‘Pingkian: Isang Musikal’ – a review
WE commemorate the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ this week and rekindle his earthly life as he served, died and rose again (as the historians Reynaldo Ileto and Floro Quibuyen said, the narrative of LightDarkness-Light, which is the narrative of tragedy and redemption), we also remember those who followed his example of sacrificing blood, sweat, toil and tears to create our nation and should be redeemed to be glorified in our consciousness.
One such man was Emilio Jacinto, one of the youngest generals of the Philippine Revolution and considered to have been its brains. His Katipunan name was Pingkian, which means the flinting of stones or even swords that produce a spark.
Aside from holding the position of secretary of The Highest, Most Venerable Association of the Sons of the People, or Katipunan, he provided the revolution with a moral basis — a code just like the decalogue of Moses — which emphasizes that the will to fight colonization begins with how we treat our fellowmen. “The Kartilya ng Katipunan” was printed and distributed among new members. Just to underscore its importance to the Filipino people, the only known surviving copy was recently auctioned and sold by Leon Gallery this month. In an earlier auction in February 2019, a folder of Jacinto’s original manuscripts, including “A La Patria” (“To My Country”) and “Liwanag at Dilim,” were also auctioned.
But the talk of the town among culture lovers today is “Pingkian: Isang Musikal,” staged by Tanghalang Pilipino.
I ran into director Jenny Jamora one day, and she told me they were doing a musical on Jacinto. I said to her that historians have some updates on his story. I also showed one of their actresses, Toni Go, some writeups that I had done on these updates, and sure enough, they invited me to an afternoon of a fun learning session in late January before their full rehearsals.
Although José P. Santos wrote Jacinto’s short biography and published his extant writings, one problem is that there are just too many gaps in the historical documentation of his life. Recently, though, some scans of confiscated documents from the Archivo General Militar de Madrid added to and illuminated more on the bigger role he played in the revolution as commander of the Forces of the High Council of the North (Pinunong Hukbo ng Mataas na Sanggunian ng Hilagaan). And to emphasize that they were not just bandits as earlier portrayed, at least in uniform, the stellar actor playing Jacinto, Vic Robinson 3rd, was wearing a rayadillo uniform.
So, when I was shown the script, I just browsed over it and exclaimed, “Oh my God! Ang ganda. This will be a hit!” There was this famous battle in Maimpis, Magdalena, Laguna, in 1898, where Jacinto was seriously wounded and was brought to the convent at the Magdalena Church. While having delirium, he enters a dream sequence where he sees the dead Andres Bonifacio, and they return to their Katipunan days. This is not hagiography as the musical, although hailing the Kartilya’s ideals, also shines a light on how Katipunan justice may have been harsh on traitors and the civilian friars, which included Fr. Antonio Piernavieja, OSA, whom Bonifacio’s men killed in Cavite in 1897 which was one of the factors that fueled the rift between
Bonifacio and Aguinaldo.
But from darkness comes light. He also meets his late mother (played beautifully by my idol Bituin Escalante) and José Rizal (a gender bender at that), who shows him, when he was doubting the worth of what he has done, a future of how his words and ideas can transform a community. This is based on an actual document that he created an economic society or a cooperative, which squares with the oral family lore that he became a meat merchant in Laguna and the letter of Gregoria de Jesus asking for money from him. The fictionalization gave more leeway for us to think about the meaning of his life and writings more than the facts of his life, which meant that, a lot of times, the musical borders on philosophizing. All of this while slide projections show actual documents and symbols of the Katipunan, which I provided.
Gab Pangilinan’s versatility shines as the dual character of the traitor “Florentino Reyes” and Jacinto’s wife Catalina de Jesus (which has been contested by a relative of Jacinto, who claims it is Victorina Cruz as named in the death certificate of their supposed son).
“Pingkian” is one of the, if not the most beautiful, creative and nuanced stage drama on the Philippine Revolution (and I have seen a number of them), and despite being a long dream sequence, it shows more truth about the era that gave birth to our nation, including its birthing pains and soaring hopes. In the end, it echoes Emilio Jacinto’s words that the revolution should begin with the light that comes from our hearts.