1. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, through the 2022 General Appropriations Act, intends to apply the sum of Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand Pesos only (₱ 9,500,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Restoration of Punta Diamante (including the Belfry) in Bulusan, Sorsogon. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of the financial proposals.

2. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines now calls for the submission of eligibility documents for Detailed Engineering/Architectural Studies, Conceptualization & Execution of a Master Development Plan and Rehabilitation Works at Punta Diamante Fortress and Belfry in Brgy. Looban (Pob.), Bulusan, Sorsogon. Eligibility documents of interested consultants must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat on or before 17 February 2022 (Thursday), 10:30 AM at the Records Section, G/F NHCP Building, T.M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila. Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion.

3. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 9 AM to 3 PM.

4. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on 18 February 2022 (Friday) from the address below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Ten Thousand Pesos only (₱ 10,000.00). It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

5. The BAC shall draw up the short list of consultants from those who have submitted Expression of Interest, including the eligibility documents, and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The short list shall consist of at least two prospective bidders who will be entitled to submit bids. The criteria and rating system for short listing are:
• Applicable Experience of Consulting Firm (40%)
• Qualification of Principal and Key Staff (40%)
• Current Workload Relative to Capacity (20%)

6. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the IRR of RA 9184.

7. The Procuring Entity shall evaluate bids using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/Selection (QCBE/QCBS) procedure. The Procuring Entity shall indicate the weights to be allocated for the Technical and Financial Proposals. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of bids shall be provided in the Instructions to Bidders.

8. The contract shall be completed within two hundred and ten (210) calendar days or approximately seven (7) months, whichever comes first.

9. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10. For further information, please refer to:
Reinere Policarpio
BAC Secretariat
G/F NHCP Building, T. M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila 1000
Telephone No.: (+63) 2-5335-1200
Facsimile. No. (+6) 32-8536-3181
E-Mail: bacnhcp2020@gmail.com
Website: www.nhcp.gov.ph

ROSARIO V. SAPITAN
BAC Chairperson

Download bidding documents here.

Eufemio Agbayani III
Historic Sites Development Officer II

As we approach the sesquicentennial of the execution of the three martyred priests, Fathers Jose Apolonio Burgos, Mariano Gomes, and Jacinto Zamora on 17 February 2022, we stumble upon an unresolved problem – how do we remember them visually?

At first glance, the answer is easy. There is a photograph supposedly showing the three. Burgos is seated while Gomes and Zamora stand in the background. It was so popular that the NHCP used it as a basis for its GOMBURZA 150 logo. However, many have raised questions about its authenticity. Gomes would have been 72 by the time he was executed, while Burgos was 35 and Zamora, 37. The age difference would have been apparent if the photo was genuine.

The popularly shared image of the three martyred priests
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE PHILIPPINES

Origins of the Image

 While it is difficult to determine the origin of the image, it was almost certainly derived from a group photograph taken at the studio of Albert Honiss. When it was posted on the Facebook group Manila Nostalgia, many were quick to make their guesses on who sat for the photo. Historian Jose Victor Torres believes that the man seated on the left was Fr. Pedro Pelaez, a champion of secularization of parishes who had unfortunately died in June 1863 during a massive earthquake. Meanwhile, artist Vt Banzon Ancheta guessed that the man standing on the right was Fr. Mariano Sevilla who was exiled after the Cavite Mutiny.

Group photograph of priests including Fr. Jose Burgos.
From a private collection. Uploaded by Jose Dennis Villegas on the Manila Nostalgia
Facebook group, 28 August 2014

The earliest instance of the popular image is possibly in Austin Craig’s The Story of Jose Rizal (Manila: Philippine Education Publishing Co., 1909). Perhaps Craig had access to the collection of photos that included the one with five priests and then manipulated it to show only three. Although it had not been clearly stated, many later understood Gomes to be the one standing in the center and Zamora to be the one at the left.

Facsimile of a page of Austin Craig’s book.
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Many have thought that Rizal first used the supposed image of the three priests for the cover of the original manuscript of El Filibusterismo. However, the manuscript did not have an artistic cover like its prequel Noli Me Tangere. The photo was most probably placed by the staff of the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission when it released a large facsimile of Rizal’s manuscript in 1961.

The absence of a genuine photograph did not deter our forebears from remembering the martyrdom of the three priests. The Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio had been documented as commemorating the anniversary of their demise in 1895 and 1896, and possibly as early as 1894. Honors were rendered before a catafalque decorated with wreaths of makabuhay (Tinospora rumphii). When the Philippines first commemorated Rizal Day in 1898, a wreath was inscribed “Alaala ng bayan kina Burgos, Zamora at Gómez.”

With this dilemma, many artworks commemorating the three martyred priests would use cubist or expressionist imagery. This included the Gomburza National Monument in Ermita, Manila sculpted by Solomon Saprid and another monument by Tito Sta. Ana Sanchez in the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice inside University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Quezon City. Although sculpting faces in two of the three priests as part of a tableau in the Bonifacio National Monument inaugurated in 1933, Guillermo Tolentino did not specify the identity of each of them.

Images of Individual Priests

If the image published in Craig’s book does not show the three priests, then what did they look like? Only Father Burgos has a publicly available photograph, which had been published in various books and served as basis for other artistic depictions of him. These include his monument in Vigan City and his portrait by Francisco Makabuhay for the National Heroes Commission.

Photo of Fr. Jose Burgos
NHCP DIOSDADO CAPINO COLLECTION

As to Gomes, the most prominent artwork depicting him is his monument in the plaza of Bacoor, Cavite erected in 1923. We can hypothesize that those who commissioned the monument — especially the elders — would have known what he looked like. This monument served as a basis of later depictions, including that which was used in the 1972 commemorative stamp.

Monument to Mariano Gomes erected in 1923
MICHAEL CHARLESTON ‘XIAO’ CHUA

To complicate matters, there are two other artworks that supposedly depict him which, unfortunately, bear little resemblance to each other and to the Bacoor monument. One is a wooden bust of him which is now on display at the UP Asian Center. It was donated along with busts of other heroes by the descendants of revolutionary leader Guillermo Masangkay. Was the sculptor Graciano Nepomuceno influenced by the Craig image? It is hard to determine.

Bust of Fr. Mariano Gomes by Graciano Nepomuceno
Currently on display at the University of the Philippines Asian Center

The second artwork is a portrait by Pablo Amorsolo on display in the National Museum of Fine Arts. Unlike the elongated face of the Bacoor monument, the portrait shows Gomes with a rounded face. What makes things even more complicated is that this portrait bears a closer resemblance to the bust of Jacinto Zamora by Nepomuceno. It may also have been the basis of Zamora’s face in the 1972 commemorative stamp.

Portrait of Fr. Mariano Gomes by Pablo Amorsolo, 1932
Displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila

An Icon’s Legacy

The absence of publicly available photographs of Fathers Gomes and Zamora has led to the inconsistency of their depiction in art. Many have chosen instead to closely follow the Craig image lending to its continued prominence. These artworks include a 1963 painting by Virginia Flor-Agbayani on display at the University of the Philippines Diliman Library.

Portrait of the GOMBURZA by Virginia Flor-Agbayani, 1963
DZUP

Many, including the GOMBURZA Centennial Commission, opted to merge existing iconography with research, leading to an image of Gomes as a gray-haired man and Zamora as a middle-aged man. R. Martinez and Sons also published a similar configuration in the book Burgos, Gomez and Zamora: Martyr Priests of 1872 (1972) by Juliana C. Pineda.

Commemorative stamp for the centenary of the martyrdom of the GOMBURZA, 1972

Detail of an unreleased stamp commemorating the centenary of the martyrdom of the GOMBURZA, 1972

Nonetheless, we can consider the photograph not as a faithful representation of the three martyred priests but as an icon for our veneration and respect. Even though it is highly unlikely that the three were given the privilege of taking a photograph together before they met their tragic fate, the image allows us to remember them as a group not in agony, as monuments to the three would often do, but in serenity. We can emphasize not just the sadness of their deaths but the richness of their lives and service to their flock.

References:

Boncan, Celestina P. Remembering the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. General Trias, Cavite: Geronimo Berenguer de los Reyes Jr. Foundation, Inc., 1995.
Gwekoh, Sol H. Burgos, Gomes, Zamora: Secular Martyrs of Filipinism. Manila: National Bookstore, 1972.
Pineda, Juliana C. Burgos, Gomez and Zamora: Martyr Priests of 1872. Manila: R. Martinez and Sons, 1972.
Richardson, Jim. The Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.

Eufemio O. Agbayani III
Historic Sites Development Officer II

Although the three martyred priests whom we collectively call Gomburza—Fr. Jose Apolonio Burgos, Fr. Mariano Gomes, and Fr. Jacinto Zamora—died by garrote as a result of false accusations, their tragic execution on 17 February 1872 became a pivotal point in Philippine history. They were, in the words of National Artist Nick Joaquin, heroes by accident. Yet the tragedy of their deaths clarified the necessity for independence which made the hijos del pais – children of the soil – evolve into mga Anak ng Bayan.

Burgos died as an advocate for the rights of secular clergy, mostly composed of natives or indios and creoles (persons of Spanish descent born in the Philippines). Thus, it made him a symbol of resistance to Spanish colonialism not only to their contemporaries but also to the young people who would grow to lead a national revolution.

Rizal Remembers

The execution of the three martyred priests left an indelible mark on the young Jose Rizal at age ten. He wrote to Mariano Ponce on 18 April 1889 that he would have been a Jesuit had it not been for the events of 1872. He continued: “At the sight of those injustices and cruelties, though still a child, my imagination awoke, and I swore to dedicate myself to avenge one day so many victims.” He would later incorporate the theory of a revolt staged by the friars in his first novel, Noli Me Tangere (1887) and dedicate his second novel, El Filibusterismo (1891), to the memory of the three priests.

It was sadly fitting, therefore, when Wenceslao Retena recalled that when Rizal himself was executed on 30 December 1896, not far from the spot where the Gomburza had been strangled, his lifeless body was buried “on the same spot where Fr. Burgos was interred.” Whether Retana meant this literally or figuratively, it may be impossible to determine. While Rizal’s remains had been positively exhumed and identified, those of Burgos, Gomes, and Zamora have not. The memorial cross for the three priests was erected a few steps away from the spot where bones were supposedly found. It was inaugurated by President Fidel V. Ramos on 17 February 1998.

The connection between Burgos and Rizal was not lost to the people. A kundiman composed in Guimba, Nueva Ecija sings about how in Luneta, two martyrs were killed: “Panganay si Burgos at bunso si Rizal.” (Burgos is the firstborn, Rizal is last).

The Revolution Remembers

The injustice the Gomburza suffered also inspired Katipuneros to commemorate the anniversary of their martyrdom even as they were still an underground movement. As early as 1892, the Gomburza was indicated in the Katipunan foundational documents as victims of oppression. A reflection of their sacrifice was also included in the initiation rituals. It is also believed that the word “Gomburza” served as one of the passwords used during the Katipunan secret meetings.

The earliest commemoration of their death was said to have been held in a house in the interior of Oroquieta Street, Manila on 27 February 1894. (At that time, their execution was mistakenly remembered by many as occurring on 27 February, not ten days prior.) Documents kept in the Archivo General Militar de Madrid allow us a glimpse into how the Katipunan observed that day. The Katipunan Supreme Council, in a meeting held on 21 February 1896 just months before the start of the revolt, mandated the erection of a memorial catafalque decorated with makabuhay wreaths to invoke the immortal legacy of the martyrs.

It was in a draft message by Bonifacio for a memorial service in 1895 that he said in a now popular quote, “May araw ring sisikat ang Araw ng Katuwiran, at magbabayad ang may mga utang.” (The day shall come when the sun of Reason will blaze, and those with debts will have to pay.)

First page of a draft speech believed to be by Emilio Jacinto, c. February 1895
ARCHIVO GENERAL MILITAR DE MADRID

When the Philippines finally gained independence, the people never forgot the Gomburza. The proclamation of Philippine independence read on 12 June 1898 recounted the events of 1872 and concluded that it was “what caused the tree of liberty to bud in this land of ours.” During the first Rizal Day commemoration on 30 December 1898, a wreath was also offered on the temporary monument with the words, “Alaala ng bayan kina Burgos, Zamora at Gómez.”

 The People Continues to Remember

After the clouds of war have settled, the people resumed commemorating the public remembrance of the three priests. On 17 February 1903, the people of Vigan laid the cornerstone of a monument for completion seven years later. On 24 September 1903, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) canonized the three martyred priests, along with Jose Rizal, through a closed convocation. The following Sunday, 27 September 1903, a misa cantada was held to proclaim the canonization with descendants of the four heroes in attendance. The heroes’ images began to be displayed in IFI chapels; one of Burgos still survives in the parish at Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite.

Since then, however, public admiration of the three priests has somehow diminished. It was sustained from time to time through the erection of monuments mostly of Burgos but also of Gomes (built in Bacoor in 1923). Towns were named after Burgos in Ilocos Norte (1914) and in Quezon (1917). Burgos was also included in a lithograph by Guillermo Tolentino in 1911 entitled Grupo de Filipinos Ilustres in which Burgos sits with Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini and many respected men.

During the prewar years, two major commemorations were held in memory of Burgos. A program was held in the Zorrilla Theater in Manila on 17 February 1916 to mark the 44th anniversary of the three priests’ martyrdom. Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Vicente Singson Encarnacion spoke during the event which was organized by the city’s Ilocano community.

In February 1938, the country celebrated Burgos’ centennial birth anniversary for three days. It was delayed by a year to give way to the International Eucharistic Congress, the largest ecclesiastical event which the country hosted at the time. On 7 February, an exhibition was mounted at the Session Hall of the Senate (which had been abolished during this time) in the Legislative Building. The following day, programs were held in schools throughout the country. On 9 February, a stone bust was unveiled in the University of Santo Tomas campus in Intramuros and a cornerstone was laid for a monument which, unfortunately, never materialized.

Jorge Bocobo speaks in front of a portrait of Burgos in the old Senate Session Hall, 9 February 1938
NHCP DIOSDADO CAPINO COLLECTION

In connection with these festivities, the Philippine Historical Research and Markers Committee, a precursor of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, unveiled markers at his birthplace in Vigan, his residence in Intramuros, and at the site of the barracks where he spent his last night in Rizal Park, Manila.

Symbol Utilized in War

The imagery of a people resisting Western domination was employed by the Japanese-sponsored Second Republic. In its second year, it promoted Burgos, along with Rizal and Mabini, as national heroes. On Burgos’ birth anniversary, the State released a series of stamps depicting the three priests. A ceremony was also held in the Manila Cathedral where Burgos and Zamora once served. To represent the remains of the three priests which were never recovered, three skull caps were placed on a simple catafalque alongside a missal, a crucifix, and a chalice. It was considered a national memorial, with President Jose P. Laurel and Speaker Benigno Aquino Sr. seated beside the Archbishop of Manila Michael O’Doherty and Apostolic Delegate Monsignor Guglielmi Piani.

Monsignor Cesar Ma. Guerrero blesses the symbolic remains of the Gomburza in the Manila Cathedral, 17 February 1944
NHCP DIOSDADO CAPINO COLLECTION

Revived Interest

 Despite the central role of the Gomburza’s martyrdom in history, an annual holiday on its anniversary was never declared. In 1964, President Diosdado Macapagal proclaimed a holiday in Ilocos Sur on the anniversary of Gomburza martyrdom. In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos, through his Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor Jr., issued a proclamation to mark significant dates on the martyrs’ life and death as public holidays. Recently, the anniversary of their martyrdom is marked as a non-working holiday in Padre Burgos, Quezon.

Nevertheless, Burgos was commemorated through stamps released in 1944, 1955, and 1963 while an icon of him, with Gomes and Zamora, was featured on the 20 peso bill from 1949 to 1969. Markers were also installed on their execution site in 1953, the birthplace of Zamora in 1954, and the church of Bacoor where Gomes had served in 1971 (replaced in 2021).

 The centennial anniversary of the three priests’ martyrdom spurred further interest among the public. A centennial commission conducted research, published monographs, and most notably, commissioned a monument which was inaugurated in Plaza Roma, Intramuros, Manila on 17 February 1972. Designed by Solomon Saprid, the monument shows three human shrouded men, bound and kneeling. When restoration of the walled city began, the monument was moved in front of the old Legislative Building (now the National Museum of the Philippines) in 1980. It was recently declared as a National Monument on 17 February 2021.

The Gomburza also lent its name to an organization of progressive priests, seminarians, and laity who organized in 1977 against the Marcos dictatorship.

Seminarians carry a Gomburza banner in front of the Gomburza National Monument to call
for genuine agrarian reform
Published in the Daily Mirror, 26 January 1988
NHCP DIOSDADO CAPINO COLLECTION

Thanks to consistent state commemorations through the years, more and more Filipinos are becoming more familiar of Burgos, Gomes, and Zamora and the significance of their deaths in Philippine history. The challenge today is to how to go beyond the curiosity generated by these monuments and commemorative programs, and explore their lives, their ministry, the circumstance of their tragic deaths, and how these affected the lives of our people then and now.

References:

Dacanay, Amadeo R. “A Hero Is Remembered: Martyr Burgos, Who Was Among The First To Struggle For National Freedom, Is Little Remembered.” GRAPHIC, 16 December 1937.

Dery, Luis Camara. Awit kay Inang Bayan: Ang Larawan ng Pilipinas Ayon Sa Mga Tula’t Kundiman na Kinatha Noong Panahon ng Himagsikan. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2003.

Gwekoh, Sol H. Burgos, Gomes, Zamora: Secular Martyrs of Filipinism. Quezon City: National Bookstore,  1974.

Joaquin, NIck. A Question of Heroes. 2021 edition. Mandaluyong City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2021.

Mallari, Delfin Jr. T. “Gomburza resurfaces, joins protests vs Duterte.” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 18 September 2017. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/931365/gomburza-resurfaces-joins-protests-vs-duterte.

“Ranking Officials Attend Mass for Martyred Priests,” Tribune, 18 February 1944.

Retana, Wenceslao. Vida y escritos del Dr. Jose Rizal. Madrid: Libreria General de Victoriano Suarez, 1907.

Richardson, Jim. The Light of Liberty: Documents and Studies on the Katipunan, 1892-1897. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2013.

Sayson, Malou. “Further probe into the discovery of GOMBURZA remains needed.” Philippine News Agency. 6 February 1996. Retrieved from https://groups.google.com/g/torfree.fccs.news.misc/c/e0Wu1OD83tQ?pli=1.
Trillana, Pablo S. III. Rizal and Heroic Traditions: A Sense of National Destiny. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2006.

1. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, through the 2022 General Appropriations Act, intends to apply the sum of Two Million, Nine Hundred Ninety Thousand, Five Hundred Seventy-Nine Pesos and 63/100 (₱ 2,990,579.63) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Rehabilitation Works at St. Anne Parish Church (Molo Church), Molo, Iloilo City. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines now invites bids for the above Procurement Project. Completion of the Works is required within one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days. Bidders should have completed a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II (Instructions to Bidders).

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested bidders on 4 February 2021 from given address and website/s below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Five Thousand Pesos (₱ 5,000.00). The Procuring Entity shall allow the bidder to present its proof of payment for the fees via a photocopy of the receipt included in the submitted bid or via e-mail (bachnhcp2020@gmail.com)

6. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 11 February 2022 (Friday), 9:30 AM at 4/F Conference Room, NHCP Building, T.M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila, and/or through videoconferencing/webcasting via Zoom, (the link for which may be requested via e-mail at bacnhcp2020@gmail.com and will be sent one (1) day before schedule) which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7. Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat through (i) manual submission at the office address as indicated below, (ii) online or electronic submission as indicated below on or before 24 February 2022 (Thursday) at 9:30 AM. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 16.

9. Bid opening shall be on 24 February 2022 (Thursday), 9:30 AM at the given address below and/or through Zoom (the Meeting ID and Passcode for which may be requested via e-mail at bacnhcp2020@gmail.com and will be sent one (1) day before schedule). Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend the activity.

10. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Sections 35.6 and 41 of the 2016 revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA No. 9184, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

11. For further information, please refer to:
Reinere Policarpio
BAC Secretariat
G/F NHCP Building, T. M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila 1000
Telephone No.: (+63) 2-5335-1200
Facsimile. No. (+6) 32-8536-3181
E-Mail: bacnhcp2020@gmail.com
Website: www.nhcp.gov.ph

12. You may visit the following websites:
For downloading of Bidding Documents: http://nhcp.gov.ph/category/nhcp/procurement/bid-opportunities/
For online bid submission: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3KboP7KFWN4OnmvK25MDcRk9BkrYnoDww5g9HLyMOEw8G5w/viewform

________________________________
ROSARIO V. SAPITAN
BAC Chairperson

Download bidding documents here.

Notice is hereby given on the postponement of the scheduled shortlisting of the following project as well as the revised schedule, to wit:

            The postponement is in light of 1 February 2022 being a special non-working holiday (Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day) pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 1326 dated 29 October 2021.

          The deadline for submission of eligibility documents is the same as the schedule of shortlisting (10:00 AM). Interested bidders are advised to send a formal letter of intent via e-mail at bacnhcp2020@gmail.com. All bidders who signified interest shall be sent via e-mail a Zoom virtual meeting room link from which they may remotely observe the proceedings of the shortlisting.

For the guidance and information of all concerned.

ROSARIO V. SAPITAN
BAC Chairperson

1. The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), through the General Appropriations Act 2022 (GAA) intends to apply the sum of Twenty-Nine Million, Nine Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred Forty-Five pesos and 20/100 (₱ 29,999,945.20) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Rehabilitation and Maintenance of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Main and Annex Buildings, including Re-wiring of Electrical System. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. The NHCP now invites bids for the above Procurement Project. Completion of the Works is required within 270 calendar days. Bidders should have completed a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II (Instructions to Bidders).

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from NHCP and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested bidders from 21 January to 14 February 2022 from the given address and website/s below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos only (₱ 25,000.00.) It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay (via online payment or cashier) the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6. The NHCP will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 31 January 2021 (Monday), 9:30 AM at the 4th Floor Conference Room, NHCP Building, T.M. Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila and through online videoconferencing via Zoom, which shall be open to prospective bidders.
(*To request the URL, Room ID and Password of the virtual meeting room, kindly send an e-mail to bacnhcp2020@ gmail.com. Details will be sent via e-mail one day before the Pre-Bid Conference.)

7. Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat through (i) manual submission at the office address as indicated below, (ii) online or electronic submission as indicated below, or (iii) both on or before 14 February 2022 (Monday) at 9:30 AM. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 16.

9. Bid opening shall be on 14 February 2022 (Monday), 9:30 AM at the given address below and through videoconferencing/webcasting via Zoom. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend the activity.

10. The NHCP reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Sections 35.6 and 41 of the 2016 revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA No. 9184, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

11. For further information, please refer to:
Reinere Policarpio
BAC Secretariat, National Historical Commission of the Philippines
T.M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila
Mobile No. 0947-993-7350
Email address: bacnhcp2020@gmail.com
12. You may visit the following websites:
For downloading of Bidding Documents:
http://nhcp.gov.ph/ > NHCP > Procurement > Bid Opportunities
For online bid submission:
http://nhcp.gov.ph/ > NHCP > Procurement > Bidding Documents Online Submission
Google Form Instructions: https://forms.gle/zQPQ99tDE7KViADQ7

________________________________
ROSARIO V. SAPITAN
BAC Chairperson

Download bidding documents here.

2022 marks the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Fathers Mariano Gomes, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora or more well known as Gomburza. Historians like Teodoro Agoncillo recognize this event as the precursor to the rise of Filipino nationalism. But one must look back first the incident that paved the way to their martyrdom: the Cavite Mutiny of 20-22 January 1872.

The Capture of Fort San Felipe Neri

On 20 January 1872, a mutiny in the Spanish naval base of Fort San Felipe Neri at the Cavite Puerto (now Cavite City) happened. It began when they misinterpreted that the fireworks from the feast of Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc, Manila were rockets signaling the rebellion. Around 200 people were involved, composed of Filipino soldiers, marines, sailors, workers, and some Cavite resident. They were headed by Sergeant Lamadrid, a native of Bicol. The mutiny was staged just as most of the Spanish forces in the Philippines were preoccupied by the operations against the Muslims in Sulu. The uprising spread in other military installations as the Cavite Puerto. Lamadrid hoped that other Filipino units stationed in Manila would also rise and take over the defenses of Intramuros.

Several Spanish officials were either taken as hostages or killed. Upon receiving the information about the mutiny, Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo immediately mustered a force under General Felipe Ginoves to reinforce the Spanish defensive positions and the contingent of Spanish Marines. The gunboat Samar sailed to Bacoor Bay to blockade Bacoor, Cavite, preempting the impeding advance to Manila.

The following morning, the rebels retreated to Fort San Felipe Neri owing to the advance of nearby Filipino regiments who did not join the uprising. On January 22, the Spaniards outnumbered mutineers and regained the control of the fort after an hour of fighting. Lamadrid died during the siege.

Spanish Reaction to the Mutiny

Spanish authorities initiated an intense manhunt. Arrested leaders and members of the uprising identified several liberal personalities both in the church and society. Izquierdo reported to Madrid the involvement of the aforesaid liberals, while historian Jose Montero y Vidal claimed that the uprising was an attempt to overthrow Spaniards.

Francisco Zaldua, one of the arrested leaders of the uprising, implicated the following personalities, among others: Frs. Pedro Dandan, Mariano Sevilla, Ancieto Desiderio, Vicente del Rosario, and Toribio H. Del Pilar, liberals like Agustin Mendoza, Miguel Laza, Jose Ma. Basa, Pio Basa, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, and Maximo Paterno, and most especially the Gomburza. All in all, 52 were sentenced to death, but 39 of the number were later reduced to life imprisonment. Others were banished to the Marianas. The incident happened while Spain was under the republican leaders promoting liberalism—yet progressiveness was suppressed vis-à-vis secularization of Philippine churches affected. Some units involved in the munity were reassigned to Mindanao while the Artillery were placed under pure Spaniards from Iberia.

On 17 February 1872, the public witnessed how the Gomburza were sentenced to death by garrote at Bagumbayan, Manila. Despite being a witness, Zaldua was not spared to death sentence. Jose Rizal, in his dedication of El Filibusterismo, remarked that only God knows if the three martyred priests were innocent of the accusations to them.

The Rise of Nationalism

Filipino scholar Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, nephew of one of the implicated liberals, Joaquin H. Pardo de Tavera, lamented how Cavite Mutiny was overshadowed by myths and intrigues. For him, the mutiny had no intention to advance Philippine independence but more on social reforms such as the Filipinos’ enjoyment of the rights held by an ordinary Spanish citizen.

To Agoncillo, the death of the Gomburza inspired the young generation to continue clamoring for an ideal society and eventually the independence of the Filipino people. One of the leading reformists and feared by the Spaniards Marcelo H. del Pilar, for example, witnessed how his brother Fr. Toribio was inhumanely arrested by the authorities. A number of Filipinos also witnessed the public exaction of the three priests at Bagumbayan—even visiting Fr. Burgos on the eve of the execution at Fort Santiago, the latter reminded his students of a wisdom and a mission as a Filipino:

Get educated. Use the schools of our country for as much as they can give. Learn from our older men what they know. Then go abroad. #If you can do no better, study in Spain, but preferably study in the freer countries. Read what foreigners have written about the Philippines for their writings have not been censored. See in the museums of other lands what the ancient Filipinos really were. Be a Filipino always, but an educated Filipino.

In 1891, Rizal published El Filibusterismo dedicated to the Gomburza. His elder brother, Paciano, was among the friends of Fr. Burgos. The brother introduced the genius priest to the young Rizal through anecdotes. The death of the three martyred priests also motivated the Katipunan to avenge their death by overthrowing the Spaniards and proclaiming Philippine independence. They even commemorated the death anniversary of the Gomburza every February 17 and used the acronym as one of the passwords of the society. In various occasions, the memory of the priests was evoked by the Philippine Revolutionary Government in 1898, even founding the Instituto Burgos in Malolos.

REFERENCES

Aguilar, Filomeno V. “‘Filibustero’, Rizal, and the Manilamen of the Nineteenth Century.” Philippine Studies 59, no. 4 (2011): 429–69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42634692.

Arcilla, Jose S. “The Enlightenment and the Philippine Revolution.” Philippine Studies 39, no. 3 (1991): 358–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42633263.

Craig, Austin. Gems of Philippine Oratory. Manila: University of Manila, 1924.

Foreman, John, F.R.G.S. The Philippine Islands: A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago, Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1899.

Schumacher, John N., and Nicholas P. Cushner. “Documents Relating to Father Jose Burgos and the Cavite Mutiny of 1872.” Philippine Studies 17, no. 3 (1969): 457–529. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42631953.

Schumacher, John N. “The Cavite Mutiny Toward a Definitive History.” Philippine Studies 59, no. 1 (2011): 55–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42635001.

_____. “The Cavite Mutiny: An Essay on the Published Sources.” Philippine Studies 20, no. 4 (1972): 603–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42634842.

Eufemio Agbayani III
Historic Sites Development Officer II
National Historical Commission of the Philippines

“Turn your eyes to the farmer burnt by the sun tilling the stubborn earth and burying a seed. He too contributes through his modest but useful work to the glory of the nation.” – Jose Rizal, El Amor Patrio, June 1882 (translated by Raul J. Bonoan)

            We often remember Rizal for his thought-provoking literary works such as his two novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, or his annotations to Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. We also remember him as an accomplished ophthalmologist—such that we call him Doctor Rizal even if what he received is a licentiate and not a doctorate.

            Yet even if in our mind, Rizal was first and foremost an intellectual, he engaged in manual labor. In particular, he took part in what is probably the most important of them all: agriculture.

            Rizal’s first exposure to agriculture was in his childhood. He was born to a family of inquilinos; his father Francisco Mercado rented land from the Dominicans and managed farmers who tilled the land. The profit after paying the canon and the farmhands allowed the family to build a home at the center of town.

Reminiscences in Noli Me Tangere

            As a novel written after real life, Rizal used Noli Me Tangere to reminisce his rural childhood. Yet as he wanted the setting of his novel to be any town in the Philippines, he strategically described the fictional San Diego by giving it all the major crops (minus abaca). It produced sugar (commonly found in estates in Laguna, Central Luzon, and Western Visayas), palay (grown throughout the country), coffee (grown in Batangas), and fruits exported to other towns.

Rizal also reminisced the rich aquaculture of the Laguna de Bay in a scene of his Noli Me Tangere, where the character Tia Isabel recited what to do with a variety of fish from the lake:

The ayungin is good for the sinigang. Leave the bia for the escabeche. The dalag and the buan-buan for the pesa, the dalag will last longer. Put them in the net so they can stay in the water. The lobster to the frying pan! The banak is to be roasted, wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with tomatoes. Leave the rest for decoys; it’s bad to empty the corral completely.

Cultivating Interest

            Although Rizal considered being a doctor, lawyer, or even a priest, his interest in farming remained. He studied to become a licensed land surveyor at Ateneo de Manila, receiving his license in September 1881. One could speculate at why he took this course. Perhaps he wanted to measure the land his family was renting to make sure that they paid just right. Perhaps he wanted to explore other idle lands which his family could till for free.

            Even when Rizal studied abroad to become an ophthalmologist, he was still curious about farming. In a letter to his parents on 2 August 1882, he expressed interest in studying agriculture and lamented how only a single Filipino – Mariano Cunanan of Pampanga – was studying to become an agriculturist. He saw agriculture as an honored and intelligent profession, saying, “Here the agriculturist is much wiser perhaps than many bishops and many lawyers there.”

            Rizal’s curiosity was also sustained by reading. A bibliographic card preserved by the NHCP in its Museo ni Jose Rizal Fort Santiago Collection suggests that he owned a book entitled Farming to Profit in Modern Times by John Walker. Perhaps he was researching ways to improve their farming techniques back in Calamba, especially after sugar prices went down and the Dominicans’ rent went up.

Leader of Farmers            

            Rizal was not naïve to the complications and tragedies of farming. Although it is in fiction, the story of Cabesang Tales in El Filibusterismo may have been familiar to Rizal’s contemporaries. Tales turned to being a bandit or tulisan after losing his lands and even his family after trying to turn a wooded place into a farm.

Earlier, Rizal contributed articles in La Solidaridad describing the sorry state of Filipino farmers. In Sobre La Indolencia de Filipinos published starting 15 July 1890, Rizal cites that Filipinos had a rich agricultural culture prior to the arrival of Spaniards, but constant depredations by pirates and calls for arms and/or public works discouraged many indios from aggressively developing their farms. Rizal summarizes these grievances: The miserly return that the Filipino gets from his labor would in the end discourage him.

Rizal also talked about the hardship faced by contemporaneous Filipino farmers in Los Agricultores Filipinos, an article which appeared on its 15 March 1889 issue. The article focused not only the scientific aspect of farming but on the social and economic challenges they faced. In addition to storms and pests, Filipino farmers faced forced labor, the possibility of being arrested, and the predilection of tulisanes who forced farmers to give them part of the harvest. His sole means of defense, a firearm, was difficult to procure and register.

            Rizal suggested to his readers that government officials should visit and ask farmers their concerns directly and to allow a free press to publish stories of abuse. One such unfortunate story was his family’s land troubles in Calamba which culminated, sadly, in the expulsion of many Calambeños from the town and the exile of some of them, including Rizal’s own justifyPaciano.

            These tragic events encouraged Rizal to find an alternative, a New Calamba, in North Borneo. He writes to Blumentritt, “In Borneo I shall not be a planter but the leader of planters who are thinking of emigrating there with me… There are vast fields over there where we can found a new Kalamba.” He visited the area in late 1891 and early 1892 and received the approval of the British authorities. Rizal must have shared these plans to his friends, as Ariston Bautista Lin, Juan Luna, Antonio Luna, and Sixto Lopez wrote letters to him asking for an update. Unfortunately, his plan was disapproved by the Governor General. He cited that there were many lands to develop in the Philippines. Yet it is not improbable that he thought a Filipino colony just outside the borders of Spanish Philippines could be used as a base for a revolt.

Gentleman Farmer

Rizal’s vision of a new Calamba would only come true through his unexpected exile to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. He arrived on 17 July 1892 and stayed at the Casa Real which served as the residence and office of the commandant Don Ricardo Carnicero.

The month after his exile, he planted fruit trees in the land between his place of residence, the Casa Real, and the sea. By January 1893, using money from lottery winnings he received the previous September, he wrote his family to report his purchase of land across the bay in Talisay which had “fifty lanzones trees, twenty mangoes, macupa, some fifty lanka, santol, balonos [wild mangoes], eighteen mangosteens… 16 coconut trees from which we get tender coconut milk.”  He also reported that he had planted “1,400 coffee seeds, 200 cacao” and had green mangoes. Descendants remember that he also planted pineapples and corn.

Carnicero reports that the land had “more than 60 cacao trees, some coffee trees, and many fruit trees of some value.” These had been abandoned by the previous owners as they were being eaten by wild boars and monkeys. They continued to pester Rizal throughout his stay but this did not deter him from maintaining his farms, in which he is recorded as keeping ducks, pigs, and chickens in addition to his plants and trees. In the early months, as his books had not yet come with him, it is entirely possible that Rizal depended on local help on how to cultivate the fruit trees. It is known that he engaged the services of Subanen helpers, one of which he had grown fond of named Agyag.

Once Rizal had settled in his Talisay estate, much of his daily routine was occupied by farming. In his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt on 19 December 1893, he shares that he begins the day at 5:00 am by feeding his chickens and spends his afternoons tending his farm. For a time he found himself content with the serenity of a farmer’s lifestyle, saying to Carnicero on a note dated 25 October 1892, “I myself, though a descendant of farmers but not so by profession, would remain here forever and engage in farming with pleasure.”

The land in Dapitan and its neighboring areas was so fertile that he invited his fellow Calambeños to resettle. One of them, Aquilino Gecolea, quickly heeded his call. He arrived in December 1892 and found an ideal place in Punta Blanca (now part of Manukan town). Rizal later set his sights on Ponot which was then home to many indigenous Subanen. On 10 April 1895, he requested Jose Ma. Basa for his books as he had planned to clear the area by June. He was granted permission on 1 June on the condition that he would not bring any fellow Calambeño. He refused this condition and contented himself in Dapitan.

As late as 1896, Rizal’s final year on earth, he had been actively searching for other places to cultivate. On 10 February, he bought land from Ramon Carreon in Daanglungsod in the twon of Lubungan (now Katipunan town). This plot of land still functions as a farm managed by descendants of Fernando Eguia, a student of Rizal. On 22 April, he bought land from Cosme Borromeo near Linao, the source of the waterworks he had built. This increased the size of his Dapitan estate from 16 hectares to approximately 18.

Expanded interests

Plants need water, and to support his farmland and his adopted town, Rizal helped construct two separate water systems. The first was a water system conceptualized by the Jesuits and approved for construction in the month Rizal arrived. The project leader was a Jesuit brother, Juan de Costa, who had built a water system in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental. Rizal’s knowledge as a surveyor may have been useful in charting the course of the pipes from its source in Linao to a point just across the river from the town center. He may have also designed its main faucet with a lion’s head.

Rizal also built an internal water system for his Talisay farm consisting of a dam and a water tank which is no longer extant. When he opened his school in January 1894, his students also helped him maintain his estate and planting/farming was part of the curriculum.

Rizal improved upon a formula on how to use paste from the bakhaw mangroves to fill in holes in wood. “With a knife I remove the peel of the [mangrove] fruit until the pulp comes out. I boil the pulp until the water turns reddish. Then I crush the hot pulp. A small quantity of lime water mixed with the paste prevents it from being damp” (Letter to Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez, 30 December 1892). Rizal later used bakhaw paste for some of his artworks made in Dapitan especially Wild Boar, immortalizing some of the animals which threatened his fruit trees.

More than a year after Rizal arrived in Dapitan, he discovered how abaca could be a profitable crop for Dapitanons. He entered a partnership with Mariano Hamoy, a Dapitanon businessman, for its cultivation. It had become so profitable that he had convened an association of planters and harvesters in August 1894 and finished the group’s by-laws on 1 January 1895. Its objectives were: (a) to improve farm products; (b) to obtain better markets; (c) to collect funds for their purchase; and (d) to establish a cooperative store with moderate prices.

Rizal entered into a partnership with a Spaniard, Antonio Miranda, to improve the fishing industry in Dapitan. He had planned to introduce the pukutan system and had asked a pukutan (ring net) from his brother-in-law Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo, husband of Saturnina Rizal. Rizal also requested for expert fishermen and he was willing to sustain their livelihood, even building them houses and paying for their stay, but none arrived.

Despite this setback, Rizal found farming sustainable and profitable. He may not have expected to become a farmer, but he made the most out of his exile both emotionally and economically. So prosperous was Rizal’s estate when he left it on 31 July 1896 that when he was fined after the sentencing for sedition, Spanish officials were able to recover the following properties:

Two parcels of land in the sitio of Daanlungsod, of the town of Lubungan, with an approximate area of 35 hectares, with a stand of 2,000 abaca plants

A piece of hilly and stony land with an area of about eighteen hectares

1. A light material house of bamboo and palm-leaf thatch with wooden posts and plank flooring, measuring 10 meters and 5 centimeters long and 11 meters and 40 centimenters wide…
2. a light material shed of bamboo and palm-leaf thatch with wooden posts and plank flooring, measuring 15 meters long and 7 meters and 10 centimenters wide…
3. 31 coconut trees
4. 10 bamboo trees and a number of fruit trees
5. a vessel of the kind called vilus, unfinished, measuring 19 meters 85 centimeters from stern to stern, 1.65 meters breadth of beam, and 1.30 meters depth of hold, and two masts.

This list offers a glimpse in the great economic activity that Rizal left behind. Today, Dapitan is still a largely agricultural city although, thankfully, its fishing industry is better than during Rizal’s time and now its income is augmented by tourism centered on historic sites and a famed resort.

Agriculture remains as a challenging profession. Farmers are tempted to give up by destructive floods, low prices, costly transportation, unauthorized importations, and easy money from developers who would buy their land. Yet their work is essential for the sustenance and growth of our nation. It is hoped that rediscovering Rizal’s respect for agriculture can inspire everyone – from leaders in government to ordinary citizens – to support farmers in all possible ways.

References

Bonoan, Raul J. “Rizal’s First Published Essay: ‘El Amor Patrio’”. Philippine Studies 44, no. 3 (1996): 299-320.

Capino, Diosdado G. and Virginia Buenaflor. Stories of Rizal’s Exile in Dapitan. Manila: Manlapaz Publications, 1961.

Guerrero, Leon Ma. The First Filipino. Manila: National Historical Commission, 1974.       

Jose Rizal: Correspondence with Blumentritt. Vol. 2. Manila: National Historical Commission of the Philippines, 2011.

One Hundred Letters of Jose Rizal to his Parents, Brother, Sisters, Relatives. Manila: Philippine National Historical Society, 1959.

Rizal, Jose. Ang “Filibusterismo”. Translated by Maria Odulio de Guzman. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store, 1960.

Rizal, Jose. Noli Me Tangere. Translated by Domingo de Guzman, Francisco Laksamana, and Maria Odulio de Guzman. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store, 1950.

Rizal, Jose. Noli Me Tangere: A Completely New Translation for the Contemporary Reader. Translated by León Ma. Guerrero. London and Hong Kong, Longman Group Limited, 1961.

Rizal, Jose. Political and Historical Writings. Manila: National Historical Institute, 1976.

Rizal’s Correspondence with Fellow Reformists. Manila: National Heroes Commission, 1963.

Rizal Shrine Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. Manila: National Historical Institute, 1993.

Ocampo, Ambeth R. and Andrew Gonzalez, FSC, eds. Rizal the Scientist. Proceedings of a Seminar in Commemoration of the Rizal Death Centennial (1896), June 20, 1997. Manila: De La Salle University Press, 2002.

Villaroman, Noel G. Dapitanon. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2018.

By: Albert Vincent F. Barretto

Former President Manuel Luis Molina Quezon will forever remain in the hearts of the Dapitanons not only for his efforts to achieve Philippine independence from foreigners, but also for preserving the memory of the place of exile of Jose Rizal in Dapitan.

In the late 1920s, then-Senate President Quezon visited Dapitan, Zamboanga. During his visit, he was often accompanied by then Governor of Zamboanga Province, Jose Dalman Aseniero, a Dapitanon who was elected from 1925 to 1928. Jose Aseniero was a student of Jose Rizal, whom he called Maestro, in Dapitan from 1894 to 1896. He also witnessed the execution of his Maestro in Bagumbayan on 30 December 1896. According to Jose Aseniero’s grandson, Dr. George Aseniero, “(Quezon) visited Dapitan during my grandfather’s governorship of Zamboanga Province. He wanted the homestead [of Rizal] and other structures reconstructed as being of the highest historical value”.

Quezon was the Senate President in 1932 when Act No. 3915, or “An Act Providing for the Establishment of National Parks, Declaring such Parks as Game Refuges, and for other Purposes,” was enacted. It is stated in Section 1 of Act No. 3915 that a criterion for designating a place as a National Park is that it must have a historical value:

Section 1. Upon recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Governor-General shall, by proclamation, reserve and withdraw from settlement, occupancy or disposal under the laws of the Philippine Islands any portion of the public domain which, because of its panoramic, historical, scientific or aesthetic value, should be dedicated and set apart as a national park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the Philippine Islands.

Also mentioned in Section 4b of Act No. 3915 is the preservation and renovation of the historic environment within the park:

(b) For the granting of licenses for the cutting of timber or other forest products subject to the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-six hundred and seventy-four in cases where the cutting of such timber and other forest product is deemed necessary in order to control the attacks of insects or diseases or otherwise conserve and enhance the beauty of the scenery, or to improve the surroundings of the natural or historic objects within the said parks

One must note the provision contained in Act No. 3915 dominating the sections concerning the ecological value and protection of the areas to be designated as a National Park outnumbering the word “historical” which was mentioned only three times. Although no mention is made of what served as the basis for the legislators to set the criteria and the term “historical,” it is interesting to think that one of the possible bases of the legislators in declaring a site as a National Park is the place of exile of Rizal in Dapitan.

Quezon was sworn in as President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935. On 3 September 1940, he signed Proclamation 616, also known as “Establishing Rizal National Park for the Enjoyment of the People of the Philippines was declared the Parcel of Land Situated in the Municipality of Dapitan, Province of Zamboanga, Island of Mindanao.” The main reason for declaring the ten-hectare Rizal National Park is its historical value as the place of exile of our national hero, further securing its protection and future development. Proclamation 616 also mentions the delimitations and the land area of the Rizal National Park as stated in the following:

Beginning at point marked 1 on Bureau of Forestry Map No. N. P. 30. N. 19° W., 1,380 meters from the municipality of Dapitan, Zamboanga, an anilao tree, 35 cm. in diam., marked F. Z. 225/233, identical to corner 1. block III. alienable and disposable Zamboanga project No. L; thence following coastline in a general westerly direction, 320 meters to corner 2, a wharf, marked 620/38, a pathway of Rizal Park on coastline; thence N. 23° E., 115 meters to corner 3, a bogo tree, 10 cm. in diam., marked 62 of the tank of Rizal Park; thence N. 7° W., 90 meter to corner 4, a bogo tree, 40 cm. in diam., marked 620, 31, about 5 meters from a nangka tree; thence N. 80° E., 85 meters to corner 5, a point at the bank of a creek; thence N. 52° E., 60 meters to corner 6, a point on cutline; thence N. 46° E., 160 meters to corner 7, a point on cutline; thence N. 46° E., 180 meters to corner 8, a dead yakal tree, 45 cm. in diam., marked 60/55, on cutline; thence S. 20° W., 125 meters to corner 9, an alupag tree, 15 cm. in diam., marked 620/56 near a big rock; and thence S. 3° W., 305 meters to the point of beginning.

Corner 1 was marked with official marking hatchet No. B. F. 318.

Containing an area of approximately 10 hectares.

The aforementioned delimitations of Rizal National Park also show the practice of the surveyors during that time in using the natural landmarks, such as trees, creeks, and rocks, as well as some manmade structures, as their markers. Most of the natural landmarks are gone due to natural circumstances, while some manmade structures were destroyed or modified.

Seawall, which was modified into a pathway, after the reclamation of the seaside area of Rizal Shrine

File photo of water tank that is no longer extant.

Creek which serves as an outlet of water coming from Rizal’s dam

Big rock, also known as Mi Retiro Rock or Lover’s Rock

Fortunately, there are two existing markers: (1) the creek, which is the only water outlet of Rizal National Park, and (2) the big rock, also known as the “Mi Retiro Rock.” Present surveyors of the Rizal National Park use concrete markers as a more efficient and reliable way of surveying the park.

Although the ​​Rizal National Park is the smallest national park in terms of land area among all those declared by Quezon, its historical value is enough to match the vast National Parks, such as Biak-na-Bato National Park with 2,117 hectares.

Its declaration as a National Park was the beginning of Quezon’s collaboration with Aseniero, who wanted to physically portray Rizal’s life in Dapitan by placing replicas of Rizal’s houses in the National Park. An article in the Lands Journal November-December 1952 issue reads:

It is to be recalled that when the late President Quezon paid his last visit to the park, he was determined to improve it and immediately gave instruction to the Director of Public Works to do so. Upon hint to the late Jose Aseniero, one of the students of Rizal and a former governor of Zamboanga, who was in company with him then at the park, to have the replica of the old house made there was not even a trace of any habitation left in park, the latter and his son, worked together to produce the plan that ultimately was followed to the details.

Quezon did not live to see the construction of the replicas of Rizal’s houses due to the outbreak of World War II and his subsequent demise in 1944. It was in the 1960s when replicas of Rizal’s houses were successfully built and installed with historical markers by the government. Rizal National Park was later elevated as Jose Rizal Shrine in 1973. It is now the Museo ni Jose Rizal – Dapitan under the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. The forest area of Rizal National Park was further expanded and renamed as Jose Rizal Memorial Protected Landscape in 2000 with a current size of 439 hectares, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The Museo ni Jose Rizal – Dapitan and the Jose Rizal Memorial Protected Landscape are not just places of interest. They are home to the memory of our hero, part of our natural resources, and the jewel of Dapitan City. These places Quezon’s homage to Rizal, proof of his love and respect for the hero. Quezon is one in likeness of Rizal; both men yearned for our freedom. By naming a street in Dapitan after Quezon, the Dapitanons further entrenched his memory in their hearts.

References:

Lands Journal November-December 1952 issue

ACT NO. 3915: https://laws.chanrobles.com/acts/7_acts.php?id=322
(retrieved 18 Aug 2021)

Proclamation No. 223, s. 1937: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1937/11/16/proclamation-no-223-s-1937/ (retrieved 18 Aug 2021)

Proclamation No. 616, s. 1940: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1940/09/03/proclamation-no-616-s-1940/ (retrieved 18 Aug 2021)

Presidential Decree No. 105, s. 1973: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/01/24/presidential-decree-no-105-s-1973/ (retrieved 18 Aug 2021)

Proclamation No. 279, s. 2000: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2000/04/23/proclamation-no-279-s-2000/ (retrieved 18 Aug 2021)

By: Albert Vincent F. Barretto

“Bahay-kubo, kahit munti ang halaman doon ay sari-sari” is a line from the popular folk song, Bahay Kubo, that would aptly describe the life of Jose Rizal in Dapitan. The average Filipino knows that Rizal was a physician, writer and hero, but not many know that plants were part of his life. Rizal painted for us the quiet town of Dapitan as a place covered with a variety of plants that became meaningful to him. The plants in Dapitan would not only quench his hunger and impatience, but also serve as his tool, medium of imagination, occupation, landmark of his memory, and much more.

Rizal first saw the town of Dapitan on 17 July 1892 aboard a ship from Manila after he was sentenced to summary banishment by Governor General Eulogio Despujol. The first plant that Rizal saw was a mangrove tree as the boat that took him from the ship S/S Cebu to the coast of Dapitan was tied there. On 30 December 1892, Rizal taught his favorite former teacher of rhetoric and poetry at the Ateneo Municipal, Padre Francisco de Paula Sanchez, how to make putty from the fruit of mangroves, which was used to cover holes or whatever defect of a piece of wood. In Rizal’s letter to Padre Sanchez, we can read the method of preparing the mangrove mixture:

“Last night Don Antonio told me that you would like to know how bakhaw paste is prepared. I follow the following procedure: With a knife I remove the peel of the [mangrove] fruit until the pulp comes out. I boil the pulp until the water turns reddish. Then I crush the hot pulp. A small quantity of lime water mixed with the past prevents it from getting damp…”

Rizal initially lived at the Casa Real, the roof of which was made of cogon grass. A year later, he moved to the parcel of land that he bought in the area called Talisay, which is also under the jurisdiction of the town of Dapitan. The name of the place is derived from the Talisay tree. Rizal composed Himno Á Talisay, a hymn praising the place that became popular with his former students. The following excerpt from the hymn describes Talisay:

Of Dapitan, the sandy shore,
Rocks on the mountain’s lofty peak
Are your throne, oh, sacred retreat!
There my childhood days I pass.
On your vale adorned by flow’rs
‘Neath the fruit trees with shady bow’rs,
There our mind is formed at last
‘Long with our body and our soul

On his land in Talisay, he was able to build huts made of bamboo, wood, and nipa that would serve as his home, clinic, bedrooms for his patients and a school. Rizal also used bamboo as the frame of his lantern and as a bench for his students to sit upon.

Rizal studied plants that have health benefits, which was the reason why he was able to build a herbarium of medicinal plants. He used these to cure the illnesses of his patients.

Farming was not new to Rizal so it was easy for him to grow crops and take care of plants. In Talisay, his land already had plants and trees, namely: lanzones, mango, macopa, jackfruit, santol, baluno, mangosteen, pajo, coconut, coffee, cacao, pineapple, banana, guava, sugar apple, papaya, durian, corn, and rice.

The mango trees served as Rizal’s shade when he took baths. Rizal often sent the fruits of those mango trees, which were of the “pajo” variety, to his family in Manila to encourage them to stay with him in Dapitan. The tall baluno tree, on the other hand, witnessed Rizal’s confession of love to the Irish woman, Josephine Leopoldine Bracken, and even his conversation with Doctor Pio Valenzuela, who encouraged him to support the Katipunan organization. Rizal, in his February 1893 letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo, the husband of his sister, Saturnina Rizal, thought of calling the place Baluno instead of Talisay because he did not see any talisay trees:

“…My land, which is called here Talisay but has no talisay tree of any worth, is looking for a name. I am thinking of calling it Baluno or Bauno on account of a large tree with this name that grows here.”

At present, we can still see the tall and mighty tree, which is called today as the century-old baluno tree.

From the fruits of the coconut trees, Rizal sourced coconut oil that he used in cooking and even in lighting the Dapitan Plaza, which he planned and arranged after he received a large amount of money from an English patient. Until now, at the Dapitan Plaza, we can still see the acacia trees planted by Rizal that serve as shade for people taking a stroll.

Like the average Filipino, rice could not disappear from Rizal’s table. He had a paddy field in Talisay that gave him rice. Rizal’s nephew, Mauricio “Moris” Rizal Cruz, recovered from his illness after Rizal advised his sister, Maria Rizal-Cruz, to give his nephew “am” from the boiling water of the “sinaing.”

Abaca, which looks like a banana plant but with small fruits that cannot be eaten, became Rizal’s most successful commodity. Its durable fiber is used to make ropes and other products. Rizal bought abaca in Dapitan, which he exported to Manila to be sold at a high price. He earned as much as two hundred pesos from the abaca that he exported.

Rizal also crafted canes from kamuning and rattan trees. He used his imagination in sculpting hardwood such as narra and molave. One of his sculptures is the well-known image of Josephine Leopoldine Bracken. Looking at that sculpture, one will notice that the wood is partially covered with a mixture of crushed mangrove fruit to cover the defect of the wood, the process of which he described in his letter to Padre Sanchez.

In 1895, Rizal planned to plant abaca, coconut, coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa on the piece of land he saw in Ponot. He wanted to turn it into a settlement called “New Calamba.” In his letter to Jose Ma. Basa dated April 1895, Rizal wrote:

“…I hope that the Governor General will grant me permission one of these days, for I asked him for it more than a month ago.

In Ponot one can have four or five thousand cattle and plant some 40,000 coconut trees, etc. It has a good port, water, plain, etc.”

In the same month, Rizal also told his best friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, about his planned agricultural venture:

“I have a plan, if they permit me, to open an agricultural colony on the coast in Ponot, near Sindangan. I intend to plant coconuts, coffee, and cacao.”

But Rizal’s plan to turn Ponot into a community was rejected by Governor General Ramon Blanco, because the latter thought that a revolution against the government could spring up from it. Although his plan in Ponot did not push through, in 1896, he bought land in Daanglungsod, part of Lubungan town, where he wanted to plant the same crops. Abaca, coffee, sugar cane, cacao, and coconut can be considered cash crops because Rizal planted them for their commercial value.

Rizal, on the other hand, sent cacao, durian, lanzones, pajo, and others to his family in Luzon as physical evidence of the fruits that he often mentioned in his letters. There also came a time when the supply of lanzones was so much that his land was covered with the said fruit that fell from the trees. Rizal sent ferns and sampaguita flowers to Blumentritt so that he could physically display those plants, especially the fragrant flower, in his garden. This was mentioned in Rizal’s letter to Blumentritt on 19 December 1893:

“I am sending you enclosed some ferns and sampaguitas gathered from my garden. Receive these fragrant breezes from my garden. They are the favorite of an idle exile…”

Rizal lived in a hut surrounded by plants that taught him, and now us, how to live simply with the grace of nature. He showed us that we can survive and even live in abundance if we know how to enrich our environment and make the most out of it. In doing so, he taught us how to be sustainable, which is key to our survival. Plants, are part of the identity of our country and our identity as Filipinos. Rizal’s focus on plants is not only important from the scientific point of view, but also in spreading our understanding and appreciation of our natural heritage.

References:

Dapitanon, Noel G. Villaroman, 2018

The Foods of Jose Rizal, Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, 2012

Rizal’s Poems: 1869 – 1896, National Historical Institute, Fourth Printing, 1995

WHEREAS, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Bids and Awards Committee (NHCP-BAC) invited companies to bid for the project Restoration of Homonhon Rock, Homonhon Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar with a total Approved Budget Cost (ABC) of Seven Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Six Hundred Eleven Pesos only (PHP 799,611.00) through its advertisements on PhilGEPS and on the NHCP Website from 27 September to 04 October 2021;

WHEREAS, only one (1) company, DM CELAC Enterprises, signified its interest and submitted a bid proposal via electronic means as provided for in Item 4.2 of GPPB Resolution No. 09-2020;

WHEREAS, their submitted bid proposal was opened on 18 October 2021, 9:00 AM at the NHCP Boardroom, with a duly-authorized representative from the aforementioned company observing the proceedings via online videoconferencing;

WHEREAS, during the opening of bids, the electronic file of their submitted bid proposal was found without the requisite password protection as specified in Item 4.2.a of the aforementioned GPPB Resolution No. 09-2020 and as reiterated in the implementing Guidelines issued by the NHCP-BAC for the online submission of bidding documents (BDOS), thus their submitted bid proposal was considered non-compliant.

NOW THEREFORE, upon unanimous decision and approval of the NHCP-BAC during its 18 October 2021 deliberation, be it

RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the bidding for the project Restoration of Homonhon Rock, Homonhon, Guiuan, Eastern Samar be declared a failure. Consequently, the NHCP-BAC shall conduct a re-bidding and reposting of the said project.

Approved this 19 October 2021:

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