| Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
Part XI: “The Straphanger Goes Global” Series
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the music and lyrics to the song History Has Its Eyes on You. It is the 19th song from Act I of the musical Hamilton, which is based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. It premiered on Broadway, New York City, in 2015.
On the other hand, writers, journalists, and book authors seldom make history (unless they win some prestigious award like the Pulitzer or the Nobel Prize for Literature). There are exceptions to the rule, of course. For instance, the foremost Filipino national hero, Jose P. Rizal, wrote political novels but gained fame and stature through martyrdom. On the other hand, Isabelo (Don Belong) de los Reyes never became a martyr. The Spanish and American colonial authorities decided it was wiser to banish him to Barcelona (Spain) rather than face a firing squad. But Don Belong appears to some Filipino historians as also a national hero who did more for the Filipino people by becoming the father of the country’s labor movement, the founder of the Philippine Independent Church, the father of Filipino folklore, and the translator of the Spanish Bible into the Ilocano language, among his many achievements.
After the Americans captured President Emilio Aguinaldo, the remaining generals of the Filipino Army chose Don Belong de los Reyes as the interim president of the First Philippine Republic. But Don Belong was still exiled to Spain, and the news of his election arrived too late for him to return to the Philippines. This was reported by a serious student of history, Frank Quismorio, in one of the monthly meetings of the Philippine History Group of Los Angeles (PHGLA). Dr. Quismorio is also a physician and a member of the College of Medicine faculty of the University of Southern California.
Dr. Rizal and Don Belong used the power of the pen in their crusade for Filipino empowerment, which eventually led to the political independence of their homeland, the Philippines. The phrase, History Has Its Eyes on You, probably applied to both historical figures that incidentally were distant cousins, as Dr. Quismorio also reported to the PHGLA.
This writer learned from Maria Tabuena-Jamoralin (now deceased), his teacher in English at a Catholic high school in what is now Sorsogon City (Philippines), that “writers are essentially storytellers.” They write about the contemporary and past history of their community, country, and even the world. Writers, therefore, have to have their eyes on history. They do not write with history having its eyes on them.
” …’writers are essentially storytellers.’ They write about the contemporary and past history of their community, their country, and even the world. Writers, therefore, have to have their eyes on history. They do not write with history having its eyes on them.”
Political figures like Alexander Hamilton, Jose P. Rizal, Isabelo de los Reyes, and other central policy or decision makers probably acted with a common fear of history harshly — or even cruelly — treating them for their actions in public. Or even in private affairs or conduct.
Mrs. Jamoralin inspired this budding writer to take up journalism at San Beda College, owned and managed by Benedictine monks.
In ten days, this storyteller and his wife (a granddaughter of Don Belong de los Reyes) will revisit their homeland. This time, this book author will be apolitical. But he will follow up on what he has published about achieving socioeconomic empowerment for his fellow Filipinos, especially the poorest of the poor. Hopefully, he will be able to regale small crowds of friends and kin (and more on some possible radio interviews) on his writings about a revival of the Pacific-Islander Diet, which enabled him to cure himself — in 22 months — of Type-2 diabetes and minimize the pain of arthritis. Yes, he will tell the story of how his elders survived the Spanish Flu (from 1918-1920) without the benefit of modern medicine but only with herbal-and-natural medicine because the COVID-19 pandemic is rearing once more its ugly head. And its related viruses are also wreaking havoc with influenza and other related illnesses.
This journalist will continue to write this column and provide readers with updates and more tidbits about Philippine-American relations. After all, many Americans that served the U.S. military or civil bureaucracy in the Philippines and their descendants, those of Filipino descent, and those married to Filipino brides, still consider the Philippines the “unofficial 51st state of the United States.”
