Mabini's syphilis: A demolition job.

Mabini’s syphilis: A demolition job
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:48:00 07/21/2009

Filed Under: Language, history
“Demolition” is a word we often read in the news these days. In the current Philippine context, it can mean either the clearing of squatter dwellings that blight the urban landscape, or the tarnishing of somebody’s good name and reputation, especially if the victim is prominent enough to be considered a candidate for high political office.

One can at least say that “demolition” retains its original meaning, unlike “salvage” which the dictionary defines as the saving of a ship or its cargo from loss at sea, or saving of scrap materials for future use. In Philippine usage, “salvage” as a verb means the opposite of its dictionary definition and describes the summary execution of “undesirable” people. This has come about because Filipinos wittily move from one language to another, hence the Philippine “salvage” is not rooted in the verb “salvar,” meaning to save, it actually comes from the Spanish “salvaje,” meaning primitive. In Filipino usage “sinalbahe” describes someone who has been savaged or brutalized. Write it out in its Spanish form “sinalvaje” and then it sounds like the English “salvage.”

Words aren’t always what they seem in the Philippines, and I often wish someone would chain National Artist Virgilio Almario to a library carrel so he would compile a new dictionary of Filipino etymology and usage that will not only be a standard reference tool but a delight to read—especially for the vulgar words.

We will leave the anatomical and sexual words for another column, because today we must remember Apolinario Mabini and the demolition job that has kept a cloud hanging over him for over a century now. I still remember the afternoon in the National Library when senior members of the National Historical Institute were looking out the window towards T.M. Kalaw Street. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and E. Aguilar Cruz first commented on the statue of pre-war National Library director Teodoro M. Kalaw by National Artist Napoleon Abueva that stood guard in front of the library. Then they looked at the statue of Apolinario Mabini that also adorned the lawn. One of the historians quipped, “Oh, from the sublime to the syphilitic?” and both laughed like college students enjoying a dirty joke. I was to learn later that Mabini was supposed to have lost the use of his legs because of syphilis.

I was always warned that syphilis could lead to blindness and even madness, but paralysis? Both historians did not seem to know that in 1980 the remains of Mabini were exhumed by a team of orthopedic specialists, led by Dr. Jose M. Pujalte, whose son Brix is now the president of the Philippine Orthopedic Association. After careful reconstruction, X-ray and analysis, the team concluded that Mabini’s paralysis was not caused by syphilis, as some people would like to believe, but it was the result of adult polio.

Unfortunately, juicy rumors like this have a long shelf life because some people just want to believe the worst of someone as upright as Mabini. In contemporary times isn’t Elpidio Quirino remembered for a “golden orinola” under a P5,000 bed? One can only hope that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be remembered for something more substantial than breast implants.

In case someone objects to the topic of today’s column, the rumor of Mabini’s syphilis should really be forgotten especially in the light of the findings that he had polio. But the story resonates as we approach the coming presidential elections when we will see, hear, and read similar mud-slinging.

The more important lesson in the Mabini syphilis rumor is why the story was created. If you take the time to study Mabini’s short stint in government, you would see how he rose to become the most powerful man in the First Republic. Mabini went through all of Emilio Aguinaldo’s papers, often drafting replies and recommending action. Mabini’s wise and principled counsel was always at Aguinaldo’s disposal so that he made many enemies who described him as the “camara negra (dark chamber) of the President. Mabini was not the same as a crony in the Marcos administration or “we bulong” in the Aquino administration or even the “midnight cabinet” in the Estrada administration. Mabini felt it was his job to protect the President and the Republic at all cost. He was criticized and insulted for doing his job. And when no anomaly could be laid at his door, his enemies concentrated on his disability and tarnished his reputation with the syphilis rumor.

Mabini was removed from office through political intrigue, which was probably a good thing because, failing in that, his enemies would have probably resorted to assassination in the same way they disposed of Antonio Luna.

It is unfortunate that few people read our history because they are jaded by boring textbook history. With the exception of Teodoro Agoncillo, who tried to write history and make it as engaging as fiction, most academic history is written by academics for fellow academics, their research buried in deadly prose and entombed in academic journals squirreled away in university libraries. Our history has everything, from the inspiring to the depressing. If more people read and learned from it, then the Philippines would be a better place today.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu