Oriental Mindoro Philippines
FEATURE
Candied History:
The Sugarcoating of 1521
1521 Play and how it changed how Filipinos look at Christianity
GERALD LOIS ROLDAN
Published 12:00 PM, May 31, 2021
And, so it started. The Youth Ministry of Immaculate Conception Parish – Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro wanted to craft something grandiose for the 500th year anniversary of Christianity’s arrival in the Philippine islands. They established a pool of raw talents and sharpened everyone in two months’ time. Nights and weekends of workshops and rehearsals and they had it – a show. They made a whole production for “1521: A Musical Drama in Commemoration of the 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines.” The only thing left was for people to see it.
And, so I saw it. I sat there in elevated rows of bleachers waiting for the show to start. Lights, cameras, and actions were the stars of night. It went on, just like how I described it in the beginning. Magellan, Raja Humabon, battle cries, and bloodshed, all in just a minute. It was as swift as the backstage people – already on the next scene. The proliferation of Christianity happened like wildfire in the whole country building its islands into how it is right now – a Catholic nation who might not be aware of the situation.
And, so it went through. Show after show was done, all ending in a festive musical number rejoicing the historical milestone. People loved it, and everyone congratulated everyone for an amazing spectacle. But, I fear something was left behind curtains – or at least on front of it but people haven’t seen it.
And, so I realized. Christianity was not the gift we thought it was. It was the weapon of choice those imperialists used to conquer our lands. Magellan’s ships might be boarded with battalions and ammunitions, but it was Christianity that made them win this land. The country did not just shift from a battlefield into a church in just two scenes – not that it was wrong in the play. But, we cannot forget the insurgence, the resistance, and just the will our ancestors had to preserve who we were before. Because, we were someone before, and now we are different.
And, still. We can’t hold it against them – we can’t hold it against anyone. As I quote the play, “Tayo ay mga biktima lamang ng pagkakataon.” It was an unfortunate meeting and result of imperialism in the medieval times but that doesn’t mean we must sugarcoat. Our history makes us who we are, and we can’t pick out what we remember. The bloodshed was no insignificant thing, yet it nowhere remembered by today’s people.
And, so I preach today. The history of Christianity was no fairytale and it must be remembered that way. We were robbed of our identity and lived on imposed identities. Christianity brought us to where we are right now, but we were on a detour since the very beginning. The beauty of today is no reason to change how we tell our yesterday. This is the reality of the culture of historical revisionism in the country. We owe it to our ancestors to remember them and the 1521 play to stop the sugarcoated past. Our history was no candy in the first place.
And, so it goes. It was 1521, the 16th of March in Homonhon, Samar. Magellan just landed in the shores with his troops with their swords not even close to the daggers Raja Humabon, the datu or leader of the lands, was crafting that time. Battle cries were heard. Bloodshed was an everyday feat. Then, one blink of history and here we are 500 years down history and we are, and I quote, “celebrating Christianity’s 500 Years of Anniversary.” It was festive, I think. The play was nice. It was great – such a great performance. Well, as it turns out, it is a performance – something performed. It was staged by people of the greatest intentions of the subtlest historical revisionisms there is.
FEATURE
Almost half a decade ago, the Philippines won against China on the dispute of the West Philippine Sea in front of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. However, our fishes are still not sold in our markets. Chinese vessels still occupy a great area of our waters and our fishermen can’t even go there. It’s like there is an invasive species of their own. An SWS survey in 2019 tells us that the people want the government to assert its rights in the West Philippine Sea – the people want it back. As a matter of fact, 87% of the survey agreed to arrest Chinese fisherman who destroy our marine resources. These people are truly the sons of Andres Bonifacio always ready for battle. But think about it, in this battle against China, is he the national champion we must go with?
GERALD LOIS ROLDAN
Published 12:00 PM, May 31, 2021
Photo courtesy of ABS-CBN NEWS
Let’s look back in Bonifacio’s decorated battle history. He has won many victories in Morong and Rizal during 1896 when he started the Katipunan or KKK. He was dubbed Supremo and headed the revolutions of that decade. Sadly, Emilio Aguinaldo, the president of the Philippines back then, ordered Bonifacio’s capture and later withdraw any power he has stop his execution. It was the peak of betrayal in this nation. Aguinaldo was under the pressure of the oppressors and chose to yield to them rather than save Bonifacio. But, who’s to say that history can’t repeat itself.
Our second year to the pandemic, we receive vaccine “donations” from China and the government gladly accepts this because it is top priority in these times. Logical, but fishy. An article from Reuters.com even states that Duterte prefers to not provoke Beijing and wants to tap it for loans and investment. Chinese vessels continue to infiltrate our waters and we’re robbed every second that passes. The fishes might not be with us right now but something fishy is going around here – I sense Aguinaldo all over again. Our Bonifacios will just be thrown under the bus by this Aguinaldo then again. So, we redirect our plans. Ask another champion – the crowned national champion.
Rizal, famous for his works and being engraved in the one-peso coin, brings us to the 19th century Philippines in his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He narrates there the nightmares the Spaniards brought and made known to people what happens in the country while they are blinded by the colonizers. He speaks from experience ever since his family was forced to leave their mansion during the Calamba incident. These, and more, was his reasons why he did not support the 1896 revolution. The battlefield was just not in our favor and he knew that personally that’s why he wrote his novels. These ideologies Rizal had, ironically, made him a realist more than Bonifacio. He knew how powerful the Spaniards and honored that. He wrote the novels to let people know and they did – even started revolutions of their own.
China, is a known bully in the economic and military world and it would be a tough journey until they leave us alone. Still, we have all these national champions to guide us on how we will again win back what’s ours. They gave our freedom today and we owe it to them not to give it up. Their battles weren’t perfect, but it gave us today and we can do it again. Now, on Operation Evict China: Who’s your national champion?
FEATURE
In the books, even the simplest one for first graders, always features heroes in the history of the Philippines. Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, although we knew later in life that it was a different story for the last one. Nonetheless, we were raised to believe that our Filipino ancestors are heroes that protected our land and fought for our freedom – extremely heroic and patriotic. But, what if they weren’t the heroes we believe and, just like Aguinaldo, they were the real villains in the stories we live to tell? Well, Lapulapu and a Spanish movie had the same cards played on the table.
GERALD LOIS ROLDAN
Published 12:00 PM, May 31, 2021
In the books, even the simplest one for first graders, always features heroes in the history of the Philippines. Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, although we knew later in life that it was a different story for the last one. Nonetheless, we were raised to believe that our Filipino ancestors are heroes that protected our land and fought for our freedom – extremely heroic and patriotic. But, what if they weren’t the heroes we believe and, just like Aguinaldo, they were the real villains in the stories we live to tell? Well, Lapulapu and a Spanish movie had the same cards played on the table.
Lapulapu, a datu of Mactan in Cebu, was the first symbol and representation of Filipino nationalism as he fought in the shores of his lands against Ferdinand Magellan and his expedition with Spanish battalions. At least that was story we lived to tell. Elcano & Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World had a different story to tell.
The 2019 Spanish computer-animated adventure film by Angel Alonso narrated the tales of Juan Sebastian Elcano as a small boat captain which eventually joined Magellan in the expeditions of the five ships. Magellan was aiming for the Mollucas Islands yet landed on the island of Homonhon in Samar – the Philippines. There, our stories and the movie’s started to clash.
First, on the minor notes, the locals in Samar were dressed differently form their traditional ones lacking the distinguishing features that sets it apart from other voyaging tribes in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The villagers had beautiful dresses and clothes brandished with gold and other jewelries – they were not just some scant natives.
Second, Lapulapu was no hero in the movie but rather dressed in an antagonistic portrayal hindering the “colonialism” that Magellan’s expedition prepared on the dinner table. In short, he was the killjoy of the whole imperialistic fiasco. Magellan could have made the country a colony so easily, yet he refused – what a bummer.
And last, but could never be the least, the movie glorified the 333 years of Spanish occupation in the country and raised colonialism in a whole new level of romanticizing that Florante and Laura were rendered unromantic. The movie celebrated Magellan’s expeditions and the next ones led by the supposed protagonist, Elcano. It rejoiced the first circumnavigation of the world as if the tribes of Cebu were not slaughtered from insurgence and resistance of the infiltration of Spanish forces in the once solace country.
Above all this, debates emerged that it might not be that bad. Historian Danilo Madrid Gerona even challenged the long-held assumption that Lapu-Lapu himself killed Magellan. He said the deed could have been by one of his 1,500 men. This makes storytelling of our history so messed up – because it is messy.
The Spanish occupation, or at least Magellan’s expedition, is a piece of history the Spain and the Philippines share and at opposite ends of the cannon, stories will highly differ. For instance, the only piece of document to be used as reference in this event are the writings of Magellan’s scribe, Antonio Pigafetta, and that’s already a point on their said. We got little up to no records of the battles that the first narrations of the events were Europe-centered or written from the colonizers’ perspective. This has only gotten to be reexamined upon the emergence of Filipino scholars such as Jose Rizal’s annotation on Antonio Morga’s Sucesos. With all this chaos, there’s no telling if the story will ever straighten up.
History was written a long time ago by people from that time and will be rewritten by people of today. Many versions will arise, and it will clash just like in the movie. Historical revisionism will always be there as subtle it may seem, but it is up to us to not let these revisions rewrite our whole identity. We must acknowledge the different perspectives that has touched and influenced the preservations of the history of the past but never to an extent of rewriting our whole narrative. We have our stories and this movie have theirs. At opposite ends of the table, or in this case the cannon, it will differ.
FEATURE
Once again, I saw the sight of Tita Jona and the basket of maruya, which she has been selling for three weeks now. I tried to escape, but my cousins already danced and sang “Maruya, maruya” to the tune of a Korean song entitled “Maria” by Hwasa. I had no choice but to buy again. She was smiling widely while putting five of it in banana leaves. I was frustrated because I can’t even say no for the sake of not being rude. I gorged a whole maruya as if it was cotton candy from all the frustration I felt. I paid 50 pesos with a hint of exhaust and derision. I’m just sick of it, of course, not knowing there’s more to it than just deep-fried banana in batter.
GERALD LOIS ROLDAN
Published 12:00 PM, May 31, 2021
While Tita Jona went on her way, my grandmother sat and reached one of the maruya. Biting once after each sentence, she told me:
“Kanina, naghahanap ako ng bolpen sa bangko tapos nakita ko ang iyong Tita Jona. Nanghiram ako tapos tinanong ko bakit nagpunta sa bangko. Galaw mo ga ay nagpabayan lang para mag-withdraw ng dal’wang daang piso! Kung sinabi niya ay siya’y pinautang ko muna. Sa pamasahe ngayon sa jeep, diga’y wala pang 150 ang natira. Kaawa-awa nga ‘yan. ‘Yung asawa ay walang trabaho gawa nga at sarado ang mga resort. Tapos may pinapaaral pa. Tapos may bata pang anak. Ang pa-gatas, pa-diaper, diga’y ubos ang tubo at puhunan sa pagtitinda.”
(I needed a pen in the bank earlier and saw your Tita Jona. I borrowed her pen and asked her what she came for. The poor woman went downtown just to withdraw 200 pesos in her small savings account. She could’ve borrowed money from me. With the jeepney fare now, she barely took home 150 pesos. I totally feel bad for her. Her husband is unemployed because the resorts are closed. She also has a child to support in school. She even has an infant to take care of. With just milk and diaper, her profit and even the capital will already be zero.
My jaws were paralyzed. The maruya I was chewing fell on the table. I was silent for 15 seconds. I was so full of shame I can’t even take another bite. The woman was just making a living. In this exhausting time, everyone’s just trying to make ends meet as much as everybody while I’m here complaining that I lost 50 pesos to a woman who was just trying to make extra money. It made me look at my own life. I have three meals a day, a warm bed and even unlimited Wi-Fi to stream Tomorrow X Together in Spotify, but still whining why I don’t get to go to my dream school. Instead of focusing on things we don’t have, we should be grateful about things on our hands. Others might be at the edge just to put meals on their dinner tables.
This pandemic gave one big burden to all of us. We all might be struggling, but that doesn’t mean we have to struggle alone. We owe it to our fellow neighbors and fellow countrymen to extend a helping hand in these dark times. As isolated as we might be, we all share one hope – for this pandemic to end and our lives to go back to normal or at least close to it.
Since this quarantine won’t end in a fast pace, we will keep seeing people resorting to every possible way to survive. We will be bugged by vendors, online sellers, people offering services and even people who want to barter. It will be best for everyone’s interest to build on the concept of empathy. A simple pat on the back or a smile will go far to keep everyone’s spirits up. Throw joy boomerangs for it will never cost you anything.
This simple encounter with Tita Jona made me realize that life is more than just a hop and a skip for everybody. Even before the pandemic, everyone has their own rocks to crush and now we have even bigger boulders to destroy. Now, I can’t even take a bite of maruya without thinking how everyone has their own battles to fight for every day. This made me change on how I look on other’s lives – to treat people according to their everyday wars rather than what they’re doing on this quarantine. After all, there’s more to a plain maruya.