The Filipino Society and Environment

in the Narratives of Gumer M. Rafanan

Raul G. Moldez

A lecture delivered on the occasion of National Literature Month

Celebration last April 24, 2019 at Bulwagan Filipino, MSU-IIT, Iligan City

Introduction

Good morning everyone. Maayong buntag. Magandang umaga po.

It is my pleasure to be here at MSU-IIT this morning to deliver a lecture

on the writer Gumer M. Rafanan and his works. When Dr. Christine Godinez-
Ortega invited me to deliver a lecture on the late Sebuano writer Gumer M.
Rafanan, I readily accepted the invite and entertained no second thoughts.
And I have three reasons for that.

First, it is because I consider this event as an opportune time for me to

give my thoughts on the works of one of the greatest writers in the Binisaya
language. Personally, I consider the late Gumer M. Rafanan as the greatest
writer of his time. And this claim is validated through the number of awards
he won through the years. Gumer M. Rafanan practically won in every writing
contest there is.

Second reason is that Iligan City is always close to my heart. I was born
here and our family lived here during my formative years. Thus, I always
consider myself an Iliganon and to be in Iligan City is an opportunity for me to
reminisce my childhood years. Excuse the cliché but there’s really no place
like home

Third and last reason is that I look forward to coming back to MSU-IIT
after the lapse of several years. I first entered the MSU-IIT campus in 1997
when I was awarded a writing fellowship during the 4th Iligan National
Writers Workshop. Indeed, it is nice to be back here in MSU-IIT.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3514028

 My lecture is titled The Filipino Society and Environment in the
Narratives of Gumer M. Rafanan. I will start by discussing my early association
with Gumer M. Rafanan then proceed to discussing his works using the lens of
post-colonial hermeneutics.

Gumer M. Rafanan and this writer

My association with Gumer M. Rafanan started in 1998 when I attended

the annual convention of Bathalan-ong Halad sa Dagang-Mindanao (Bathalad-
Mindanao) held in Magting, Mambajao, Camiguin. It was my first time to meet
in person Gumer M. Rafanan and the rest of the members of Bathalad-
Mindanao, like Marcelo Geocallo, Frank Alforque, Anito Beronilla, Nestor
Degoma and Arcadio Jumamoy, to mention six.

Years prior to that and even during my high school years in Southern
Leyte, I have had read his works that were published in Bisaya Magazine. And
I have become an avid fan of him. I read every literary work of Nyor Gumer
that saw print in Bismag.

And since that Magting event, I am happy that I become one of the
young writers then who rub elbows with legendary Gumer M. Rafanan,
especially during the succeeding annual conventions of Bathalad-Mindanao.

Nyor Gumer only stopped attending the annual gathering of writers

belonging to Bathalad-Mindanao when advanced age took its toll on his
health.

Filipino society and environment

in the narratives of Gumer Rafanan

For the purpose of this lecture, I will take one short story and two
poems by Gumer M. Rafanan. These works are Ang Bantayog, a short story
and the poems Bisan ang pagkapulak sa usa ka dahon and Diin ka man
pagpanlunhaw sa mga balili?

Ang Bantayog won First Prize in the Lunsayng Bisaya Tigi sa Pagsulat
og Suliganon 2009, while Bisan ang pagkapulak sa usa ka dahon won First
Prize in the 2016 Bathalad Mindanao Tigi sa Sinulatay og Balak. The poem

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3514028

Diin ka man pagpanlunhaw sa mga balili? won First Prize in the Bathalad-
Mindanao Tigi sa Sinulatay og Balak.

I will be employing a postcolonial hermeneutics in reading these

narratives of Gumer M. Rafanan. As Fernandez puts it, postcolonial discourse
“presents to us a variety of methodological approaches and agenda, such as
critic of hegemonic discourse, images, and representations, as well as the
raising of issues regarding identity, race, ethnicity, diaspora and so forth. But
in spite of being a salmagundi of hermeneutical concerns, there is a common
thread.” According to R. S. Sugirtharajah, as cited by Fernandez, postcolonial
discourse “signifies three things—representation, identity, and a reading
posture emerging among the former victims of colonialism.” Sugirtharajah
writes:

“Postcoloniality is a critical enterprise aimed at unmasking the link

between ideas and power which lies behind Western texts, theories and
learning…[i]t is an active interrogation of the hegemonic systems of thought,
textual codes, and symbolic practices which the West constructed in its
domination of colonial subjects…It is a discursive resistance to imperialism,
imperial ideologies, and imperial attitudes and to their continual
reincarnations in such wide fields as politics, economics, history, and
theological and biblical studies.”

However, Fernandez made some qualifications on Sugirtharajah’s

articulation of postcolonial hermeneutics. While Sugirtharajah speaks of the
link of “ideas and power which lies behind the Western texts, theories and
learning”, Fernandez asserted to claim that “ideas and power do not simply
‘lie behind’ but are also expressed in texts, theories and learning. ‘Ideas’ and
‘power’ are not simply ‘behind’ the texts but are expressed in the texts and in
front of the text. “

Indeed, postcolonial hermeneutics provides an approach to reading

texts/contexts that resonates with the pathos and dreams of people who have
experienced colonization and who are struggling to unshackle the vestiges of
colonialism. And as Homi Bhabha articulated, postcolonial hermeneutics is a
tool that functions ‘to bear witness to inequities in modes of representation
between the West and the non-West.”

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 Based on these theoretical frameworks, I will try to indulge myself in a
critical engagement with the texts of Gumer M. Rafanan’s works that I have
randomly chosen from among his hundreds of creative outputs.

Ang Bantayog (The Monument)

This story revolves around the life of Dodo, a 13-year old boy, whose
mother, Soling, had applied for a job in Hong Kong as a domestic helper to
support his education. As Nanay Soling had no relatives in their town of San
Gabriel, she had decided to leave Dodo to the care of her older sister Bestra
and husband Karyo, who had a son named Simon, who is older than Dodo.

When Nanay Soling and Dodo arrived in the town of San Nicolas, the
young boy’s attention was caught by the monument erected at the top of the
mountain fronting Tiya Bestra and Tiyo Karyo’s house. Dodo was mesmerized
by that bust of a popular man. Let us try to look at how the writer describes
the moment when Dodo saw the bust for himself:

“Wala mamilok si Dodo nga nagtan-aw sa bantayog nga naglarawan sa

panagway nga naila niya kaayo. May pagkakrema ug buhi tan-awon. Migilaw
ang iyang mga mata ug nagpanukot sa kaugalingon. Giunsa kahag kopya ang
nawong sa presidente? Nakakita na siyag hinimo sa eskultor sa ilang lungsod sa
San Gabriel apan gagmay ra, mga imahen sa tawo ug mananap nga inumol sa
yutang kunon, kinulit sa kahoy, linalik sa kristal ug diha pay mga gama sa
puthaw ug alambre. Apan ang bantayog nga gisud-ong niya karon, alang
kaniya, maoy labing matahom, daw higanteng imahen nga gikulit sa higanteng
gamot.”

Even at young age, Dodo had dreamt to become a sculptor in that he

asked his Tiya Bestra and Tiyo Karyo who was the sculptor who made the
monument so he could get a tutorial or hands-on training on sculpting. The
famous sculptor was Sir Moises Justo who willingly offered Dodo hands-on
training on sculpting.

When Dodo asked Sir Moises Justo why it was the bust of the president
that he made as a model, the famous sculptor said:

“Ang higayon ang nagpili, ako ang nahimong instrumento. Simbolo kana
sa gahom sa katawhan busa wala magduhaduha pagbulig kanako ang

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gobyerno. Gihimo ko ang usa ka mugna sa arte nga buot kong itisok sa
kahimatngon sa mga Pilipino, usa ka bantayog sa kadaogan nga nahiugbok sa
akong kasingkasing.”
For the sculptor, the monument was the symbol of victory that stands
proud in his heart. However, for Simon and his friends, the monument has
symbolized something. It is a symbol of corruption and oppression.
When Dodo and Simon had a conversation regarding the monument,
Simon said:
“Abi nimo, Do, ang paghimo nianang bantayog ug ang bantayog mismo
gisaway sa mga tawo… gikapungtan kay nahimo kanang simbolo sa opresyon o
pagpanlupig. Nahimo kanang simbolo sa pangurakot ug pagwaldas sa salapi sa
lungsod. Nahimong simbolo sa kalisod ug kapit-os sa kinabuhi. Angay bang
buhatan og bantayog ang usa ka presidente nga buhi pang dako?”
Then Simon added:

“Nahibawo ka ba nga siya ang hinungdan sa kamatayon sa imong

amahan, ni Tiyo Crispin? Usa si Tiyo Crispin sa dakong supak sa daotang
pagdumala sa gobyerno maoy hinungdan nga…”

The contrasting statements of Sir Justo and Simon have puzzled the
young mind of Dodo. Until one day when a group of people blasted the bust
that reduced the monument into pieces, to which Sir Justo declared:

“Milampos sila pagguba apan dili sila makabuntog.”

Then the story ended with Sir Justo teaching the young Dodo how to
sculpt. And in the minds of Dodo, he had seen that there will come a time for
him to make another bust on the same location and that he is firm whose bust
will he mount.

Based on the theory of objective-correlative of TS Eliot which states

that, “The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an
'objective correlative'; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of
events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when
the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the
emotion is immediately evoked. (qtd. in J. A. Cuddon's Dictionary of Literary

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Terms, page 647), any reader can foretell that the bust that Dodo would sculpt
one day soon would that of his father’s, Tatay Crispin.

In a nutshell, Ang Bantayog is loaded with texts and contexts that

espouse with the pathos and dreams of people who are struggling to fight the
powers-that-be which sprung from colonialism.

Harry Emerson Fosdick writes “All history teaches at least one lesson
about war—its inevitable tendency to lead the victor to take on the character
of the vanquished... In fighting our enemies, we copy them, and in our victories
over them, we assume ourselves the very attributes and qualities we have
fought against...We hate their ways and ideas, but we proceed at once with
utmost speed and zeal to imitate them.” (A Great Time to be Alive)

Bisan ang pagkapulak sa usa ka dahon

(Even the falling of a leaf)

Written in a free verse style, the poem opens with a series of basic
questions in life. These questions, however simple and basic, are realities in
life in that we sometimes do not find time to ask ourselves with in the first
place.

Let us try to listen, and perhaps find time to look for answers, to these
questions which Rafanan had posed in the poem Bisan ang pagkapulak sa usa
ka dahon:

Nganong mohilak ang bag-ong himugso

inigsugat sa kahayag,
unya mokatawa bisag way mohadla?

Nganong ang dagat mohunas-motaob,

ang Adlaw mosubang-mosalop,
ang bangaw motadlas sa panganod?

Nganong ang panahon mohayag-modulom,

usahay moulan, usahay mohulaw?
Nganong ang langgam ganahang moawit,
ang bulak mobuklad, ang sanga manalingsing?

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 These questions are basic. They are simple questions because they
speak of realities in life. In other words, the questions are accurate
representations of life itself. And even if they are simple questions, yet we
have not given it much weight because as people who were once colonized,
our focus is not on simple things but on things sophisticated like those
possessed or owned by the colonizers.

Indeed, it is a sad reality that after the colonial era, the people of the
colonized nation will act like the colonizers. Its people will become hybrid.

Filipino people, especially the younger ones, or collectively called

“millennials” do not anymore appreciate the beauty of nature. What keeps
them busy right now that push them further away from what used to be
normal living is social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or
such online games as DOTA and Mobile Legends.

And talking about its literary merit, the litany of questions has made the
poem effective. Starting from a question on why a newly born baby cried after
experiencing for the first time the heat of light, to the ebbing and flowing of
the sea, then the shining and setting of the sun, and up to the blooming of the
flower and the budding of a branch shows how the poet skillfully handles the
images. The questions are arranged in a manner that flows naturally, which
reminds me of the famous definition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge that poetry is
“the best words in the best order.”

Meanwhile, the last half of the poem puts the persona into realization
that despite of the reality that life is surrounded by questions which would
lead to more questions than answers, yet life must go on. And as if echoing the
verses found in the Book of Ecclesiastes that “To everything there is a season,”
the persona of the poem towards the end declares:

Daghang ngano ang buot tang tugkaron

samas kalawom sa lawod, kahabog sa langit.
Kalipayg kasakit modangat kanato,
bukas-palad tang gidawat, bukas-dughan tang gihangop
kay nakulit na sa panahon
nga tanang panghitabo adunay hinungdan. . .
Bisan ang pagkapulak sa usa ka dahon.

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 The poem concludes that even if we want to dig deeper into the many
“whys” in the whole wide universe, yet we can’t do anything else but to accept
it whatever that means, because for the persona, everything happens with a
purpose, even the falling of a leaf, so much so that the Filipinos embracing
foreign style and tradition is inevitable. It has become a part of the Filipino
psyche because colonial mentality is very much present in his identity.
Because as Bhabha observed, “colonized country’s identity is hybrid and there
is no way for it to neutralize such identity no matter one does (Polito, 2012).

Diin ka man pagpanglunhaw sa mga balili?

(Where were you in the greening of the grass?)

Like Bisan ang pagpkapulak sa usa ka dahon, the poem Diin ka man
pagpanglunhaw sa mga balili? is written in a free verse style. In the first
three stanzas, the persona is speaking to an addressee who looks at
unpleasant events or things, instead of looking at—and appreciating—
something beautiful that unfolds before her very eyes. Listen to the following
lines:
Kay maoy may imong gisud-ong
Mga dahon nga nangapulak,
Inay mga bulak nga nangalimyon…

Kay maoy imong gilantaw

Naglugiton nga dag-om,
Inay mga bidlisiw sa kabuntagon…

Kay maoy imong gitan-aw

Mga nawong nga nagping-it,
Inay mga dagway nga mapahiyomon…

And because the addressee focuses on something negative or

unpleasant, she was not able to witness the greening of the grass, neither
listen to the beautiful songs of the birds, nor smell the fragrance of the flower.
Here’s the word of the persona to the unknown addressee:

Maong wa mo makita ang pagpanglunhaw sa mga balili

Ni madungog honi sa mga langgam,

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 Ni masingo kahumot sa mga bulak,
Ni mabati hapuhap sa huyohoy.

For Polito, “The four unpleasant things are symbols for the Filipino
culture and tradition that was missed by the addressee: the greening of the
grass stands for the rich culture of Filipinos; the songs of the birds, for the
abundance of the Philippine arts; the fragrance of the flowers, for the fatness
of the Philippine territory that attracted foreigners; and the caress of the
wind, for the practices that the Filipinos are known for, like close family ties
and hospitality.”

And just when the addressee realized he missed the good things in life,
(Unya… sa pagkaamgo mo pa/Sa imong hitaligam-an,) he was already dying
(Diay “umadtoay ka na”) and therefore cannot go back and appreciate the
beauty of nature, especially the greening of the grass (Ug di na makalingi,/ Di
na makabalik,/Aron pagpaminaw sa honi/Sa mga langgam,/ Aron paghanggap
sa kahumot/Sa mga bulak,/Aron pagtagamtam sa hapuhap/Sa huyohoy,/Ug
aron pagsakal sa pagpanglunghaw/Sa mga balili)

These lines are indicative that “once an identity is mixed with others
through influence, then there is no turning back; the identity becomes
permanently hybrid” (Polito, 2012).

Conclusion

In the three works of Gumer M. Rafanan that I have used for this lecture,
it can be discerned that the element of colonialism is very much prevalent.
Through these narratives, it is very apparent that the cultures of colonizers
have had practically taken their toll on the contemporary Filipino society and
environment. And for this lamentable reality, Gumer M. Rafanan is trying to
re-construct Filipino identity through his narratives.

The persona is full of hope that he could bring the Filipinos back to their
identity before they find themselves floating aimlessly in the sea of
uncertainty. And that is exactly the purpose of a written art. It helps the
people become conscious of the need to improve the society.

National Artist for Literature Cirilo F. Bautista writes that “A poem, for
instance, is a manifestation of social dynamics as interpreted by the poet. It is

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always an artifact of social relationship, a code reflecting human behavior. Its
essence is narrative, its purpose commentary. It does not intend to change
society—no work of literature can do that—but to change people’s attitude
towards society, to make them conscious of the need to improve it. This
purpose is embedded in the very nature of poetry because it works through
the agency of language, which is a social tool.”

As Fernandez articulated, “years of tutelage under foreign masters have

made Filipinos hostages of their colonial past. This colonial past is not simply
the dead past but a living one, for it has continued to shape the Filipinos of the
present. Filipinos need to deal with this past if they are to free themselves
from its grip.”

The colonial masters have long gone but they are no less present
because their control had practically claimed the very psyche of the Filipinos.

And towards this end I must say that as an artist, Gumer M. Rafanan had
succeeded in challenging his readers to exorcise this colonial demon that has
continued gripping the minds of the Filipinos.

Daghang salamat sa pagpaminaw.

References

Bautista, Cirilo F. (2005). Poetry and the Human Experience. His Introduction of the poetry
chapbook A Day in a Poet’s Life and Other Poems by Raul G. Moldez. Manila: National
Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Book of Ecclesiastes, The Holy Bible

Fosdick, Harry Emerson (1954). A Great Time to be Alive. Pocket Books Inc.

Fumitaka, M. & Fernandez E., Eds (2003). Realizing the America in Our Hearts: Theological
Voices of Asian Americans. Danvers, MA: Chalice Press

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Polito, Rabindranath S. (2012). The Filipino Identity in Gumercindo Rafanan’s Poetry: A
Postcolonial Analysis. Available at http://www.ipedr.com/vol44/023-ICSHH2012-W10008.pdf

Rafanan, Gumer M. (2010). Ang Bantayog. Available at

https://lunsayngbisaya.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/ang-bantayog/

Rafanan, Gumer M. (2017). Bisan ang pagpakapulak sa usa ka dahon. Bisaya Magazine, April
5, 2017. Manila: Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.

What is objective correlative? Available at

https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Objective_Correlative.pdf

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