Maria-Luisa Camagay

Reynaldo Clemena Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, Popular.

Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910
In: Archipel. Volume 23, 1982. pp. 208-210.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Camagay Maria-Luisa. Reynaldo Clemena Ileto, Pasyon and Revolution, Popular. Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910. In:
Archipel. Volume 23, 1982. pp. 208-210.
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1982_num_23_1_1738
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au service de la Hollande, qui a fait la guerre d'Espagne dans les armes de-
Napolon. . . Il invite sa table ses anciens adversaires et de multiples libations-
scellent la rconciliation. Le 14 octobre enfin, on arrive en vue de Manille. Le
Gouverneur fait son entre dans la ville et, quelques jours plus tard, le 20, fait
savoir officiellement l'Ayuntamiento qu'il est porteur du portrait royal et qu'il
convient de prparer une entre solennelle. Le 11 novembre, on annonce publ
iquement que la crmonie aura lieu le 6 dcembre et l'on invite toute la po
pulation pavoiser et dcorer les rues et les maisons. En attendant, le tableau
est install sur un trne, Binondo, dans l'Htel de la ferme des vins (Casa de la
Administracion de la Renta del Vino), et gard militairement.
La crmonie est repousse au 11 puis au 18 car il faut bien cinq semaines
pour donner la ville le dcor de fte recherch. La Plaza Mayor, la Plazuela
Santa Isabel, la Cathdrale, l'Eglise des Augustins, le Palais du Gouverneur, la
Casa consistorial, mais aussi les maisons prives et notamment celles des chinois
Binondo et dans la Parian, sont restaurs, dcors et tendus d'toffes rouges et
jaunes. Les Chinois construisent deux pagodes, l'une prs du Puente Grande,,
l'autre la sortie du Pont de Binondo. Le jour venu, le tablean est plac sur un
grand char et tir bras d'hommes jusqu' la Cathdrale, puis jusqu' l'Ayun-
tamienio o il est reu en grande pompe. La Municipalit donne ce soir-l une
grande rception, tandis que dans tous les quartiers de la ville, c'est la liesse
gnrale. On lrhe des ballons (globos aerostaticos), on tire des feux d'artifice
(fuegos artificielles) et les Chinois se pressent au thtre {montaron tambin un teatro-
donde interprta ban sus tipicas representaciones dramaticas).
Les dessins conservs Madrid sont ceux que Ricafort fit excuter et
envoyer Madrid afin de montrer au roi comment les choses s'taient passes.
On y voit le dispositif prvu Binondo pour recevoir le tableau royal, le char
triomphal (sous plusieurs angles avec ses colonnes doriques, les deux lions tenant
les armoiries et les nombreux drapeaux), les pagodes chinoises (avec l'effigie du
roi et des inscriptions appropries du genre de Guo tai Min an que le pays soit
fort et le peuple en paix) et surtout les dcorations des principales places et fa
ades. L'intrt de ces dessins est d'autant plus grand que beaucoup de ces di
fices, et notamment le Palais du Gouverneur (construit au XVIIme s.), la Casa
consistorial et la Plaza Mayor n'ont pas survcu au terrible tremblement de terre
de 1863.
Denys LOMBARD
Reynaldo CLEMEN A ILETO, Pasyon and Revolution', Popular Movements in the Philippines,.
1840-1910, Ateneo de Manila University Press, Metro Manila, 1979.
If there is an aspect sadly neglected or rarely studied in the Filipino strug
gle for independence, it might as well be Filipino masses idea of a revolution.
Filipino historians recognize the active participation of the masses in the Revolution
but hardly is there mention of their idea of a revolution. It is this lack of info
rmation on folk perceptions of western concepts like nationalisme and independence
that makes Ileto's work invaluable. Ileto shows to us in his book how the peasants*
perception of independence was to a great extent inspired by the Pasyon.
The Pasyon, an epic poem popularized during the Spanish period narrates
the life of Jesus Christ -his birth, death and resurrection. It likewise suggests the
course of universal history as it describes the Creation of the World, the Fall of
Man and the Last Judgement. According to Ileto, the Pasyon also provided po
werful images of transition from one state or era to another. He cites the tran-
ition from darkness to light, despair to hope, misery to salvation, death to life,
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ignorance to knowledge and so on. To Ileto these themes contained in the Pasyon
and these images of transition conjured by the Pasyon provided a framework with
which the Filipino peasant could conceptualize his emancipation or liberation.
How exactly did the Pasyon assume relevance in the every day life of the
Filipino masses?
Ileto first considers the similarity of socio-economic conditions during the
time of Christ and that of the -Philippines -under the- colonial -rulers* -The op
pression and persecution suffered by the followers of Christ under the Romans
was a situation which the Filipino peasant could easily identify to.
Furthermore, the lowly origins of Jesus- Christ provided an idea amongst
the masses of the potentials of leadership among the poor and ignorant. The
most provocative aspect of the pasyon text using the words of Ileto, is the
presentation of Jesus-Christ as a subversive who sought to bring a new order in
the society. It is therefore not surprising according to Ileto that leaders of some
religious movements were hailed as 'kings or liberators.
Ileto asserts that the pasyon furthermore became relevant to the Filipino
masses through the use of traditional cultural values to make the Pasyon a lived
experience. Ileto singles out the Filipino concept of loob (inner self) and damay
(compassion). Through the prayers, oaths, narrative poems, correspondences and
public messages of revolutionary leaders one couldn't help but notice the constant
allusions to religious traditions and. indigenous cultural values. Contrary to con-,
elusions established by earlier interpreters of Philippine h-story that religion - pro- >
moted passivity and that certain indigenous values promoted reconciliation, Ileto
asserts that religious traditions and certain cultural values have latent meanings,
that can be revolutionary. Who ever thought that the Pasyon could inspire
the Filipinos to t work for their emancipation?
The Pasyon as a whole deals the salvation of man by following the teachings
of Jesus-Christ. The Pasyon therefore plies a transformation of the inner self or
bob in order to merit a heavenly reward or in the case of the revolutionaries, the
reward of independence. A change of loob was of utmost importance in all
the popular movements. A transformed inner self implied a release of all its
positive potentials. Having magandang loob (reformed inner self) to the revoluti
onaries was a loob where love, compassion and virtue reigned. According to
Ileto it was precisely from a reformed inner self that damay, compassion and
unity were unleashed, sentiments which the revolutionaries considered as important
in the struggle.
From a changed loob comes commitment and a peaceful acceptance of death*
Jesus showed a serene and controlled loob in the face of trials and death as he
committed himself to the Will of God. Commitment among the Filipino masses
meant a loob which was capable of enduring many trials, of maintaining equilibrium
in the face of threats and pressures. Apolinario de la Cruz, in the face of perse
cution of his brotherhood by the establishment, admonished his followers to be re
solute {pacatibayan ang loob). Ileto notes that the test of a cofrade's commitment
to the brotherhood and to the Holy Family was his ability to withstand persecu
tion by outsiders and to resist the temptation to live an easier life by withdrawi
ng. In the katipunan of Bonifacio, a would-be member or neophyte had to
undergo mental and physical initiation to test his commitment, his readiness to face
all dangers including the imminence of death. Ileto oberves that most leaders of
religious movements accepted death with serenity and even wellcomed it. He cites
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the report of Father Sancho, the curate of Lucban which mentions that Apolinario
de la Cruz died serenely and showed unusual greatness of spirit. To Apolinario
de la Cruz and his followers death was the fulfillment of their hopes, the final
passage to a condition of pure liwanag where they would be face to face with
God and other beings in Paradise. Sakay who led a resistance movement against
the Americans was said to have also calmly accepted- death in the hands of the
Americans. His parting words are worth quoting :
Death comes to all of us sooner or later, so I will face the Lord Almighty
calmly. But I want to tell you that we are not bandits and robbers as the
Americans have accused us, but members of the revolutionary force that
defended our mother country. Filipinas Farewell! Long live the republic
and may our independence be born in the future! Farewell ! Long live Filipinas!
Felipe Salvador, founder of the religious movement called Santa Iglesia, hanged
in 1912 on the charge of sedition, was said to have been in good spirits as he faced
death. He declared Ako ay tatanggap ng kamatayan matamis sa aking loob, (I am
about to embrace death which is sweet to my loob)
Ileto expounds on .the relationship between the state of loob and the wearing
of anting-anting (amulet or potion that gives special powers such as protection from
injury and ability to pass through walls). Ileto points out that the Javanese notion
of leadership and power as related to the state of inner, self is a notion present among
the Filipino masses. Ileto quotes Benedict Anderson's definition of power in the
Javanese tradition as an intangible, mysterious and divine energy which animat
es the universe. A person acquires power by focusing or concentrating on to hims
elf some of this energy by extreme ascetism, meditation, sexual -abstinence, ritual-
purification - acts leading to self purification. Viewing this notion in the Philip
pine context, we see most of the revolutionaries who desired to have extraordinary
powers wearing amulets or anting-anting. To them, the efficacity of the anting-anting
depended on the state of the inner self. Self purification during the Holy Week
was essential to them. Ileto comments that it is no wonder why anting-antings were
obtained, tested or recharged during the Holy Week, a time of the year when
the Filipino masses purified and renewed themselves.
The Pasyon- continued to inspire the katipunans during the Philippine
Revolution. The katipunan's emphasis on a changed inner self, on brotherhood,
on unity and on viewing kalayaan (independence) as a sacred mission all pointed to
the fact that the Pasyon was now a lived experience. Ileto explains that the
pasyon-inspired notion of independence of Filipino masses would inevitably come
into conflict with the western-inspired notion of independence of the elite. Far
from reducing the Bonifacio- Aguinaldo conflict as a fight for leadership, Ileto is
of the opinion that the conflict dwelt more on the issue of maintaining the katipu-
nan mode of. struggle. By this time the katipunan was already a way of life among
the Filipino masses and kalayaan was an imminent event to which their loob must
be directed.
Ileto cautions against the tendency of attributing the emergence of popular
movements to economic dislocation. Not all popular movements were agrarian-
inspired and according to Ileto religio-political movements flourished in relatively
prosperous regions. The author cites a rather perceptive remark of an American
who said that to call the unrest in Tayabas as agrarian was to ignore its katipu
nan characteristics and independence goal.
Ileto's study has significantly contributed to a better understanding of the
Filipino psyche.
Maria-Luisa CAMAGAY