Filipinos and their

Events, Discourse, and

Revolution
Historiography

An abridged version by
Reynaldo Ileto
 Bernardo Carpio:
AWIT AND
REVOLUTION
The Philippine Revolution, despite being one
of the most famous events in national
history is still muddled with questions
Spain has imposed censorship and other forms of
intellectual repression during their rule. Because of
these, the "indoctrinated" turned to reading religious
because of a few problems regarding its tracts, such as the pasyon, corridos, and the awit; a
origin. One such problem is the relationship form of metrical romances. One famous awit, aside
between the educated Ilustrados and the from Francisco Balagtas' more popular Florante at
inarticulate "masses.“As written by John Laura, is the story of Bernardo Carpio, written in the
Historia Famosa ni Bernardo Carpio, which is based on
Schumacher, the ilustrados created the basis
the legend of the Spanish hero of the same name. This
for a Filipino history that would undermine
tale reveals a popular perception of the past where
and overthrow the Spanish narrative that Filipino nationalists attached their separatist views.
mandated Filipino loyalty to Spain under However, despite the popularity of the awit, the
moral sanctions. It seemed powerful enough revolution still occurred. Contrary to some ilustrados'
to drive them to establish a nation, but it is belief that these so-called “pobres y ignorantes” were
unclear how it could impulsively break the enamored in fairy tales, these same clueless masses
ties provided by utang-na-loob (i.e., a debt formed the bulk of the revolution, fighting both Spain
of gratitude) to Spain-- spanning three and the United States. To understand this a bit, it is
 Historia
Famosa

By: Bernardo Carpio

The king and queen of Spain have died, leaving As they fled from Jimena's quarters, Sancho was Showing pity to the young man, Bernardo was
their young son Alfonso and daughter Jimena attacked by Alfonso's men. When the infant cried, knighted and adopted by Alfonso. Killing Rubio in a
behind. Don Sancho, the count of Cerdeña, served the king joined in the fray and accused Sancho of duel, he was granted an army and became a general --
as an acting treachery (traitor/betrayal). The former adviser avenging his true father. Being adopted by Alfonso let
ruler until Alfonso comes of age. When Alfonso knelt and begged for mercy, asking for his hand to Bernardo "refine" (clear) his powers through endless
became king, he remained unmarried, while Don wed Jimena. battles, with his rival being
Sancho Emperor Carpio, whose territories were impenetrable
became the royal adviser and commanding Alfonso, manipulative as he was, gave his word, but even by the Twelve Peers of France. One day, Carpio's
general. His friend, Don Rubio, was the captain of envoy, Veromilla, arrived in Spain and demanded
not before luring Sancho to visit the castle of Luna.
vassalage from the king or else face invasion.
the army. Upon reaching the grounds, Sancho was chained
Bernardo, in his usual antics, attacked the envoy:
and tortured until he went blind. Lamenting
Jimena, upon reaching adulthood, had smitten both (groaning, moaning) at his pain and blindness,
"At tuloy tinampal and upuang silla

Avenir Next
Sancho and Rubio, their inner, being confused with Sancho poured out his heart and soul in his ay agad natapon sampong embajada,
their feelings. Jimena rebuked Rubio's advances, monologue about being separated from Jimena and nagcadurog-durog nabaling lahat na
"hardening" his inner, and became treacherous and Bernardo. He ended it with an appeal to God to pity nangusap ang hari Bernardo'i sucat na.
selfish. Sancho, a man capable of love, won the young. Anac co, aniya, icao ay maglibang

signpainter
Jimena's heart by professing his life for her. This at iya'i 'di utos sa leing alin man,
heartfelt confession resembles (similar to) the “At maquilala rin ang tunay na ina na ang embajada ay malalabanan
kundiman of the Tagalogs. at aco'i, gayon din na caniyang ama, caya ang loob mo ay magpacahusay.“
na cun siya Poon nama'i lumaqui na
Typical in the 19th-century awit, a Moro envoy aco po, Dios co, nama'i maquilala.“ As Veromilla returned to his camp, Bernardo implored
appeared to challenge Alfonso and his throne. The to Alfonso to give his blessing and let him
king entrusted Sancho to win the war but warned Meanwhile, Rubio was entrusted (was put in singlehandedly fight the enemy. As he was given his
him to never meet Jimena. Defying this order, he charge, assigned) to care for Bernardo and ordered blessing, Bernardo wasted no time and laid waste to
sneaked into her room and professed his farewell. him to withhold information on the child's Veromilla's camp, with the envoy fleeing in panic.
Jimena, with her confused inner being overpowered parentage. Alfonso then threw his sister to a Upon his return, he dedicated his victory to the king,
by his words, surrendered herself to him. Sancho cloister, scolded her for the "sins" she committed, attributing it to God's mercy and fate. He asked for a
indeed won the war in a gruesome manner, but and forgot all the love and care he gave to her and single request in return: to tell him the identity
Rubio was already aware that both lovers met. told her that she had failed to show her (debt of of his true parents. Alfonso tried to deceive Bernardo
gratitude) “utang-na-loob” for things past. Much by making a deal: defeat Emperor Carpio for the
information. Knowing Caprio's reputation, he was sure
He plotted his revenge on Sancho by manipulating like Sancho, Alfonso left her fate to God's will. As
that Bernardo would die. However, he miscalculated
Alfonso into having his sister be married to the Bernardo grew up, everybody noted his strength
Bernardo's powers. Conquering Carpio's nineteen
Count of Barcelona and cement an alliance. Sancho and stamina, always on the move:
castles until the emperor himself surrendered,
heard this and furiously cornered his friend. Fearing "Na lalacad-lacad ualang pinupunta Bernardo now owned Carpio's territories. Upon
for his life, he has filled with fear and shame, Rubio ang loob at puso'i, parating balisa …“ returning to Spain once more, Bernardo Carpio, as his
backed down -- but not until he heard Jimena giving new name, was shocked to find a French
birth. Reporting it to Alfonso, the king swore to ruin With Bernardo's powers unstable, killing every prince ruling the kingdom, also named Bernardo.
the lives of his sister and his adviser. The event animal he came across, people began to complain Alfonso, while on a hunting trip, explained that he
forced Sancho to take the infant Bernardo and flee to Rubio. temporarily relinquished (surrender, give up) the
to Cerdeña. The author took this to narrate Jimena’s Bernardo asked his "father" to let him serve King throne to the French to honor the "traditional ties"
Historia Famosa
continuation…
Furious with this, Bernardo Carpio scorned Alfonso's response and despised him for not honoring their bargain. He angrily declared that he
would find his parents by force. And by force, he did -- killing the king’s horses to prevent pursuit. On his way, he knelt in prayer to both God
and the Virgin Mary when, in the act of deus ex machina, a letter floated down from the heavens, revealing his parents' whereabouts and
additional instructions to do before finding them. He was told to cut the ties between Spain and France, then headed by Emperor Ludovico.

Avenir Next
The French cut ties with Spain, for fear of Bernardo Carpio's powers, which prompted Bernardo to visit the castle in Luna. Shifting the
narrative to Sancho, lamenting in his own darkness and Alfonso's cruelty:

"Icao naman cay ana sintang anac co

signpainter
na nababalitang Don Bernardo Carpio,
tanang villa't reino ay nasasapit mo
'di mo na narrating ama mong si Sancho.
Ano baga bunso na giulio co't sinta
'di na siniyasat ang poon mo't ama,
ang puso't loob mo'i 'di na nabalisa
sa nagdaralita't dito'i nagdurusa?"

By some act of miracle, Bernardo found Sancho's prison cell, killed the guards, and freed his father. However, their reunion was bittersweet
because Sancho succumbed (give way, submit, surrender) to his injuries. Finally, legitimizing his parentage, he brought Sancho's corpse back
to Alfonso's palace, where Jimena was to be wed. Only after the father, mother, and son reunited did Bernardo pretend to discover that
Sancho died -- a fitting end to a tragic tale.

However, the awit provided more…

Declining the Spanish throne, Bernardo Carpio roamed the lands and punished idolaters (followers/believers). In his exile (eviction), he found
a church-like structure with two lion statues guarding the entrance. Kneeling in prayer outside the building, a lightning bolt struck and
destroyed one of the lions. Angered by this, he threw the other statue away and vowed to destroy the lightning. Not far away from the
church, he saw two (2) mountains slamming against each other at regular intervals. Then an angel from heaven appeared and told Bernardo
that the
The “Awit’s” Conclusion.
Now, this
concludes…
This summarized awit is vital to the study of the
revolution in two respects:
"Ynang mapag-ampon Españang marilag,
nasaan ang iyong pagtingin sa anac?
Through this, Bonifacio made King Alfonso represent
Spain, Sancho, and Jimena be the devoted parents
Acong iyong bunson abang Filipinas. of the Tagalogs (which can be interpreted as the
(1) by appropriating a Spanish tale into a native Tingni't sa dalita'i 'di na maca-iuas!“ entire country), Rubio represent the friars, and
retelling, it enabled a group of people without a history Bernardo
of themselves, as a people, to have What follows this is a history of the country under the Carpio himself as the youth of the land -- the lost
imagined a lost past and a yearning for freedom from rule of corrupt friars, who used their authority to Indios who had no historical heritage. The mountains
Spain; and accumulate wealth through trickery via various taxes that
and "voluntary" contributions, which "granted“ a swift imprisoned Bernardo was changed to Montalban.
(2) The awit's crafted structure enabled nationalists to entrance to heaven. In the middle of it, it also narrated
use it as their medium for their political ideas. the friar-instigated (set in motion, start, begin, launch)
In contrast (difference, contradiction) with the
murder of the liberal Governor-General Bustamante in Southeast Asian neighbors having been transformed
The first point argued that Bernardo Carpio’s last 1719. All these narrations are accompanied by the by the great traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and
journey alludes (suggests) that Carpio represents the imagery of a mother-child perspective, which became Confucianism -- which gave them a feeling of being
Philippines in the story and that he was the indigenous the foundation and feature of nationalist poetry exotic and impenetrable, the Philippines is
king of the Tagalogs trapped inside a mountain, directed to the mass audience. Going back to the awit, transparent and knowable. When John Phelan wrote
struggling to break free and fight off the oppressors. the laments of the prominent characters draw feelings his history book about the country, he never actually
This ideology of Bernardo Carpio earned the interest of from the reader's relationships -- effectively utilizingvisited the Philippines, nor learn anything about it.
Jose Rizal, who used the premise of the tale in El empathy. This poem had a sequel, entitled “Sagot ng He, instead, based his work on Spanish source
Filibusterismo as a plot device in a conversation about España sa Hibik nang Pilipinas”, illegally circulated inmaterials and with his familiarity with Latin America.
the possibility of an armed revolt. In this scene, Rizal the country. This poem follows the same pattern as the However, his work showed something regarding
was careful to separate the "mythical" from the former, which again is directed toward the reader's Filipinos and the Spanish culture: the natives were
"national" in his writings. empathy. This is why modern writers and film critics no longer passive recipients of the things Spain had.
are dismayed in the Philippine Cinema and Television The Filipinos' responses varied from indifference and
The second point noted that to deal with the Historia industry: this form of writing and plot is a popular rage to simple acceptance. Because of this
Famosa and its connection with nationalist ideas, it piece for mass consumption. treatment, anything that was made by the natives
must juxtapose (mix/contrast) the various aspects of was easily dismissed as either devotional or literary,
the awit with nationalist writings. While Rizal was in This theme was re-explored in the establishment of the except with a few personal
Europe studying Antonio de Morga's work in a British Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan correspondences.
museum, the poem Hibik ng Filipinas sa Ynang España ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK). Its founder, Andres
was being Bonifacio, used this in his writings, but this time its
secretly circulated in the local populace. The author, a logic
teacher by the name of Hermenegildo Flores, worked is aimed at demanding a revolution. Growing up in
Continuation
…
This led to some degree of anxiety among Filipinos about the possibility that there
was a true Filipino history before the mid-19th century. It was not until 1872, when
the GomBurZa (Gomez, Burgos, Zamora) were executed, did the Filipino
perspective shifted from blind acceptance of Spain's presence to an awareness that
there must be something that caused them pain. The execution garnered much
public sympathy and outrage that the control that Spain had begun to weaken,
leading to an awakening of the nationalist spirit and the struggle for independence.
However, this evolutionist view of the events depends on the assumption that the
Filipinos lived in lavish innocence and wonder before being enslaved by the
colonizers. Rizal himself noted in a text in a 17th-century Spanish written history
book that the natives forgot their alphabet, their songs, poetry, and laws among
others, to imitate other doctrines that they did not know, losing their confidence in
their past, faith in the present, and hope for the future -- a dark and grim fate. Rizal
labored in the British Museum to research and document the image of a flourishing
pre-colonial civilization, which he awakened consciousness and self-assertion.
 Filipinos and their Revolution:
Events, Discourse, and

Finale…
Historiography

His construction of a "usable past," in turn, privileged the other ilustrados to help educate the
history-less, superstitious, manipulated masses (i.e., pobres y ignorantes -- naïve and
ignorant). Given that the Indios were converted to Christianity, one has to move beyond the
established and familiar views of how the Indios were affected by the new religion. On one
hand, the pro-Spain views that Christianity brought
civilized etiquette, salvation, and unity to the archipelago. On the other hand, nationalists
argued that
Christianity was used as a weapon for facilitating the political and economic enslavement of
the
"indoctrinated". Whichever side was chosen, the Indios were the passive recipient, The friars,
as representatives of God on Earth, are viewed as exerting a powerful moral hold over his
native wards. He
Interprets the rules of Christian behavior, rewarding the obedient and submissive, and
punishing the
Evildoers. It can be implicitly stated that Christianity had an impact on the Indios’ resignation
 That concludes our report for today with
regard to:

Filipinos and their

Events, Discourse, and
Revolution
Historiography

An abridged version by
Reynaldo Ileto
Thank
you