01-079 [Family]
1883.05.26 Calamba
From: Paciano Rizal
To: José Rizal
Sugar crop — Rizal asks permission to go to Paris — A portrait of Rizal at Leonor’s house painted by Resurrección Hidalgo — Death of Father Leoncio López, Calamba’s parish priest – Departure of the police lieutenant — Town fiesta of Biñan — Incident with the civil guard — Feast of Corpus Christi — No receipt for payment of land rent — The Philippines is the most heavily taxed country in the world – Anastacio Bonatin, to whom Rizal had been guardian, was expelled from school.
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Calamba, 26 May 1883
BROTHER,
Yesterday I finished milling 1,350 loaves of mediocre sugar, the result of the first trial of Pansol, and now I’m writing you immediately, thinking of your just impatience in not receiving any news from here during three or four months that the milling lasted.
It seems that the last letter from here was the one you received from Zamora. At the time it was written, it was said that the secret was not greatly respected so that after it [was] sent to Manila to be placed in the mailbox; but they thought that there was great interest in making it get there when it was all the contrary, as you can easily understand by the signature.
In return for that we have received all your letters, or what is the same thing, by mail. In the majority of them you tell us of your desire to go to Paris, asking permission and funds for it from our parents, who however are silent on the matter, a silence that I interpret as refusal based on estimates that until a certain point are reasonable this very day. As for me, I think that you can go there after you have finished your medical course, for once having the first step one ought not to go back for flimsy reasons. This idea of yours today was mine since the beginning and still is. I expounded it to you after taking some inquiries, but you insisted on going to Barcelona and I kept quiet thinking that you might be luckier in your choice, but now we are undeceived, because we have not counted on the antipathy and incompatibility of character. So that, if at the receipt of this you persist in that plan, reply by return mail, telling us when you will finish the medical course so that we may furnish you with what you want and also let me know whether life in Paris for one with an allowance like yours is better or worse than in Madrid. There you can get better information than here.
I picked up in Manila your five photographs delivering each one to its owner. I left the oil portrait[1] there so that they can bring it themselves on the day of the fiesta. Concerning this picture: At first glance I did not recognize you so much so that I paid no attention to it. But as it was a new decoration at Uncle Antonio’s house, I approached it out of curiosity and I saw the signature. I supposed it could be yours that you announced to us in your letter. Later they assured me that at a certain distance the likeness can be noted. I could not stop to admire it longer because I was in a hurry. However, it is admired for the signature and artistic expression that is still hidden from the eyes of the layman.
During the three or four months that I did not write you, many interesting things happened in our town which you will be glad to know, as you state in your last letter received yesterday. I’ll begin with the death that occurred at the capital of our parish priest,[2] regretted by those who had known him, especially by his family. As soon as the Government of the City of Manila learned about it, it hastened to present to the family a niche in the pantheon of the Manila aristocracy, a consideration that is very rarely bestowed by that body. During the absence in Manila of the parish priest, the vicar decided to appoint as acting parish priest a coadjutor from Biñan who, parenthetically speaking, is not even a shadow of the deceased. After two days at the convent, without any ground for it, he began to criticize the people here and praise those of Biñan. He knew more about the town than the church and so he left after having committed some barbarities in the canonical books. He was succeeded by Father Domingo (whom we already know) for some weeks and now we have a trustee appointed by the archbishop a commendable person for possessing one of the qualities of Father Leoncio, which is not to meddle in things alien to the Church. As soon as his death was known, the vicar, Father Villafranca, came to get the church funds recorded in the books, but as it happened that the safe was locked and the key was in Manila, by virtue of the key of St. Peter, he ordered the appearance before him at the house of the Hacienda of our priest where he compelled him to advance the amount kept in the safe, threatening him that he would inform the archbishop of the secrets of the deceased that would involve a member of our family. The priest, in view of this pressure, had to advance in gold what will be returned to us in silver at the end of three weeks. Intimidating an old man and threatening to unearth secrets that he may perhaps have, is truly a repugnant behavior. When this happened, I was precisely out of the house.[3]
Just as there was a change of personnel in the church so was there at the police headquarters, with the difference that here there were not so many incidents, with the exception of the departure of the lieutenant. He told us that he would be away only a few days, but in reality his departure was definitive and he carried away three books of ours, one of which is valuable.[4]
On the 15th of this month was the town fiesta of Biñan. There was nothing special about it. Had it not been for two mediocre music bands and fireworks, it would have been just like a Sunday. We, Antonino, Dandoy, and I, and others who had the bad luck to attend the blessed fiesta were required by the civil guard to show our personal cedula [identification paper]. We replied that we did not have the habit of carrying it, but we were ready to go wherever they wanted to take us. With this explanation, they let us free. We on our part hurriedly left, cursing the idea that led us to that town.
Corpus Christi than was celebrated day before yesterday with more splendor than in previous years for the reason that the chapels were more luxurious, having been entrusted to the members of the Dominican and Franciscan associations and I don’t know what other groups who spent a whole night decorating them only to knock them down the next morning after the Mass.
Ahead we have the town fiesta. They are talking about contributions, one third of which is assigned to Masses, at the regret of many, about fifteen mysteries in the style of Biñan, about new alms for the confraternity that is in great difficulty, but not a word about public entertainment. In short, it seems that we imitate wholly Biñan, the model town in the opinion of some.
This is the time to pay land rent at the Hacienda and contrary to the general custom they accept the money without issuing any receipt to anyone. Has this any relation to the important reforms of the general or it is nothing more than one of the arbitrary nets of the administrator? I’m more inclined to the latter one, though I would like it to be the first one.
Of the important news at the capital I don’t want to tell you anything, because I would do better to guess them than to read them in the newspapers. And if in the future I should be curious to know things that are not church functions, arrest of gamblers or persons without identification papers, fights of the Chinese, or things of that kind, I would write you so that you may furnish me with the information. Drinking water in Manila is bad; the good one is kept in the cisterns.
The country which is most burdened with taxes, in the opinion of various persons, is the Philippines, as much for the quota that partakes more of the poll tax than of the income tax as for the method of collecting them in the provinces that in some cases it costs the taxpayer double on account of traveling expenses and the time involved. If it is entrusted to the gobernadorcillo [municipal mayor] or the agent of stamped papers, persons of responsibility, this heavy burden will be lightened. With a little confidence and another little pity for the taxpayers, expenses and time uselessly employed will be saved.
Anastacio was expelled from school. His father asked me to accompany him to plead. I agreed, though without any hope of succeeding as it really happened. They told me that Del Rosario was very dear to the priests. I went to his house and told him that you advised me that if anything should happen to Tacio, of whom you had been guardian, that I should make use of him. He was gladdened and said that he would do everything in his power to return Tacio to school. He requested me to express in my letter to you his sincere friendship and desire to be able to serve you.
Capitán Juan married Dámasa. She is the bachelor woman whom I mentioned in my letter who was besieged by Banatin and Buenaventura.
PACIANO RIZAL
[1] Painted by the noted Filipino painter, friend of Rizal, Felix Ressurrecion Hidalgo (1855 – 1913).
[2] Father Leoncio López.
[3] Rizal expresses his violently opposed opinion to this action. See his letter dated 20 July 1883.
[4] Rizal resented this. See his undated letter to Antonino Lopez, written in 1884.