Textbook heroes come to life

Felipe Agoncillo (1859-1941) may very well be the Philippines’ “first Filipino diplomat” but he has been overshadowed by his wife Marcela, who has entered the popular imagination and iconography as the leader of a group of women who made the first Philippine flag in Hong Kong in 1898.

Felipe came to mind recently because of two recent historical encounters: first, a formal portrait painted by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo that now hangs in the National Museum of the Philippines, and a trip to the small town of Litomerice in the Czech Republic that was visited by Jose Rizal and Maximo Viola in the spring of 1887.

It is not well known that Felipe, together with Rafael Palma, fourth president of the University of the Philippines; and the painter Juan Luna, visited Ferdinand Blumentritt in Litomerice.

While I had read about Felipe and Marcela Agoncillo in school, it was through the eyes of their daughter Marcela or
“Ka Celing” and her memories that the textbook heroes came to life for me.

Sometime in 1984, I was invited to Ka Celing’s birthday in a wonderful prewar home on Mabini Street whose frontage, after her death, was leased to a water refilling station. Worse, the house had a short-time motel as its next-door neighbor. It was our first meeting and I probably asked too many questions and got her to tell stories she had told others a hundred times before that she disappeared into her room for a bit and emerged with a
little green book that she handed to me. It was privately printed and stamped in gold on the cover were the words: “Reminiscences of the Agoncillo Family.”

She remembered more about her mother than her father but from what I was told in early life, Felipe was far from diplomatic. When an uncle was being arrested by the Guardia Civil on charges of being a tobacco smuggler, the young Felipe rushed to his uncle’s side to complain about the rough treatment he was receiving. Naturally, the boy was brushed aside, and this story made me think of arrests made today where the boy would probably have earned a bullet in the head for interfering.

When Felipe entered school at the Ateneo Municipal, he had grown and learned to fight back when necessary. He was said to have been exempted from final examinations in one of his subjects but on the day itself, the rector told Felipe to sit for the exam. Felipe protested but was still handed the test questions so on the space left for the answer, he wrote only one sentence: “El Padre Rector es injusto!” (The Father Rector is unjust!) Of course, he was summoned to the administration office for a spanking but when he got there, he lunged at the priest and bit his arm. Like a pit bull, he refused to let go until help arrived. Next day, Felipe’s father was informed of the incident and the boy was given the choice: expulsion or
remain in school after a public apology. The proud Batangueño father would not allow his son to admit his guilt and lose face so he pulled his son out telling the Jesuits: “I will not allow my son to continue his studies in an institution in which he has lost his confidence.” It is quite a story and I have yet to dig up the Ateneo archives to verify if it is true or not.

Another story that needs verification is that Felipe was engaged to a Taal lady of the Marella family but jilted her on their wedding day. It is said that Felipe was already dressed for the wedding but had cold feet. He threw off his shoes and coat and declared that he had changed his mind. He then laid in bed and claimed he was not feeling well and would have to skip the wedding. Family members tried to drag him from bed reminding him not just of his obligation but of the embarrassment the lady would have to endure but then one relative intervened and said: “Don’t force him to marry the girl. Why live with a mistake for the rest of your life?” The next day, Felipe traveled from Taal Calaca, and later to Manila where he married Marcela Mariño. If you do this today, the would-be bride’s relatives would hunt the groom down and beat him up, or make him pay damages for breach of contract following the legal precedent in the now famous case of Wassmer vs Velez.

Stories like these are probably just made up and should never make it to history books, but if they succeed in making a hero of bronze and marble a bit more human and relatable, maybe they are sometimes worth remembering.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu