HISTORY TURNS FULL CIRCLE
by: Dr. Salvador H. Laurel
BEAUTIFUL and touching event took place a few days ago. King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain came as the first foreign VIPs to visit us on the eve of our centennial.
Remembering that the Philippine Independence proclaimed in Kawit a hundred years ago was specially addressed to Spain, the royal visit was significant. 1898 was the year Spain lost the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico to the United States. The normal reaction would have been to shy away from the centennial of one's own disaster. But Spain demonstrated the admirable Castillian virtues of nobleza, caballerismo and high-mindedness. Here was the head of the nation we had defied and fought bitterly to set ourselves free now coming to join us after a hundred years to convey a message of abiding friendship from the Spanish people to the Filipino people!
No Spanish monarchy had ever done that before. But he came not once but twice in three years. And the King's first act upon his second visit to Manila was to lay a wreath at the monument of the man Spanish authorities had executed for alleged treason against Spain.
It was specially touching because it has been a long-standing tradition that Spanish royalty never visits a country twice under the same administration. But they chose to break that tradition if only to convey Spain's message of friendship to the Filipino people.
The Royal visit should thus be remembered as an ennobling gesture of friendship which has spanned more than four hundred years. We have so much of Spain in our everyday life. We have Spanish in our native language, in our laws, our songs, our prayers, even our cooking. Our names and surnames are still predominantly Spanish. And the name of our nation is a constant reminder that we were named after King Philip II of Spain.
We can never erase three hundred and fifty years in the life of a nation. Nor can we ever deny that the Castillian virtues of nobleza, honor, delicadeza, the pride of the hidalgos, and the gallantry of the caballeros - which were all ingrained in us during Spanish colonial rule - have made us the unique Christian nation we are in our part of the world.
History indeed turned full circle when Spain rose above her human hurt and chose to be noble about it. It began the moment she decided to recognize our hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, as one of the greatest beneficiaries of Spanish education. She allowed, after a hundred years, the setting up of a Rizal monument in the heart of Madrid (in Parque de Santander) the exact replica of Rizal's monument in Luneta.
When I saw President Ramos and King Juan Carlos I warmly clasping each other after laying a wreath at the Rizal monument at the Luneta, I was reminded of Rizal's memorable words when he made the historic toast in Madrid over a hundred years ago:
"...que las dos naciones, que se han amado y cuidado la un a la otra, se den ahora un abrazo fraternal!"
His vision of total reconciliation between "Mother Spain" and a "Free and Independent Philippines" has finally come to pass.
February 17, 1998
P.S. The articles in this site are excerpted from Dr. Salvador H. Laurel’s weekly column, Turning Point, which ran in the Manila Bulletin from 1995 to early 1999. This is an online repository of Dr. Laurel’s Turning Point articles, arranged by topic.
For permission to reproduce or quote any of the article posted here, kindly contact the administrators of the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library Facebook page at cdbonoan@gmail.com or miriamcast63@yahoo.com.
©2020 Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library
In Photo: The Rizal Monument in Madrid. "Built in 1996, it is a replica of the Rizal monument at the Luneta in Manila." Photo credit: philembassymadrid.com
[SHL Museum and Library photos]
