Apocalypse in the 21st century: Rizals Prophetic Vision From Junto al Pasig to Hymno a Talisay

By Floro Quibuyen* Abstract: If the nationalist ilustrados of the late19th century basked in the Age of Enlightenment, we now wallow in the Age of Stupid (from the film with the same title). Would Rizal, the reputed Child of the Enlightenment, have anything relevant to say regarding our Age of Stupid? Thats the question Id like to pose today, as we commemorate his sesquicentennial. Rizals Filipinas dentro de cien aos (1890) says practically nothing about the global crises we face todayecological, economic, resource depletionwhich could lead to the collapse of the capitalist world system by 2050. To confront our predicament in the Age of Stupid we would need an apocalyptic vision, which seems to have been suppressed in Cien aos. That vision drives a play in verse that Rizal had written ten years before Cien aosJunto al Pasig. The Junto al Pasig poses the problem but answers it only crypticallyan answer that the NoliFili (I take this to be one novel in two parts) fails to disclose. Rizals exile in Dapitan was a blessing in disguise. It was in Dapitan that Rizal finally realized and put into practice the solution to the problem posed in Junto al Pasig. The answer is heralded by Himno a Talisay. This paper critically traces Rizals intellectual-spiritual journey from Junto al Pasig (1880) to Himno a Talisay (1895), and concludes by relating Rizals Talisay solution to the postcaplitalist solutions being envisioned today by progressive writers/futurists who foresee the collapse of industrial civilization and the end of the capitalist world system by 2050.

* Dedicated to my daughter Ligaya Quibuyen

If the nationalist ilustrados of the late19th century basked in the Age of Enlightenment, we now wallow in the Age of Stupid. In the recent film entitled The Age of Stupid, an old man (played by Postlethewaite) living in the devastated world of 2055 and watching archival footage from 2008 wonders, why didnt we stop climate change whilst we still had the chance?1 Recent studies indicate that this is no longer fiction. The convergent global crises of global warming, peak oil and the economic crunch, combined with exponential population growth will be acutely felt by 2015, as the world moves inexorably to ecological and economic collapse by 2050. If, by then, there is a lone survivor with access to undamaged computer and electric generator, he will most likely be watching digital footages of 2011, and crying out loud, How could we have been so stupid? Would Rizal, the reputed Child of the Enlightenment, have anything relevant to say regarding our Age of Stupid? Thats the question Id like to explore in this paper. pose today. FILIPINAS DE CIEN AOS We begin with a review of a familiar essayRizals Filipinas dentro de cien aosthe first modern futuristic essay ever written by a Filipino, if not by a Southeast Asian. Having deconstructed the colonial history of Las Filipinas, Rizal weighs the countrys historical possibilitiesgiven the prevailing geopolitics of his timeand then comes out with his scenario for the Philippines future:2 1. 2. 3. 4. The Filipinos will rise up against Spain. The Filipinos will win the Revolution against Spain. The rising imperial power, the USA, will invade the country The Filipinos will resist American imperialism. As Rizal puts it, Muy probablemente las Filipinas defendern con un ardor indecible la libertad comprada a costa de tanta sangre y sacrificios. (Very probably the Philippines will defend with indescribable ardor the liberty she has bought at the cost of so much blood and sacrifice). 5. Filipinos will succeed in repelling the American invaders 6. Filipinos will constitute themselves into an independent Federal Republic 7. The Filipino nation will become prosperous and progressive. Envisioning the future, Rizal waxes poetic: With the new men [los hombres nuevos] that will spring from her bosom and the remembrance of the past, she will perhaps enter openly the wide road of progress and all will work jointly to strengthen the mother country at home as well as abroad with the same enthusiasm with which a young man returns to cultivate his father's farmland so

1
2

See http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie/4847/The-Age-of-Stupid My good friend George Aseniero has recently written a brilliant essay, Rizal on US Imperialism, on how Rizal analysed turn-of-the-century geopolitics and became convinced that the US will invade Las Filipinas. His paper, to be presented at the Rizal@150 conference at the Ateneo this July, is based on Rizals heretofore undiscussed and seemingly forgotten borrador (draft/note) probably written, notes Aseniero, after the publication of his Filipinas dentro de cien aos. 2

long devastated and abandoned due to the negligence of those who had alienated it. And free once more, like the bird that leaves his cage, like the flower that returns to the open air, they will discover their good old qualities which they are losing little by little and again become lovers of peace, gay, lively, smiling, hospitable, and fearless. Looking back, we can now declare that Rizal was right on the first four but wrong on the last three. Rizal, of course, was fully aware that nothing is absolutely certain about the future; what we consider probable may not come to pass. Mindful that history can play tricks on us (Hegels cunning of history), Rizal, at the end of Cien aos, cautions his reader: Sin embargo, no es bueno fijarse en lo eventual; hay una lgica imperceptible e incomprensible a veces en las obras de la Historia. Bueno es que tanto los pueblos como los gobiernos se ajusten a ella.3 Nevertheless it is not good to stick to the probable. There is a logic at times imperceptible and incomprehensible in the workings of History. It is well that both peoples and governments adjust themselves to it. (George Aseniero translation) Our loss to America was by no means inevitable. As Nick Joaquin lamented, we could have won, and I agree with him. 4 But thats another story.5 After defeating the Revolution, the American imperialists appropriated Rizal for their own purposesan insidious imperial propaganda that has blinded generations of postcolonial Filipinos, including Renato Constantino and many teachers of the compulsory Rizal course, to the radical Rizal, the Tagalog Christ who struck a chord in the popular imagination, the willing martyr who was

3 4

Cited in George Aseniero, Rizal on US Imperialism (unpublished manuscript) I discuss this issue in Ch.9 The Revolution that Never Was in A Nation Aborted, revised second edition (Ateneo de Manila University press, 2008) 5 Considering how things might have been had we won against the US is not merely wishful thinkingthe counterfactual in history, as Niall Ferguson has demonstrated, can shed light on some critical issues. As explained in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfactual_history): the counterfactual seeks to explore history and historical incidents by means of extrapolating a timeline in which certain key historical events did not happen or could have had an outcome which was different from that which did in fact occur. The purpose of this exercise is to ascertain the relative importance of the event, incident or person the counterfactual hypothesis is negating. For instance, to the counterfactual, "What would have happened had Hitler died in the July 1944, assassination attempt?", all sorts of possibilities become readily apparent, starting with the reasonable assumption that the German generals would have in all likelihood sued for peace, bringing an early end to World War II, at least in the European Theater. Thus, the counterfactual brings into sharp relief the question of how important Hitler was as an individual and how his personal fate shaped the course of the war and, ultimately, of world history. See Niall Ferguson (ed.): Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals (New York: Basic Books, 1999) 3

idolized by Mabini and Bonifacio, by both the nationalist illustrados and the revolutionary masses.6 Regarding the global crises we face todayecological, economic, resource depletion looming catastrophes that could lead to the collapse of the capitalist world system by 2050 7 Cien aos says practically nothing. The Cien anos was celebratory, almost triumphalist in its projections. It did not foresee the ecological crisis of the 21st century. It is irrelevant to the Age of Stupid.

JUNTO AL PASIG: THE PROBLEM

To confront our predicament in the Age of Stupid we would need an apocalypticescathological vision, which seems to have been suppressed in Cien aos. 8 That vision drives a play in verse that Rizal had written ten years before Cien aosJunto al Pasig. Beyond what the Cien aos reports as the loss of cultural identity and the impoverishment of a conquered people, and beyond what it heralds as the roseate future of a nation emerging from colonial rule, Junto al Pasig foretells of catastrophes, ecological devastation, famines and plagues and cruel invasions and warscolossal destruction inflicted by both violent nature and hateful men (los hombres odiosos) on future generations. Its as if the 19-year old poet was standing on the shoulders of the 29-year old man of scienceas if Junto al Pasig was written for our time. Rizal was a bard rather than a poet; his voice was the voice of a people rather than of a littrateur; and the old bardic strain of prophecy ran in him, observes Nick Joaquin, It is the prophetic bard who speaks in Junto al Pasig (Joaquin 1976, 9). Joaquin adds, Rizal was most productive poetically from the age of 13 to 19, and the masterpiece of this period is Junto al Pasig, the zarzuela in which he perfected his early lyric style and in which his vatic manner is most pronounced. (11-12)

See chapter 1 Toward a Radical Rizal and ch 2 Rizal and the Revolution in A Nation Aborted (2008) 7 See Immanuel Wallerstein, The Decline of American Power (The New Press, 2003), 324 pp., and Minqi Li, The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World System (Monthly Review Press, 2008) 8 Apocalypse is usually thought of as referring to the final Armageddon, the end of the world. But this is only a partial meaning. Apocalypse consists of two aspects. I cite the wikepedia for a quick summary: The term calypsos (Greek ---kalupto or kalypto) means to cover, to veil, to hide, or to conceal. Thus, apocalypse (Greek: apoklypsis) means "lifting of the veila disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and deceptionthe very meaning of the Biblical concept of revelation (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse). This act of disclosure, of lifting the veil of falsehood and deception, is precisely Rizals point in writing the Noli me tangere. The other meaning of apocalypsethe Armageddon and the end of the worldis incomplete without the idea of eschatology, which refers to the passage from one reality or state of affairs to another until the final end is reached. History is viewed eschatologically as being divided into agesan age may come to an end and be replaced by another age and a new reality (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology). 4

Let us then read Junto al Pasig.9 Heres the overview: The story opens on the banks of the Pasig riverbuddies Candido, Pascual and other children are excitedly awaiting the fluvial procession of the Virgin of Antipolo, Nuestra Seora de la Paz y Buen Viaje. But their leader, Leonido, is delayed. On his way to join his mates, Leonido is intercepted by Satan, who appears as a Diwata (native deity). Satan introduces himself to Leonido as the god the natives had worshipped before the Spaniards arrived. He spites them for now worshipping the god brought by the Spaniards. He forbids Leonido from watching the Virgins fluvial procession and demands his allegiance. Leonido defies him. Rebuffed, Satan commands his devils to kill Leonido. At that moment, the angel arrives to drive away Satan and his minions. Leonido is saved, and as he and his mates gather at the bank of the Pasig, the fluvial procession passes by. Leonido and his mates are filled with joy upon seeing the Virgin shining brightly. The play ends with a chorus of homage to the Virgin of Antipolo. This play has been read in either of two ways: either pro-Spanish or anti-Spanish. Id like to present a third way that I think is more contemporary, or more apocalyptic, if you will. Let us look closer. Early in the encounter between Satan and Leonido, Satan reminds Leonido of the time before the Spaniards arrived (Nick Joaquin translation) At my voice, most potent, creative, Out of the waters arose These islands lit by the dawn Such beautiful islands before! While, true to my holy cult, The folk here lifted their prayers At my altars, a thousand times Did I rescue them from death, From hunger and from fear, Fields brimmed with a fragrant verdure; Without labor, the kindly earth, Then still unsullied, brought forth Harvests of yellow grain, Speckled goats, fleet deer, fat cattle Wandered about on the plains, mi voz prepotente, creadora, De las aguas surgieron Aquestas Islas, que alumbr la aurora, Islas que bellas en un tiempo fueron; Y mientras, fieles mi culto santo, Elevaron sus preces En mis altares, les libr mil veces De la muerte, del hambre y del espanto.

Los campos rebosaban De fragante verdura; Sin trabajo brotaban De la piadosa tierra, Entonces pura, Las amarillas mieses; Vagaban por el prado El cabrito pintado, El ciervo algero y las gordas reses;

Wenceslao Retana relates that the closing chorus of Junto al Pasig was sung by Ateneo students in 1904 right on the bank of San Pedro Makati, on the occasion of the Virgins fluvial procession on the Pasig. 9 Wonder why no one has thought of doing it again on the banks of the Pasig for Rizals 150th? Could the mire and stench of todays Pasig river have discouraged such theatrical project?9 Its a pity because it would have been quite a creative challenge to dramatize and visualize in multimedia the disasters foretold. 5

The diligent bee manufactured Its honeycomb and offered To man its luscious honey. 10 Safe in its nest, the crow Predicted no dire calamity.

La diligente abeja Su panal fabricaba mansamente, Y al hombre regalaba miel sabrosa: Retirada en su nido la corneja, No auguraba doliente Calamidad odiosa; Gozaba entonces este rico suelo De una edad tan dichosa, Que en sus delicias se igualaba al cielo.

This rich land then enjoyed Such a time of happiness that In bliss it equalled heaven!

This is vintage Morga! The abundant land on which lived the free and happy natives before the arrival of the Spaniards is the first thesis of Rizals copious annotations to Morgas Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1609; 1890). The Morga was the product of Rizals laborious historical spadework at the British Museum in London (the same library where Marx did his research two decades earlier). In 1880, when Rizal wrote Junto al Pasig, he had not yet read Morga and the other Spanish chroniclers upon which Rizal based his Morga thesis.11 Where did the 19-year old UST undergrad get the idea of a pre-colonial paradise? Surely, not from the Jesuits, much less the Dominicans. 12 Then, the Spaniards arrived, and Paradise was lost: Now, hapless, it groans beneath The power of an alien race And slowly, slowly dies In the impious hands of Spain! Y ahora, sin consuelo, Triste gime en poder de gente extraa, Y lentamenta muere En las impas manos de la Espaa!

This is the second thesis of Rizals Morgaparadise lost.. Again, where did Rizal get the idea of paradise lost/Fall as a period in Philippine history? From Burgos perhaps? But Burgos has always professed his loyalty and gratitude to Spain. In his address to the Filipinos, entitled Manifiesto a la noble nacion Espanola, Burgos wrote: It is to our interest to maintain Spanish rule, sheltering ourselves under its great shadow, a source of protection and

10

Rizals reference to the diligent bee (la diligente abeja) in the time of paradise was most prescient in view of todays global bee colony collapse disorder (CCD). See the United States Department of Agricultures Colony Collapse Disorder Progress Report (June 2010), available at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2010.pdf 11 For a fuller discussion of Rizals annotations to Morgas Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, see Chapter 5, The Morga and Reclaiming History in A Nation Aborted, revised 2nd edition 2008. 12 The idea of a perdido Eden is embedded in 19 th century Tagalog vernacular culture which Rizal imbibed in his idyllic childhood through the storytelling of his relatives, most especially that of his mother, as well as local theatrical performances. In his polemics with Barrantes, he writes nostalgically, the first songs, the first farces, the first drama that I saw in my childhood and which lasted three nights [i.e., the reenactment of the Pasyon] had left an indelible remembrance in my mind. These stories (e.g., Bernardo Carpio, Mariang Makiling, the Pasyon) would eventually shape and inform his literary writings. See A Nation Aborted, revised 2nd edition 2008, 6-7; 195-200. 6

of the highest culture. 13 The only 19th century work that had predated Junto al Pasigs theme of Paradise lost is the poem, Sa Aking Mga Kabata, supposedly written by the 8-year old Rizal, but whose provenance is now doubted.14 As we have pointed out, the wonder of Junto al Pasig is that it antedates the first two theses of the Cien aosthe pre-colonial (Paradise) and colonial (Paradise lost) phases of Philippine history. The bigger wonder is that the third thesis of Junto diverges from the third triumphalist post-colonial (Paradise regained) thesis of Cien aosinstead of Paradise regained or Redemption, Juntos third phase is Apocalypse. Lets continue Satan pronounces that he can liberate the Philippines from Spain and give to Leonido all that he wished if he submits to him. Leonido defies Satan, mocking him with the fact that he was defeated by the Christians and that the Virgin Mary has wiped out all traces of his cult. Rebuffed by Leonidos impudence, Satan utters a curse: Ah, in the future shall come The evils I keep for your race That acclaims an impious cult: Dismal calamities, Plagues, wars, and cruel invasions At the hands of various nations In the not too distant future! With blood and tears shall your people Water the thirsty sands Of your native land; in the pleasant Meadow shall sing no more The bird wounded with burning metal, Not even your ancient forests, Nor your rivers or valleys or springs Shall be spared by the hateful men Who shall ruin your peace and welfare;
13

Ay! ... Vendrn en lo futuro Los males que reservo A tu raza, que aclama un clto impuro: Tristes calamidades, Pestes, guerras y crueles invasiones De diversas naciones En venideras prximas edades! Tu pueblo regar con sangre y llanto Del patrio campo la sedienta arena; Ya en la pradera amena El ave quien hiri metal ardiente. Ni tus bosques aosos, Ni los ros, ni el valle, ni la fuente Sern ya respetados De los hombres odiosos Que turbaron la paz y tu bonanza;

For a discussion on the ideological differences between Burgos and Rizal, see How are historical texts to be read? My final rejounder to John N. Schumacher, S.J in Kritika Kultura no.5, Dec 2004 (available at http://150.ateneo.edu/kritikakultura/images/pdf/kk5/kolum.pdf), and Rizal and Filipino Nationalism: Critical Issues in Philippine Studies 50, no. 2, 2002 14 . The argument put forward by critics who claim that Sa Aking Mga Kabata could not have been written by Rizal hinges on the word kalayaan in the poem, a term that was not current at the time the poem was supposedly written (see A Nation Aborted, revised 2nd edition 2008, 119-120). This argument, however, overlooks a crucial fact: the poem had been copied by hand several timesand had been translated to Spanish and retranslated back to Tagalog (see Nick Joaquin, The Complete Poems and Plays of Rizal 1976, 265). Along the way, the term kalayaan might have been used/inserted by later copiers or re-translators. The only way to settle this is to get hold of the original copysadly, this is no longer possible. The only thing we have, by way of authentication, is the testimony of Rizals descendantsin particular Asuncion Lopez Bantug, Rizals great grandniece, who confirms that Rizal did write Sa Aking Mga Kabata (see Lolo Jose. An Intimate and Illustrated Portrait of Rizal, 2nd edition, Vibal Foundation and Intramuros Administration 2008, 19) 7

While I in my vengeful rage Shall unloose the savage winds So in their furious course They may vex the various elements

Mientras yo, por venganza, Desatar los indomables vientos Para que en su carrera, Con ira y rabia fiera, Alboroten los varios elementos, Y la dbil piragua, Hundindose en el agua, Aumente sus horribles sufrimientos. Devastar en mi saa Los verdes campos de la mes pima, Y desde la alta cima De la erguida montaa Arrojar de lavas ro ardiente, Que envuelto en humo y devorante llama Asole poblaciones Cual furioso torrente Que, cuando se desparrama, Arranca los arbustos montones; Y la tierra aterida, A mi voz conmovida Temblar con atroz sacudimiento, Y cada movimiento El rico suelo amargar, y la vida. Ay! ay! Cunto quebranto! Cunto gemir intil! cunto llanto Oir entonces sin que sienta el pecho El duelo de la gente, Que con gozo insolente Reir los miro con mortal despecho!

Until the fragile canoe Sinking in the water Finds its grim woes augmented! I shall despoil in my fury The green fields of their best grain And from the proud mountains lofty Summit shall I hurl down A river of boiling lava That, wrapped in smoke and devouring Flame, shall raze whole towns Like a raging torrent that, rising, Uproots the trees by the hundreds!

And the earth, terrified by my voice, Shall shudder with awful spasms And every quake shall ravage The rich land, and all life upon it,

Aie! Aie! What desolation ! What futile groaning ! What wailing Shall I then hear, without feeling In my breast the grief of the people! I shall look at them with insolent Mirth and mortal spite, Laughing while I smite!

I in my vengeful rage shall unloose the savage winds...I shall despoil in my fury... the rich land and all life upon it...what desolation! what futile groaning! what wailing!frightening imagery that could very well describe the full impact of global warming in our centurythe Junto antedating by more than a century the Age of Stupid! Towards an apocalyptic hermeneutics of Junto al Pasig What shall we make of this remarkable play? The easy approach is from the perspective of imperial Spain: the Spaniards conquered the natives to liberate them from a state of barbarism and savageryas represented by Satanand, thus, civilize them into a life of reason, knowledge and virtue under the protection and guidance of the most holy Roman Catholic Church, as represented by the Virgin of Antipolo. Thus, Junto al Pasig is a paean to Spains mission civilisatrice. 8

This must have been how the Jesuits and other Spaniards saw the play. Thus, Prof Blas Echegoyen, who composed the music for Juntos libretto relates in his congratulatory note that sustained applause greeted the play, particularly the monologue of Satan: Felicitamos al joven autor del libreto D. JOS RIZAL. Su obra es muy bella en el detalle; el monlogo de Satn, por s solo, vale todos los aplausos que mereci del pblico toda la obra.15 Others, however, have seen Satan in a subversive anti-colonial, nationalist frame. Nick Joaquin writes: The devils speeches, glorifying the Philippines pre-Hispanic past, have provided much food for debate. Was Rizal, when he wrote the play, already on the side of the devil, not of the Christian boy? ... In the 1930s, critics bent on finding five legs on the cat (as the Spanish say) carried this hypothesis to an absurd extreme: not only was Rizal on the side of the devil but the whole play is a glorification, not of the Virgin of Antipolo, but of the old native pagan deities, whom Rizal, for safetys sake, camouflaged in the image of the Virgin. (The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal Translated by Nick Joaquin, Far Eastern University, 1976: 12-13) Joaquin raises the possibility that Rizal tried to clarify on whose side he was years laterin his alleged unfinished third novel (which he gave up after having written five chapters). The draft chapters hark back to the early days of the Conquista, when the country had not been wholly pacified...and many of the folk still worshipped the old gods...but the defender of the old faith is not the devil but an old man richly attired. Clearly, the sympathies of Rizal lay with this old man: consider how the narrator (Rizal) alludes to the Satan of Junto al Pasig, Let us see now if that vanished old man was really the devil. (Joaquin 1976, 16). The hermeneutic preoccupation with Satans glorification of the pre-Hispanic past, however, misses Rizals apocalyptic vision, which I submit is more relevant to our present predicament. It would be instructive to compare Junto al Pasigs apocalyptic vision with the latest data on the global crises, to which we now turn. The Age of Stupid: global warming, peak oil, and the end of economic growth Since the industrial revolution, we have been pumping carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, causing it to warm up. 16 The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is measured in terms of parts per million (ppm). The upper safety limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million (ppm) [http://co2now.org/] The latest count, as of June 2011, is 393.69 and acceleratingjust look at the annual trend! (Fig 1)

15

In the backcover of the 1915 copy of Junto al Pasig http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14795/14795-h/14795-h.htm 16 The basic proposition behind the science of climate change is so firmly rooted in the laws of physics that no reasonable person can dispute it. All other things being equal, adding carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphereby, for example, burning millions of tons of oil, coal and natural gaswill make it warm up. Michael D. Lemonick, Global Warming: Beyond the Tipping Point, Scientific American Special Edition October 6, 2008 ) 9

Fig 1. Atmospheric CO2: rate of increase http://co2now.org/images/stories/widgets/co2_widget_brundtland_600_graph.gif That means global warming has reached the tipping point.17 When a tipping point is reached, extremes of weather ensuesuper tornadoes, massive snowfall, heavy and prolonged rainfall and extensive flooding alternating with extremely dry and hot weather, such as the European summer of 2003 in which 20,000 died from overheating. Moreover, sea levels will rise and swallow many coastal areas and small islands such as those in Oceania, certain species will become extinct, diseases will spread, agricultural systems and food production will get disrupted, resulting in horrendous food shortages and skyrocketing food prices. In 29 March 2011, Lester Russell Brown, founder and president of Earth Policy Institute, based in Washington D.C., warned, Everything now depends on this year's harvest. Lowering food prices to a more comfortable level will require a bumper grain harvest, one much larger than the record harvest of 2008 that combined with the economic recession to end the 2007-08 grain price climb. If the world has a poor harvest this year, food prices will rise to previously unimaginable levels. Food riots will multiply, political unrest will spread and governments will fall. The world is now one poor harvest away from chaos in world grain markets. 18
17

Tipping pointssuch as the loss of Arctic sea ice, or the release of methane from the melting permafrost of Siberiaare triggers that, once reached, could lead to sudden and irrevocable changes in the climate. Such a catastrophic change is preceded by the sudden variance between two distinct states within one system (known as squealing). For example, increased variability of the weather, as manifested, for example, in sudden shifts from hot temperatures to colder ones and back again, signals that a tipping pointand collapseis about to happen. [Bryan Walsh, Is There a Climate Tipping Point? Time.com 04 Sept 2009. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1920168,00.html#ixzz1M9MNHpNU Accessed 13 May 2011] 18 Lester R. Browns essay may be accessed at http://www.ourfutureplanet.org/news/556. 10

Before this century is over, writes famed scientist James Lovelock, billions of us will die, and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable." [http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/environment-in-crisis-weare-past-the-point-of-no-return-523192.html Accessed 10 May 2011]. Other climate scientists believe that we have one last chance to avert such colossal catastropheif we do the right thing from now to 2020. 19 Indeed, global warming is the greatest danger facing our planet and the biggest moral issue of our lifetime.20 As if climate change is not horrific enough, we are facing a second crunchpeak oil. Fossil fuels (petroleum in the crude oil, diesel, gasoline and kerosene, as well as natural gas, and coal)have been the prime mover of industrial civilization and the growth of capitalism. Without the energy provided by fossil fuels, we wouldnt be where we are todayenjoying the comforts of industrial civilization. But because of fossil fuels, the world is facing a looming economic disaster. Peak oil is premised on the fact that oil is a finite resource. In just a hundred years, we have consumed one half of all the oil that the earthor Gaia if you willhas produced for
19

The Australian federal governments climate commission, after weighing all the available data, released on 23 May 2011, its report, The Critical Decade, which warned: This is the critical decade. Decisions we make from now to 2020 will determine the severity of climate change our children and grandchildren experienceWithout strong and rapid action there is a significant risk that climate change will undermine our societys prosperity, health, stability and way of life. http://climatecommission.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/05/ClimateCommission-Science-Report-Key-Messages1.pdf 20 There are, however, skeptics and deniers of anthropogenic global warming from some strange quartersamong the most vociferous are Lyndon Larouche and his followers (the Larouche movement) and the Republicans in the US congress. As revealed in a recent blog: Today, Republicans in the House energy committee voted not once, not twice, but three times [all PDFs], against amendments recognizing that climate change is real, despite the broad scientific consensus that "climate change is happening and human beings are a major reason for it." They then unanimously voted [PDF] in favor of the UptonInhofe bill to repeal the EPA's scientific endangerment finding on greenhouse pollution. The 31 Republicans and three Democrats who voted in favor of H.R. 910 have received a grand total of $343,750 from Koch Industries, an average of more than $10,000 each. Freshman Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Koch's special man in Congress, tips the scales at $79,500. (Brad Johnson, House committee votes to deny climate change http://www.grist.org/article/2011-03-15-house-committee-votes-to-deny-climatechange Accessed 11 May 2011 0]. For a point-by-point refutation of the false and misleading claims of climate skeptics and deniers, visit www.skepticalscience.com, and read Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway (Bloomsbury Press, 2010), and Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand by Haydn Washington and John Cook (Earthscan, 2011). For an updated graphic presentation of all the incontrovertible scientific evidence, see The Critical Decade (2011), a report by the Australian Federal governments climate commission at http://climatecommission.gov.au/topics/the-critical-decade/ 11

millions of years. Only one half of the remaining resource is available for consumption. Thus, once the peak in oil production is reached, supply inevitably declines. And heres the conundrum: Oil fuels the engines of economic growth, and with the phenomenal economic rise of China and India, demand for oil is increasing. But the supply is decreasing. The result is an oil crunchand prices shoot through the roof and all hell breaks loose. As in global warming, this outcome is inevitable. Lets look at the most recent datafrom the graph (figure 2) drawn by the United States Department of Energy.

Fig. 2. Worlds liquid fuels: supply and demand http://www.eia.doe.gov/conference/2009/session3/Sweetnam.pdf Demand will begin to outstrip supply in 2012, and will already be 10 million barrels per day above supply in only five years. 10 million bpd is equivalent to half the United States' entire consumption. To make up the difference, the world would have to find another Saudi Arabia and get it into full production in five years, an impossibility. Conventional oil will be almost all gone in 20 years, and there is nothing known to replace it. 21 (http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5154).
21

The United States Joint Forces Command concurs with these specific findings (http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2010/JOE_2010_o.pdf). In the UK, the report of the Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil & Energy Security," funded by Virgin Group, Arup Engineering, Foster and Partners, and Scottish and Southern Engineering, looking at the data, has a stark forecast: In the 2014-2015 period it is expected that demand will start to outrun immediately available supply with prices advancing strongly. (http://peakoiltaskforce.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/final-report-uk-itpoes_report_theoil-crunch_feb20101.pdf). The study of the Future Analysis department of the Bundeswehr Transformation Center, a think tank tasked with fixing a direction for the German military, has done a similar study and arrived at the same conclusions. "Shortages in the supply of vital goods could arise" as a result, for example in food supplies. Oil is used directly or indirectly in the production of 95 percent of all industrial goods. Price shocks could therefore be seen in 12

What is the impact of the oil crunch on the global economy? Look at the graph below.

Fig. 3. World economic growth: historical and projected (annual growth rate of GDP), 19652050. Minqi Li 2008: 163) In his recent book, The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy (2008), economist Minqi Li, writes22: [Figure 3] shows that world economic growth would slow sharply after the peak of the world oil production, falling below 3 percent a year. After the peak of the world coal production, world economic growth rates will fall below 1 percent a year (this is likely to imply negative growth rates of per capita world GDP). Finally, after 2045, as natural gas production declines sharply, world economic output will decline in absolute terms. Beyond 2050, as fossil fuels continue to decline, and as retired nuclear and hydro production facilities are not fully replaced, and the potential of renewable energies production is exhausted, the capitalist world economy (if it continues to exist) will enter into permanent decline. (Minq Li 2008, 162-163) The total impact of these convergent crises will be catastrophic on a population that continuous to grow exponentially.

almost any industry and throughout all stages of the industrial supply chain. "In the medium term the global economic system and every market-oriented national economy would collapse." [Der Spiegel http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,7151382,00.html]. 22 Minqi Li was a student activist in China before he left for the USA, where he obtained the BA in Economics (summa cum laude) at the University in Delaware (1996) and the PhD in Economics at the University of Massachusets Amherst (2002). He is now a faculty member of the Department of Economics at the University of Utah. He may be contacted at minqi.li@economics.utah.edu

13

Fig. 4 Total World Population Explosion 1950-2050 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base http://www.emeraldecocity.com/pictures/World%20Human%20Population%20Explosion.jpg All these trends indicate that continued economic growth will no longer be possible, and that industrial civilization or the capitalist world system, as we know it, will come to an end. The world of our children and grandchildren, ca 2050, could very well be the future world of damnation conjured by Satan in Junto al Pasig, ca 1880a world of desolation! That is one definite possibility. But the crises that we face today can also open up opportunities for creating the world we desireindeed, a better world is possible. Lets go back to Junto al Pasig. A LA VIRGEN MARIA Given the impending catastrophes, What then is to be done? Note that Leonido is given a choiceSatan or the Virgin. Leonido chooses the Virgin. Thus, Leonido is saved, but only for the moment. There is no indication that Satan has been utterly destroyed. He could still fulfill his curse to wreak havoc in the future. Could the Virgin forestall this? If Satan is the peoples downfall, is the Virgin their salvation? But what was the 19 year old Rizals concept of the Virgin Mary? On the same year that he wrote Junto al Pasig, Rizal wrote a poem, A la Virgen Maria, which is instructive of Rizals view of the Virgin. Consider the first stanza Maria, dulce paz, caro consuelo De afligido mortal! eres la fuente Do mana de socorro la corriente, Que sin pesar fecunda nuestro suelo.

14

Maria, dulce paz, caro consuelo de afligido mortalsweet peace, dearest consolation of afflicted mortalsuggests that Rizal was referring to Nuestra Seora de la Paz y Buen Viaje, the Virgin of Antipolo. Its hard to capture in translation the exquisitely precise and compact wording of the next lineeres la fuente do mana de socorro la corriente, que sin pesar fecunda nuestro suelo You are the wellspring of a steady flow of caring that brings endless fecundation to our soil fecunda means fertile, fruitful, productivenuestra sueloliterally, our soilcan refer to our land, our earth; it can also pertain to our bodies, our very being. All this signifies what sustains lifethe image of Mother Earth. The third stanza goes Eres mi Madre, placida Maria: Tu mi vida seras, mi fortaleza: Tu en este fiero mar seras mi guia. Eres mi Madre, Placida Mariayou are my Mother, Mother Mary who is undisturbed by tumult or disorder, calm, constant, steadyTu mi vida serasyou shall be my lifemi fortalezamy fortress, my place of refuge that will safeguard me from harmTu en este fiero seras mi guiayou shall be my guide in this wild sea. The first and third stanzas of A La Virgen Maria correspond to the concluding chorus of Junto al Pasig, to wit (Nick Joaquin translation): 23 Thy love and grace The child that prays Shall guard from evil strife; Night and day, Show him the way Through this earthly life. Tu cario, Al fiel nio Le guarda siempre del mal; Noche y da, Tu le guas En la senda terrenal.

For the 19-year old Rizal, the Virgin is the wellspring that sustains life, the source of fertility and abundance, the constant provider of care and protection, the steady hand that will guide us safely through the vicissitudes of life. These attributes point to the Great Motheran archetypal image that goes back to ancient times, a figure that predates by thousands of years the Roman Catholic churchs official proclamation of the immaculate conception of Mary, mother of Jesus. 24 Was Rizal linking the Virgin of Antipolo to the archetypal Great Mother, the earth and fertility goddess? The Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexicos patron saint, has been linked to the Great Mother archetypedating back to the Virgins apparition, on 8 December 1531, to an Indian peasant convert, on Tepeyac Hill, right on top of what used to be the temple of Tonantzin, Mexicos
23

As I read Rizals A La Virgen Maria and the concluding chorus of Junto al Pasig, I cannot help but recall the songs of Paul McCartneyLet It Be and The Long and Winding Road. Both poems and songs sound uncannily contemporaneous. 24 See Bernard Lietaers illuminating discussion in Beyond Greed and Scarcity http://www.lietaer.com/images/Interview_Yes!.pdf Accessed 23 May 2011 15

indigenous, pre-Hispanic earth and fertility goddess. By the 19th century, Guadalupe has become a catalyst for nationalist goals and a focus for anti-Spanish sentiments.a rallying symbol for the War of Independence (1810-1821) and The Great Revolution (1910)25 Interestingly, the Virgin of Antipolo also hails from Mexicoshe was brought to the Philippines in 1626, at about the time when the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe was growing and spreading. Could the Virgin of Antipolo have had the potential to be a rallying symbol for the Filipinos in Rizals time? But we now know that the Virgin of Antipolo, unlike Guadalupe, did not become a national emblem. Why? As explained by both Peterson and Eric Wolf, the crucial factor in Guadalupes power as a rallying symbol is that she has been viewed by the broad masses, creoles and mestizos and peasants of Mexico as the embodiment of the pre-Hispanic earth and fertility godess Tonantzin-Coatlicue (Our Lady Mother), the goddess of the cosmos, sacred guardian and mother image for the Mexican nation (Peterson, 46).26 The Virgin of Antipolo, on the other hand, could not be assimilated to a potent pre-colonial indigenous symbol. The Philippines does not have the equivalent of a Tonantzin. The reason may be that, having learned their lessons in the Mexican War of Independence in 1810, the Philippines ruling peninsulares (gachupines in Mexico) did all they could to, as Leonido put it, destroy all traces of any indigenous cult or object of worship. The process of erasure might have begun even much earlierpeninsular friars in Mexico have decried the cult of Guadalupe as early as fifty years after the Conquest, and their reports must have reached the Philippines in the early years of colonization. 27 Another factor that might have militated against the Virgin becoming a national emblem could be the Philippine cholera epidemic of 1882-23. The statistics are horrific: 30,000 dead
25

The instigator of the Mexican revolution or War of Independence (1810-1821), Fr Miguel Hidalgo, a creole, took up the banner of Guadalupe, giving the Virgin the title of General Captain and parading the image around each of the city plazas he entered on his march to Mexico City. Hidalgos successor, Fr. Jose Maria Morelos, a mestizo, required all Mexican patriots to wear the emblem of Guadalupe. The leaders of Great Revolution of 1910, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, both invoked the Virgin of Guadalupe in support of their cause. Zapatistas wore her image in the band of their wide-brimmed hats (Jeanette Favrot Peterson The Virgin of Guadalupe: Symbol of Conquest or Liberation? Art Journal vol 51 no.4, Latin American Art (Winter,1992), 45). 26 Peterson 1992, 46. See also Eric Wolf, The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol, in A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion edited by Michael Lambek (Blackwell Publishing, 2002) p. 172. 27 One such report comes from Fr Bernardino de Sahagun, who says: Now that the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been built there [Tepeyac Hill], they [the natives] call her Tonantzin too The term refersto that ancient Tonantzin and this state of affairs should be remedied, because the proper name of the Mother of God is not Tonantzin, but Dios and Nantzin. It seems to be a Satanic device to mask idolatryand they come from far away to visit that Tonantzin, as much as before; a devotion which is also suspect because there are many churches of Our Lady everywhere and they do not go to them; and they come from far away lands to this Tonantzin as of old. Bernardino de Sahagun, Historia general de las cosas de nueva espaa (Mexico, 1938), I, lib.6; cited in Eric Wolf, The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol. 16

in Manila and surrounding areas in less than 3 months; 1,300 deaths everyday at its peak. According to one report, For days, dead bodies littered the streets around San Lazaro hospital and corpse-laden vehicles blocked access to cemeteries, further compounding the health hazards. (Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence: From Ancient Times to the Present Third Edtion. edited by George C. Kohn, p. 305. Infobase Publishing, 2008) Nothing could stem the epidemic, notwithstanding the fervent prayers, masses, processions and offerings to the Virgin. Thus, the Virgins intercession in the fictional case of Leonido had not been replicated in the actual case of a most critical moment in 1882. I would venture to surmise that, as a consequence of the cholera epidemic of 1882-83, the prestige of the clergy waned irreparably. For the same reason, the prestige of the medical profession brightened (because not all who were stricken with cholera died, some benefitted from medical intervention and survived), thereby encouraging privileged young Filipinos to pursue a career in medicine, preferably abroad. Thus, unlike the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Virgin of Antipolo (or any other image of the Virgin, for that matter) did not become a rallying symbol in the Revolution against Spain and the war of resistance against the invading American imperialists. Unlike Guadalupe, the Virgin of Antipolo had not had the same impact in Philippine historyalthough Filipinos habitually appeal to the Virgin whenever they find themselves in trouble. The dangerous hours of the EDSA uprising in 1986 is a notable example. Many demonstrators not only prayed to the Virgin but also used her as some sort of amulet or anting-anting to drive away the tanks that were sent by Marcos to destroy his military opponents who sought refuge at Camp Aguinaldo. But that didnt make the Virgin become a national emblem like the Guadalupe.28 For his part, as he grew older and wallowed in the modern, secular enticements of Europe, Rizal seems to have forgotten the Virgin Mary. Rizal must have realized that the answer to Satans cursewhich, in our present context, as I have mentioned earlier, is the triple whammy of global warming, peak oil, and the end of economic growthcould not be the cult of the Virgin or any external symbol, religious or secular, to which we, the people, could depend on for our survival. We have to take matters into our own handsto defend ourselves, and thrive. But, exactly how and where and when to begin? Therein lies the rub! Rizal had agonized over this question in the Noli-Filiand the answer he came up with is unite with the people, sow an ideaaspire to be a nation and cast away greed and selfishness. Very well, but these are all motherhood statements that do not address the Leninist question, What is to be done? When the disconsolate Simoun pressed Fr. Florentino for an answer, all that the good priest could say was a disappointing, Suffer and wait. It seemed that Rizal had not yet figured out the answer in the Fili. Two years after writing the Fili, Rizal was closer to the answer. The way forward was to form the La Liga Filipina, a mass-based organization that will pursue a 5-point program, namely, 1) unite the whole archipelago into one compact, vigorous, and homogenous body; 2) mutual
28

To be sure, there are many popular forms of Marian devotion in the Philippinesto such images as Virgen La Naval de Manila, Nuestra Seora de los Dolores de Turumba of Pakil, Laguna and Nuestra Seora de Salambao of Obando, Bulacan (the last two are featured in Rizals Noli me tangere)but they have not attained the same national cult status as the Guadalupe of Mexico. 17

protection in every case of trouble and need, 3) defense against every violence and injustice; 4) development of education, agriculture, and commerce; 5) study and implementation of reforms. 29 The Spanish regime correctly saw Rizals project as a movement towards an independent nation and, thus, promptly arrested and exiled him to Dapitan in 1892which proved to be a blessing in disguise! For it was in Dapitan that Rizal finally realized and put into practice, the solution to the problem posed in Junto al Pasig.

HIMNO A TALISAY and HIMNO AL TRABAJO: TOWARDS A SOLUTION

Rizal had declared explicitly in 1888 that our sacred mission is the formation of the Filipino nation.30 He had hoped that the Liga would be the meansthe social movement towards this end. But where to begin, and how? In Dapitan, Rizal realized that the best, if not the only way, to proceed is by acting locallywith the people of a particular placeusing local resources and responding to local needs. This is now taken for grantedscholarly articles now abound on community action and grassroots innovation 31 But in Rizals time, it was a bold ideaprecisely because it was subversive of the existing colonial order. Rizals four years in Dapitan have not been fully explored for the light they can shed on contemporary issues in community studies. His poems during this period have not been critically studied. For that matter, the significance of the school he founded had not merited scholarly commentary.32 Many Rizal biographers, notably Austin Coates, have seen those years as nothing much more than four lonely years that Rizal was forced to endure, as if what
29

Post colonial Filipinos (unlike the Katipunan and revolutionary ilustrados) have misconstrued the statement Estudio y aplicacin de reformas to mean the study and application of reformist measures within the framework of the colonial system, which is contrary to what Rizal meant. The term reformas in the context of the Liga referred to the necessary changes that will redound to the benefit of the people and lead to the development of the country independently of Spain. See my discussion in Chapter 1, Toward a Radical Rizal in A Nation Aborted (2008), 30 Rizals 27 July 1888 letter to Mariano Ponce reads in part: If you write to Plaridel [del Pilars nom de plume], please tell him that I rejoice with our country and all our good countrymen that we are united and solid so that we can help one another. His articles seem to me to be very well written and not only am I grateful to him but all our countrymen, because all of us work for our country and our pen writes not for anybody but for our motherland. On the day when all Filipinos should think like him and like us, on that day we shall have fulfilled our sacred mission which is the formation of the Filipino nation. (italics mine). Rizals Correspondence with Fellow Reformists, 1882-1896. Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission. Manila, 1961 31 See Jill Seyfang, Adrian Smith, and Noel Longhurst, Grassroots Innovations for Sustainable Development: a New Research Agenda, in economic sociology_the european electronic newsletter Volume 12, Number 1 (November 2010). Available at http://www.steps-centre.org/PDFs/Seyfangetal_econsoc.pdf 32 So far, Ive not come across or heard of a Ph.D dissertation on Rizals Dapitan years. This is puzzling because Rizals school project in Talisay predates the progressive school/community projects of Rabindranath Tagores Santiniketan ashram (ca 1901), Gandhis Kheda ashram (ca. 1918), A.S.Neills Summerhill (ca 1921), Bertrand Russells Beacon Hill School (ca1927) and Arthur Morgans Moraine Park School (1917), and many more progressive, experimental schools founded in the 20th century. 18

he did during those four years were simply the good deeds of a multi-talented, highly educated man who was trying to escape boredom. Those fruitful four years in Dapitan have become Rizals most unappreciated legacy. Yet they are precisely what make Rizal singularly relevant for the 21st century. Significantly, all the poems of Rizal during his Dapitan exile omit any reference or allusion to the Virgin. Flor Entre Flores, A Don Ricardo Carnicero, A Mi Retiro, and Himno a Talisay, and Himno al Trabaho exalt the raw beauty of Dapitan. 33 Rizals geographical description in his unpublished novel is breathtaking: Dapitan is situated by a handsome bay that faces West, on some sort of island formed expressly for her, as if in order to isolate her from the vulgar world, by a lovely river which to this end has graciously consented to split itself into two, thus to embrace her with two silvery arms and carry her towards the sea as an offering, the most beautiful that it has found in its tortuous and eventful pilgrimage over mountains and valleys, through forests and plain (Translated from the original Spanish text by George Aseniero).34 Rizal was charmed by his place of exile and would thrive in it. In his first year in Dapitan, Rizal lived in the house of the governor and military commandant, Capt. Ricardo Carnicero, which was just across the towns central plaza. He later bought, with Carnicero and another Spaniard residing in Diplog, a lottery ticket. This was to prove fortuitous. Rizals lottery ticket won 2nd prize. With his lottery earnings, 35 Rizal was able to move to Talisay, a coastal barrio off the Dapitan poblacion.36 Thus begun his proto-Utopian experiment. Rizal bought an 18-hectare land on which he built a house, a clinic and a schoolhouse for local boys (mostly poor and intelligent), and started what we would now call a model organic farm. It may have been in celebration of his most important achievement in Talisay

33

The extant original manuscript of Himno a Trabajo is undated, but, curiously, Nick Joaquin presumes it to be of the European period (Joaquin 1976, 278). Its celebration of the rural folk happily engaged in agricultural laborheralding men going to the fields, to till the earth (al campo, la tierra a labrar)leads me to consider it as one of Rizals Dapitan poems. 34 From Chapter 1 of Rizals unfinished novel. Cited in Peter Walpole, Dapitan Most Beautiful http://essc.org.ph/content/view/472/104/ (11 May 2011) 35 The second prize was divided equallyone third or 6,000 pesos each among the three ticket holders. After paying some small debts in Manila, Rizal sent 2,000 pesos to his father and 200 pesos to Basa. (Jose Baron, Jose Rizal. Filipino Doctor and Patriot. Manuel Morato 1980, 255). 36 The place is named after a large deciduous tree, usually found along seashores throughout the Philippines, that grows to a height of about 25 meters; its fruits, leaves and bark are said to have medicinal properties. Studies have shown that the leaves of the Talisay tree have the following medicinal properties: antioxidant/hepatoprotective, antimestatic (protection against lung cancer), analgesic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic. Its seeds have been reported to have an aphrodisiac effect. For a list of the studies/sources, see http://www.stuartxchange.org/Talisay.html . 19

that Rizal wrote Himno a Talisay in 1895dedicated to his pupils and meant to be sung by them.37 HIMNO A TALISAY Like Junto al Pasig, Himno a Talisay starts and ends with a chorus. Just as in the Junto, the Himnos opening chorus conjures a wonderful place. But more than the Junto, the Himno evokes an abiding sense of locality, a pride of placethe joy of growing up in Talisay, living and dying there. Heres the Himnos opening chorus: The sandy beach of Dapitan and the rocks of its lofty mountain are your throne. O sacred asylum where I passed my childhood days! In your valley covered with flowers and shaded by fruitful orchards, our minds received their formation, both body and soul, by your grace. (Nick Joaquin translation) De Dapitan la playa arenosa y las rocas del monte encumbrado son tu trono, oh asilo sagrado! donde mi tiema nies. En tu valle que esmeltan las flores y sombra frutal arboleda, nuestra mente formada se queda, con el cuerpo nuestro el alma la vez.

In its concluding chorus, the Himno a Talisay dramatically diverges from the Juntos concluding lines. Instead of paying homage to the Virgin, the Himno pays homage to Talisay, the place: Long live luxuriant Talisay! Our voices exalt you in chorus, clear star, dear treasure of childhood, a childhood you guide and please. In the struggles that await the grown man, subject to pain and sorrow, your memory shall be his amulet; and your name, in the tomb, his peace (Nick Joaquin translation) Vive, vive frondoso Talisay! Nuestras voces te ensalcen a coro, clara estrella, preciado tesoro de la infancia doctrina y solaz. En las luchas que aguardian al hombre, a pesares y duelos sujeto, tu memoria sera su amuleto, y en la tumba tu nombre, su paz.

Both the Junto and the Himno al Talisay portray the exuberance of youth. But the Himno al Talisay is heralding something entirely newa radical departure from the way children were supposed to be educated and raised at that time. Rizals stress on education has been misunderstood and degraded by the nationalist left as merely reformismperhaps this is a reaction to the American colonial policy of education (which proved more effective than the Spanish colonial system of education). Rizal understood the crucial role of education in social transformation, and would have agreed wholeheartedly with a contemporary progressive author, who writes, The educational system is one of society's primary sites for political socialization. There you create citizens. The classroom is also where citizens are equipped with the critical frameworks needed to ask hard questions about the common good, their role in society, and the State's obligation to the people. (The Right's 'Big Lie' Strategy: When

37

Rizal mentions fourteen pupils, but the Dapitan shrine today lists 24. 20

Losing, Simply Rewrite History. By Chauncey DeVega, AlterNet. Posted on May 13, 2011, Printed on May 28, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/150937/ ) Although Nick Joaquin finds it incredible (Joaquin 1976, 279), it is easy to see why the Spanish authorities used the Himno al Talisay as one of the evidence against Rizal in his trial for treason in December 1896. The very thrust of the new school of Talisay (as I prefer to call it) was subversive of the colonial educational system. And Rizal was the schools founder and only teacher. Consider the Talisay boys proud description of their education in the new school of Talisay: Los problemas de ciencias exactas, de la patria la historia estudiamos tres y cuatro lenguajes hablamos acordando la fe y la razon. The problems of the exact sciences, of the history of the nation we study, three or four languages we speak harmonizing faith and reason. (my translation)

Unlike the rote memorization and passive learning characteristic of the parochial school, the Talisay system deploys the inquiry methodthe stress is on solving los problemas de ciencias exactas, covering both sciences and maths. The history of the country, and the study of three or four languageswhich have been deliberately avoided in the parochial school are among the hallmark of the new Talisay curriculum. Religion is taught in accordance with reasonacordando la fe y la razonechoing Rizals Dapitan debate (by way of correspondence) with Fr. Pablo Pastells on the issue of revelation.38 Remarkably, aside from the academic disciplines, the new school also teaches practical skills useful in agriculture and construction worka azada, la picqueta. Moreover, the new school of Talisay teaches martial artsel cuchillo, el fusil y la espadanecessary skills of the strong man! Nuestros brazos manejan a un tiempo el cuchillo, la pluma, la azada, la picqueta, el fusil y la espada, compaeros del fuerte varon. Our hands can wield at the same time the knife, the pen, the spade, the pickaxe, the rifle, and the sword, companions of the strong man. (my translation)

38

A good place to start in exploring Rizals religious thought is he Rizal- astells correspondence the hitherto unpu lished letters of os Rizal and portions of Fr. Pablo Pastell's fourth letter and translation of the correspondence together with a historical bacakground and theological critique. By Jose Rizal, Pablo Pastells, and Raul Bonoan, Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994. For other commentaries, see Eugene Hessel, The Religious Thought of Rizal New Day Publishers, 1983; Rolando M Gripaldo, Agnostic Deism: Rizals religious philosophy (Or the Religious Debate between Jose Rizal and Pablo Pastells, S.J.) , International Journal of Philosophy, vol. 31(1), January 2002. We have yet to see a critique of Rizals religious views from an atheistic perspective la Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion, 2006) or Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation, 2006) or Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great, 2007).

21

The new school keeps the children healthy in body and spirit, and nurtures them to be brave and self-reliant, and to grow into strong and capable men who can protect their homes, ready to fight effectively when the need arises Somos nios que nada intimada ni las olas, ni el baguio, ni el trueo ; pronto el brazo y el rostro sereno en el trance sabremos luchar. No hay tinieblas, no hay noches oscuras que temamos, ni fiera tormenta ; y si el mismo Luzbel se presenta, muerto o vivo cogido ha de ser. We are children that nothing frightens not the waves, nor the storm, nor the thunder; the arm ready, and the face serene, in a difficult situation we shall know how to fight. ... Theres no darkness, no dark night, that we fear, no savage storm; if Lucifer himself comes forward we shall catch him, dead or alive! (my translation)

The reference to Lucifer is significant. Compare Leonido of the Junto and the boys of Talisay. Although Leonido is defiant and not afraid at all of Satan, he is powerless and defenceless against him and his minions. He was saved in the nick of time by the angel, who tells him that his deliverance from Satans clutches was due to the Virgins intercession. In contrast, the boys of Talisay, the Talisaynons, as they proudly call themselves, are capable of defending themselves and subduing Satanwithout divine intervention! But this heretical point was ignored by the Spanish prosecutors in Rizals trial. They instead pounced on the linesen el trance sabremos luchar and Nuestros brazos manejan a un tiempo el cuchillo, la pluma, la azada, la picqueta, el fusil y la espada, compaeros del fuerte varonto prove that Rizal was training his boys for revolutionary action. Rizal, in his defence, nonchalantly replied that he was simply portraying his young pupils as ready to defend Dapitan in the event of a Moro raid (Joaquin 1976, 279). Rizal was not being completely honest with the prosecution. For he had expressed similar sentiments elsewhere. In his 27 June 1888 letter to Mariano Ponce, he wrote: The principal thing that should be demanded from a Filipino of our generation is...to be a good man, a good citizen, who would help his country to progress with his head, his heart, and if need be, with his arms. With the head and the heart we ought to work always; with the arms when the time comes (Rizal-fellow reformists, 173). The whole point of the new school of Talisay was precisely to produce the good man, the good citizen who would help his country to progress with his head, his heart, and if need be, with his armsand not merely to defend Dapitan in case of a dreaded Moro raid. Lest we hastily conclude that Rizal had ignored the role of womenhis Talisay school did not include girlswe should turn to his Himno al Trabajo. This poem complements Himno a Talisay and, therefore, should be read alongside it. The Spanish prosecutors should have seized the opening and closing chorus of Himno al Trabajo as additional proof that Rizal was already affirming a nation independent of Spain:

22

Por la patria en la guerra, por la patria en la paz, valer el filipino, vivir y morir!

For his country at war, for his country at peace, the Filipino will stand guard, will live and will die! (Nick Joaquin trans)

More than the Himno a Talisay, the Himno al Trabajo is a paean to the rural folk celebrating the labor of men and women, boys and girls. The opening lines hail the men who go to the fields at dawn to till the earth, and, thus, sustain the nation, the family and the hearth HOMBRES: Ya el Oriente de luz se colora, Sus! 39 al campo, la tierra a labrar, que el trabajo del hombre sostiene a la patria, familia y hogar The next lines pay homage to the industry of women and their strength as pillars of the home, especially their role in teaching the children love for the nation, virtue and truth. Note that the last two lines of the stanza si el hado es adverso, la esposa la tare a sabr continuar (if fate be adverse, the wife will know how to carry on)evoke the image of a strong and capable wife and mother who will not crumble in the event of misfortune or adversity, which is in stark contrast to the Nolis Sisa or Doa Pia. Rizals views on women in Hymno al Trabajo are reminiscent of his earlier letter To My Young Countrywomen of Malolos (1889) 40 ESPOSAS : Animosos partid al trabajo que la esposa el hogar vela fiel, inculcando el amor a los hijos por la patria, virtud y saber. Cuando traiga la noche el descanso, la ventura os aguardia al entrar; y si el hado es adverso, la esposa la tare a sabr continuar. THE WOMEN: Gaily go off to work; home will the wife keep smooth, teaching the children love for the nation, virtue and truth. When night comes to bring repose, may fortune welcome you home; but if luck be adverse, the wife will know how to carry on. (Nick Joaquin trans)

The third stanza is dedicated to the girls (doncellas) and hails labor as the health and wealth of the native land. Of particular interest is its advice to young women on what to look for in a man, or what to expect of their suitorsexactly the same advice that Rizal gave to the women of Malolos DONCELLAS : Salve! salve! Loor al trabajo, de la patria riqueza y vigor!
39 40

THE GIRLS: Hail, all hail, and praise to labor: health and wealth of the native land!

Sus! is from Jesus!a folk exclamation. A good English translation of the original Tagalog may be accessed at http://www.filipiniana.net/publication/to-my-young-countrywomen-ofmalolos/12791881712979/1/3 23

Por el yergue la frente serena, es su sangre, su vida y su ardor. Si algun joven pregona su afecto, el trabajo su fe probar ; solo el hombre que lucha y se afana, sostener a su prole sabr.

Lift up your brow with pride for work is life and blood and the hearts command! If any young man proclaims his love, his toil shall of his faith be proof, for only the man who strives and labors will know how to sustain a roof. (Nick Joaquin trans)

The last stanza returns to the theme of Himno a Talisay NIOS: Enseadnos las duras faenas; vuestras huellas queremos seguir, que maana, al llamamos la patria, vuestra empresa podamos concluir THE BOYS: Teach us the arduous labors: in your steps our steps would throb; so tomorrow, when the nation calls us, we shall know how to finish the job... (Nick Joaquin trans)

The central theme of the Himno al Trabajo as well as the Himno a Talisay is crucial: to serve the nation well by learning and working and thriving in a particular place and community. For Rizal, the Filipino nation is not an abstract, imagined national communitysupposedly represented by, or embodied in, the Philippine State (hence, the nation-state).41 The nation is to be realized concretely in a particular place, a particular community. Rizals life in Dapitan is a testament to how this is to be done. As he began his exile in Dapitan, Rizal resolved--"I am determined to do everything I can for this town..." 42 And he did! When Rizal arrived in Dapitan in 1892, there were only two colonial institutions in that district: the police, headed by the Spanish commandant, and the church, administered by a Jesuit priest.43 Although there as a health officer, there was no medical doctor attending to the medical needs of the poor villagers. There was no park, no street lights, no irrigation system. The farming and fishing townfolk were left to their ancient devices, without assistance from the colonial regime, although they were required to pay taxes, go to confession, attend Sunday mass, and give their weekly offerings to the church. Rizal was to change all that upon his arrival. He built a one-doctor hospital, and paid with his own money the medical supplies and instruments. Nothwithstanding his expenses, the

41

I develop this more fully in chapter 6, Rizals Concept of the Filipino Nation, A Nation Aborted, revised 2nd edition 2008. 42 Cited in Walpole, Dapitan, Most Beautiful http://essc.org.ph/content/view/472/104/ (11 May 2011) 43 Rizal had arrived just a week before the town fiesta (the feast of Santiago de Compostela, Spains patron saint). Dr. George Aseniero, grandson of Rizals start pupil in Talisay, Jose Aseniero (who would become Zamboangas first governor under American rule) wrote to me in an email, According to my grandfather's memoirs, Dapitans fiesta of 1892 was the day of Rizals introduction to the townsfolk -- and in quite dramatic fashion, too. There were fireworks, there was a nasty accident -- a guy was in great pain when firecrackers blew up in his hand -- and a doctor hurried down from Casa Real to attend to him. That day, all of Dapitan and the neighboring towns came to know of this doctor who had come to stay amidst them. 24

Dapitan folk received free medical and surgical care. Wenceslao Retana relates in his biography of Rizal, It was said that Rizal the doctor did not charge anyone who was of the town [Dapitan]. But if a stranger came to consult him, and there were several, he charged them according to their means; money thus earned he dedicated entirely to something or other that would redound to the benefit of the town. There was a rich Englishman who came to consult him: Rizal removed his cataract and charged him 500 duros, which the Englishman gladly paid. Those 500 duros Rizal donated to Dapitan for public lighting which it did not have. In the front yard of his home he built a hospital, open to all on his account (318)44 Rizal stimulated business activity by forming a cooperativeSociedad de Agricultores Dapitanos, where capital was to be provided by "socios industriales" and "socios accionistas". S.A.D. aimed to "improve/promote agricultural products, obtain better profits for them, provide capital for the purchase of these goods, and help to the extent possible the harvesters and labourers by means of a store (coop) where articles of basic necessity are sold at moderate prices." Rizal also engaged in what we now call social entrepreneurship perhaps the first Filipino to do soinnovative business activity aimed principally at benefiting and transforming the community in which it is undertaken (with most of the profit reinvested back into the community).45 He had a joint-venture with Carreon [a Spanish entrepreneur] for the construction and operation of a lime-burner, whereby Rizal would provide capital and Carreon would mobilize and supervise labour whose wages were to be paid by Rizal; these advances would be deducted from the sale proceeds of lime, the profit thereof to be equally divide between Rizal and Carreon. In addition Rizal built a schoolhouse where he gave free education to the communitys brightest boys and young men in exchange for their services in his projects. With his pupils he was able to build Dapitans first dam and irrigation system, a project he carried out like a recreational and educational class activity. He also taught the village folk how to improve their farming and fishing techniques, and introduced the European method of brickmaking. He developed Dapitans first park, complete with street lamps and a garden/flower relief map of the whole island of Mindanao. In short, Rizal was a one-man, self-funded N.G.O. (nongovernment organization) for a massive community development effort. Anyone who recalls the previous events in Calamba may wonder how Rizal managed to realize his goal of doing everything he could for the people of Dapitan. No such development
44

Translated by George Aseniero, from Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal, 1907, 318. The original Spanish text may be accessed at http://www.archive.org/stream/vidayescritosde00unamgoog/vidayescritosde00unamgoog_djv u.txt 45 The Wikipedia defines social entrepreneurship as the work of social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change (a social venture). While a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur focuses on creating social capital. Thus, the main aim of social entrepreneurship is to further social and environmental goals. Social entrepreneurs are most commonly associated with the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors [1], but this need not preclude making a profit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_entrepreneurship 25

projects could have materialized in Calamba. In fact any improvement that a Calamba farmer brought about in his farmlandan irrigation system, for examplemerited an increase in rent. Thus, although Rizal may have proven a point, it is none too clear whether the Dapitan example could have been duplicated elsewhere. Several factors worked to his advantage: Dapitan was situated in the Muslim-dominated island of Mindanao, where Spanish control was minimal; it was so far from Manila that authorities may have been inclined to ignore it, and, more importantly, unlike Calamba, no friar corporations coveted the land. This leads us to a crucial factor: not only was Rizal given a free hand in doing everything he could for the town; he was also supported by Dapitans military governor and its religious authorities, the Jesuits. [Dapitan military governor] Carnicero and his successor Sitges provided funding for Rizal's public works. These included the water pipeline, kiln for brick-making, streetlamps, Mindanao map, plaza beautification and clean-up of marshes to rid of mosquitoes. Rizal built Dapitans first waterworks with the help of Fr. Sanchez and some Jesuit brothers. The support from the authorities plus the enthusiastic involvement of the townsfolk enabled Rizal to successfully carry out his projects. During his four years in Dapitan, Rizal set the example and demonstrated what could be accomplished by community effort. The changes were evident not only in material improvements but also, and more important, in education and public health. Education was perhaps Rizals most important legacy in Dapitan. A less-tangible result of his exile was the people's growing awareness that they could take the initiative in improving community life. 46 Thus, the proper sequel to Junto al Pasig are the two hymnsHimno a Talisay and Himno al Trabajo. Junto al Pasig poses the problem, the two hymns answer it. If Junto is a paean to the Virgin, Himno a Talisay and Himno al Trabajo constitute a paean to a model community in a particular place. This then is Rizals legacy for the 21st centuryDapitan, the creation of a robust community; a model of how to respond to the looming catastrophes that our children and their children will have to endure long after were gone. Bernard Lietaer, professor of finance, designer of the Euro and advocate of community currency, defines community thus

The origin of the word "community" comes from the Latin munus, which means the gift, and cum, which means together, among each other. So community literally means to give among each other. Therefore I define my community as a group of people who welcome and honor my gifts, and from whom I can reasonably expect to receive gifts in return.47 Rizal gifted the people of Dapitan with his vision, his talents and skills, knowledge and experience to realize projects that would redound to their wellbeing; the people, in turn,
46

The preceding account of Rizals Dapitan years is partly derived from A Nation Aborted, revised 2nd edition 2008, 387-388). George Aseniero, a Dapitan philanthropist and entrepreneur, has also provided me valuable information on Rizals life in Dapitan, some of which he learned from his Lolo Jose Aseniero. He is currently editing for publication his Lolo Joses memoirs. 47 Bernard Lietaer, Beyond Greed and Scarcity http://www.lietaer.com/images/Interview_Yes!.pdf Accessed 23 May 2011 26

welcomed and honored his gifts and gave him the gift of their labour and wholehearted participation in his projects. It was this reciprocity and sharing that revitalized Dapitan into a thriving community. Alas, the Talisay idyll would not last. Over a century after Rizals execution, the model community that he built has been transformed into a stale museum of replicas of his house, school and clinic sitting on manicured lawnslike mute monuments who can never speak to us and with whom we can never interact. Save for the dam which is in a decrepit state, the other infrastructure that Rizal built with the help of the townsfolk are now forgotten ruins and discarded debris. A recent visitor, the environmentalist Jesuit Pedro Walpole, wryly observes: It is surprising that the well-sung history of Rizal in Dapitan has never gone after his industrious past. Due to the yellowness of the water, Rizal designed for the local government a two-kilometer delivery of water to the edge of the island city where people came continuously in bancas to get drinking water. It is a wonderful surprise to find the base of the lion fountain in the tidal waste of Barangay Talisay. Stretches of the double clay piping are still visible along the hillside. He made the outside pipe on the other side of city at Barangay Maria Cristina in the kiln where he could produce 6,000 bricks in a day. The domed oven now supports a barangay road on top of it and has pigs at one end and roosters at the other.48 Yet, what did the government officials (were they from National Historical Institute?) do with the reportedly 35 million peso fund that was allocated for the Dapitan shrine during the centenary of the Revoluiton fifteen years ago? The visiting experts decided that it was nice to build boardwalks all over the place so that tourists can walk around the shrine and take photos with their cellphones in comfort. They also thought it nice to build, observes Walpole, a new monument to Rizal on the foreshore where he arrived and was escorted to the Casa Real in 1892 and a cement prow of at boat in the coastal wall at Talisay from where he left in 1896. Unfortunately, the Manila experts did not consider the wishes of the people of Dapitan. 49 The money could have been used to revive Rizals forgotten legacy in Talisay and transform it into a living heritage site for the benefit of present and future generations of Filipinos. The 1996-98 centenary was a lost opportunity. Todays Rizal shrine in Talisay, which is overseen by the National Historical Institute but managed by the local government, comprises 10 hectares of Rizals original 18-hectare property in Talisay. The other eight hectares were gifted by Rizal to his pupil and valet, Jose Acopiado, in 1896, as he set for Manila enroute to Cuba. Today, the Acopiado heirs occupy some 4 hectares; the rest have been taken over by squatters, among them a Rizalista cult.50 Judging from his description of Talisay in his Mi Retiro, Rizal would weep were he to see today, ca 2011, the Talisay that he gave away in 1896. Though now forgotten, Rizals community work in Talisay and throughout Dapitan antedate the community solutions that concerned social scientists, and progressive economic and See Fr. Pedro Walpoles blog, Dapitan, Most Beautiful http://essc.org.ph/content/view/472/104/ 49 According to prominent Dapitan resident George Aseniero, the NHI did not consult the people of Dapitan and ignored his suggestions. (personal communication). 50 Personal communication from the heirs of Acopiado and Dr. George Aseniero. George and his gracious wife Maria were my hosts when I visited Talisay in February 2011.
48

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political analysts are advocating today. 51 Today, as we try to extricate ourselves from the somnambulism of the Age of Stupid and brace ourselves for the triple global whammy of global warming, peak oil, and the end of economic growth, we would do well to learn from Rizals Dapitan years. Actually, we have no choice. With the end of cheap oil and soaring commodity prices and financial instability, well have to emulate or improve on Rizals Talisay. As James Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century (Grove Press, 2006) puts it, The 21st century is going to be much more about staying where you are, not about being in constant motion. It's not going to be about mobility. It's going to be about being in a place that you care about and you have to care for and that is going to change the basis of how we live in this country. (James Kunster interview, http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/transcripts/431 Accessed 29 May 2011). And, like Rizal, well have to be creative about our grassroots innovations and community action. Fortunately, although not well covered in the mainstream media or the school curriculum, many community-based initiatives have sprungfor example, transition towns, permaculture (a design system based on natural, organic farming) and community currencieswhich aim to build resilient and sustainable communities. The goal of these community solutions is two-fold: 1) to enable communities to cope with the shock of the triple crunch, and 2) pave the way for a transition to a steady-state, post-growth, post-capitalist economy. To cite one example of a community solution, in the event of an economic meltdown or depression, people can still obtain the goods and services they need through a form of exchange that does not involve the national currency (legal tender). One such local exchange system is called Time Banks (or timebanking)a type of community currency in which the users create a form of mutual currency based on time. 52 Members can earn the currency doing community focused activities and then 'spend' it receiving services from others. (http://noellonghurst.blogspot.com/). Although considered an innovative concept in the
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such as David Korten (Agenda for a New Economy), Richard Heinberg (The End of Growth), James Howard Kunstler (The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century), Alex Knight (The End of Capitalism), Ted Trainer (The Simpler Way: working for transition from consumer society to a simpler, more cooperative, just and ecologically sustainable society), David Suzuki (The Legacy: An Elder's vision for a sustainable future), Rob Hopkins (The Transition Handbook), Bernard Lietaer (The Future of Money), Thomas Greco (The End of Money and the Future of Civilization), Bill Mollison ( ermaculture A Designers Manual), David Holmgren (Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability); Tim Jackson (Prosperity Without Growht) 52 Five steps to make timebanking work: 1. People list the skills and experience which they can offer and those that they may need. 2. Everyones skills are valued equally - one hour always equals one time credit. 3. Everyone agrees to both give and to receive help, to earn and to spend their time credits. 4. A record is kept of all the time credits earned and spent, ideally on computer using the Time Online system. 5. Everyone is encouraged to spend their time credits to allow others the chance to make a difference and feel needed. http://www.timebanking.org.uk/how_time_banking_works.asp Accessed 07 May 2011 28

developed capitalist countries, timebanking is not exactly new in the Philippines or in Bali, Indonesia. The Philippines indigenous tradition of bayanihan or bataris (or batarisan) or Balis tradition of narayan banjar (work for the common good of the community) may be considered forms of timebanking. 53 Many of Rizals community projects must have been carried out through a system of cooperative labor similar to Balis narayan banjar. We could likewise imagine that the many recipients of Rizals services as a medical doctor, a secondary school teacher, a community worker, and organizer/manager of his farm cooperative paid or reciprocated him by lending their labor-time to his community projects, a form of timebanking. Thus, even with minimal financial resources, the projects were realized by sheer community spirit. And so, we are back full circlefrom the boys of Himno a Talisay and the husbands and wives and children of Himno al Trabajo to the Virgin of Junto al Pasigthe Virgin as Mother Earth, as embodiment of a community of care and affection, of giving and sharing and cooperation. Thus, we begin to see clearly that, ultimately, what will save us is our relationship with each other. Perhaps the future damnation that Satan conjured to Leonido will come to pass, and there will be utter desolation and futile groaning and wailing and gnashing of teeth. But, who knows? When the time comes, perhaps we will weather the tempest and ride the waves, as though the Virgin were guiding us through our voyage in the stormy night! Perhaps we will be building healthy and happy communities that will usher in a better world. And then we will remember the dream that was Talisay. END Floro Quibuyen Croydon, 24 July 2011 quibuyen01@yahoo.com

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For a discussion of the Bali tradition of narayan banjar, see Bernard Lietaer and Stephen DeMeulenaere, Sustaining Cultural Vitality in a Globalizing World: The Balinese Example http://www.lietaer.com/images/ijse5_postscript.pdf 29