Aujventures

Jose Rizal, Happy Birthday!

Sitting in the midst of a vast sea of hungry minds and faceless visions of the future, I made my mind wander off the window into another paradigm of heroism. The aspiring individuals surrounding me all sounded monotonous as the day unfolded with bits and pieces of our country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, his life, his death, his resurrection in the hearts of every Filipino generation.  With an already nibbled pencil in between my teeth as I unconsciously rocked my chair gently back and forth in a seemingly restless way and yet oblivious of boredom, I wondered why not a single soul in the room thought about discussing the way Rizal loved. His fires and passion. His very own art of seduction which can be traced in the tapestry of love letters sent to the chosen few he once loved and adored.

I have followed the tracks of Rizal's life with so much obsession, second to my mother who always had a fervor crush on him. She would always recall the time when she found herself at the point of joining the group Rizalistas, as she endlessly studied the life of our most famous hero and spent nights reading excerpts from Rizal's written love letters to the women of his life. Sometimes, when sentiments would drown her, she would even cry herself to tears with how fate ended things for Rizal, the solemnity of his noble pursuits and the dignified finish of his career as a Filipino. I think my mom fell more deeply in love with Rizal than my own dad. Really.

According to the count of the multi-awarded Filipino historian and journalist, Ambeth Ocampo, best known for his writings about Jose Rizal, there were thirteen women in Rizal’s life, and among them, Rizal considered seriously enough marrying three. However, snoopy historians believed there were at least nine women linked with him, who might have been beguiled by our leading man’s intelligence, charm and wit; namely Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga, O-Sei San, Gertrude Beckette, Nelly Boustead, Suzanne Jacoby and Josephine Bracken.

I felt anxious writing about the hero whom we are very proud of. My mom even reminded me that I should treat any topic which concerns Rizal’s life with precision and delicacy, as to give honor, and more importantly, as to not provoke dismay and riot amongst his fans like her own self. But the greater worth of reviewing his life lies in what is unknown, unraveled, those which were kept from us knowing when we were just in our high school uniforms and while we were banging our heads to finish a college paper on his works. Jose Rizal, stripped of the utmost accolades and perceived as an ordinary gentleman, is just another libertine in search for love, meaning, and purpose. Despite his being just a little over five feet tall, he could lure women with his sweet tongue expressed through his hands. The art of seduction, like claiming an own rendition of the song, his own, becomes entirely more alluring since he packs it with the voice of sincerity and desire. Who knows if he prefers boxers, briefs, or no underwear at all. He becomes like any broken-hearted who having lost a beautiful lover at one point or another, entertains the thought of moving on by courting other ladies. Rizal, like any other guy, hangs around in cafes with his pals, just to spot a hot chick they can get to know and pursue. Who would think that Rizal’s affairs developed a pattern that when he becomes close to a woman to the point of ‘intimacy’, he leaves her. The very reason why he was once called “Doble Leonor”. A number of biographers assumed that he chose to love two Leonors in his lifetime so as not to be discovered of his being playful with women. He has ran away from more than three potential mates but never ran out of reason to find new love in another.

Many has thought ill of Rizal with this aspect of his personality. But how could anyone resist an intelligent debonair as he has been? I think Rizal was clear that he fell deeply in love with just a few but with the most being deeply in love with him. Majority of it could have been treated and taken on a one-way street. Like all of us, Rizal has one passion that drives him off his feet more than falling head over heels in love. To my mom, it’s Rizal and his life. To my brother’s wife, it’s their angelic son. To me, it’s writing. To Rizal, it’s patriotism. I perceived that he believed the idea of having a wife would surely get in the way of devoting his whole life to our country. Nevertheless, I also think he owes a lot of his learning, maturity, and unceasing refilling and rejuvenation of motivation and passion to all the wonderfully, intelligent, and gorgeous women he once loved. I guess it all comes back to the friendly cliché that behind every man’s success is a woman. Rizal won’t be half the man that he is if he hasn’t made spaces in his heart for these women.

This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for a men's magazine a good number of years ago. I will always be a Rizal fan.

Photo via http://alanguilan.multiply.com