Miau, miau, miau (1)
WAS there freedom of the press during the American colonial period? Many ofyou must have heard about the anti-American zarzuelas written and produced by Aurelio Tolentino and Gabriel Beato Francisco at the same time that the “Miau!” magazine, a satirical weekly, became the object of lawsuits. Theaters that dared present those zarzuelas were raided by American law enforcers and everyone present from director to actors to stage hands and the audience were hauled to prison.
We still shudder at how the “El Renacimiento” was closed down because of an editorial, “Birds of Prey,” attacking Dean Worcester. Its eminent publisher Teodoro Kalaw and editors were sued for libel and imprisoned, but eventually exonerated by an American court. Worcester ordered the closure of “El Renacimiento.” Its equipment was confiscated. It never reopened.
Before that celebrated case, there was a libel suit thrown at the “Miau!”, variety magazine which first saw light on 9 June 1901, published by Don Vicente G. Valdes, a Spanish veteran journalist who had seen action in various battlefields in his younger days. The last issue I possess is dated 20 June 1902, its first anniversary; thicker than usual, it had infinitely more ads than its maiden issue. It began to publish Emilio Aguinaldo’s memoirs and there were commentaries about the Samar (Balangiga) massacre.
“Miau!” turned bi-lingual, perhaps as a matter of survival.
How I wish I had discovered “Miau!” when my Guerrero grandparents were still alive, they could have explained those political cartoons, the acerbic jokes, the idioms of those days. My grandpa Alfredo was probably a subscriber; he had the same kind of sardonic humor as Mr. Valdes. Grandma Filomena must have enjoyed the love stories and poems, though she was also interested in politics and was antiAmerican.
Like my grandparents and their generation, “Miau!” was a conscientious witness to our historical crossroads, that turbulent period before “Hollywood” stardust finally settled. Mr. Valdes was relentless, his commentaries cruel like a feline’s sharpened claws; “Miau!”drew blood, so it was not surprising that after four months in circulation, three prominent individuals hurled a libel suit – Trinidad Pardo de Tavera (TPT) and Benito Legarda (BL), his favorite targets, and a Mr. Jovito Yusay of Panay.
Unfailingly, every week, “Miau!” bit and jabbed at TPT and BL for being shameless political chameleons: “When Spain was powerful, they were the empire’s children, but when it crumbled and the First Phiiippine Republic was in the making, there they were in Malolos right next to Aguinaldo himself; yet, when the Americans came to conquer, they abandoned the Philippine Republic and rushed to the American side...” From his unsigned column, “Fu-Fu,” Mr. Valdes fired heavy artillery at his pet peeves. Reading it now, after a 115 years, one still shudders at Mr. Valdes’ audacity. He scoffed at threatening letters deposited at his doorstep.
The “libelous” articles appeared in the 15 September 1901 issue, which carried news about Pres. W. McKinley’s assassination. Mr. Valdes wrote that when he met TPT in Paris, at the home of Mr. Manuel R. Zorilla, the former spoke like “an extremely exaggerated example of one who loved Spain…” But then, his brother-in-law Juan Luna killed his wife and mother-in-law, TPT’S sister and mother, respectively. According to Mr. Valdes, TPT was so terrified he fled from the scene; Luna was brought to court but was exonerated for his “crime of passion” and that was when TPT began to hate Spain. Upon his return to the Philippines, TPT became “médico de cabecera” of Dr. Ariston Bautista. but then he joined the “Fuerza de Voluntarios” and denounced revolutionaries like Pio Valenzuela. At the advent of the First Republic, he was in Malolos. Aguinaldo had appointed him State Minister for his knowledge of French, according to “Miau!” Then TPT made yet another about face and headed directly to the American side. “Miau!” is perplexed at why the American government appointed him as member of the Philippine Commission. (more)