THE DEBACLE of Bataan on April 9, 1942 was never meant to go down history as a nation’s insurmountable defeat, for “it made heroes out of many, carving their niches as warriors in the glory of battle.” As a contemporary historian puts it, it’s ”the very reason why the historic event earned its fitting title, ‘Araw ng Kagitingan.’”
Such is how historian Jose Victor Torres puts it in his article, “Defeat and Glory: The Battle of Bataan (1942),” which is the closing essay of the lavish coffee-table book, “Peninsula of Faith and Valor: Bataan Through the Centuries” (Tomas Pinpin Publications, 2010).
Torres takes the reader through the historical thicket that led to the Fall of Bataan. He gives a fresh spin to the old stories about the battle recorded in books and documents, delving on the psyche of the key persons involved by citing excepts from their memoirs (such as Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s “Reminiscences”), and giving the critical interpretations of respected historians such as Teodoro Agoncillo.
Complementing the account are rare photos of the war, such as the Death March (mostly from the Lopez Museum) and memorials and markers of the carnage and inhumanity.
Earlier in the book, in his “A Hesitant Revolution (1896-1901),” Torres goes back to history even earlier than the Second World War, tackling the consequences of the Bataenos joining the revolution against Spain. Toward the end, he reveals why one of the eight emblematic rays of the sun in the Philippine flag stands for Bataan.
‘Prince of Printers’
But “Peninsula of Faith and Valor” contains more than the accounts of the revolution and the war. It in fact provides a panoramic history of Bataan, from the foundation of the original settlements by the great Dominican and Recollect missionaries to the Dutch invasions of the mid-17th century and beyond.
Utilizing archival documents from the University of Santo Tomas and key historical repositories around the world, the book, edited and written by a team of UST, Dominican and Recollect scholars and writers, with photographs and graphics by top photographers and artists, is a an intellectual and visual feast.
Tomas Pinpin, San Miguel
The book is also notable for providing the most comprehensive account yet of the two leading personalities to have hailed from or been associated with Bataan: Tomas Pinpin, the first Filipino author and the “Prince of Tagalog Printers,” and San Miguel de Aozaraza, the Spanish Dominican saint who labored in the Bataan mission field before he embarked for Japan where he was martyred along with San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in the 17th century.
In fact, “Peninsula of Faith and Valor” was published in 2010 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publication of Pinpin’s “Librong Pag-aaralan Nang Manga Tagalog Nang Uicang Castilla,” which the Bataeno himself printed.
In “Tomas Pinpin of Abucay, The Prince of Filipino Printers,” Fr. Fidel Villarroel, OP, former UST archivist, comes up with the most informative and well-based and -argued biographical profile of Pinpin. The Dominican historian writes that Pinpin was “a Christian Filipino, a Tagalog, born in the town of Abucay about the year 1590 who received an excellent education from the earliest Dominican missionaries of Bataan (especially from Fr. Francisco Blancas de San Jose, the Patriarch of Philippine Topography).”
Villarroel even comes up with a complete listing of the extant copies of books printed by Pinpin and his brother, Simon Pinpin.
Meanwhile, in “San Miguel de Aozaraza, Apostle of Bataan and Martyr, 1598-1637),” Villarroel comes up with a well-researched and -interpreted biography of the Spanish Dominican martyr, from his birth in Onate, Spain to his martyrdom in Japan. The account of the martyrdom is particularly dramatic.
Another very informative arcticle is Florentino Hornedo’s “The Tragedy in Abucay of 1647,” which situates the Dutch invasions and Bataan in the whirlwind of global historical currents at that time.
History of evangelization
Next to the Pinpin biography, perhaps the book’s strongest suit are its critical historical essays on the evangelization of Bataan by Fr. Samson Silloriquez, OAR (“The Augustinian Recollect Mission in Bataan, 1598-1637”), Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, OP (“The Role of the Dominicans in the Evangelization of Bataan (1587-1898), Geraldine Roman (“The Devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Orani: A Yearning of the Heart”), and Ma. Eloisa G. Parco de Castro (“The Dominican Prisoners of Bataan during the Revolution, 1898-1900: Persecution, Survival and Affirmation”).
The last combines religious and political history and is the most updated account yet of the friar imprisonment by the Katipunero leaders, many of whom were Masons.
Meanwhile, UST rector Magnificus Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, OP combines historical research, hermeneutics and theology in his article, “How the Natives of Bataan Received the Preaching of the Dominican Missionaries: Lessons for Modern-Day Preachers.”
“There are no manuscripts or books that definitively describe the preaching methods of the Dominican evangelizers of Bataan,” De la Rosa writes. “But since these Dominicans were either schooled in Spain or in Latin America, we can safely say that their preaching methods follow the norms and procedures established in Spain and in Latin America.”
(Photo editor and design consultant of the book is Nady Nacario of the UST College of Fine Arts and Design. Book designers are Robbie Villegas and Bong Bundang of the UST Publishing House.)
Tribute to Church heritage
Edited by Robbie Reyes of the Diocese of Balanga, Bataan, Regalado Trota Jose of the UST Archives, Eric Zerrudo of the UST Center for Conservation of Cultural Properties in the Tropics, and Inquirer editor Lito Zulueta, “Peninsula” has had a series of launchings at UST and the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Abucay, site of the original Dominican mission in Bataan.
The book was launched last December at the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, during which Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Julito Cortes, chair of the Permanent Committee on Cultural Heritage of the Church of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, held up the book as a laudable example of conserving and protecting the Church’s cultural patrimony.
“Rare is the opportunity to be part of a project that celebrates so many milestones in history,” Cortes said in his inspirational message. “It is in this act of memorializing that we provide inspiration to the future generations with a sense of pride and achievement.”
In a highly symbolic gesture, Father de la Rosa gave the copy earlier presented to him by the publishers to Fr. Eladio Neira, OP, vice provincial of the Holy Rosary Province, the Spanish province of the Dominicans in the Philippines. The UST Rector said people should not forget that the original evangelizers of Bataan were the Spanish missionaries.
Also receiving their first copies of the book were Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani, Jr.; Fr. Regino Bangcaya, OAR, prior provincial of the Augustinian Recollects; Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia, Jr.; Spanish Ambassador Luis Arias Romero; Malou Jacob of the National Commission for Culture and Arts; Philippine Dominican prior provincial Fr. Quirico Pedregosa Jr., OP; and General Ernesto Carolina of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.
The launching was highlighted by the rendition of the song, “Bataan: Bayani at Banal,” written by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and former Balanga, Bataan Socrates Villegas, and Ryan Cayabyab, by the internationally acclaimed UST Singers.
Last January, Letran-Abucay president Fr. Tamerlane Lana, OP hosted the Bataan launching of the book.
The launching in Bataan, with an inspirational message delivered by Fr. Genaro Diwa, minister for liturgical affairs, was highly symbolic. Dominican presence in Bataan officially had ended in the early 20th century, but when Villegas became bishop, he invited the religious orders to put up schools in Bataan. One of those he, an alumnus of Letran in Manila, invited were the Dominicans.
In 2000, the Filipino Dominicans set up the spanking Letran educational complex in Abucay. And the Dominicans are back where it all began.
“Peninsula of Faith and Valor: Bataan Through the Centuries” is availabe at Solidaridad Bookstore (Padre Faura Street near Adriatico Street, Ermita, Manila; tel. 5255038) and the UST Center for the Conservation of Cultural Properties in the Tropics (UST Thomas Aquinas Research Complex, Espana, Manila; tel. 406-1611 or 786-1611, loc. 4039). Also call Brother Robbie Reyes of the Tomas Pinpin Publications, 0917-5836883.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:00:00 04/04/2011
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