Anna Bonita Abueg Sta. Maria, 28, is the president of Happy to Help HeART of Asia Inc., a youth non-government organization, and a volunteer of the Philippine National Red Cross. She writes travel articles and advocacy scripts for comics. A book lover and collector of books written by Filipino writers, particularly F. Sionil José, she has initiated the rehabilitation and creation of several public libraries in Palawan.
If there was one book that haunts me to this day, it is F. Sionil Jose’s My Brother, My Executioner. The story is quite heavy and dark yet its darkness enlightens. It has been years since I first read this book but I could not get it out of my head. It even led to a passionate addiction to Francisco Sionil José’s works. Just imagine how elated I was upon learning that the author, who changed my outlook on reading (and caused me tremendous pain and heartbreak as I empathize with his characters), has had an encounter with my relatives, especially with the Grandpa I have never met, once in this lifetime.
I hated reading like I hated school. Once, I was forced to make a book report in order to salvage my delinquent absentee self from flunking but I clearly remember that I was given the privilege to choose a novel from the many yet (then, to me) unfamiliar Filipino writers in English. The basis of my choice was the usual standard of measurement of an indolent: big space, the biggest font and the least number of pages. Voila! I chose My Brother, My Executioner. The title, of course, with my brother in mind, was considerably appealing.
Filled with frustration, I tried very hard to read at least one page before giving in and dozing off to fantasyland. The first valuable lesson I discovered was, "Reading can cure insomnia." The second was every word in the book reflects reality, however subtle. After all, it was all about the state of our nation, then and now.
Every turn of the page touched my heart. Every day as I got to know the lead character Luis more, I learned more about my country and the Filipino people as well. Little by little, my interest in the story grew. Before I knew it, I was hooked.
Luis is the illegitimate son of Don Vicente Asperri, the Spanish landlord who owns thousands of hectares of land in Rosales, with Nena, their Filipino servant. He grew up with his mother, his grandfather and half-brother, Victor, in a small remote village called Sipnget. He lived and shared a poor but happy life with his family until his father took him away.
But in Luis’ heart, he will always be one of the village boys who played in the fields and swam in the river with his little brother. He was probably the only rich kid in Manila who knew the true meaning of poverty, yet he is also one of the grandest hypocrites who, if only he could, would erase the past he is so ashamed of. He could never acknowledge the truth about his own existence nor could he accept the existence of his mother, whom he killed in the stories he told his friends. The real conflict, however, was between his father, the selfish miser landlord, and the poor, which includes his family. The oppressed tenants, who grew in power because of their number, had reached the boiling point and had started fighting for their rights. They were going to bring Don Vicente Asperri down and take what was rightfully theirs – the land that they plowed, the same land that their forefathers plowed which the Asperris claimed, and the land that Luis would one day inherit. To make the situation worse, the leader of the movement against his father was no other than his own beloved younger brother, Victor.
After his father died at the height of the uprisings, Luis claimed he had no interest in the land and led many to believe he would be a fair and democratic landlord. But upon inheriting the vast area of land, he found himself unable to let go of the land. He held on to it, totally ignoring the warning of Commander Victor of the forthcoming threat to the oppressors’ lives. In the end and for the love of the land, Luis sacrificed the life of his wife and co-heir, Trining. His brother, Victor, was his executioner.
There are many stories within this complex novel: the story of the unspoken love of a father to his son; the stories of the three women in Luis’ life – Nena, Ester and Trining (though the focus is on Luis and not on Ester, I truly believe that Ester is the most humane of the characters. She is honest but like most intelligent women, her weakness is her most precious possessions: heart and conscience.); the life of poverty in the villages; another powerful figure, the Dantes. But of these, I find the story about the ownership of land essential and parallel to the present reality.
To date, many Filipinos don’t own even a piece of land and until now, majority of the land owners are not pure-blooded Filipinos. Filipinos are still the tenants, or worst, the squatters in their homeland. But unlike then, every Filipino now has a right to claim a portion of the land of the government of the Republic of the Philippines.
The lives of Luis and Victor are symbolic of the foreign settlers and the Filipinos respectively, but unlike the hanging ending of the novel where Victor’s success in what he was fighting for, the rights of the Filipino people, seemed to be attained, I don’t think this can be said in our present situation. There are many Luis Asperris in this modern age and they are torn inside. They want to give but can’t afford to lose any portion of their properties due to self-preservation maybe. There are even more Victors out there fighting for their rights, taking the road least taken, hoping that one day their voices will be heard, their needs be taken cared of and they will be given their fair share.
I am not certain whether Luis’ greed was brought about by wealth and power, but I am certain that what moved Victor to head an uprising is the denial of basic human necessities that people so deserve.
As a whole, this novel tells about oppression and how we Filipinos allow ourselves to be used and abused over and over again. From the very beginning, the extreme contrast in the lives of Luis and Victor showed the wide gap between the rich and the poor. Sometimes, a man does not realize that he has taken too much from others until the oppressed turn to violence to take back what is rightfully theirs. Sadly, most of the time, the abuses towards a man are done by his own brother and consequently, the execution in effect is carried out also by his own brother.
This book gives us enough warning of possible ugly scenarios we will have to face if we continue oppressing our own brothers. I hope the lessons within this book will find their way to those who have the power to make better choices.
This book was the first book I read from cover to cover. Never did it occur to me that it would leave me thirsty for more truths behind the fictional characters and events. It continues to haunt me and asks me if I’d be a Luis or a Victor. It forces me to look inside and answer my own questions. Somehow, the answer still eludes me. This book serves as an eye-opener and constantly reminds me to continuously desire to do good as well as to avoid pushing others to their limits that may consequently push them to turn to evil acts and create more harm to others.