. Other places – for example the Middle East which is the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa – did not have that luxury. Cultures had to react and adjust quickly to the foreign. They rarely dreamed of going back to a lost paradise where the pigs were fat and the women got pregnant every year: upang mapamalagi at mapalago ito at maparami sa pamamagitan ng masaganang ani at pagiging palaanak ng mga babae at pagdami ng mga alagang hayop tulad ng mga babuy. Indian and Muslim influences came to places like Sumatra first and Mindanao much, much later. And I wonder why it is even discussed why the Philippines did not have large historical temples like Bali. (link).
Necessity and invention
It looks simple to me – because a society that was content with what it had did not need higher forms of organization above loose alliances of barangays, maybe with some first steps at forming states in economically strategic places like where the Pasig river joins a huge freshwater lake with a splendid natural harbor? What Prof. Doreen Fernandez termed a “culture of abundance” did not NEED much more. The demographics say it all – around half a million people lived in the archipelago around 1521. Enough for all.
Plus the America to Asia trade route that made the archipelago the object of others people’s interests was not yet known. It was simply at the “edge of the world”. No need to invent higher forms of organization to ward off major invaders – there were none YET.
Five hundred years ago plus three, ships came from beyond the edge. All changed. Maybe you should make sure you don’t lose more people. Maybe I am not a loss at all. But maybe reactionary imagery and snide remarks could piss off truly valuable players.
Irineo B. R. Salazar
München, 10 December 2018
(PDF-rendering of original page HERE)
