Until I wrote today’s column I thought that the expression “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” was an allusion to the Trojan horse and to the saying, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” In high school we learned about Greek gods and goddesses who had super powers complicated by human thoughts and emotions. We learned of Helen whose beautiful face launched a thousand ships into war. Then there was the wooden horse.
After a decade of unsuccessful siege, the Greeks built a wooden horse, filled it with their best warriors, left it in front of the fortified city of Troy and set off at sea. The Trojans were overjoyed, they pulled the gift horse into the city and celebrated the departure of the enemy. That night the Greeks came out of the horse and opened the gates for their comrades waiting outside, and thus ended the Trojan war. Looking a gift horse in the mouth was a way to ascertain its age (and its mileage like a car) from its teeth. This was impolite and the saying was a reminder to take all gifts, big and small, with gratitude.
By the time this column sees print most gifts would be waiting under the Christmas tree in many homes throughout the world. This year I simplified my life by giving away my mini-books and taking the trouble to find gifts only for immediate family and the favorite nephew who expects a wrapped gift. Finding the right gift can be a bit of a challenge, and I am glad most of us only have to go through this once a year at Christmas. Depending on the budget and the recipient, our gifts can range from the simple and sentimental to the elaborate and expensive, and the effort we put into this is but a fraction of the headache facing the protocol and social staff of presidents, prime ministers and royals, who must go through the lists and check them twice or thrice throughout the year. I am reminded of the overlooked items displayed in the Malacañang museum, the various gifts received by each of our presidents since Emilio Aguinaldo. These gifts display the tact, diplomacy, taste or, at the very least, the thoughtfulness of the giver.
Our presidents give and receive many gifts throughout the year but it is the official ones, the “Gifts of State,” that are fascinating because these often are the best, the rarest, the most valuable. Many State gifts received by our presidents are displayed as memorabilia in their museums or homes. Many are left in Malacañang and put in storage. Some of the things that have caught my eye in Malacañang are: paintings and sculptures, mostly portraits; photographs; books with some inscribed by authors; coins, medals and decorations. Some are of historic value—from original maps and manuscripts to relics, like the thimble used by Marcela Agoncillo when she embroidered the first Philippine flag in 1898. On display are gifts received by presidents, but the gifts presented by them to visiting heads of state and assorted VIPs are not on display. Historians will have to go through Palace inventories and COA reports to find out what gifts they gave out and why.
In my research I have come across references to Gifts of State and some that were of a personal nature. For example, US President Gerald Ford sent Ferdinand Marcos, an avid golfer, personalized golf balls.
When I was researching in the University of Michigan (where Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago graduated from) I was told that Marcos was conferred an honorary doctorate in 1966. Two other Filipinos similarly honored were Santiago Artiaga in 1950 and Albino Sycip in 1955. In gratitude, Marcos presented the university with an inscribed set of the rare 19th-century work, “Birds of America,” by John James Audubon. It was a carefully chosen gift, now one of the treasures of the university library.
Emilio Aguinaldo was once photographed in his Kawit home seated in front of a massive roundtable of Philippine hardwood so finely polished you could see the general’s face reflected on the mirror-like surface of the tabletop. This photograph was sent to Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the United States and we do not know if the photo came with some other gift. But long after his term as president of the First Republic, Aguinaldo was still giving and receiving Gifts of State. In the papers of Apolinario Mabini we find two draft letters transmitting captured Spanish insignia to the president of the United States and the emperor of Japan. The letters read:
“The Philippine Revolution, wishing to give you a token of sympathy, respect and consideration, feels honored in presenting you, through me, a gift consisting of a sabre and other insignia belonging to the Orden del Toison de Oro [Order of the Golden Fleece] and to a military hierarchy, that comes from the Spanish Army. I take this opportunity to beg of you earnestly that you deign to accept this small token for the sake of the loyalty of this your attentive and faithful servant.”
Mabini drafted these notes for the signature of the president. The notes were not meant just as tokens or souvenirs but also a way of enlisting US or Japanese military support to bring the Philippine Revolution to its conclusion and give recognition to the Philippines as a free and independent nation. Gifts have long been part of the relations between individuals as well as between countries, this is why great care must go into the choice of Gifts of State.
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