My brother-in-law in that other epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Italy, has just emailed me, saying with some levity: “Noli Me Tangere applies perfectly, it may be the right time to read it again.”
It just struck me, might this not just be the perfect Filipino slogan against the coronavirus — “noli me tangere” (touch me not), to give local patriotic color to the crucial measure of social distancing? The phrase comes no less from our national hero Jose Rizal, who was a medical doctor.
Some TV network broadcasters were recently seen wearing on air t-shirts defiantly stating “Virus Ka Lang… Pinoy Ako.” I think the slogan “Coronavirus, noli me tangere” has a more Pinoy punch to it. It addresses not only the virus but also fellow Pinoys to “keep your (social) distance,” especially if “noli me tangere” is printed prominently on the front of a t-shirt.
But perhaps my brother-in-law’s best suggestion is that this is the right time to read the novel again, especially with home quarantine. There may be patriotic lessons in the “Noli” that are relevant to this time, too.
For one, there is this nice line from Elias to Ibarra during one of their debates (or Rizal debating with himself): “It is true that by ourselves we are nothing. But take up the cause of the people, join them, do not turn a deaf ear to their voice, give an example to the rest, give us an idea of what it is to have a country.”
Yes, for my country, for our country, for “this f–ing country.” It is time again for simple heroism.
SOLIMAN M. SANTOS JR.
Judge
Regional Trial Court Branch 61
Naga City