Andres Bonifacio featured briefly in a Madrid weekly journal (1897)

This illustration based on a photograph appeared in the
08 February 1897 issue of La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana. 

The Filipino revolution against the Spanish colonial masters broke out in August 1896. It wasn't 'breaking news' in Spain's news media. There was Cuba to occupy them anyway.

Six months later however a picture and a bitty item on Andres Bonifacio appeared in the 08 February 1897 issue of La Ilustracion española y americana, a weekly journal in Madrid. Three months later, Bonifacio was assassinated in Cavite, which, to our knowledge, also did not merit mention in the Spanish press.

La Ilustracion captioned Bonifacio's picture as 'presidente de la republica tagala.' president of the tagalog republic. In a single-sentence paragraph that followed, he was the 'presidente de la republica de katipunesca,' which thus acknowledged the armed revolutionary movement he led, but then callled the Katipunan a group of ungrateful mad children of Spain who wanted to establish the republic 'after the extermination of all the whites.' 

The reporter wondered how the very humble origin of Bonifacio--his livelihood depended on Fressel and Company, a commercial house in Manila--could have earned him the first place or top post in his group/ 

The 'government that the rebels formed' was listed as consisting of the Ministers of the Supreme People's Council: President, Andres Bonifacio; War, Teodoro Plata; State, Emilio Jacinto; Governance, Aguedo del Rosario; Justice, Birecio Pantas; Treasury, Enrique Pacheco.

This was followed by an obit to 'Teodoro Plata and other ministers and heads of the republic who were shot the day before yesterday in Manila [06 February 1897].' 

Obviously, a cablegram dispatched from Manila to Madrid came right on time just before Ilustracion got to the press on 08 February 1897.

The story then went to inform about what General Camilo Polavieja would do to finish the 'comedy government': attack Cavite, the entire province being a rebel stronghold except Carmona, which can be entered from Binan and Laguna de Bay. 

To isolate this 'core of rebellion', Polavieja established a line from Calamba to Tanauan and to a banana farm in Taal. He placed armed boats in both Laguna and Taal lakes. He wanted to cut rebel communications to central and northern Luzon. He used the line following the Pansipit river to cut the lines between the rebels and south Luzon. He guarded Manila Bay so that no arms and ammunition would land in Cavite, and there would be no communications between the Cavite rebels and those of Bataan and Bulacan.  

'The victory of our troops is assured,' the Ilustracion predicted, 'because it is very well prepared; but it will be expensive, because the enemy has had many months to prepare the defense. The land is favorable to them, some parts very rough and others marshy, and now the rice fields completely flooded because the Cavitenos broke the dams. Andres Bonifacio and his general Emilio Aguinaldo have about 60,000 men, of whom more than 20,000 well armed.'

Twists of fate, personal and historical, happened in the life of the revolutionary factions and their leaders, and the budding nation as well, after 08 February 1897. Polavieja did not march into Cavite, and three months later, Bonifacio died in the hands of Cavitenos,

Bonifacio stands frozen on a pedestal in Monumento, Caloocan City. The El Grito (the Cry) monument in UP Diliman has the unknown rebel still raising his bolo and flag in defiance. The modern Bonifacios are either fighting in the underground or seething with various advocacies in the social media or in parliaments on the streets when the occasion arises.

Reference:

• Report. 1897 February 8. Filipinas - Andres Bonifacio - titulado presidente de la republica tagala.  La ilustracion espanola y smericana. 41:5 (79 text, 88 picture). Retrieved from Biblioteca Nacional de Espana at  http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0001174678

Unknown and lost forever: Juan Luna's prison wall paintings (1896-1897)

Paintings of Juan Luna in his prison cell at the military barracks in Manila as 

photographed by M. Arias y Rodriguez, which appeared in the 06 August 1900 

issue of La Ilustracion Artistica.

Political prisoner Juan Luna was locked in a dungeon in the ground floor of the cavalry barracks, "leaving him completely incommunicado," according to Manuel Arias y Rodriguez. The famous Spoliarium artist was arrested on 23 October 1896"for having been implicated in the Philippine insurrection against Spain."

He was writing about Luna's paintings on his prison walls in the 06 August 1900 issue of La Ilustracion Artistica, a weekly journal published in Barcelona.

M, Arias y Rodriguez (1850-1924) is well-known for his photograph of Jose Rizal's execution on December 30, 1896. He was, in a way, a war correspondent, a photo journalist, of La Ilustracion Artistica, Said to be sympathetic to the Philippine revolution against Spain, he sent his photographs of the Filipino insurrectos to the Barcelona journal; he also covered the Spanish side of the war.

How did the famous painter of the Spoliarium get to paint while in confinement until he was pardoned and set free on 27 May 1897?

Apparently, he was privileged to be supplied of  "books, colors and brushes" and thus, "for his pastime or leisure, [Luna] adorned the rough walls of the so-called dungeon with his works."

Arias y Rodriguez said that when Luna was released, he asked permission and was allowed by the head of the cavalry squadron to photograph the wall paintings. 

He described Luna's prison cell: "The dungeon consisted of a small room about three meters long by two and a half wide: a meter from the floor was a wooden floorboard that occupied the entire cell to avoid the high humidity of the floor, located at a level lower than the patio. In front of the front door there was a square window with light iron bars. The half-bleached walls had an unequal surface, almost like a rough stone, and the innumerable holes and cracks on them showed that they had not been repaired for a long time." 

He noted that "[s]ince this room had served as a dungeon for classes and soldiers, one could see in them some of those crude drawings that are usually found in such places, among which are the ones done by the aforementioned Filipino artist, which stand out."

The "ones done" by detainee Juan Luna were on the right and left walls. 

What Arias y Rodriguez sent to La Ilustracion Artistica was the picture of the left wall paintings comprising various images like a clock marking the hour when he was arrested (Luna brought the clock with him), an imitation of a bas-relief, a portrait of a stranger, a little girl and Sarah Bernhardt (a popular concert artist of that time).

We can imagine what was on the right wall, which Arias y Rodriguez described as consisting of several figures including a wall calendar with the date when Luna was arrested, and the seal of the Customs of Manila for the dispatch of packages.

The walls tumbled down from the bombs of the Second World War, and the paintings were lost forever.

Unlike Luna's prison paintings, the art works produced by political detainees of recent memory--the Martial Law years, for example--were expressions of their advocacy and insurrection against the dictatorial regime of Marcos, and the continuing repression of political action after the EDSA revolution.

P.S. Juan Luna went back to Spain after his release from his dungeon at the military barracks. When he learned of the assassination of his brother Antonio by Aguinaldo's men in June 1899, he decided to come back. But on his way home, he had a heart attack in Hong Kong on 7 December that same year.

References:

• Juan Luna prison wall painting. 1900 August 06. La Ilustracion Artistica. 19:971 (512, 518). Retrieved from Hemeroteca Digital, Biblioteca Nacional de Espana at  http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0005530609 

• Agencia Editorial. Manuel Arias y Rodriguez. Retrieved from http://www.nigelgooding.co.uk/Spanish/Business%20Firms/Agencia%20Editorial/AgenciaEditorial.pdf

Juan Luna's 'Death of Cleopatra' (1881) goes to Singapore

As first seen at the Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1881.
Source: La Ilustracion espanola y americana (30 June 1881)

News photo of La Muerte after 136 years.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (16 November 2017)

Famous Filipino artist Juan Luna was first noticed in Spain because of his work La Muerte de Cleopatra (The Death of Cleopatra), competition entry number 379 in the Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid that opened on 18 May 1881.

This historical painting was awarded a silver medal but it has never been seen again. The Museo Nacional del Prado kept it for 136 years. Luna fans will have to fly to Singapore to see it on exhibit at the National Gallery Singapore from 16 November 2017 until 11 March next year.

We first saw the news photo reproduction of La Muerte painting in the 30 June 1881 issue of La Ilustracion espanola y americana, a Madrid magazine, and read a review of it and other paintings in the Madrid exposition in the 22 June issue.

The reviewer said that Luna's work, which was in the fourth exhibition sala, caught the fixed attention of viewers; and he called the newcomer in the Spanish art circle as "energetic, frank, brilliant."

"The subject of the painting," he wrote, "is the death of that queen of Egypt whom Horace called the fatal monster, and Virgil a cursed woman; that one which Michelet said does not deserve mercy or admiration. .. In golden bed lies the corpse of Cleopatra, adorned with pharaonic magnificence; the slave Iras, also dead, is in front of the bed; the black slave Charmion, who has just placed the royal crown on her lady's head, falling at that moment, as if struck by lightning." The venomous asp had just done its job.

There is something missing, he added. And he took it from Plutarch: the emissaries of Octavio who were able to enter the mausoleum where "Caesar's and Anthony's mistress" and her slaves locked themselves in. One of the emissaries was supposed to have shouted to Charmion that Cleopatra does not deserve the crown, but the slave shouted back that she's most worthy of it, being the daughter of kings.

In the composition, the reviewer said, "one can see the faithful Charmion falling to the ground but you can not see or even guess that there were Roman intruders.

He noted that the many exuberant details on the canvas, and even the beautiful background, greatly distracted from the main theme of the work.

He concluded, however, that the painter is a promising luminary in the Spanish art scene.

Juan Luna would make a bigger splash in the Spanish media in 1884: the highest honor and praises his Spolarium gained, two news magazines having him in their covers, with one of the cover stories written by his friend Jose Rizal. In later years, reproductions of his works were featured including the paintings he did on the prison walls when he was incarcerated for rebellion in Manila. 

References:

1. Review of La Muerte in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana. 25:23(406). 22 June1881. 
2. Painting reproduction in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana. 25:24(415). 30 June 1881.

"Sangre Roja" - association of San Narciso public school teachers in the 1900's

There was no Gabaldon school building yet in San Narciso in 1910. The first one would be built in 1913 although the Gabaldon law (Act 1801), which appropriated Pesos 1-Million for constructing schools based on the designs of architect William Parsons all over the country, was enacted in 1907.

Male teachers, provincial representatives in a PTA event, 1909. Two of them are from Zambales.
Source: Cover of The Filipino Teacher, June, 1909..

The public school teachers of San Narciso though organized a society they called "Sangre Roja." There could have been a strong reason for them to adopt that name, which means "red blood" but which we can not seem to deduce from what "The Filipino Teacher" reported as "the tendency of this society [of being] (1) Recreative, and (2) Instructive."

"The Filipino Teacher" was the monthly magazine of the Philippine Teachers' Association (PTA) edited in English, Spanish and Tagalog. The San Narciso teachers belonged to the Zambales Teachers' Association, which became the provincial committee of the PTA in 1908. 

In their organizational meeting held in the hall of the Presidencia, the "Sange Roja" elected the following officers:  President - Mr. Victor Amos Altardino, Secretary - Mr. Marcos Fuerte,       Treasurer - Miss Maria Guidilla, and Vocales [Board members]: Mr. Gervacio Fedalizo, Miss Marcelina Academia, Miss Perfecta Amos, Miss Francisca Firme, Mr. Alejandro Dumlao, Mr. Esteban Guidilla.

That meeting was followed by an "interesting program", according to the magazine report which featured the following: 

1.  Preliminary talk by the President of the association “Sangre Roja” Mr. Victor Amos Altardino.

2.  Recitation, the Book of the Year, by Miss Maria Villanueva

3.  Flores Orientales, Waltz by the band of the Municipality

4.  Conference about the important [sic] of Poultry Raising by Mr. Victorio Posadas

5.  Morena Carmen, Waltz by the Band of the Municipality.

6.  Debate. Resolved that it is more beneficial for a girl to stay at home than to go to school

Affirmative – Miss Perfecta Amos, Mr. Benito Ebuen, and Mr. Apolonio Academia

Negative – Miss Marcelina Academia, Mr. Donato Amon and Mr. Pablo Cawagas

7.   Star Spangle[d] Banner and Marcha Nacional Filipina

We read several school programs in the early 1900/s in other places that featured a debate. This could have been an exercise for mastering the English language, an oral test for both the teachers and their students.

Our Narcisenian teachers of 1910 could have been on the job ever since the Americans introduced the new educational system in 1901. Some were qualified to teach after going through the crash course in the English language; others, after passing the Intermediate school (Grade 7), and later, completion of the high school course.. The Zambales High School in Iba was established in 1908, and if there were any Narcisenians there, they graduated in 1912. Eventually, graduates of the Normal School became the leading figures in the school system.

In those early years, there were more male teachers than female. Pensionados to the U.S. were mostly men. 'Gender-fair' was not yet in the vocabulary, and the salary was not equal between the two sexes..

Salaries were either insular (from the national government) or municipal (from the town coffers). The American teachers were paid more than their Filipino counterparts. Every time the Americans were given a raise, the Filipino teachers complained through "The Filipino Teacher" of the "unfair" treatment, and wondered when they would also enjoy the "limpak limpak" salary the Americans got. The Tagalog phrase was from an article in the Tagalog section of the magazine.

Although "the service is open to both sexes, however, on identical terms, and in many provinces, the women teachers receive an average larger salary than the men."  In 1904, for example, "the average salary for a native teacher [was] highest in the city of Manila ... P 72.67 per month for men teachers and P70.16 for women teachers; and it is lowest in Paragua [Palawan] .. P7.50 for the men and P 7.75 for the women. ... [In] Zambales, P9.92 for men and P11.37 for women." 

Thus in 1904, the maestros of San Narciso received an annual salary of  P119.04, while the maestras were paid  P136.44, The Americanos received more than a thousand pesos each.


Note: The teachers in the picture as numbered: 1.Mr. Anastacio Quijano (Gen. Secretary of The Filipino Teacher); 2. Mr. Bernardo Elayda (Zambales); 3.Mr. Francisco de Mesa (Pampanga); 4. Mr. Ciriaco de Leon (Bulacan); 5. Mr. Guillermo Santos (Pres., Executive Board); 6. Mr. Leoncio R. Gonzales (Advisor and Gen. Secretary Protempore); 7. Mr. Militon Cruz (Bulacan); 8. Mr. Emilio Pestaño (Manila); 9. Mr. Hugo de la Torre (Batangas); 10. Mr. Pablo de Guia (Cavite); 11. Mr. Miguel Nicdao (Pampanga); 12. Mr. Pedro Manalo (Rizal);13. Mr. Teodorico Bauson (Pangasinan);14.  Mr. Brigido Santos (Rizal); 15. Mr. Quirino Perez (Pangasinan); 16.  Mr. Zosimo Topacio (Cavite); and 17.  Mr. Marciano Peralta (Zambales).

References:

1. Report on "Sangre Roja" in The Filipino Teacher, 4:3(4), August, 1910.

2. Report on the approval of  Zambales Teachers' Association as provincial committee of PTA in The Filipino Teacher, 2:6(6), December 1908.

3. Annual Report of the General Superintendent of Education. September, 1904. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing. pp 17-25.