Award-winning book reexamines RP independence

Visions of the Possible, Legacies of Philippines Freedom, by Filipiniana writer and cultural administrator Felice P. Sta. Maria, will be re-launched this June in time for the celebration of the 103rd anniversary of Philippine Independence. The book was first published, in commemoration of the Centennial of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1889, by Studio 5 Publishing Inc. in cooperation with College Assurance Plan.

Sta. Maria says, "This book commemorates a major event in Asian history. It recounts the beginnings of constitutional democracy in the region and celebrates Filipinos as its first democrats. This is a story of how different peoples scattered across 7,107 islands discovered the power of collective vision in pursuit of freedom and respect for fundamental human dignity."

The book can be best described as history with a spiritual dimension. From the first chapter, where Sta. Maria notes the emergence of the word kalayaan to signify freedom in the writing of Emilio Jacinto, Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal, where previously it had not existed in the Tagalog dictionaries of the early 17th century, she follows the Filipino’s struggle to gain national identity and freedom from a cruel and unjust colonizer, but does not employ the usual historian’s methodology. Rather, she seeks out a full picture of why Asia‘s first advocates of democracy lived and thought as they did.

As she moves from chapter to chapter, the author traces the growth of the concept of kalayaan as a catalyst of political economic social and economic change through what she describes as "a personal interpretation of many primary and secondary sources, conversation sources, conversations and lectures heard, passions aired… an attempt at synthesizing ideas from historians and educators who are concerned with building democrats capable of both critical reasoning and compassionate caring."

And so in the book, the reader encounters memorable vignettes, gems of historical findings, and rare photographs, as well as treasured family heirlooms, works of art, national treasures, public monuments, key shrines and other icons of patriotism, that throw light on the path a nation took as it became one.

Only after Jose and Marilyn Y. Orosa of Studio 5 asked her to write Visions of the Centennial did Sta. Maria realize that a gap existed between current and past history. To wit, ideas were not being emphasized, things were not being said, and happenings were ignored for lack of material documentation or just preference to obliterate the revolutionary past for more recent history. She called this a "reinvention" of the nation’s image or a reinterpretation of history.

She discovered that a majority of Filipinos dated Philippine independence from 1946, rather than 1889, and the first Philippine Constitution from 1935, rather than 1899, when the first Philippine Legislature in Malolos passed this document for the first time.

"We fail to sit back and ask ourselves, ‘What were the big moments of our history?’ Why do we always begin with 1935 or 1946 and forget about 1898?" says the author.

One of the more common perceptions Sta. Maria encountered was the idea of the Revolution as being a struggle between the masa and the elite or the gentry, pinning Andres Bonifacio against Jose Rizal and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.

Yet, Bonifacio, while poor, was a self-made and highly intelligent man capable of expressing a spiritual civics at a time when political theory was only starting to emerge in the Philippines. It is worth noting that Katipunero conduct demanded goodness, rectitude, honesty, and caring for the less fortunate.

In Bonifacio’s view, early citizenship required schooling of the conscience – with laws, religion, peer pressure, organizational codes, and the like, while working towards heightened national consciousness of what is morally necessary to make self-governance work for the good of all.

In the same way, the book does not choose a favorite hero nor heroine. It tries to bring out the human side of heroism.

"There’s nothing wrong with being a flawed hero," says Sta. Maria. "What’s important is that a sacrifice was made… and made for others, not one’s self… even if there was going to be a backlash."

Other things the book highlights are translations of Filipino documents into English that capture the feel and accuracy of the originals. It noted that Aguinaldo, as president of the first Philippine Republic, had to write official papers in Spanish and not Tagalog, the language of the Katipunan, because the non-Tagalogs could not understand the language. This was indeed far from the idea held by some contemporary critics that the leadership was not patriotic and did not understand the need for an indigenous national language.

The book also explains that citizenship required conservation of tangible heritage documents, sites and memorabilia. It points out mysteries like whatever happened to the flag of the first Philippine republic that Aguinaldo brought back from Hong Kong, what happened to the official first copy of the Philippine constitution approved in Malolos, or where the contemporary original scores of the Philippine national anthem, signed by the composer, are kept.

Sta. Maria says, "If President Macapagal-Arroyo really wants to make her government stand for improved citizenship, then Visions helps promote that. The goal of the book is to bring out ideas from the founding years that are often unknown, overlooked and undervalued. It puts together ideas that were not put together, ideas that were not put together before. The book is a new way of rationalizing Philippine history positively – and thus making a decent starting point of future citizenship, a good link to the past."

Visions of the Possible won the 1998 National Book Award for Best Book Design and was finalist in the essay category. It will be available at all major bookstores and at Studio 5 Publishing, Inc., 28 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City. Call 895-39-75 or 895-39-71 for inquiries.