We have received an email from a certain “Ji” of Hotmail concerning the article “Anti-Filipino Remarks“.

On reading the message, we thought we misread it.

Our reader was claiming that the article is anti-Filipino! And the article is “degrading” Filipinos and should therefore be removed.

Our reader has sorely missed the whole point of the article.

The ‘Anti-Filipino Remarks’ article is Part 1 of a series of articles in defense of the Filipino titled “In Defense of the Filipino” (what else?). There are 15 articles in the series by Jon Royeca. The last article in the series is “Why Is the Philippines A Poor Country?”

Here is a copy of the message (for security reason, we scrubbed the sender’s email address):

We would like to invite our reader “Ji” to please re-read the article and other blog posts in the series. Our reader should also follow Jon Royeca’s responses to other readers’ comments in order to appreciate how Royeca was “defending the Filipino”.

There are certain articles published on this website which may highlight what is wrong with us as a nation, like Edwin Bael’s article, “Let us build each other up“, but that does not make us anti-Filipino, does it?

By publishing such articles, aren’t we making the Filipino community at large better informed?

Rest assured that emanila, since its inception in 1998, has maintained respect for everyone and has not harboured any biases or prejudices against any nationality or race, be it Filipino or otherwise.

Are we anti-Filipino? Let us hear from you.

September 21, 1972 is the date many remember as the date Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire Philippines under martial law.

But unknown to many, there were two other occasions in the Philippines when the power of the Philippine President to declare martial law was invoked.

The first time was on September 21, 1944 by Philippine President Jose P. Laurel. The other occasion was on December 4, 2009, through Proclamation No. 1959 signed by President Macapagal-Arroyo officially placing Maguindanao province under a state of martial law.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on martial laws in the Philippines and in other countries:

Philippines

President of the Philippines Jose P. Laurel of the wartime Second Philippine Republic (puppet-government under Japan) placed the Philippines under martial law in 1944 through Proclamation No. 29, dated September 21. Martial law came into effect on September 22, 1944, at 9:00 am. Proclamation No. 30 was issued the next day, declaring the existence of a state of war between the Philippines and the United States and the United Kingdom. This took effect on September 23, 1944 at 10:00 am.

The country was under martial law again from 1972 to 1981 under the authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos. Proclamation No. 1081 (Proclaiming a State of Martial Law in the Philippines) was signed on September 21, 1972 and came into force on September 22 – exactly 28 years after similar proclamations by President Laurel. Martial law was declared to suppress increasing civil strife and the threat of communist takeover following a series of bombings and a government-staged assassination attempt on then Defence Minister Juan Ponce Enrile in Manila. The declaration of martial law was initially well-received by some sectors, but it eventually proved unpopular as excesses and human rights abuses by the military emerged, such as the use of torture as a method of extracting information. The well-known People Power Revolution of 1986 took place because of the many violated rights and abuse of authority of Marcos. The People Power Revolution eventually ousted Marcos, and he fled to Hawaii where he died in exile in 1989.

There were rumours that incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was planning to impose martial law to put an end to military coup plots, general civilian dissatisfaction, and criticism of the legitimacy of her presidency due to dubious election results. Instead, a “State of National Emergency” was imposed to crush a coup plot and to tackle protesters which lasted from February 24, 2006 until March 3 of the same year.

On December 4, 2009, through Proclamation No. 1959, President Macapagal-Arroyo has officially placed Maguindanao province under a state of martial law. The declaration also suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the province. The announcement was made days after hundreds of government troops were sent to the province, which would later raid armories of the powerful Ampatuan clan. The Ampatuan family was implicated in the massacre that saw the murder of 57 persons, including women members of the rival Mangudadatu clan, human rights lawyers, and 31 media workers, in the worst incident of political violence in the nation’s history. It has also been condemned worldwide as the worst loss of life of media professionals in one day in the history of journalism.

If you are into serious research work into Philippine martial laws, you may wish to visit the Country Studies website, particularly the site’s section on Philippines.

Dr. José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896, Bagumbayan), was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.

He is considered a national hero of the Philippines, and the anniversary of Rizal’s death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal’s 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.

The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg.

Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages. He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against the Spanish colonial authorities.

As a political figure, Jose Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andrés Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

Chronology of Events

1848, June 28 Rizal’s parents married in Kalamba, La Laguna: Francisco Rizal-Mercado y Alejandra (born in Biñan, April 18, 1818) and Teodora Morales Alonso-Realonda y Quintos (born in Sta. Cruz, Manila, November 14, 1827)

1861, June 19 Rizal born, their seventh child

1861, June 22 Christened as José Protasio Rizal-Mercado y Alonso-Realonda

1870, age 9 In school at Biñan under Master Justiniano Aquin Cruz

1871, age 10 In Kalamba public school under Master Lucas Padua

1872, June 10, age 11 Examined in San Juan de Letran college, Manila, which, during the Spanish time, as part of Sto. Tomás University, controlled entrance to all higher institutions

1872, June 26 Entered the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, then a public school, as a day scholar

1875, June 16, age 14 Became a boarder in the Ateneo

1876, March 23, age 15 Received the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree, with highest honors, from Ateneo de Manila

1877, June Entered Sto. Tomás University in the Philosophy course

1877, November 29 Awarded diploma of honorable mention and merit by the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country, Amigos del País, for the prize poem

1878, June, age 16 Matriculated in the medical course. Won Liceo Artistico-Literario prize, in poetical competition for “Indians and Mestizos”, with the poem “To the Philippine Youth”

Wounded in the back for not saluting a Guardia Civil lieutenant whom he had not seen. The authorities ignored his complaint

1880, April 23, age 19 Received Licco Artístico-Literariodiploma of honorable mention for the allegory, “The Council of the Gods”, in competition open to “Spaniards, mestizos and Indians”. Unjustly deprived of the first prize

1880, December 8 Operetta “On the Banks of the Pasig” produced

1881, age 20 Submitted winning wax model design for commemorative medal for the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country centennial

1882, May 3, age 21 Secretly left Manila taking a French mail steamer at Singapore for Marseilles and entering Spain at Port Bou by railroad. His brother, Paciano Mercado, furnished the money

1882, June Absence noted at Sto. Tomás University, which owned the Kalamba estate. Rizal’s father was compelled to prove that he had no knowledge of his son’s plan in order to hold the land on which he was the University’s tenant

1882, June 15 Arrived in Barcelona

1882, October 3 Began studies in Madrid

1886 Received degree of Licentiate in Medicine with honors from Central University of Madrid on June 19 at the age of 24

- Clinical assistant to Dr. L. de Wecker, a Paris oculist.

- Visited Universities of Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Berlin

1887, Feb. 21, age 26 Finished the novel Noli Me Tangerein Berlin

- Traveled in Austria, Switzerland and Italy

1887, July 3 Sailed from Marseilles

1887, August 5 Arrived in Manila. Traveled in nearby provinces with a Spanish lieutenant, detailed by the Governor-General, as escort

1888, Feb Sailed for Japan via Hong Kong

1888, Feb. 28 to April 13, age 27 A guest at the Spanish Legation, Tokyo, and traveling in Japan

1888, April-May Traveling in the United States

1888, May 24 In London, studying in the British Museum to edit Morga’s 1609 Philippine History

1889, March, age 28 In Paris, publishing Morga’s History. Published “The Philippines A Century Hence” in La Solidaridad, a Filipino fortnightly review, first of Barcelona and later of Madrid

1890, February to July, age 29 In Belgium finished El Filibusterismowhich is the sequel to Noli Me Tangere.

- Published “The Indolence of the Filipino” in La Solidaridad

1890, August 4 Returned to Madrid to confer with his countrymen on the Philippine situation, then constantly growing worse

1891, January 27 Left Madrid for France

1891, November, age 30 Arranging for a Filipino agricultural colony in British North Borneo

- Practiced medicine in Hong Kong

1892, June 26, age 31 Returned to Manila under Governor-General Despujol’s safe conduct pass

- Organized a mutual aid economic society: La Liga Filipina on July 3.

1892, July 6 Ordered deported to Dapitan, but the decree and charges were kept secret from him.

- Taught school and conducted a hospital during his exile, patients coming from China coast ports for treatment. Fees thus earned were used to beautify the town. Arranged a water system and had the plaza lighted

1896, August 1, age 35 Left Dapitan en route to Spain as a volunteer surgeon for the Cuban yellow fever hospitals. Carried letters of recommendation from Governor-General Blanco

1896, August 7 to September 3 On Spanish cruiser Castilla in Manila Bay

- Sailed for Spain on Spanish mail steamer and just after leaving Port Said was confined to his cabin as a prisoner on cabled order from Manila. (Rizal’s enemies to secure the appointment of a governor-general subservient to them, the servile Polavieja had purchased Governor-General Blanco’s promotion.)

1896, October 6 Placed in Montjuich Castle dungeon on his arrival in Barcelona and the same day re-embarked for Manila. Friends and countrymen in London by cable made an unsuccessful effort for a Habeas Corpuswrit at Singapore. On arrival in Manila was placed in Fort Santiago dungeon

1890, December 3 Charged with treason, sedition and forming illegal societies, the prosecution arguing that he was responsible for the deeds of those who read his writings

- During his imprisonment Rizal began to formulate in his mind his greatest poem who others later entitle, “My Last Farewell.”(later concealed in an alcohol cooking lamp)

December 12 Rizal appears in a courtroom where the judges made no effort to check those who cry out for his death

1896, December 15 Wrote an address to insurgent Filipinos to lay down their arms because their insurrection was at that time hopeless. Address not made public but added to the charges against him

1896, December 27 Formally condemned to death by a Spanish court martial

- Pi y Margall, who had been president of the Spanish Republic, pleaded with the Prime Minister for Rizal’s life, but the Queen Regent could not forgive his having referred in one of his writings to the murder by, and suicide of, her relative, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria.

1896, December 29 Completes and puts into writing “My Last Farewell.” He conceals the poem in an alcohol heating apparatus and gives it to his family. He may have also concealed another copy of the same poem in one of his shoes but, if so, it is lost in decomposition in his burial

1896, December 30, age 35 years, 6 months, 11 days Roman Catholic sources allege that Rizal marries Josephine Bracken in his Fort Santiago death cell to Josephine Bracken; she is Irish, the adopted daughter of a blind American who came to Dapitan from Hong Kong for treatment.

- Shot on the Luneta, Manila, at 7:03 a.m., and buried in a secret grave in Paco Cemetery. (Entry of his death was made in the Paco Church Register among suicides.)

1887, January Commemorated by Spanish Free-masons who dedicated a tablet to his memory, in their Grand Lodge hall in Madrid, as a martyr to Liberty

1898, August Filipinos who placed over it in Paco cemetery, a cross inscribed simply “December 30, 1896″, sought his grave, immediately after the American capture of Manila. Since his death his countrymen had never spoken his name, but all references had been to “The Dead”

1898, December 20 President Aguinaldo, of the Philippine Revolutionary Government, proclaimed December 30th as a day of national mourning

1898, December 30 Filipinos held Memorial services at which time American soldiers on duty carried their arms reversed

1911, June 19 Birth semi-centennial observed in all public schools by an act of the Philippine Legislature

1912, December 30 Rizal’s ashes transferred to the Rizal Mausoleum on the Luneta with impressive public ceremonies

Source: Order of the Knights of Rizal

Editor’s Notes: This is the third of a series of articles written by Guillermo Gomez Rivera, a long-time contributor of emanila.com. Mr Rivera is a Premio Zobel awardee, a member of the Academia Filipina and former National Language Committee Secretary, Philippine Constitutional Convention 1971-73.

12. THE FIRST AND ORIGINAL FILIPINOS

All those historians supposedly educated today in English under U.S. WASP colonialism are even incapable to define what is Filipino. The so-called “State Historian” in one Teodoro A. Agoncillo, in his required history textbook for our public schools called “A History of the Filipino People”, or words to that effect, admits on page 6 of this same book that “it is difficult if not impossible to define what is Filipino” when this is the easiest thing to do if the History being taught were only the true one and not the revised and falsified one under U.S. WASPo orders.

The first Filipinos were, of course, the vassals of King Philippe the Second of Spain and the Philippines (el Rey Felipe Segundo de España y de Filipinas). Among those vassals were the Peninsulares that settled in these Islands called “Felipenos”. Aside from the Spanish Peninsulares there were the Chinos Cristianos that were paying tribute and taxes to El Rey Felipe Segundo for which they were also called “Felipenos” or “supporters and tax-payers of Felipe.

Thus, the Chinos Cristianos like Sinloc were “Felipenos”, that is to say Filipinos, since they paid tribute and taxes to El Rey Felipe Segundo after accepting him as their natural sovereign (soberano natural) jointly with the indigenous Tagalogs, Visayan, Ilocanos, Pampangos, Mindanao Lumad, etcetera who also accepted El Rey Felipe Segundo de España in a Synod-Referendum Organized in Manila during the years 1598 and 1599.

It is ironically a WASP historian who, grudgingly, admits this truth as fact. In his book “The Hispanization of the Philippines”, John Leddy Phelan, in pages 23 and 25 of his doctoral thesis points out that the local chieftains “were ferried to Manila” where they were individually asked if they accepted the King of Spain as their soberano natural (natural sovereign).

Among those tribes was the tribe of the Chinese settlers in Baybay (San Nicolas) and Binondo. To this question all the tribal Chieftains answered Sí (Yes). Only the twenty five tribes of the Cordillera, the so-called Ygorrots, said No. What is curious is that even the Moros, or semi-slamized tribes of Mindanao and Sulú (Joló) also said Yes although they did not always keep their word.

After this 1599 synod-referendum, the Chinese tribe of Baybay, or the Mayi-in-ila Kung Shing Fu, played a pivotal role in the great Galeon trade between Manila, Acapulco and Seville. The Chinese here were the ones who went home to China and brougth back the principal products of the said Galleon trade such as silk, sandal wood, porcelain, jade, etcetera.

On the other hand, the U.S. WASPs, after duping Presidente Emilio Aguinaldo in HongKong, with false assurances that they, the Americans, were his allies against Spain, later waged a treacherously unjust war against the 1896-1898 República de Filipinas that had declared its independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12 1898.

And during that unjust War, the U.S. WASPs massacred, according to writer Gore Vidal, three million defenseless Filipinos who were merely defending their freedom along with their newly founded Republic and country. And upon winning that unjust war, the U.S. WASPos never admitted the Filipinos as American Citizens nor allowed the Philippines to be a U.S. State as promised to the Partido Federalista organized by Pardo de Tavera, Legarda and Luzuriaga.

And while Filipinos were never made American Citizens by their new masters, Chinos Cristianos like Don Carlos Palanca, Don Severo Limtuaco and Afonso Dy Buncio continued being Spanish Citizens up to the end of the Japanese occupation of Manila. But let us go back to the history of Sin Loc.

13. WHO WAS SIN LOC?

What we know about Sin Loc is, more or less, what most of his descendants know about him today, such as Don Manuel Locsin, Don Aurelio Locsin and his learned wife, the already mentioned Doña Soledad Lacson de Locsin.

Everybody also knows that SIN LOC arrived at Iloilo around 1750 and called himself “Agustin” upon baptizing himself a Catholic in order to later marry Cecilia Junsay y Martínez from Molo, Yloilo, who was a Mestiza Terciada, that is to say a mix of Chinese, Visayan and Spanish.

And Tía Chóleng (Doña Soledad Lácson), wife of Tío Iyo (Don Aurelio Locsin), happened to be a good historian and was acclaimed as a cultured woman ( “culta literata de la provincia de Negros”) according to the Laureled Prince of Ylongo and Spanish Poetry from Yloilo, Don Flavio Zatagoza Cano in his book “Cantos a España” (1936, Ciudad de Yloilo).

It was then Tía Chóleng who made studies on the culture and old trade in Arévalo and in Molo, old Yloilo municipalities, and explained to this writer that SIN LOC was a silk merchant dealing with other weaves from China. There is the mental picture of SIN LOC as a cloth merchant settled in Molo.

After knowing this personal circumstances of SIN LOC, it became possible for us to piece together his life in the ambiance that was existing in old Molo and Yloilo. And history, as recorded in Spanish, can give us the 1750 ambiance of the Philippines of that time.

Upon writing SIN LOC’s story in the form of an illustrated novel, all the details that possibly influence his life can be easily reconstructed so that his descendants today may be enabled to appreciate his greatness based in his personal humility and in his work aside from his bravery and heroicity.

14. THE SUPPOSED SPANISH MASSACRES OF THE CHINESE IN THE PHILIPPINES

To anger the Chinese against the Spanish Conquistadores in the Philippines, the Sino-Spanish relations in the past were deliberately poisoned by the intervening U.S.WASP colonialists by deliberately misrepresenting historical facts related to these incidents.

For colonial reasons of their own, the U.S. WASP colonizers of these Islands have always tried to paint themselves as “the good guys” and the “liberators” of the Filipinos, including those of Chinese descent, from the so-called abuses and cruelties of the Spanish conquistadores and their frailes.

Among these so-called abuses and cruelties is the so-called “massacre” of the Chinese in the 17th century in Manila and environs. In so-called Philippine History books written in English by U.S. WASP lackeys, the Spanish massacred the Chinese in Manila without any justification and in great numbers reaching twenty thousand up to thirty thousand and even up to sixty thousand victims.

But this so-called massacres are instantly belied when we count the true number of Spaniards living inside Intramurso when such massacres occurred. While there were hardly a thousand Spaniards inside Intramuros, the Chinese residing in Binondo, Santa Cruz and tondo usually numbered thirty thousand.

The question that immediately comes to mind is how can one thousand Spaniards in Intramuros, including women, children and old people, “massacre” twenty thousand, or more, Chinese rebels outside the walls of Intramuros. While the Chinese in Manila where in the tens of thousands, there were never more than thirteen thousand Spaniards all over these Islands during the first two centuries of their government.

It is not, of course, denied that there were disagreements between the Spanish and the Chinese in the coures of Philippine history, but this matter needs a second look since it neither can be denied that there is an anti-Spanish sectarian propaganda from U.S. WASP quarters since 1900. And we all know now that there is upon us a U.S. neocolonialism that affects Philippine economy, language and culture.

This is why the story of SINLOC, the NOBLE CHINO CRISTIANO, becomes relevant and should be known by his descendants and the entire Filipino people, if not the entire world if only to expose the innacuracies that come with the teaching of so-called Philippine History in our schools to our unaware children.

Long before the 7,100 islands was called Filipinas, the inhabitants of these islands already had a history of trade with its neighbours with the rest of Asia. Numerous archaeological artefacts have been found to provide evidence that a culture flourished well before the Spaniards landed in the Visayas.

Rulers already existed with their own territories, and steel was already in use for implements, including weapons to defend each ruler’s territory.

Museums in the Philippines and in the United States have collections of pottery, weaving and artwork, both aesthetic and martial.

Like all cultures around the world, the inhabitants of the Visayas already had a martial system. Magellan and his crew, who wore armours of steel, confidently took on Lapu Lapu and his men, who only wore cloth. Early scribes reported that the natives were proficient with “esgrima”, fencing.

Systemic Spanish colonisation took place not long after Magellan’s skirmish with the natives. Eventually, the Spaniards continued northwards from Cebu in the Visayas, to the Luzon area. The Visayas and Luzon back then did not have a common language or a united kingdom so it was relatively easy for the Spaniards to overpower the region.

Mindanao was a different story. Its kingdoms were already united and the terrain didn’t make it easy for the Spaniards. It was too costly for the Spaniards to wage war with the people of Mindanao. Outposts were maintained mainly for trade and to discourage other European nations from colonising Mindanao.

For fear of being attacked, the colonial Spaniards banned weapons hence prompting the Filipinos to train underground. Sticks were used because blades were illegal. Forms or katas were disguised as dances. This continued on even through the change of colonizers from the Spaniards to the Americans.

Balintawak Arnis is a form of Filipino martial art whose inception started in the early 1950′s by Venancio “Anciong” Bacon. In Balintawak Escrima, the “olisi” (rattan stick) is used primarily as a training tool to familiarise students with weapons and blows. The olisi represents a Filipino sundang or bolo. The theory is that the stick is an extension of the arm and that the body can only move in so many ways.

In Balintawak, the student is taught that there is a defense and counterstrike for every attack and subsequent counterstrike delivered by the opponent. In short, a counter for every counter.

Anciong’s style was known to be a “cuentada” system. Cuentada comes from the Spanish word “contar”, to count. Cuenta in Bisaya means to calculate or count. In effect, Anciong’s style was calculating and like maths, precise.

Balintawak can be like a dance – elegant, balanced, and sometimes baffling. The techniques are direct and fundamental. He taught “suyop” a visayan word for “sucking” which means to draw in your opponent.

Anciong also believed in continuous research and discovery and he was often seen walking along Colon Street in Cebu, ducking and weaving. He was shadow fighting, constantly thinking of scenarios of possible attacks and its counters.

Balintawak is reaction based, training the body’s reflexes and balance thus wonderful for developing agility, flexibility and coordination. Anciong’s catchphrase was, “Simhota ko dong!” verbally translated it means come and smell me. It actually means, “Come and sense me!”

Balintawak focuses on learning defense rather than offense. An offensive attack is inherent in everyone. Even a two year old kid knows how to hit.

Reacting in a protective manner is something that needs to be refined. After all, we go out in public without the intention to attack anyone. More often, we don’t expect to be assaulted and it is vital to know some form of self defense.

Balintawak practitioners, in its early days, were taught to be fighters. Part of the knowledge imparted to them was psychological warfare. And they were taught to ignore the pain if they were hit.

Back then Balintawak training was shunned by some because it was considered to be a brutal way of learning a martial art. Only the patient and strong took part. Daily practice at Balintawak Street produced blood and welts.

It was also at the time a closed system, where only family members were taught. Non-blood relatives who did get invited or accepted became part of the family. Family and Christian values were upheld especially respect for the elders.

Balintawak was considered to be “sagrado” or sacred. A divine art given to Anciong and learning Balintawak was a privilege. Some teachers of Balintawak refused payment from devote students.

Anciong disliked stick twirling. He considered it unnecessary and impractical in real fights. He further developed his style which dealt a simple block for an attack followed by an immediate counter. Anciong Bacon started his own group because he thought that training should concentrate on defense, one block followed by one counter, rather than attack. There is no limit as to what part of the body may be hit, and control of power and technique is taught in order to protect the training partner. Injury is avoided and safety is imposed.

Balintawak is not a sport. There are no rules when a person is being attacked in the street. What is considered foul in other arts is taught in Balintawak.

The word “Balintawak” also refers to the area in Luzon where Filipinos, in the late 1800′s first started their revolution against Spanish rule. The “Cry of Balintawak”, was understood to refer to the first skirmish between the katipuneros and the guardia civil. It is now taken to refer to the tearing of the cedulas, or community tax certificates, followed by patriotic shouts, to mark their withdrawal from Spain.

The Filipinos fought with what they had, their bolos and sticks. The few guns and little ammunition they had were mainly captured from the Spanish forces.

Little by little, the revolutionary forces gained ground in Visayas and Luzon. At one point, the revolutionary leaders were reported to have written to the leaders of the kingdoms in Mindanao only to be told that they have been fighting the Spaniards for the last 300 years.

The spread of Balintawak to the world was made easier when Attorney Villasin broke down Anciong’s system to groupings. These levels of skill ensured that students became increasingly adept with Balintawak.

Teofilo Velez embraced this form of education and to his credit, students of “Teovel”, notably Bobby Taboada and Nene Gaabucayan, primarily introduced this form of Filipino Martial Art to Europe and the United States. Bobby Tabimina is also currently introducing his form of Balintawak to the rest of the world.

Anciong taught at the back of a barber shop at Balintawak Street in Cebu. Anciong’s Arnis being a non-conformist art fittingly became christened Balintawak.

A dear friend of mine mentioned in an email the work entitled “For Dreams Must Die” which involved Dr. Rizal and wondered whether our dream of a truly democratic Philippines must also somehow die; he queried whether “real democracy, along the aspirations of Dr. Rizal and many other(s) of our noble heroes, (will) ever see the light of day in the old country”. And he answered saying: “For as long as justice remains on the side of the haves, against the have nots, real democracy as we know it in the United States and other free countries will never reign supreme in nuestra patria adorada!”

These questions are very important, focusing as they do on two quintessential elements that bring “humanness” into our existence: dreams and justice. Both speak to our imperfect nature that most of the time seeks and struggles for what is due and what ought to be.

On the matter of dreams, the Philippine Elibrary (http://www.elib.gov.ph) reveals that “For Dreams Must Die” is a work of fiction by Zoilo M. Galang about the love of Jose Rizal and Leonor Rivera. Fiction aside, sufficient documentation exists to prove the historical fact of Jose and Leonor’s love. Enough historical data also show that Rizal could not pursue (rather, neglected) this love (and other loves) for a love that: “carries with it a divine stamp which renders it eternal and imperishable”; and “among all loves”…“is the greatest, the most heroic and the most disinterested.”1/

In letters to Blumentritt, he confided about Leonor: “When my fiancée (Leonor Rivera) abandoned me, I found that she was right, that I deserved it, but nevertheless my heart was bleeding. Recently I received her letter announcing that soon she would marry – she was always very much solicited by Filipinos and Spaniards.”2/ “My fiancee (Leonor Rivera), who was faithful to me for more than eleven years, is going to marry an Englishman, an engineer of the railroad. Well the first blow of the railroad is for me. However, I prefer this progress to our former situation! When I received the news, I thought I would lose my mind, but that has already passed away and I have to smile, for I must not cry. Oh, do not be surprised that a Filipino woman should prefer the name Kipping (of the engineer) to Rizal. No, don’t be astonished. An Englishman is a free man and I am not. Enough! Let this be the last word!”3/

In other writings, he declared: “In my heart I have suppressed all loves, except that of my native land; in my mind I have erased all ideas which do not signify her progress; and my lips have forgotten the names of the native races in the Philippines in order not to say more than Filipinos.” 4/ “…the thought of my whole life has always been love of my country and her moral and material development…” 5/ “My dreams when a lad, when scarcely adolescent: my dreams when a young man, now with vigor inflamed: were to behold you one day: Jewel of eastern waters: griefless the dusky eyes: lifted the upright brow: unclouded, unfurrowed, unblemished and unashamed”. 6/

He had, in another letter to Blumentritt, reflected pensively: “…in my life, happiness was always followed by misfortune, and the more beautiful the one was, the more terrible the other one appeared… …When I am alone, my gaiety disappears; many confused and sad thoughts assail me; it seems to me as if I had lost something, or as if luck had abandoned me.” 7/

So, in all his humanity, Rizal’s personal romantic dreams with Leonor became a victim of historic circumstances, and thus had to die and be sacrificed, for his larger, national dream – like moth to flames – of seeing the greater glory of the Philippines; as he wrote to Mariano Ponce: “I am very busy these days for I am working ad majorem Phil. gloriam”8/ (a Latin phrase literally meaning ‘to the greater glory of the Philippines’, a paraphrase of the more common expression Ad majorem gloriae Dei.)

I submit Rizal died with his dreams alive: of seeing the Philippines holding high her brow serene, no matter how long it would take. I also submit his undying vision of a more beautiful Philippines 9/ galvanized his “last ounce of courage” to turn himself as his consciousness came to an end and his body was flung forward by the firing squad’s bullets on his back such that, when he landed, his face looked towards the open and limitless sky instead of being slammed into the limited confines of the ground. The significance of that act compels us, new generations of Filipinos, to actualize his dream.

So, will real democracy ever be realized in our country? It all depends on us, the Filipino people: whether we can overcome the momentum of innumerable “impossibilities” incessantly drilled into our minds since “time immemorial” to include the concept of true democracy.

But before we talk more about democracy, let’s turn our attention first to the matter of justice.

Rizal wrote that: “Justice is the foremost virtue of civilized nations. It subdues the most barbarous nations; injustice excites the weakest to rebellion.” 10/ and “…there is nothing that wins man more than the idea of justice, serene, without hatred or fury, as there is nothing like injustice to arouse his indignation.” 11/ As virtue or as idea, justice refers to the “habitual inclination of the will” and “the constant and permanent determination to give everyone his or her rightful due.” 12/ If our justice system favors only the rich, then that system is not giving every one his/her rightful due when redress of grievance is applied for, and we could as well call it an injustice system.

Whether worth calling justice or injustice system, the many aspects of law enforcement, prosecution, adjudication, incarceration, etc. all make up a composite function of government. But government, democratic or not, is a function of whether the people can and do effectively assert their role as citizens and ultimate sovereigns of the Republic. In sum, justice administration is a function of government and government is a function of people.

On the latter relationship, Rizal wrote: “People and government are correlated and complementary. A stupid government is an anomaly among a righteous people, just as a corrupt people cannot exist under just rulers and wise laws. Like people, like government, we will say, paraphrasing a popular adage.” 13/

If we might paraphrase Rizal in turn: we need righteous people and/or just rulers; let’s just assume for the moment we already have wise laws for it is generally felt our problem mainly lies in the area of implementation. With this formulation, we have three options, namely: (1) righteous people, (2) just rulers, or (3) both righteous people and just rulers. Obviously, the third is ideal, but it requires the realization of the first and the second options. The second could perhaps be achievable if elections were not largely based on money and the people were to choose wisely. The first needs radical changes in the hearts, minds and behaviors of enough of our people to form a critical mass that can effect changes in national values and overcome the momentum of centuries of negativity and impossibility conditioning.

Since the second option presumes that people would choose wisely regardless of money involved, realization of the first appears to be its precondition. It seems then that we are left with the first as the choice that promises true and lasting change. The radical changes in t-e-a (thoughts, emotions, actions) that this first alternative necessarily implies, can perhaps transpire if enough of us follow St. Paul’s urging: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing, and perfect.”14/ This ‘renewal of minds’ seems to be “the way” to attain “the spirit that gives life and not just the letter that kills” of our Constitution and laws, and thus allow us to approach or approximate “the ways of the kingdom of God, where kingdom citizens have the perfect law of righteousness in their hearts”.15/

Democracy, I submit, is part of God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, as He made each one of us in His own image16/, individually endowing us with inalienable power to choose. This ‘power to choose’ gets wielded by the righteousness or unrighteousness in our hearts and, depending on which character we allow to prevail or resolve to uphold, serves as the fount for the quality of democracy we enjoy. In Rizal’s view, democracy is not really that impossible to do, for it simply boils down to helping each other out and working together for common ends: “He who wants to help himself should help others because if he neglects others, he too will be neglected by them. One midrib is easy to break, but not a bundle of many midribs tied together.”17/

Along these lines, we might want to have our own “t-e-a party” for righteousness!

In closing, the question we might want to ask is: how long will it take us, as a people, to change our dynamic set of beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behavior patterns regarding real democracy, from “cannot be” to “can be”? One cannot exactly tell. But, if we are to “encourage one another and build one another up”18/, then yes, it shall come to pass, in God’s own time… And yes, the destiny of the Philippines will be beautiful because a critical mass of enlightened Filipinos shall hold it in their loving hands!! That’s the dream that must never die!!!

_________________________

* Edwin D. Bael is a Knight Commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal. He was Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles, California (2000-2002) and is now the Managing Principal of Bael Consulting, LLC, based in Phoenix, Arizona.

1/ “Love of Country”, La Solidaridad, Madrid, 31 October 1890.

2/ Letter to Blumentritt, Biarritz, 29 March 1891, Epistolario Rizalino, V, Part II, No. 94, p.584.

3/ Letter to Blumentritt, Brussels, 23 April 1891, Epistolario Rizalino, V, Part II, No. 95, p. 589

4/ “Farewell to 1883”, Speech

5/ Letter to the Governor and Captain General of the Philippine Islands, Hongkong, 21 Mar 1892, Epistolario Rizalino, III No. 577, p. 306

6/ 4th Stanza, Ultimo Adios, 1896, Nick Joaquin translation

7/ Letter to Blumentritt, Brunn, 19 May 1887, Epistolario Rizalino, V, No. 22, pp. 134-135

8/ Letter to Mariano Ponce, Epistolario Rizalino, II, No. 191, p. 46

9/ “Tomorrow we shall be citizens of the Philippines whose destiny will be beautiful because it will be in loving hands.” El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p. 191.

10/ “The Philippines a Century Hence”, La Solidaridad, 15 December 1889.

11/ “Let Us Be Just”, La Solidaridad, 15 April 1890.

12/ http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/p/Justice.htm; Fr. John A. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary,

13/ “The Indolence of the Filipinos”, La Solidaridad, 15 September 1890.

14/ Romans 12:2, NAB

15/ http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/123-What-Are-Christians-Fighting-For-/html/4#read; What Are Christians Fighting For?” by John Jones, p. 4.

16/ Genesis 1:27, NAB

17/ Message to the Women of Malolos, Europe, February 1889, Epistolario Rizalino, II Doc. No. 223, p.117

18/ 1 Thessalonians 5:11, NAB

There seems to be a belief or underlying assumption that Filipinos are a corrupt and/or corruptible people and therefore the best way to govern and do business with them is to feed that tendency: be the corruptor. In addition, if one corrupts enough individuals in strategic positions, then one becomes untouchable in the Philippines or at least be ‘Teflon-coated’, i.e., no criminal or other charge sticks and one gets away with impunity – almost always!

In this formulation, we have subject and object: “corruptor” and “corrupt and/or corruptible”.

As sons and daughters of God (once we accept and have faith in the saving grace of the supreme sacrifice and resurrection of the One whose birth we commemorate this season), or as humans without belief in any deity, or as persons of whatever shade or category of spirituality at the moment, do we Filipinos agree to be treated as corrupt and/or corruptible objects of monetary designs? In the exercise of our individual free will, do we first acquiesce in the presumption of “being corrupt and/or corruptible” before acceding to easy and juicy blandishments that result in immediate personal benefits but defeat the greatest good of our greatest number? Or, do we simply accede and thus indirectly but unmistakably confirm that assumption of corruption?

First, let’s clarify. This “assumption” is not part of our DNA. But it can become effective, if we accept it. So we should not accept or let these presumptions continue without challenging them; we should do all in our power to assert and maintain Filipino moral integrity.

Filipino Citizen, you are Sovereign! The Final Say is yours.

Don’t you ever relinquish that: not to friends and family; not to government; not to businessmen; not to the military; not to the “nagha-hari-harian” pretenders; not to the “know-it-alls”; not to opinion makers or shapers; not to blog, facebook and other noosphere denizens; not to the so-called elite or A class; not to psychology-using marketers; not to any one!

The buck stops with you: not in Malacanang nor the Senate nor the House; not in Camp Aguinaldo nor Camp Crame; not in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry nor in the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce nor in the Philippine-US Business Council nor in the Makati Business Club; not in Trade Unions; not in the NPA nor the MNLF nor the MILF; not in non-government organizations nor any other aggrupation or movement: but ultimately only in you, the individual sovereign!

God gave every one the spirit “of power and of love and of sound mind” to energize the gift of our free will. Let’s consider using this spirit-gift tandem very well, to secure the greatest good of our greatest number. Individually, let us think for ourselves: that’s what sovereigns do. As a people, let us keep a consensus on the value of “the greatest good for our greatest number”, which should be our prime criterion; and let’s be careful with those who would muddle the definition of this value to bring it back to the outcome of selfish personal gains regardless of negative effects on others resulting in the opposite of ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’.

Free will does not only mean the choice of “I, me, mine”; it equally means the option for “ours”. Our history unfortunately contains a heavy momentum of “I, me, mine” choices by our predecessors and this pattern of choices strongly continues up to the present. Let us realize it was by the feeding and encouragement of these ego-based selfish choices and then taking advantage of the ensuing conflicts that the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese and the current native and not-so-native ‘elites’ have controlled and leashed the powers and potentials of the Filipino people to benefit the corruptors/intriguers’ own interests.

Is this custom and tradition? No. Only a pattern of choices repeated over time; just one or a few actions, repeatedly done, that have not only disempowered our people but also resulted largely in negative consequences for our greatest numbers.

Yet we have the power to choose empowering thoughts, ideas, emotions and, more importantly, actions based on the “ours” option. “We” means every individual citizen freely exercising his and her power of choice for “the greatest good of the greatest number” based on the value of “kung anu ang makakabuti sa madla hindi lang sa akin” (what benefits the greatest number, not just me).

We can make new empowering choices and repeat them over time. We are the subjects. We do the choosing. Woe unto those who presume we can be their objects! And woe unto those who operate on the presumption of “Filipino corruption and/or corruptibility”.

Every human being has a price, they say. Human nature, after all, has tendencies that if left alone makes hell mankind’s default destination. But thanks to the Father’s unconditional giving love (agape) for humanity, He sent His only begotten Son (the reason for the season) to be the pure and spotless sacrifice of atonement for these human tendencies, so that by our free will we can avail of the chance (opened through the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ) to change our default destination to at-one-ment with the Father in heaven. We can make this availment by believing in the atoning sacrifice of the Redeemer, repenting of our sins, inviting Him to come into our hearts, and welcoming the Holy Spirit Who comes on His behalf, resulting thus in our becoming sons and daughters of God in Jesus. Through this forgiving love of God, we are set free from the past and enabled to face the present and the future wise, secure and unafraid. Then, we can move on, surely.

Yet as we move ahead, there is danger. The danger comes from within. It is the insidious thought pattern which says: “Paano kung dudugasin lang tayo ng kapwa Pilipino? Mabuti pa unahan na lang natin; kunin na lang natin ang puwedeng makuha; bahala na sila sa kanilang mga sarili”; (What if our fellow Filipinos will just screw us up? It’s better to beat them to the draw and simply take what we can; they can take care of themselves!)

Mga Kababayan (countrymen), remember: this and similar thought patterns of distrust and false superiority were and are the very bases for and the power-sources of the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy that, wittingly or unwittingly on our part, have been so easily used and applied against our common and greater interests.

Should we allow this distorted momentum of our history to continue? No. We have the power to choose not to. We already know it has not resulted in the greatest good of our greatest number.

But let’s start small. Let’s begin by trusting our small, close circles, informing them of that trust and the reason why: “kung anu ang makakabuti sa madla hindi lang sa akin”. Then let’s build on these new building blocks of trust. Let’s build each other up, as the bible says; let’s give each other the respect owing to sons and daughters of God; more importantly, let’s behave as such sons and daughters of the Most High. And resolve to work on this, over time, to continually enlarge our circles until the many circles of sovereign trust overlap and form one grand circle of cooperating but not identical sovereigns.

It appears that this cannot be a weak and shallow resolution. Logic indicates a need to reverse the submerged and rooted momentum of the colonialists’ ploy of creating or encouraging small points of distrust among our people and building on those building blocks of distrust until it became so easy to use one group against another, to make our forebears literally kill each other, so the colonialists could control and dominate all. Yes, we have had political “independence” for sometime now, but as our contemporary headlines show, one can easily discern the results of the distortions of distrust and the evils of “mas magaling pa ako sa iyo” (I’m better than you) mentality and its corollary frame of mind: the disparaging ‘onli en da pilipins’ knee-jerk reaction, manifesting thus in periodic rituals of self-blaming self-flagellation and/or dis-identification (hindi ako kasali diyan; sila lang ‘yan; I’m not part of that; only they are involved; therefore, I’m not proud to be Filipino) as might be occasioned by crimes, massacres, disasters whether nature- or human-caused, electoral abuses or even beauty queen slips of the tongue.

The point is: we can, and should, choose to build up and respect the Filipino. Because no other people in all the universes will do this for us.

Our choices are: a) let things be; b) make the “ours” option (“kung anu ang makakabuti sa madla hindi lang sa akin”) the main basis for our daily TEA – thoughts, emotions, actions; or c) “whatever” in the uninvolved, escapist, even dismissive/disrespectful sense it is used by some in the younger generation.

As the Lord in the Bible told the Abrahamic line of old to choose life not death, we submit to you sovereign Filipino: choose the empowering “ours” option over the nationally debilitating “I, me mine” habitual pattern, and certainly over “whatever”.

Making this choice and assuming the consequent responsibilities are ours to bear. Yes, ours: individual sovereign Filipino citizens. No one else’s!

*** Edwin D. Bael was Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles (2000 to 2002). He is now President/CEO of Bael Consulting, LLC, based in Phoenix, Arizona, specializing in management, policy and international trade matters.

Editor’s Notes: This is the second of a series of articles written by Guillermo Gomez Rivera, a long-time contributor of emanila.com. Mr Rivera is a Premio Zobel awardee, a member of the Academia Filipina and former National Language Committee Secretary, Philippine Constitutional Convention 1971-73.

7. Union of Church and State

During Spanish times in these islands, the State and its Government system was united with the Catholic Church by virtue of Hispanic tradition and the Royal Patronage (Patronato Real). In other words, the union of Church and State was the norm as it is up to now in the case of Muslim countries where the Koran is even the country’s basic law or Constitution. In the United Kingdom of England, Scotland and Wales there is also union of Church, Anglican or Episcopalian, with the State, although it is not the Christian bible that serves them as their basic law.

Thus, the union of Church and State, prohibited today by both the Constitutions of the U.S.A. and the Philippines, was the reality in these islands since the founding of the Filipino State in June 24, 1571 with Manila as the Capital City by Miguel López de Legaspi in representation of the Crown of Spain and its King.

With this politico-legal backdrop, those Chinese who decided to stay in the Philippines, fell under Spanish sovereignty and voluntarily Christianized themselves in order to become devout Catholics as well as loyal Spanish citizens or subjects.

8. Spanish Citizens

The Spanish Democratic Constitution of 1812 included as Spanish citizens all the Chino Cristiano residents of the Philippines along with all the indigenous (Indio) or native Filipinos. This explains why the Chinese traders and their respective families adopted Spanish as their maternal language since Spanish was naturally the Official Language of both the Government, Education and Society in general. Even the 1898 República Filipina under Aguinaldo, a Chinese Mestizo himself, adopted Spanish as its main Official Language together with Tagalog. This explains why enlightened Filipinos, the Ilustrados, who were also rich businessmen and agriculturists spoke Spanish even if they were of Chinese descent.

It simply is a fact that the Chinos Cristianos became Spanish citizens upon desiring to stay in the Philippines and contribute to the development of what is Filipino.

9. The precedent example is the case of Tuason

There is the previous example of the first José María Tuáson (originally Sun Tua Co). Tuáson even married a Spanish Peninsular woman of noble linage. And Tuáson himself was awarded the title fijodalgo of a Spanish nobleman as evidenced by the coat of arms that this surname exhibits among many of the Tuáson descendants. Thus, Tuáson, from Chinese, became an authentic Spanish surname that in time, also became, Filipino. It is in this same manner that all the other surnames of Chinese origin, particularly those ending in “co” as well as those derived from the first ten Fukien numbers, also became Spanish, and later, Filipino surnames in these Islands.

10. Tools of Christianization and Hispanization

The convertion into Catholicism and into Spanish subjects of the Chinese emigrants to these Islands also explains the existence, as tools for that purpose, the publication since 1593 of the Doctrina Cristiana by Juan de Vera Ken Yong in Chinese language and characters with its accompanying Spanish and Tagalog translations. Aside from this Doctrina Cristiana written in Chinese by a Spanish Dominican friar, Fray Blancas de San José. There is also that other book called Shilu in Chinese, or “La Apologia de la Doctrina Cristiana” that explained what Catholic doctrine really meant. These tools explain, in the long run, why the First Filipino Saint is a Chinese Mestizo in San Lorenzo de Manila and a Chinese Mestiza is the founder of a Religious Order called “Reverendas o Religiosas de la Virgen María”.

11. Deliberate omission of truth

These historical data that we point out is not popularly known among Filipinos nor among the local Chinese because the so-called education system imposed here by American colonialism in English, and even Tagalog, has deliberately omitted these facts in the current teaching of local history. Philippine History as taught in present-day schools have one single cliché which says that the Americans are our good Liberators and the Spanish our usual oppressors. And the role of the Chinos Cristianos in the development of what is Filipino is likewise deliberately omitted with the Chinese derided as mere alien intruders.

In summary, it is enough to know that when the Philippines used to be part of the Spanish national territory, first as a Capitanía General and later as a Provincia de Ultramar (oversea Spanish province), all the native indigenous along with all the Chinos Cristianos were made Spanish citizens or subjects.

Editor’s Notes: This is the first of a series of articles written by Guillermo Gomez Rivera, a long-time contributor of emanila.com. Mr Rivera is a Premio Zobel awardee, a member of the Academia Filipina and former National Language Committee Secretary, Philippine Constitutional Convention 1971-73.

1. THE NAME ‘LOCSIN’

An old resident of Manila’s China Town, whose name we forgot, explained to me, during a conversation I had with here in 1980 on a sidewalk of Calle Ongpin, why the name SINLOC did not sound to her as one that purely originated in China. But SIN LOC she said, on second thought, may be a name of possible Fukien origin but disfigured by Spanish, or Visayan, phonics. To her, this name is really CHIEN YUC in Chinese and it means “something that has acquired the brightness from a light or from the sun.”

Inspite of these appreciations and since China has so many languages, the name SIN LOC could be established as Fukienwa in its very Emuy or Amoy form. In Mandarin, SIN LOC could possibly be CHIEN YUC.

2. FROM ‘SUN TUA’ TO ‘TUASON’

The next question we raised before the old Chinese teacher was: How come SIN LOC suffered an exchange in its two syllables resulting in the name LOCSIN. She then recalled the case of SUN TUA (meaning firsy grandson) which was also interchanged to TUASON.

These interchange of syllables, or metathesis, in the order of these two words is due to a Chinese custom that was in vogue during the time of Agustin Locsin. Metathesis in surname and name is resorted to by those who become “ex-Chinese” because they have abandoned China, their land of origin.

This old Chinese custom is some kind of a law that considers as ex-Chinese those who could no longer render in their land the filial homage due to their dead ancestors. Chinese culture features as one of its essences the due homage to ancestors, a factor of Chinese clannishness.

This is why those who left behind their land also abandoned the grave of their ancestors. That is the reason why those who left China were no longer Chinese. They became “deserters” so to speak. And as such they also lost the right to cary their family surname as well as the name given to them by their immediate parents.

But the “deserters” that reached the Philippines refused, on the other hand, to completely erase and cut all the traces of ties which they have with their original name and surname. Thus SINLOC, upon Christianization and Hispanization, becomes a new surname: LOCSIN.

It is also a fact that not all Chinese emigrants to the Philippines retained their original surnames or names. Many of them have adopted names and surnames that are purely Spanish since they had decided to stay in these Islands forever.

3. SOLEDAD LÁCSON DE LOCSÍN

Doña Soledad (Tía Chóleng) Lácson de Locsin, an historian and a cultured lady given to literature and history, born and raised in Silay, Negros Occidental, would also tell us that “all those who retained as their surnames the name and surname of their Chinese grandfather would add the suffix “co” to them. The suffix “co” has something to do with belonging to a Gremio, or a trader”s Guild, related to the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade. An example of such names are: Tansingco, Tantiongco, Cojuangco, Sangco, Quilayco, Suansingco, Goco, Yuchengco, and so many others.

Belonging to a Gremio, or to a fraternity, of business workers and traders with relation to the mentioned Manila Galleon trade, is apparently what popularized surnames ending in “co’. We are told that such surnames are non-existent in China.

4. CONCEPCIÓN GANTUANGCO de BRIONES

In the Parián of Cebú, according to the illustrious writer Doña Concepción Gantuanco Briones, there used to exist “Gremios de Mestizos” y “Gremios de Chinos” for trade and commercial purposes. Those interested should read her interesting book titled: “Life In Old Parian”.

According to Spanish writer and Filipinologist, Wenceslao Retana, in his work “Diccionario de Filipinismos” (Manila, 1894) the classification of “Mestizo” was applied to the Chino Cristiano and his descendants in these Islands. The classification for Spanish half-breeds was “Criollo” or “Creole”.

This is why the Parianes of Malolos and Vigan are called “Sector de Mestizos”.

5. SURNAMES DERIVED FROM THE FIRST TEN CHINESE NUMBERS

There are also surnames derived from the first ten Chinese Fukien numbers. But these surnames are more frequent among Filipinos and literally unknown in the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese Fukien numbers we refer to are: it (one), di (two), sa (three), si (four), go (five), lac (six), chet (seven), pué (eight), cao (nine), chap (ten).

From one (it) come the surnames Itson or Ichon;
From two (di), Dison, or Dizon;
From three (si), Sison;
From four (sa), Sason, Sazon or Siason;
From five (go), Goson or Guzon;
From six (lac), Lacson;
From seven (chit), Chéson, Quéson, Quiézon, Quízon or Quíson;
From eight (pue) Puson, Puéson, Puzon or Puézon;
From nine (cao) Cason or Caoson;
And from ten (chap), Quiapson, Capson, Chason, Chapson, Jopson, Quiápson or Quiánson.

The surname “Suntua” also means first son or grandson and it begot the prominent surname of Tuáson (legitimate) or Tuázon (illegitimate). A changed from “S” to “Z” would change the status of a surname holder.

6. THE FILIPINO SOCIETY TO WHICH SINLOC GOT INTEGRATED SINCE THE 1750s WAS THAT OF THE CHINOS CRISTIANOS AND THE “EL PARIAN”

As it is obvious, all these surnames belong to Chinos Cristianos, or Chinese Mestizos residents of the “Sectores de Mestizos”, “Pariancillos” or “Parianes” that used to be found in the rich districts of the different cities of the Philippines such as Manila, Malolos, Vigan, Iloilo, Cebú as well as in almost all the provincial capitals of these islands.

The word ‘parian’, just as it is pronounced and spelled, means a “Chinese Mission” for the Spanish missionaries. It is the place where the Spanish friars would go to teach cathechisim to the children of the local Chinese traders. This is according to the famous Ylongo judge known as “el Juez Pío Sian” from Molo, Iloilo. The root of this word is ‘padre’ which upon indigenization in both Visayan and Tagalog becomes “pari” to which the ending “an”, which denotes place, is added.

The Spanish missionaries known as ‘padres’ in Las Islas Filipinas used to frequent the place which was the “Sector de Mestizos”, meaning the neighborhood of Chinese Mestizos, to Christianize them or serve them in their practice of Catholicism.

“Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart.” – Dr. Jose Rizal

From September 3 to 5, 2010, Knights of Rizal from all over the world converged in Las Vegas to attend the Knights of Rizal 3rd USA Regional Assembly, mainly to exchange ideas on the theme: “Proper Education: The Key To People’s Freedom From Poverty And Ignorance”.

The theme leads us to ask: What is ‘proper education’ from Rizal’s perspective?

In a letter from Dapitan to his nephew Alfredo T. Hidalgo dated 20 December 1893, Dr. Rizal encouraged his nephews to study, thus: “Go ahead then; study, study and meditate well what you study. Life is a very serious thing and only those with intelligence and courage go through it worthily. To live is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But this struggle is not a brutal and material struggle with men alone; it is a struggle with them, with one’s self, with passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a smile on the lips and tears in the heart. On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart.” (Epistolario Rizalino, IV, No. 617, p. 184.)

In essence, this letter says that on the battlefield of life man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart; to be prepared, one has to sharpen, perfect, and polish the mind [reason] and fortify and educate the heart [passions].

It can also be added that this approach—impeccable logic under wise values—should straighten crooked ratiocinations as well as tame unbridled emotions running helter-skelter as knee-jerk reactions to various stimuli from changing environments.

[pullquote]Out of their stupidity comes sin; evil thoughts flood their hearts.”(Psalm 73:7) “… the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person …[/pullquote]

From this understanding, it can be submitted that “proper education”, in the Rizalian perspective, has the dual and intertwined meaning of sharpened and polished reason (mind) as well as strengthened and educated passion (heart).

A closer look at this formulation would give us a new appreciation. It does not seem to imply that “mind directs heart” but rather “heart directs mind”. For a strong and wise heart propels and navigates, while a sharp and smooth mind cuts and pierces. Heart is force; intelligence is weapon.

Could Dr. Rizal have been on to something that our nation and educational system have overlooked or neglected, namely: equal, if not more, focus on strong and wise hearts, not just sharp and pointed minds? Could not the continuing problems of the Philippines like massive poverty, political corruption and environmental degradation be connected to too much mental sharpness exercised in the absence of heart wisdom?

However, we Filipinos are not alone.

Albert Einstein viewed mental faculties as intuitive and rational. He said: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Einstein is also quoted as saying: “The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.” Furthermore, he wrote: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

I submit that a person with Rizal’s ‘educated heart’ would have an intuitive mind, wise thoughts and unlimited imagination.

The Holy Bible teaches that the heart is the first faculty with which to love and seek the Lord and wisdom; it is also a well from which so many not-so-good things spring forth.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) “… the wise man’s heart knows times and judgments; for there is a time and a judgment for everything.” (Ecclesiastes 8:5-6) “Happy are those who observe God’s decrees, who seek the LORD with all their heart. They do no wrong; they walk in God’s ways. (Proverbs 113: 2-3) “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 23:13) “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others…” (Colossians 3:23)

“Out of their stupidity comes sin; evil thoughts flood their hearts.”(Psalm 73:7) “… the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person …” (Matthew 15:16-20)

“I, Wisdom, dwell with experience and judicious knowledge I attain… Mine are counsel and advice; Mine is strength; I am understanding. By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice; By me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of earth. Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. (Proverbs 8:1; 12; 14-18) Thinking thus within myself, and reflecting in my heart that there is immortality in kinship with Wisdom, and good pleasure in her friendship, and unfailing riches in the works of her hands, And that in frequenting her society there is prudence, and fair renown in sharing her discourses, I went about seeking to take her for my own. (Wisdom 8:17-18)

With this insight of heart (wisdom, intuitive mind, passion, art) guiding mind (science, reason, logic, rational mind, intelligence, brains), it might be advisable to use them, respectively, as strategic approach and primary weapon for unleashing and discarding chains that stunt progress, like poverty and ignorance, as indicated in the second part of the 3rd USA Regional Assembly’s theme.

[pullquote]The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.[/pullquote]

In a letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar from Brussels, dated 4 April 1890, Rizal said: “I am assiduously studying the happenings in our country. I believe that nothing can redeem us except our brains.” (Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 360, p. 8.), thus indicating that incisive intelligence should be the main weapon for Philippine redemption. Moreover, I hazard to submit in this case, that he must have been referring to both our intuitive and rational brains, long before Einstein coined those words.

In his poem “A La Juventud Filipina” Dr. Rizal wrote in the third stanza: “Baja, con la luz grata de las artes y ciencias, a la arena, juventud, y desata la pesada cadena que tu genio poetico encadena”. This stanza, translated into English by Nick Joaquin, reads: “Bearing the good light of art and science, to the battleground descend, o youth, and smite: loosen the heavy pound of chains that keeps poetic genius bound”

In other words, using art and science—or wise passion and sharp reason—our people (especially the youth) can unleash our own (poetic) genius for moral and material development!

Why moral and material development? Because it was Rizal’s magnificent obsession! His letter from Hongkong to the Governor and Captain General of the Philippines Islands dated 21 March 1892, in effect, says so: “…the thought of my whole life has always been love of my country and her moral and material development…” (Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 527, p. 306)

Perhaps we, the Knights of Rizal and like-minded souls, should also make this obsession ours, here and now, given that the dawn he saw at his death has not yet really turned into a bright morning for Inang Bayan. Let’s work, as Rizal paraphrased a more common expression in a letter to Mariano Ponce: “Ad majorem Phil. gloriam” [To the greater glory of the Philippines] (Epistolario Rizalino, II, No. 191, p. 46.)

The indicators for the realization of Dr. Rizal’s dream were immortalized in his poem Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), thus: “to behold you one day, Jewel of Eastern waters: griefless the dusky eyes: lifted the upright brow: unclouded, unfurrowed, unblemished, and unashamed!” (Nick Joaquin translation). Based on this, I submit, his compelling vision was to see the Filipino respected by himself, by fellow Filipinos, and by the rest of the world.

We are still quite far from the fullness of that kind of respect. For, beholding our country today to include expatriates, do we see a majority of self-respecting, self-esteeming individuals and communities, respecting fellow Filipinos and respected by a majority of other peoples? I’m sure we all have varying answers, as the perception of truth according to Rizal, is like the different perspectives of a group of artists viewing a statue. But, may be, we can have the consensus that, at minimum, there is room for improvement in the areas of self-respect, respect by fellow Filipinos and respect by other peoples.

Right values and wise hearts with incisive, impeccable logic, all for Inang Bayan’s moral and material development—this, it is respectfully submitted, is a vision and recipe for education that translates to R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

On this score, perhaps the KOR 3rd USA Regional Assembly might want to pass a Resolution urging President Noynoy Aquino and our Congress to revise the emphasis of our educational system so as to give priority to the unfoldment of wise hearts among our youth even as the sharpening of minds continues.

Of course, other interested and patriotic parties are encouraged to freely take initiatives along these lines.

*** Edwin D. Bael was Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles (2000 to 2002). He now works with ASK Law Group, an immigration law firm with offices in the States of California and Nevada. He serves as Member of the Board of Directors of the New Americans Immigration Museum and Learning Center and as Member of the Advisory Council of the Charles Hostler Institute of World Affairs, San Diego State U. He continues his linkages with the consular community as Emeritus Member of the Los Angeles Consular Corps and Associate Member of the San Diego Consular Corps.