Jose Maria Panganiban : a patriot comes home

Title

Creator

Roberto Fernando

Language

English

Source

Panorama X (10) October 1958

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

JOSE MARIA PANGANIBAN: A PATRIOT COMES HOME Bico/'s little-known Revolutionist When the Philippine Con gress, on December 1, 1934, changed the name of Mambulao, Camarines Nor te to Jose Panganiban, it was paying a belated tribute to one of the staunchest champions of Philippine freedom. Mambulao was the hometown of Panganiban. Here he was born on February 1, 1863. His parents were Vicente Pangani ban of Hagonoy, Bulacan and By Roberto Fernando Juana Enverga of Mauban, Que zon. His father was the a clerk of court at Daet, the capital of the province. Jose was one of the three sons of Vicente. Jose was a precocious child. He learned the cartilia and the caton in one month. He mas tered the Catecismo in another month. It was his mother who taught him now to read and write. He showed an early interest in reading. Once his mother found him under a tree reading Don Quijote. His father en couraged his intellectual pro pensities. He was kept supplied with good books. At twelve, he could speak and write Spa nish and Latin. At fifteen he was acquainted with the Iliad, the Odyssey and the Divine Comedy. October 1958 51 There is a story that once Jose’s uncle refused to lend him a telescope. Frustrated, Jose assembled, his own from bits of glass and cardboard. When the makeshift telescope was tested, the uncle found that it worked perfectly. As a boy, Jose was thin and frail. However, his physical de ficiencies did not prevent him from participating in the rough sports of boys. He learned horseback riding quite early. When Jose was eight, Fr. Francisco Fernandez took him to Labo to learn Spanish. The following year, he was sent to the public school at Daet. In that school, he finished his pri mary education. For his secondary education, Jose was sent to Nueva Caceres (now Naga City) and enrolled in the seminary of the Paulist fathers. He became the protege of Fr. P. Santonja, the rector of the seminary and his teacher in the natural sciences. This priest sent him to Manila for further education. When Jose took his revalida at the Uni versity of Santo Tomas on Fe bruary 4, 1883, he obtained sobresaliente and a degree was granted on March 1, 1883. At the University of Santo Tomas he enrolled in the schools of. medicine and agriculture. He finished his agricultural course in 1885. T n May 1888, he was a junior A at the College of Medicine. Because he was an indio, he was closely watched and sus pected. The treatment was more than he could bear so he decided to finish the medical course at the University of Barcelona. He became a student here in 1889. However, because of ill ness which was aggravated by a fight with two Spaniards, Jose failed to take the examinations. He therefore did not get his degree that year. In Barcelona, too, he fell in to the company of the other Filipino, propagandists. For a time, his parents threatened to cut off his allowance if he did not give up his political work. Once in a cafe in Madrid, some Spaniards began mocking the Filipinos. They called them “a bunch of ignorant and flat nosed people.” The Filipinos challenged the Spaniards to a contest of intellectual skill. The Spaniards chose memory as the basis. A fresh copy of a Madrid newspaper was given to the Filipinos and one of them was told to read the editorial. The task fell on Panganiban, who read it for one minute and then repeated it almost word for word. Then the paper was given to a Spaniard. He failed to match Panganiban and the Spa niards were forced to admit defeat. Panganiban kept his interest in intelectual matters even un 52 Panorama der the most adverse of condi tions. In his sick bed, he learn ed German well enough to tran slated Weber’s Die Religio und Die Religionen into Spanish. He dlso learned English and Italian. Panganiban won many hon ors. When General Domingo Moriones y Murrillo, governor general of the Philippines from 1877-1880 visited the Paulist seminary in Nueva Caceres, Panganiban was chosen speak er. His speech and manner so impressed the governor that he pinned a medal on the boy. When he was fifteen, he was already assisting the seminary physician and was even allowed to handle minor ailments. In April, 1878, when Bishop Fran cisco Gainza visited Mambulao, Panganiban wrote a poem in honor of his visit. Later on at the University of Santo Tomas he won second honor in a li terary-scientific contest. He failed to win the first prize be cause the other contender was a Spaniard, Vicente Cavanna. The same happened to his Anatomia de Regiones, an impor tant medical paper which he wrote in 1887. It was not ad judged the best because of the participation of some Spaniards and mestizos. But later his papers on gen eral pathology, therapeutics and surgical anatomy won all the first prizes. One of his profes sors, Dr. Cato L. Brea, was very impressed with his work. Upon his recommendation and Fr. Gregorio Echevarria’s, the papers were printed and exhi: bited at the 1887 exposition at Madrid. ■p anganiban became interested in politics during his first months in Madrid. He wrote for the La Solidaridad. He did not quit politics despite the advice of his father, Fr. San tonja and his poor health. The other Filipino propagan dists liked his work. Ponce on July 1, 1899 remarked that Panganiban was “useful and very necessary to our cause.” As a speaker, he could move his audience by force of hard logic. Even the anti-reform press of Madrid felt disposed toward his oratorical abilities. Rizal appraised Panganiban in the following words: Panganiban was a true orator of easy and energe tic words, vigorous con OCTOBER 1958 53 cepts, practical and trans cendental ideas and of ele vated thoughts. He was eloquent, at once very se ductive and convincing. Deeply informed of things Philippine, how many times he moved his audience de picting the ills of that land, the great agonies it suf fers, the immense pains it feels. The pen name of Panganiban was Jomapa or J.M.P. In his El Pensamiento, he advocated freedom of the press without which “it is hard for the gov ernment to interpret faithfully the aspiration of the constitu ents.” In his Los Nuevos Ayuntamientos de Filipinas, which was published on July 31, 1890, he attacked the municipal re form in several provinces in the Philippines. In his La Universidad de Manila: su Plan de Estudio, he advocated academic freedom. On April 25, 1889, he signed a petition drafted by the His pano-Filipino Association and La Solidaridad and sent to the minister of war. It asked for the granting to Filipinos the same rights enjoyed by the Spaniards. Among these rights were representation in the Cor tes, prohibition of deportation without due process of law, and abolition of the censura previa. The other extant writings of Panganiban were: Ang Lupang Tinubuan, Noches de Mambu lao, Sa Aking Buhay, Bahia de Mambulao, La Mujer de Ord, Clarita Perez, and Kandeng o Recuerdos de Mi Pueblo. T ater on when he was really ■ * - * very sick he dropped off. He wrote to Rizal, advising the propagandists to continue the campaign. He said: “Whatever we have begun should be car ried to the finish even if it results in the sacrifice of out lives, our honor and our wealth .. .If 1 had the strength which I used to have, I would go with you wherever you go.” He died on August 19, 1890 at No. 2 Rambla de Canaletas, Barcelona. He was only 27 years old. The issue of La Solidaridad that came out on September 20, 1890 was a Panganiban is sue. The next day he was buried in grave No. 2043 of the South west Cemetery of Barcelona. The funeral was attended by the Filipino community and by Cubans and Porto Ricans sym pathetic to the Philippine revo lutionists’ cause. On September 27, 1891, in view of the failure to renew the right to use the grave, the remains of Panganiban were removed to the Osario General of the cemetery. In 1956, Dr. Domingo Abella had the re mains exhumed and after 65 years in a foreign country, Jose Panganiban finally returned to his native land. 54 Panorama

pages

51-54

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