Gregorio Brillantes’s latest books

Gregorio Brillantes is justly acclaimed as an excellent writer of short stories. His three latest books prove that he is also a first-class writer of essays. One book (already discussed in this column) was published last year by the University of the Philippines Press, entitled Looking for Rizal in Madrid. More recently one was issued by the Ateneo University Press, the other by Anvil. The Ateneo book has a long title: The Cardinal’s Sins, The General’s Cross, the Martyr’s Testimony and Other Affirmations.

The Cardinal in this case was the late Jaime Cardinal Sin. This essay, written several years before that Prelate’s death, is probably one of the best written about him. It reveals the Cardinal’s real character as a deeply religious person and a true shepherd. The General of the title is Aguinaldo whose capture in Palanan, brought about by a double treachery, is here narrated adroitly and commented upon with profound insight. The Martyr in the title is Ninoy Aquino, and this too is a splendid essay.

In this Ateneo University Press book, other essays also stand out. One on "Bataan, the Folly and the Fallout." Another is a tribute to Nick Joaquin, and a discussion of the use of English by Filipino writers. There are descriptions on journeys to famous Marian shrines: Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe in Mexico, and one that turned out to be fake ("Not So Joyful Mysteries of Agoo.").

The Anvil book is entitled Chronicles of Interesting Times and also has sections on personages (famous or otherwise), on "saints and wonders", on contemporary events, and on writers (N.V.M. Gonzalez, Arcellana, E. Aguillar Cruz, C. V. Pedroche, the guerrilla poets, etc.).

Not all the essays in both books are of the highest quality. Some might well have been edited out – although there is a value to their inclusion for the sake of completeness. One or two essays might also have been revised in the light of later events. For instance, Brillantes’s assessment of Ferdinand Marcos: "No President has done more for his people. Never have a people owed so much to their President." That was written in 1970, two years before Marcos showed his true colors by the declaration of Martial Law and the assumption of absolute dictatorship. In the light of events during the next fourteen years under that dictatorship, did Brillantes perhaps entertain second thoughts about the President?

There are essays that we might call "defining works". That is to say, they define a particular writer and his style. These works tell us what kind of writer a person is, his cultural background, his world view, his moral code, his values, his religious faith, his approach to things. In the book published by the Ateneo University Press, one such defining essay is "Rizal and the Jesuits: A Convergence at Bagumbayan". This is panoramic in scope, starting from the march to Bagumbayan, it roams through space and time to Teilhard de Chardin, and back again to the firing squad.

In the Anvil book, two such essays may be called "defining". One was written for Christmas 1982: "From the Crib the Good News for the Cosmos". The other, also for Christmas, 1996, is simply titled "Hail Mary."

These three essays reveal Brillantes: the cultured Filipino intellectual with a cosmopolitan perspective, but who loves the big and the little things of home and homeland; the devout Christian who yet is a critical observer, the man who appreciates beauty but can laugh tolerantly at the clumsy and he ridiculous.

Brillantes has not been given the title, but in reality and in actual fact, this superb writer is a genuine Filipino National Artist.