The executive committee which organized the 113th Philippine Independence Day Celebration held at the Universal City Sheraton Hotel on Saturday, June 11, broke tradition by having a non-government official as guest speaker in the annual Kalayaan Grand Ball.
Although a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines sat at the presidential table and spoke briefly when dinner was being served, the premier speaking assignment went to Patricia Magdalena Laurel—a writer of fictional children’s books who had spent a good part of her 50-odd years living abroad: first in Germany, where her family sent her to study at a young age of fifteen, and more recently, in Hawaii, where she had authored fictional novels for about a decade.
But these credentials pale in comparison to Patricia’s less publicized genealogy, the most surprising of which is being a great grand-niece of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, whose 150th birthday is being celebrated on June 19.
She did not know her genetic ties with the Philippine’s revered patriot until she became a teenager. Rizal’s execution by the Spanish administration during the tailend of the 19th century was taboo for discussion in her family, Patricia revealed during her brief speech on Saturday.
She related that she and her siblings used to gaze at the statue of the man with a long overcoat in the plaza of Calamba, Laguna, Rizal’s hometown. But she didn’t know that she is related to the national hero. When she found out, she was sixteen years old and was studying in Germany. The topic of Rizal’s execution was never discussed with them by their mother, a granddaughter of Maria, Jose Rizal’s sibling and the sixth child among the eleven children of Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado and Teodora Morales Alonso Realonda.
“The story of his execution was so sad that his siblings and their descendants never talked about Rizal,” Patricia told this writer. That explains why she had learned about her relationship to Rizal at a later age.
“I was bewildered when I learned the first time,” she revealed. “It was something that our family never really discussed because it would hurt too much to talk about their brother, who was executed.” She was dumbfounded when she finally learned. “It is not very often that you find that you are related to Jose Rizal,” Patricia quipped. “I knew my great grandma was a Rizal, but I didn’t know that she had a brother.”
Before interviewing Patricia, I spoke with Ted Benito, who directed and produced the Kalayaan show for a second time. I had no inkling that he and Patricia knew each other very well. It was one of those serendipitous moments when things fell into place without any sort of plan. I wanted to get his impression of the production, but being that Ted is a close friend of Patti—as he calls her—gave my article an unexpected historical boost.
Ted was instrumental in getting Patricia to be the guest speaker. However, Particia will be unable to attend the sesquicentennial birthday anniversary celebration of Jose Rizal in Calamba, Laguna on Sunday, June 19. The event will be graced by President Noynoy Aquino at Paciano Rizal’s home. “Ted, I’m missing that (celebration) because of you,” Patricia teasingly told him.
It turns out that Ted knows Patricia so well that, in comparison, his knowledge of her would overshadow what little he knows about Jose Rizal. What sticks to his memory is Patricia’s question regarding Rizal’s relevance to the present generation of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.
“If Jose Rizal was alive today and he was in the Philippines and he asked a question: ‘Is this the country that I died for? The country that I gave my life for?’ How would people answer that?”
Ted replied, “Okay, I can’t answer that because I am not in the Philippines. We are the descendants of what he died for; his martyrdom, his legacy. So by that, I’m proud to be Filipino. And the fact that he has a living descendant of him here is giving me goosebumps!”
When Robby Fabian, President of ABS-CBN Foundation International, introduced Patricia, he recalled a time when he and Patricia were dining at a German restaurant. After she had spoken to the German waiter in fluent German and left for the restroom, the waiter asked Robby where she was from. Robby replied that she’s from the Philippines.The waiter told him that he was intimidated by her because she spoke German with a perfect accent.
Ted told me that Patti’s life is full of amazing coincidences. “The first is when she is invited to the unveiling of a Rizal bust when she was studying in Germany, and subsequently learns of her genetic ties with Rizal,” Ted relates. “The second is more incredible. Patti is putting out a magazine—Art Insite—and she runs out of money. Out of the blue, she receives an e-mail from a Penelope Flores, a professor at San Francisco University, asking her to meet in Manila.”
During their meeting, Penelope told her that she and her husband are tracking the history of Rizal after he left Germany. “Great,” Patti exclaims. “I guess I can help you with that because my great grandmother was Maria.” Penelope looks at her in disbelief and says: “My great grand-uncle is Maximo Viola,” and Patti says, “Are you here to collect on the debt?”
The “debt” is the funds that Maximo Viola, a doctor, gave to Rizal in order for him to publish his novel Noli Me Tangere. One hundred-fifty years later, Penelope is helping Patti to finance her magazine.
“So what is the coincidence in that?,” Ted asked. He says that above and beyond those, Patti wants to return to the Board of the ABS-CBS Foundation International where they had met.
“She wants to be able to teach Filipino-American kids about Filipino traditions and culture through her magazine Art Insite (www.artinsitemagazine.com).” Patti is developing a curriculum and writing literature because she wants Filipinos to be proud of who they are. Born in the Philippines, educated and having lived abroad for many years until recently, Patti moved back home to San Pablo, Laguna, where she continues to write fictional novels for young readers.
Recently, a forensics professor from the University of the Philippines visited her and the other women descendants of Maria Rizal, and took DNA samples of each to enable them to track a singular trait which binds them. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with New York University.
Presently, Patricia says, she continues to write books. “I’m a writer and a storyteller,” she said. “I am writing adult fiction geared towards Fil-Ams and Filipino kids because they are losing sight of their identity here and there. It’s really sad.”
Her advice to guests who are thinking of helping their countrymen: “It is hard to go back home because it is different there now,” she said. “We have to learn to adjust to them and not have them adjust to us. Just smile.”
“Look at your children; look at them closely; they are full of hope, innocence and uncertainty, not knowing what the future will bring. Don’t let them lose sight of their cultural identity,” she stressed. “Don’t forget where you come from, and where they come from. Teach them to respect our traditions.”
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek June 15-17, 2011 MDWK pg.2)
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