Queridas ni Rizal: Love and Sex in Philippine History @Ayala Museum

One of the privileges of a volunteer is that one gets to attend an event for free, though one has to work for it. Still, there is a double advantage because not only do I get to improve my social skills, I also have a taste of what it's like to be part of a team that makes an event possible and successful.

I especially love it when Ambeth Ocampo gives lectures. It has always been a dream to see him in person, to know what he's like. And boy was I surprised o find him approachable, funny, witty, and very clever man indeed. Newspaper columnists usually strike me as cynical and self-righteous. But this is a man of good cheer, who gamely poses in front of the camera.

So anyway, in his second lecture at Ayala Museum (which I was able to attend), Ambeth Ocampo talked about how historians do away with anything that might tarnish the name of our heroes, rendering them saintly and divine, far from being human errors and passions. Sir Ambeth has always talked of this purging of history, which for him makes the heroes all the more unreachable.

 An example he gave was the case of Juan Luna, known for his fiery temper and for killing his wife and mother-in-law. Early historians would say that what happened was an accident, that Luna shoot the door and that the bullet passed through the door and killed the two women. For Sir Ambeth, the murder was not an accident but an intentional act.

He then moves on to Rizal, our National Hero. Historians used to portray him as saintly and without blemish, unlike his other friends who frequent the brothels in Europe. But his diaries and letters say otherwise. Rizal's advices that "it" may only be done once in a month, is for Sir Ambeth, the "it" refers not to a game of chess but to sex. (This of course drew laughter from the audience, with Sir Ambeth himself admitting that his is a green mind.)

Another issue is Josephine Bracken's miscarriage, to which historians attribute almost incredible cause. One is that Josephine fell when Rizal's nephew sat on her lap. Another is that Rizal and Josephine had a fight and the first beat up the latter. The third, from Zaide, tells of Rizal playing a prank on the woman at night thus causing the accident.

Sir Ambeth also answered the question why Rizal remained single. According to him, Rizal loved only one woman--- his mother Teodora Alonso. He also cites Rizal when the latter wrote "... in the critical moments of my life, I have always acted against my own will, obeying different purposes and mighty doubts"

After the lecture, a portrait of Sir Ambeth's beautiful grandmother was presented to him.