Bianca Patricia C.

Cacnio PI 100 MCDE 2

2013-14733 May 7, 2018

Book Review: Rizal in Barong Tagalog by Noel G. Villaroman

Rizal in Barong Tagalog by Noel G. Villaroman is a compilation of 59 essays

about Jose Rizal. These are said to attempt to add snippets and snapshots to

what we already know about Rizal to create a “complete picture” of our national

hero. Using Rizal’s words from his writings, letters, communications, and other

entries, we are able to see Rizal as human. Not as the exaggerated ideal that he

is written as in some history books.

The first chapter of seven, Old and New, has five essays. The first of

which talks about Rizal and the barong. Despite the image of him in a coat and

tie being the most prominent, the essay discusses how Rizal was very proud of

Philippine national dress, some of which he even donated pieces of to a

museum in Berlin. They also discuss Rizal’s relatively poor Tagalog, his high

level of empathy, and his experience with brothels and prostitutes, educational

and otherwise. The chapter ends with a discussion on a society called Rd. L. M.,

which originally seemed like an NGO for access to education, but unravels to

be a plan for a colony in Borneo for Malays with Rizal at the head.
 From the first chapter, there is a balance seen. Rizal is wonderfully

empathetic and nationalistic, but he also has carnal desires, and a weakness in

his own native language. We begin to see the human side of the hero, and the

leader he wanted to be. He becomes more of a realist as well to me, an

ambitious one though. He wanted to liberate all Malayan peoples, starting

with the Philippines. If not, he could at least take persecuted Calambans and

find a new home and peace in Borneo. This also makes me think that he is

more human as he wants to save his hometown in particular if it’s all he can

do. He’s not selfless and perfect, he has biases too.

The second chapter, Of Love and Love Letters, dives into Rizal’s romantic

affairs, and what happened to the women he “loved” and left. It begins with

his student memoirs narrating his first love, a girl who made the first move, but

ultimately was arranged to marry someone else: Segunda Katigbak. The

second, said to be his Maria Clara, Leonor Rivera, suffered due to his decision

to leave for Europe. The long-distance relationship took a toll on them both,

bringing loneliness and doubt in a love only carried in letters. It was a long

relationship that ended with Leonor’s mother feeding her daughter more

doubt and proposing a marriage to Charles Kipping. Rizal took it hard, but

thought it was probably for the best. The chapter also mentions his love
triangles and letters, O-Sei San in Japan, Gertrude in London, Suzanne in

Brussels, Nelly in Paris, and finally Josephine Bracken, Mrs. Rizal.

Rizal’s love life has always been the aspect that kind of made me wary of

the hero. Through the second chapter, more details on how he viewed women,

how he treated them, and his friends regarding them have made this feeling a

bit stronger. I can’t help but feel for Leonor Rivera, ghosted way before online

dating even started. I can’t imagine love through letters, when everything is

instant messaging now. Rizal, though he loved her seemingly found other

women to flirt with and court during their 11 years. Leonor Rivera didn’t even

give up on him by choice, but was pushed by her mother. She’s what Twitter

would today call tanga and martyr in love. I guess that’s actually what Rizal’s

family called her, “foolish to suffer so much”.

Rizal’s descriptions of Josephine being ideal, as good, submissive, and

meek, make us realize how much times have changed. At the same time,

Rizal’s actions remind me of so many stories I’ve heard from women even

today. He’s a human being, who was his own kind of malabo, with his own

commitment issues, and his own weaknesses and difficulties with a long-

distance relationship. He was drawn to so many different women, perhaps

because he had the chance to travel and meet different cultures, aesthetics,

and personalities. Maybe like the prostitutes, according to Viola anyway, part

of it was an educational curiosity.

The third chapter, Travels and Impressions, shows us Rizal’s diary entries

and letters during his many travels. He’s always been observant, and can have

interesting things to say about where he’s been, seen, and done. Rizal was very

frank, and detailed in his writings. He noted nature and climate, people,

culture and behavior, technology, architecture, businesses, and the like. He

noticed things and related them to other things he knew, like when he was in

the Suez Canal and thought about Moses and Exodus. Rizal also met with many

people, at his destinations and even on board the ships taking him there. He

learned from them all. Like he learned ophthalmology from Dr. Wecker and Dr.

Becker.

The chapter also mentions Rizal’s experiences as a traveler that people

still experiences today. He got swindled and cheated, like we sometimes do.

He found solace in kababayans, though some were fake friends. He also

missed the Philippines dearly, and thought of it often while he was abroad. The

Igorots featured in Madrid, and their deplorable conditions also gets a

mention. Rizal empathized with them, and found the act unacceptable. This

chapter shows us again that Rizal was human. He was angered by a woman

and cursed her. He was fooled by swindlers. He made a lot of friends, and he

needed their help sometimes. He was invited to be part of a fraternity. This

bunch of interesting tidbits about him keeps me engaged, and reading the

book.

The fourth chapter of the book, A Family and a Horse, introduces Rizal’s

relationships with the people he held dearest, giving a glimpse of who he was

in the family. He and Paciano would gossip, such that the author trying to

relate them to the present, introduces the idea of them doing so in beki. We

are told of a beloved chestnut horse that had to eventually be sold, to help

fund Rizal’s living expenses in Europe. Rizal was a favorite uncle of his many

nephews and nieces, and Rizal seemed to obviously care for children and have

sound advice for them. He also had the same for his younger sisters. Rizal also

did his best to help family members who asked for it, even if it wasn’t quite the

best plan of action. Kulit gets to him too, apparently.

In this chapter, Rizal’s character mostly remains consistent with what we

know of him so far, and what we know of the time he lived in. It shows the
difficulties of letters as communication once again, but also how Rizal

managed to create and nurture relationships with them. Blumentritt is a prime

example of a pen pal turned closest friend. They only ever met each other

once, but they became part of each other’s families.

Touch Me Not is the fifth chapter of the book, and it discusses religion.

From our classes, we know that Rizal was raised Catholic from a young age by

his mother. Did he stay that way? Rizal left the Roman Catholic faith, changing

to a faith that was one of more religious discovery and one that uses reason

and intellect. The Roman Catholic faith in the Philippines was being used as a

means of abuse, which was what Rizal had to fight. In his novels though, he

didn’t just attack the friars, but also some Catholic doctrines and beliefs. He

also criticized a lot of Catholic practices and traditions as unnecessary, useless,

or unimportant. He is said to have retracted everything bad he wrote about

the Catholic Church before he died, but that’s still under question. His actions

and beliefs resulted in threats to his own life, which eventually led to his

execution.

I sympathize with Rizal. I’m not Catholic, but I am a Christian. I had to go

to school in a Catholic grade school, and my religious beliefs clashed even as a

child. I did not understand why babies are baptized, when they have no say or

beliefs yet. Why must we memorize verses and prayers instead of

understanding God and his teachings? Why do you parade saints and suffer

penitence, when Jesus had suffered for our sins, and idolatry is wrong? Why is

questioning practices wrong? This chapter allows me to relate more to Rizal, as

we went more in depth on what he actually believed in, based on letters he

had written.

The sixth chapter is called The Dapitan Episode. This chapter is dedicated

to the years he spent exiled in Dapitan, fulfilling all sorts of roles there. In

Dapitan, Rizal was able to explore his agricultural side, having a very successful

and fruitful farm. He also worked as a doctor, ophthalmology and other fields

like dermatology, dentistry, and gynecology. He was a teacher for a school he

established. He had a different life there, with his enemies being wild animals

instead of friars. He saw opportunities and had ideas, and he became a

businessman. Rizal also sent local specimens of plants and animals to Germany

in exchange for money or literary and scientific works.

The very sad part of the stay in Dapitan is Rizal and Josephine’s stillborn

child. It was rather scandalous that they were living together out of wedlock,
and the pregnancy was another straw altogether. Josephine suffered a

miscarriage, and their baby did not make it. The chapter also brings up stories

about ghosts, a vindictive priest, and Rizal’s rational view on witches.

This chapter, and the chapters in Zaides’ book depicting Rizal’s Dapitan

life has always fascinated me. It’s like the exile gave him a break to do

everything he could have done had he decided he wanted a more peaceful life,

and didn’t need to remain fighting. He took up so many things, did so many

things, even helped with water systems and lighting systems for the area. He

had a home and a woman, a farm, a school, a business, and some peace before

everything ended. I’m kind of glad he had that time for himself.

The last chapter, called Consummatum Est, is a set of essays about

Rizal’s last few sufferings. Throughout his life, it was prophesized that he

would lead a dangerous one. His mother felt it, and his own satirical essay

came true. Aboard the ships that would take him to Barcelona and back, Rizal

was slandered and gossiped about. People spread rumors and tried to steal his

things, they do eventually take his diary. He was humiliated, and treated

poorly, as though he was a dangerous criminal. However, he also believed in

God’s will. This chapter also tries to settle the questions regarding Rizal’s
deliberate twist to face the bullets that would kill him, and his retraction of

anti-Catholic writings. It also discusses two eyewitness accounts of the

execution day, and an interview with Rizal’s sister Trinidad.

I think everyone knows about the day Rizal died. This chapter shows us

proof of Rizal’s character amidst everything that was happening to him. The

eyewitnesses prove the idea that he was calm and serene on the day he died.

He had accepted his fate, perhaps due to his faith. Rizal left a lasting

impression on everyone there, whether his turn was deliberate or a matter of

physics. His possible retraction has been interpreted to be whatever you wish

it to be. At the end of the day, we control what we believe.

Overall, I really enjoyed Rizal in Barong Tagalog. As it’s a compilation of

stand-alone essays, it’s easy to read and refreshing. We get little pockets and

snippets of information, arranged into seven chapters about Rizal’s person. I

like how it heavily references letters and writings of Rizal himself, and the

writings of people he knew at the time. Translations aside, we get to read their

own raw words, and interpret them as we see fit.

 I think the goal of the book to present more facets of our hero, to try to

create a more complete picture of him is more or less achieved. I feel like I

know Rizal better, and relate with him more now. I understand his struggles

better, and can relate them with my own experiences today, as well as with

stories other people have told me. I also know more of his flaws, and his

thought processes. Sometimes I thought that the book was trying too hard to

make him relatable, like the essay on bekimon as one example. I think it

doesn’t have to be explicitly stated anymore that he was a person just like us.

We don’t need to be told to imagine him wearing a barong to relate that he

loved the Philippines and our national wear. I think we already knew that, from

the classes in high school and college. I needed this though, his letters and

diary entries, making him more human to me. Being more human, makes him

more real. It also makes the idea that we all can be heroes more real. He was

human, we are human. He was a hero, maybe we can be one too.