The Man Who Saved The Noli
Antonio Abad
The Man Who Saved The Noli
by Renato Perdon, May 2011
‘I did not believe that the Noli Me Tangere would ever be published. I was in Berlin, weakened and discouraged from hunger and deprivation. I was on the point of throwing my work into the fire as a thing accursed and fit only to die.’ – Rizal
Maximo Viola, the man who financed the Noli me Tangere publication
The novel which brought fame and death to Jose Rizal and resulted to the awakening of the Filipinos might not have been published without the help of a man who has been relegated to obscurity, a mere footnote to history. The man who helped publish the Noli Me Tangere was Maximo Viola, a patriot and physician. Viola was an active member of the Propaganda Movement in Madrid. Without his generous help, the Noli might never have seen print.
On 21 February 1887 at eleven thirty in the evening, Rizal wrote the last page of the novel. He completed the novel in Leipzig, 90 miles southwest of Berlin, Germany. Rizal was delighted to have completed his first novel but disappointed that his dream will end there. He had no funds with which to publish the manuscript. His brother Paciano has not sent his allowance. He was extremely disheartened, hungry and ill. Telling a friend about the situation, Rizal said: ‘I did not believe that Noli Me Tangere would ever be published. I was in Berlin, weakened and discouraged from hunger and deprivation. I was in the point of throwing my work into the fire as a thing accursed and fit only to die...’
Photo of the Noli Me Tangere manuscript
Then came the good news. His good friend Maximo Viola, a scion of a Bulacan wealthy family was visiting Berlin to see him. Maximo Viola was born on 17 October 1857 in barrio Sta. Rita, San Miguel, Bulacan. His parents were Don Pedro Viola, a son of an affluent family, and Doña Isabel Sison, who came from an equally prominent family in Malabon, Rizal, now part of Metro Manila. Viola was the only son, and was brought up as an ilustrado.
He completed his elementary education in Bulacan, then went to Manila for his high school studies at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. After taking his Bachelor of Arts degree at the same institution, Viola enrolled in the pre-medicine course at the University of Santo Tomas. Because of the discrimination against non-mestizo students, however, Viola was not happy at the university. Like Rizal and other middle-class youths who were dissatisfied with the conditions in the country, Viola sailed for Spain in 1882, the same year Rizal left the country.
In Spain, Viola entered the University of Barcelona and graduated with a degree in medicine in 1886. It was in Barcelona that Viola met Rizal. Their acquaintance soon developed into friendship. Both were active in the Propaganda Movement, whose main objective was to make the authorities in Spain realise the need for reform in the Philippines. Viola’s attitude towards his native land was greatly influenced by Rizal, though he came from a patriotic family. Viola’s father and uncles were pioneers in the struggle against the Spaniards in Bulacan.
While in Barcelona, Viola learned that Rizal was having difficulty with the Noli due to financial reasons. Rizal, as a matter of fact, had rewritten the novel and shortened it (one chapter was eliminated from the final form when it was printed). Viola sought Rizal and offered to help get the novel published. He gave Rizal P300 which financed the printing of the first 2,000 copies of the novel. In acknowledgment of Viola’s help, Rizal gave him the galley proofs of the Noli as well as the pen he had used to write the manuscripts. The first copy which came off the press also went to Viola. Rizal wrote a dedication to Viola on one of the pages of the Book: ‘To my dear friend, Maximo Viola, the first to read and appreciate my work.’
After the Noli was published, Rizal invited Viola to accompany him on a tour of Europe. At the time, Rizal was in a position to travel, since his brother Paciano had just sent him P1,000. Rizal used P300 of the amount to repay Viola. Then two were inseparable during the tour. Among the places the two friends visited were Potsdan, Munich, Dresden, Leitmeritz (Bohemia), Vienna, Laussane and Geneva. While on tour, they visited Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt, the Austrian friend of Rizal who lived in Leitmeritz.
Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal's German friend.
On 13 May 1887, at half past one in the afternoon, Rizal and Viola arrived in Leitmeritz via Dresden with the whole Blumentritt family at the train station to welcome the two Filipinos. The visitors stayed Room No. 12 at Hotel Krebs, the most elegant hotel in town. After taking a rest at the hotel, the duo proceeded to the Blumentritt house where a sumptuous banquet was waiting.
For four days, Rizal and Viola could not believe on what were served them during the banquet and following dinners they were served in the middle of Bohemian Leitmeritz: adobo, lechon, lumpia, pancit, kare-kare and paella. Every morning, Professor Blumentritt appeared at the hotel to discuss the schedule for the day and took his friends to the museum, to places of interests in the city and introduced them to prominent citizens of the city. Every night, the two friends would be taken back to their host’s house to dine with the whole Blumentritt family.
Rizal and Viola’s visit in Leitmeritz made them a sort of celebrities as seen in the Leitmerits Newspaper which published their arrival and departure: ‘Today, two gentlemen from the Philippines, Dr. Jose Rizal and Maximo Viola, arrived for a visit to Professor Blumentritt. Both belong to the Tagalog branch of the Malayan race, and might be the first ones among their people to step on Leitmeritz soil. Under the able supervision of Professor Blumentritt and naturalist Professor Robert Klutschak, they saw places of interest in our city and signed their names in the memorial book of the city after they had been introduced to Mayor Gebhardt.
‘On Saturday evening, the gentlemen attended a board meeting of the Leitmeritz Mountaineering Club. The chairman welcomed the guests who came from afar. Mr. Rizal, who is not only an excellent poet but also an artist, responded in a speech which was as witty as it was thoughtful. It was received with approval by the audience. The two departed from here for Prague on Tuesday from where they will proceed to Switzerland through Vienna; there the two will go their separate ways: Don Maximo Viola will travel to Spain; Don Jose Rizal, who has been staying for 15 months on German soil, Heidelberg, Leipzig and Berlin, the capital city of the German Empire, where he was designated a member of the Anthropological Society there, will return via Naples, Suez and Singapore to his beautiful motherland.’ During the tour, Rizal served as interpreter, since his friend Viola was unfamiliar with the languages of the countries they visited. The two parted ways in Geneva: Viola returned to Barcelona and Rizal went to Italy.
Much later, Viola returned to the Philippines to practice his profession. However, he had difficulty adjusting to the situation in the colony. All Filipinos who had studied abroad were put under surveillance by the government. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive. A few years after he returned, Viola married Juana Roura of San Miguel, Bulacan. The marriage was a happy one and the couple was blessed with five children, two of whom unfortunately died in infancy.
Juan Luna illustrations of various characters in the Noli me Tangere like Doña Victorina, Maria Clara, and Cabesang Tales.
In the meantime, Rizal had returned to the Philippines. In June 1892, Rizal invited Viola to Manila. He accepted and visited Rizal at the Oriental Hotel in Binondo. When Viola returned to Bulacan, he discovered that his house had been searched by Spanish authorities. He later learned that after his visit, Rizal was arrested and taken to Fort Santiago. Rizal was sentenced to exile in Dapitan in July.
When the Philippine revolution broke out, Viola extended a great deal of help to the Katipunan. He supported the revolution and treated the wounded and sick revolutionists. During the Filipino-American War, Viola was arrested and confined at the Malate Military prison. Later he was transferred to the barracks of Olongapo, where he was held as a political prisoner for about a year. While in Olongapo, Viola continued to practice his profession, thus helping his sick countrymen, since the American doctors were unfamiliar with tropical diseases. His assistance given to Dr. Fresnell resulted to his freedom.
Viola also helped in the attempts to alleviate agrarian problems in Bulacan. When the Manila railway line was extended to Cabanatuan, the railroad office proposed that certain areas in San Miguel, Bulacan, be expropriated to accommodate the tracks. Viola led the opposition to the expropriation of the lands without proper compensation. La Liga de Propietarios, an organisation of rice-land owners, became powerful during Viola’s term as president. He championed the cause of the people against the politicians who exploited the tenants for their votes. He instituted proceedings against some politicians in the Court of First Instance in Malolos, Bulacan.Viola’s life was certainly an active one. Aside from his numerous civic activities, he designed and built furniture as a hobby and winning honors for his designs at the Exhibition in Manila in the 1920s. He also served as municipal councillor of his town for a time. He wrote in Spanish the memoirs of his friendship and travel with Rizal in 1913. The man who saved the Noli died of cancer in San Miguel, Bulacan, on 2 September 1933 at the age of 76.
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And as the story goes, with the P300 from Dr.Viola, Rizal's great novel, the famed Noli Me Tangere was saved. What a generous and compassionate man! Reading this interesting historical events reminds me also of my great-grand aunt, Gliceria Marella-Villavicencio, known to us grandkids as "Lola Eriang" (she was the older sister of my grandmother, Josefa Orosa), who also gave monetary donations to Rizal to help his propaganda movement as well as material aid and financial support to the Katipunan including the "Bulusan", the first Filipino warship commanded by Captain Simplicio Orosa. The ship was heavily armed, fitted with armaments and loaded with guns and ammunitions and was made available to the revolutionary forces to patrol our coastal shores. She also provisioned the ship with food, medicines and other war materials needed for the well-being and maintenance of the crew and soldiers fighting in Luzon and Visayas. - dpo
Please read the links below.
1. http://www.orosa.org/GLICERIA%20MARELLA-VILLAVICENCIO.htm
2. http://orosa.org/Captain%20Simplicio%20Orosa.htm
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Hanggang sa huling patak!
Jose Sison Luzadas
Exits and Entrances
Reviewing the NOLI & FILI
by
Jose Sison Luzadas, KGOR
Scarborough, Chapter
CANADA
”All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…."
Shakespeare
The lines are from Shakespeare’s “As you Like It”. We are all familiar with Dr. Rizal’s characters in the NOLI and FILI and there is no doubt, that the man who in his time plays many parts, must be Crisostomo Ibarra!
Rizal introduced Ibarra at the beginning of the NOLI as a promising young man who after seven years abroad returned to the Philippines. He was preoccupied with his plans to educate the native Filipinos by building schools. His plans, however, were thwarted by Father Damaso. Moreover, failed to avenge his father's death and worst he lost Maria Clara to the nunnery!
Like the fading sunset of San Diego, he disappeared and no where to find him after the long chase in the lake where Elias, the mysterious native and protector
died of bullet wounds inflicted by the pursuing Civil Guards.
The vanishing Ibarra made his comeback appearance in the FILI as Simoun sporting disguises like moustache and dark glasses. Completely a different man so obsessed of starting a native uprising to topple the government. However, his plan failed.
Rizal assigned a native priest to rationalize a bungled revolution. Father Florentino lectured to a dying Simoun that his revolution from the beginning is doomed to fail because the people are not ready and because they are not ready they don’t deserve it! “What good is independence if the SLAVES of today are the TYRANTS of tomorrow?
Back to the “drawing board”……….EDUCATE THE MASSES!
For comments, contact: jose sison luzadas: luzadas@bellsouth.
mar...@arcor.de
The people perhaps were not ready (Spain didn't want them to be. The Women of Malolos couldn't have gotten far had they not taken the initiative themselves!) but Dr Jose Rizal was...! Or he would have escaped instead of returning to Manila upon his Barcelona arrest; or stayed in Europe to perhaps find a job and settle with a European wife; or decide to just remain in Dapitan with Josephine, farm and permanently settle in Mindanao...if not Borneo!
Lazir's observation is that ABUSES/CORRUPTION in the Philippines (KOR is in the Philippines) would not happen in its present alarming magnitude when quickly and bravely they are nipped in the bud! (Pls see related ABC-CBN article below.)
Let’s take the KOR where we are both familiar.
In Lazir’s final analysis, after having tested some high officials from IHQ to the different regions, thru varying degrees of questioning, witty and serious debates and argumentation, straight revelation of facts, and the like, right now, we do see a MEDIOCRE KOR.
Not to be “mediocre” was Frenchman Bernard Pot’s (KOR’s designated deputy euro regional Kumander) call upon Knights, in speech he gave as he got KGOR. If he indeed is KGOR but NOT mediocre, he can debate Lazir in two European languages, German and/or English, not Lazir’s mother tongue Pilipino/Tagalog (also not Bisaya, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Bicol, Ilonggo, or Tausug).
Why KOR is Mediocre…two examples:
A. Fake RIZALISM standpoint/s where TRUTH is avoided
Didn't Jimmy Marasigan abuse Oxford casting doubts on Lazir's accusation/s, yet couldn't himself really answer valid clarification questions Lazir asked, trying even to sow goobledygook or confusion, if not doublespeak? Lazir would like to know how he got KGOR. Silence is golden, yes. But when it comes to Rizalism and one becomes silent about what is Truth or Fallacy, one loses even the simple distinction of being called a "decent" man.
For indeed there’s no decency involved in protecting someone high involved (if not deeply mired) in crooked ways! Decent would Marasigan have been, had he kept SILENT from the very beginning. When he became silent as evidence presented grew, he got exposed not only as being unRizalian but also the “indecent man” from Canada.
B. Lying in the use of byline "No Fear Nor Favor" by one claiming to be a journalist (a Journal is a chronology, record… of occurrences, of facts!)
Didn't Ben Ongoco claim he is/was a journalist? He said KOR awarded him something last February in Manila? Was the recognition for his Excellent journalistic skills, or for music (for singing or putting melody/giving a tune to a poem or some text)?
Marlene Garcia-Esperat is one true example of a Journalist everyone should emulate, for her profound courage and NO FEAR NOR FAVOR practice of her journalistic skills (she was a Dept of Agriculture Analytical Chemist who began her Journalism career accidentally when she discovered that her laboratory was not receiving the funding it had been allocated!)
For Ongoco, Lazir might be convinced he has no fear nor favor only if he could sing "My Way" in public Karaoke places all over the Philippines. If he can't do a Marlene Esperat in journalism, if he can't sing "My Way" in public Karaoke areas, isn’t he lying about No Fear? And lying, sad to say, is unRizalian!
KGCR and Pro Patria in the hands of Quiambao/Esguerra who both pushed undeserving KGOR promotions in such a magnitude that if such will go unabated, KOR assemblies will expose more undeserving/unqualified KGORs trotting around with their sashes. But fewer real Rizalian Knights who deserve to be so-called!
Esguerra was right if we use his infamous word to describe all of the above: “NAKAKAHIYA!”
For country and people!
J
Lazir
It behooves us as Knights to also refuse promotions we don't rightfully deserve, for IHQ officials to also remove, take back, not give undeserving promotions!
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New estimate shows destroyed coral reefs 5X size of MM
By Ira Pedrasa, abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 05/28/2011 10:48 AM | Updated as of 05/28/2011 2:04 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The destruction of the country’s coral reefs is now a cause of national security concern with the damaged area larger than what was initially estimated.
In an interview with ANC’s "Rundown", Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim said recent data from the California Academy of Sciences showed that a reef area five times the size of Metro Manila has been destroyed recently by smugglers and poachers.
“It’s worse than what we initially thought,” said Lim, director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Customs officials intercepted early this month some P35 million worth of illicit shipment, which came off the coast of Cotabato. Initial estimates show that poachers destroyed almost twice the size of Metro Manila to be able to harvest 196 kilos of sea whips corals, 161 heads of preserved hawksbill and green turtles, 7,300 pieces of seashells and 21,169 pieces of black corals.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said this is now a “national security concern, not only because it has affected our ecotourism. We’re losing out to Malaysia, Thailand…It has also affected our ability to feed our people.”
He said the fishing industry and fishermen would note they would have to go farther into the sea to catch fish for consumers.
Corruption involved?
Zubiri, who is chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said he will call for an investigation on the matter on Monday during a privilege speech.
He alleged local government units could probably be involved in corruption for their lackluster attempt to stop the destruction of the reefs. “The container vans came from localities…It’s impossible that these people could not have seen these poachers,” he added.
He said local government officials will be invited, “with a threat of a subpoena”, if they refuse to appear.
Zubiri is also calling on the national government to allot a bigger budget for wildlife protection, not just from the coffers of the DENR. Not one administration has given this importance, he added.
He, however, commended the Aquino government for releasing a stronger statement and enjoining the international community to support the cause. Malacañang earlier called on consumers, including the international market, to boycott black coral products.
“We should get the international community to stop the trade…We should get the other countries to ban the products so that the harvesting of black corals will stop,” Zubiri said.