Sara to Filipinos: Love God, country

15th VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte-Carpio, daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, takes her oath as vice president during rites in her hometown in Davao City, on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Duterte-Carpio clinched a landslide electoral victory despite her father’s human rights record that saw thousands of drug suspects gunned down. Also in photo are, from left, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, her mother Elizabeth Zimmerman, and President Duterte. AP Photo/Manman Dejeto

By Catherine S. Valente, Manila Times

(UPDATED) TAKING her oath as the country's next vice president, Sara Duterte-Carpio on Sunday urged Filipinos to commit themselves to loving "God, family and country." She was sworn in by Supreme Court Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando at the San Pedro Square in Davao City before a crowd of 5,000 people.

Her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, held the Bible by which she took her oath while her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, joined them on stage.

In her inaugural address, Duterte-Carpio said she believed that "we should commit to heart the priorities of God, country, and family" as one country united and determined "to overcome our difficulties and achieve our aspirations." She said the voice of the 32.2 million Filipinos that voted for her "was loud and clear — with the message to serve our motherland, and this message has been reiterated in my oath: to consecrate myself to the service of the nation." "There is a God. A God whose will transcends the desires of our hearts, one whose will direct us to the way that we might not have imagined — but a way that consecrates ourselves every day to help our fellowmen overcome the difficulties they face in their lives, to change lives, to save lives," Duterte-Carpio said.

"If we all take a moment to listen to the call to serve and decide to heed the call — in the same way that many are already devoting their lives as hardworking farmers and fisherfolk that ensure there is food on our tables, dedicated health workers who help the sick, brave soldiers who fight for our country, honest and fair entrepreneurs who support our economy, patient school teachers that guide our children — I believe the country will be heading toward a future of hope, security, strength, stability and progress," she said.

Duterte-Carpio called on the people to become patriots and draw inspiration from the life and works of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.

"May his memory light up the fire within us to become patriots. Rizal taught us that selflessness and sacrifice could change our country's fate and shape our children's future. The bravery of Rizal completes the fabric of our identity as Filipinos," she said.

"Let us show our love for our country by taking care of our families and communities despite the unending challenges that come our way," she said.

She noted that "a strong, loving, happy family sets down all the basic foundations essential in the development and growth of a child." "Today, our children are facing a very complex future, one that is rife with conflict and uncertainties. Some of these challenges include the winding cycle of poverty, the trauma of broken families, the life-long baggage because of irresponsible and bad parenting, the abandonment issues due to an absentee parent, the anguish of gender confusion and discrimination, the destruction brought about by drugs, the lure of easy money in criminality, cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, the failure to identify and speak up against different kinds of abuses, the life-altering effects of teenage pregnancy, the detrimental effects of illiteracy, the emotional injury of bullying, unstable mental wellness, recruitment to support terrorism, misinformation in the internet — and the list could be endless," she said.

German Scholars Take Interest in Dr. Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere”, “El Filibusterismo”

By: Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines

A growing number of German scholars have taken interest in studying Dr. Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” as the two novels provided the framework for a Master’s degree summer course entitled, “Jose Rizal y El Realismo Espanol,” which is being conducted from April to July 2020 as part of the Ruhr University in Bochum’s Philippine Studies program.

The course, which is attended online by students of Spanish literature under Professor Roger Friedlein, attempts to define the essence and strategies of realist writing in metropolitan Spain and the Philippines.

“Rizal is not only one of the key figures of the Philippine independence from Spain who has biographical links to Germany, but he is as well a poet, dramatist and essayist and one of the most interesting Spanish-speaking novelists of the 19th century,” said Professor Friedlein.

The professor added that through the course, German students can gain better appreciation of Rizal’s novels as a valuable source of knowledge in the study of colonial society. The course also allows them to keenly establish the connection and similarity in literary techniques between Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Philippines, which were both distant territories of Spain in the 19th century.

“I am glad that German scholars have taken interest in studying Rizal’s writings and see their enduring relevance. As we commemorate Dr. Jose Rizal’s 159th birth anniversary, the course is but a timely reminder that there will always be something in Rizal the people of today can emulate. There is always something in Rizal for everyone, including the Germans,” said Philippine Consul General to Frankfurt Evelyn D. Austria.

The two novels are being related to Spanish literature of Realism, which was the dominating literary aesthetic of Rizal’s time. Since they were originally written in Spanish, Rizal’s novels are being studied in comparison with Spanish novels like Doña Perfecta (1876), and Fortunata y Jacinta (1887) by Benito Pérez Galdós, one of the most influential Spanish realist novelists.

The course is the third seminar conducted at Ruhr University under its “Philippine Initiative” program, which is an interdisciplinary cooperation of researchers with an interest in topics related to the Philippines. Two other Philippine-related courses held recently were "Las Filipinas Hispánicas" (The Spanish Philippines) and "Berichte der Entdeckungsfahrten nach Südostasien" (Chronicles on the voyages of discovery to South-East Asia).

The program forms part of the recently-signed cultural agreement between the Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt and the University. The agreement, which was sponsored by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, aims to support academic and research activities on Philippine matters, and the creation of a center that would serve as a hub for Philippine-related projects in Southern Germany. 

The activities may be followed on the blog: philippinen.blogs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

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Philippine-German Relations (V) - Deutsch-philippinische Beziehungen (V)

Jose Rizal - the Initiator of Philippine-German Cultural Relations


After considering the diplomatic exchange of the British and Spanish government in Manila, Father Hermogenes E. Bacareza described in his book now a cultural link between individual Filipinos ad Germans.

One of the very first Filipinos who admired the Germans in the Philippines and abroad was Jose Rizal, the Philippines' national hero. More than anybody else, it was he who, "initiated the cultural relations between Germany and the Philippines and the German-speaking scholars" - as Dr. Celio Lopez wrote in "Rizal and the beginning of German-Philippine cultural relations: The Joint Enterprise, Manila Enterprise Publishing.

Lopez, a Professor Emeritus of Linguistic and Oriental Studies at the University of the Philippines wrote:

"With his inquisitive nature and thirst for knowledge, particularly in what concerned his country, Dr. Rizal sought out these scholars, exchanged ideas with them, and nurtured friendship to the end."

One of the German scholars and scientists whom Rizal befriended was Dr. Alexander Schadenberg, who became his personal friend. Schadenberg took great interest in Rizal and even made his the recipient of all his writings. Another scientist friend was Dr. Adolf Meyer, the director of the Royal Ethnographical Museum in Dresden. It was with Meyer and Blumentritt that Rizal discussed. 

Why Rizal chose to study in Heidelberg instead of Berlin. Hamburg or Munich seemed to find no definite answer. Maybe it was really the beauty of the place that attracted the Spanish poet Rizal.

(To be continued!)

The Spanish Influence in Building Our Nation The Philippines

Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star)

It may sound ironic but there is enough evidence to show that Spain’s influence in helping build the Philippine nation has not been properly appreciated. There were evils, true but there were also good ones.

The most notable of good Spanish influences was the Spanish Cortes or Parliament of 1812 when it promulgated the Cadiz Constitution.


Filipinos were invited as delegates. The first Philippine delegates were Pedro Perez de Tagle and Jose Manuel Coretto who took their oath of office in Madrid. The Cadiz Constitution was officially implemented in Manila soon after.

According to Wikipedia, it established the principles of universal male suffrage, national sovereignty,constitutional monarchy and freedom of the press, and supported land reform and free enterprise.

It also dealt with policies on Spain’s colonies including the Philippines. It issued a decree “granting all its colonies representation as provinces in the Spanish Cortes through deputies chosen by the various capital cities.” This can be said to antedate the contemporary push for a parliamentary federal system states by Bayanko for the Philippines.”

 Here is the report on what happened in  the Philippines under the Cadiz Constitution.

Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

“Governor General Manuel Gonzales Aguilar called for an election of Manila officials which resulted in the selection of Don Ventura de los Reyes, a wealthy merchant and member of the Royal Corps of Artillery of Manila, as the deputy. The Vigan-born Don Ventura de los Reyes was a son of poor Ilocano parents. He took part in the Ilocos revolt led by Diego Silang in 1762, but later on engaged in the vegetable and indigo business. He was one of the delegates who signed the Constitution but it was only after a year that those in Manila knew about its decrees.

One of the more important creeds embodied in this constitution was the exemption of the natives from paying tributes and rendering public services based on its equality clause. The natives conviction that they should exercise their rights as established by the Cadiz Constitution, created a problem which compelled the governor of the islands to issue an edict on Feb. 8, 1814, explaining the extent of the benefits bestowed by the Constitution.

It is important to note that it was a liberal constitution which vested sovereignty in the people, recognized the equality of all mean and the individual liberty of the citizen, and granting the right of suffrage. But it also provided for a hereditary monarchy and for Catholicism as the state religion.

Not surprisingly, Filipino constitutionalists of the time were more aware of the tenets of the Cadiz Constitution. It can be said that the first attempts for a system of government for the Philippines was parliamentary federal patterned after Spain. Even then there was a partiality of parliamentary government.

It is a pity that not enough study has been made of this crucial period from Spanish to American culture. A useful resource for such studies is the cinema, especially the early struggle of Filipino film makers.

One such movie, really a telenovela is Secreto de Confesion. It was directed by Fausto Galauran and produced by Don Danon. It was written by Manuel de Amechazurria and among its stars were Armando Villa, Rosa Maria, Nita Farias and others. I am especially interested in this film because it was distributed by Parlatone Hispano Filipino with majority shares owned by my late father, Raymundo F. Navarro.  I would be grateful for any information on whatever happened to the film. It will be included in a book I am writing about my father’s role in Filipino film making. There were other stockholders, surprise, surprise among them was a Jose Cojuangco. Later, Parlatone Hispano Filipino became a major film producer and funded most of the best films directed by Jose Nepomuceno who is considered the father of Philippine Movies.

“Secreto de Confesión was the first Filipino film in the Spanish language, which was presented at the time as “la primera película hablada y cantada en español producida en Filipinas” (the first film spoken and sung in Spanish in the Philippines)” according to Wikipedia.

Parlatone Hispano Filipino did a good job of distributing Secreto de Confesión worldwide. It was a box office hit in the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and several other Spanish speaking countries in the American continent. It was also shown in Macau, Hong Kong, Spain and Portugal.

Other Filipino films in Spanish soon followed the success of Secreto de Confesion. Among them wereLas Dulces Mestizas, Muñecas de Manila or El Milagro del Nazareno de Quiapo. According to Wikipedia, these later telenovelas  “had an even greater success at the box office, and started to create international distribution channels for the Philippine film industry spoken in Spanish.”

Unfortunately, copies of the film were lost or destroyed during the US bombing of Manila. There are only copies of five pre-war Filipino movies, none of them in Spanish. (CNP: Again I would be grateful for any reader of this column to come forward with information on this films.)

A Tagalog version, produced years later, was screened after the end of World War II in 1945 in major cities throughout the Philippine archipelago, but with very limited box office success.

“Guillermo Gómez Rivera, Spanish-speaking Filipino writer and academic, director of the prestigiousAcademia Filipina de la Lengua Española (Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language), worked to recover this film in the memory of the Filipino film industry.” (Wikipedia)

According to cinema historians, the cinema of the Philippines (Filipino: Pelikulang Pilipino or Sine Pilipino) began with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila.

The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph. Early filmmakers and producers in the country were mostly wealthy enterprising foreigners and expatriates.

 But on Sept. 12, 1919, a silent feature film broke the grounds for Filipino filmmakers. Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), a movie based on a popular musical play, was the first movie made and shown by Filipino filmmaker José Nepomuceno who later made other films for Parlatone Hispano Filipino.

The formative years of Philippine cinema, started from the 1930s. “Scripts and characterizations in filmscame from popular theatre and familiar local literature. Nationalistic films were also quite popular, although they were labeled as being too subversive.” There is much to learn of our history from films of those days.

Noli me tangere - Ruehr' mich nicht an... - Don't Touch me...

Ich war schon immer fasziniert von Jose Rizal, dem philippinischen Nationalhelden.

1887 erschien in Berlin ein spanisch geschriebenes Buch mit dem lateinischen Titel NOLI ME TANGERE (Ruehr' mich nicht an!). Autor war der junge philippinische Schriftsteller Jose Rizal. Er hatte nach seinem Studium in Madrid und einem Aufenthalt in Paris 1886 Deutschland bereist und in Heidelberg die Niederschrift seines Romans beendet.

Der Erscheinungsort Berlin ist kein Kuriosum. Wie so viele wache und begeisterungsfaehige Koepfe jener Zeit suchte Rizal die Verbindung von wissenschaftlicher Erklaerung und "deutschem Idealismus". Sein Roman, der von der spanischen Kolonialherrschaft der Philippinen als politisch brisant betrachtet werden musste, war "mit Herzblut geschrieben", wie Rizal's oesterreichischer Freund, der Gelehrte F. Blumentritt, schrieb: Er wollte ebenso aufklaererisch wie aufruettelnd wirken.

Die spanische Kolonialmacht erkannte sofort die subversive Kraft des Romans: nicht in den manchmal karikaturartigen Einzelgestalten, sondern darin, dass die Fremdherrschaft eben als FREMDherrschaft ad absurdum gefuehrt wird. Noch im Erscheinungsjahr 1887 wird der Roman verboten. Am 30.12.1986 wird Rizal als geistiger Urheber der nicht laenger zu unterdrueckenden philippinischen Freiheitsbewegung exekutiert. Zwei Jahre spaeter endet die spanische Herrschaft auf den Philippinen, ebenso auf Kuba, wo Jose Marti eine aehnliche revolutionaer-literarische Rolle gespielt hat.

Noch heute teilt sich die leidenschaftlich politisch-ethische Kraft dieses wirkungsreichen  Romans dem Leser unmittelbar mit.

Ich besitze die spanische, englische und deutsche Ausgabe (aus dem philippinisch Spanisch uebersetzt von Annemarie del Cueto-Moerth, 1. Auflage 1987, Insel Verlag, Frankfurt/Main).

Happy Birth Anniversary Dr. Jose Rizal

 Born on June 19, 1861 and was martyred on December 30, 1896, Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was a polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.

 He was born to a rich family in Calamba, Laguna and was the seventh of eleven children.

He attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts, and enrolled in Medicine at the University of Sto. Tomas.

He continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine.

He also attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. 

Rizal was a polyglot conversant in 22 languages.

He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels "Noli me Tangere" and 'El Filibusterismo'.

As a political figure, according to historical account, Jose Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organisation that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo/

He was a proponent of achieving Philippine self-government peacefully through institutional reform rather than through violent revolution, although he would support "violent means" as a last resort. 

History also has it that Rizal had the belief that the only justification for national liberation and self-government is the restoration of the dignity of the people.

He was quoted having said, "Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?" The general consensus among Rizal scholars was that his execution by the Spanish helped bring about the Philippine Revolution.

I have been always very much interested in Rizal's works and life since I met my former Philippine mentor, the late Monsignor Professor Dr. Dr. Hermogenes E. Bacareza, who was our chaplain in the Philippine Community in Berlin already during the 1980s. 

Goethe Institute Turns 50 - Goethe Institut wird 50! (Part II)

The Goethe-Institut Manila 50th Anniversary celebration meant everything: meet people, meet good old friends - but the most important thing: learn more about Philippine-German relations. Goethe and Rizal, and much more.

The round table discussion on the roles of international institutions and art communities moderated by Jay Cruz was very interesting indeed. The part "Music of Rizal" after the opening speeches of the German Ambassador and the director of the Goethe Institut was really touching. Sometime later followed documentary film screenings such as "As told By Butterflies" by Nawruz Paguidopon, or "Entablado" by EJ Mijares.

Another unique part was the presentation of commemorative stamps. I would like to thank the Director of the Goethe-Institut in the Philippines, Mr. Richard Kuenzel for his friendly and immediate permission to publish some parts of his second speech:

"Please allow me to touch a very precious chapter of this year's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut in the Philippines. As you all know, this is also the year of the 150th anniversary of the National Hero of the Philippines, Dr. Jose Rizal. The Postmaster of our host country as well as the National Historic Commission encouraged us to have a commemorative stamp printed which underlines the very special relationship between Dr. Rizal and Germany. Not only studied dr. Rizal in Heidelberg ophtalmology and has his most important work "Noli me tangere" printed 1887 in Berlin. Not only was the last remaining copy of the film "Noli me tangere' (1961, Gerardo de Leon) restored 1996 in the Federal Film Archive in Koblenz/Germany and was passed to the late President Cory Aquino, and not only put in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Goethe-Institut all efforts into restoring the two manuscripts "Noli me tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" - resting in the national Library - by experts and trainers from Germany, but beyond these facts Dr. Rizal did open his heart to very important facets of life in Germany at the end of the 19th century, and by doing so established the actual first substantial cultural relations between our two countries. 

...

To conclude the presentation of the stamps commemorating the very tender personal relationship to germany, in which Rizal compared the feeling of exotism with a friend, I should like to draw your extension on Rizal's last poem which he wrote in the night before his execution. Hidden in a kerosine lamp, he gave the paper to his sister Trinidad, the last person to visit him in the cell. "There is something in it," he whispered. - MI ULTIMO ADIOS was soon after translated into German by Pastor Karl Ullmer in 1897. "Last farewell" - "Letztes Lebewohl"."