QUOTES FROM A BOOK
By: Iris P. Concepcion

I start the entry, long overdue, about Rizal's almost impossible exploits as a fetus, a pistol man and a film prime suspect.

This is a book on Rizal with Bencab drawings that is authored by Bantug-Ventura.

On bringing his second novel El Filibusterismo to the Philippines:

"Some readers fooled the soldiers by disgusing the book with covers bearing titles like "Historia Natural" (Natural History) or Libro de Poesias (Book of Poetry). Dona Concha Leyva, Rizal's favorite aunt, had copies carefully buried in her garden, to be unearthed only when necessary. The original itself was kept inside a tampipi, a clothes chest made by rattan, upon which a housemaid sat, sewing calmly while the guardia civiles feverishly searched the house."

That is such a poetic celluloid depiction of El Filibusterismo's contraband quality.

Also here, Rizal was almost elevated to a supernatural being.

"His friends marveled at how he could imprint his name on a wall with the bullets of a pistol."

John Wayne would have blinked at this Filipino nation shaper at this juncture.

"Even before the infant Jose saw the light of day, he proved to be an unusual fellow. On the eve of his birth, he was heard crying in his mother's womb. Dona Teodora Alonso was waiting for her return at the confessional when the sound of the unborn infant's wail pierced the silence of the Church. An old woman approached her to ask why the child in her womb was protesting."

I think, at the back of my mind, I am truly looking for a book that will feature Rizal as a manicurist, haircutter or seafood eater.

Our hero is impossibly brilliant that he could speak 15 languages. He was marooned in a ship and engaged himself in verbal discussions via different languages. When he finally met a group of Filipinos, he was ashamed to know that he could not understand their dialect, knowing only Visayan and Tagalog.

His vision for a unified national language emerged from this encounter.

He must be proud of how our spoken tongue had evolved. Especially now.

On another note, I watched the press conference of the President on the recent hostage-taking crisis which killed the hostage-taker Ronaldo Mendoza. He was conversant with the questions thrown at him that I got a thorough explanation from him than all the confused and combined network coverages which sometimes bend on sensationalism. I surmised, he could have been a good editor of any news agency. I hope everyone can view his NBN press stint. It was very telling.

When he speaks directly to the press, he comes out better than any handler can possibly spin.

I point this to his savvy grasp of issues; his ability to parry head-on the unusually pointed questions and his saying straight to the point the "real" cause of these occurences. He cited historical moments to prove his point.

If people want to paint a rowdy condition that has often been the coffer for terrorist actions that often lead to backdoor extortions in these islands, real issues become too clouded. Hence, I am impressed by a President who tells it as is, from his unwooled eyes.

Like his inaugural speech, he spares no one; he does not court rhetorics. When he says it as is, everyone is better illumined. No follow-up question is even needed as he cuts through the dynamics of dramatics and hysterics that often do not help coverages of prime issues.

You must wonder though, why a tourist bus this time?

There could be something symbolic in that siege.