Book Reviews

It’s a brilliant stroke to have a book that links three major areas of study and reverses the order of their importance. By putting Mindanao at the center, and then radiating outward to the national and Southeast Asian regions, Prof. Patricio (Jojo) Abinales articulates the sentiments of Mindanaoans and, I would suppose, many other probinsiyanos too who resent the inordinately Manila-, or, as other critics would call it, Tagalog-centered national discourses. This neglect of Mindanao by historians and other intellectuals (including media people who report mostly the bad news coming out of Mindanao, as Carol Arguillas complains) is paralleled by the neglect in developing Mindanao by the national leadership. As a result, Mindanao has been shunted aside and marginalized when in fact, as Jojo keeps pointing out, it was the most advanced area in the country from pre-Spanish contact up to perhaps the middle of the nineteenth century. And yet, this glorious period in Mindanao – and therefore Philippine history – only gets cursory mention, if at all, in most history books. The valiant struggles of the local inhabitants, the Moros and the Lumads, are likewise unrecognized, making for a flawed national historiography. Perhaps that likely explains why a Filipino national consciousness refuses to gel and we remain fragmented as a nation.

Nationalist historians would do Filipinism a favor if they pay attention to these complaints and correct the bias toward a more balanced and truly national perspective. Already, disintegrative thinking is rife in the periphery. As the Moros strategize to realize an ultimate independent Bangsamoro homeland, other non-Tagalogs are also beginning to dream of having their own country, whether in federation with the rest of the Philippines or as an independent state. In Mindanao itself, there appears to be a strong sentiment for autonomy –if not outright secession – even among the settler population, frustrated as they are by the myopic concerns of the national center and the continuing weakness of the Philippine state. In one of his essays, Jojo himself wonders if it would be more advantageous if we assumed a broader Southeast Asian regional identity instead of sticking to a constricted, and malformed, national identity.

How this idea will work out is not yet fully explored in this book. But I am aware that in many other fora, Jojo continues to express his views and pose appropriate questions about critical issues affecting the life of the nation. We therefore should expect a sequel to this book as this prolific writer continues to look into the past of the periphery and putting it at center stage to provide fresh insights into our present and future.

For I think that such is Jojo’s greatest strength. I have known him to be always on the lookout for all kinds of materials, from colonial documents and newspaper files to obscure satirical activist lyrics. And when your arguments have that kind of disciplined grounding, people ought to sit up and listen. I don’t think Jojo means to have the last say; he likes to draw people into an argument so that in the process a more nuanced truth will come out. As readers will notice, he can be very frank and emphatic. “Why do people react when I call a spade a spade?” he once wrote. Who but Jojo would call Jose Ma. Sison the Filipino Ayatollah? Or (Harry) Lee Kuan Yew an aging autocrat? Or Mahathir the Malaysian supremo?

Indeed, Jojo is at his best or worst (as some would say) when he takes the bull by its horns. His essays are informed, sharp, and take a stand. Even his questions are to the point: Why, he asks, would an Islamic studies center be located in UP Diliman, when it should be based in Mindanao? To Hashim Salamat, he asks: Will the MILF be privileging the Maguindanaoan in a future Bangsamoro republic at the expense of the other Moro ethnic groups? And how would the women be treated in this Islamic republic?

You may or may not agree with Jojo’s views, but his explorations into many conjunctural issues will surely gratify readers searching for a good and enlightening read. But not everything is scholarly stuff. Jojo has included light personal essays. There’s even a hilarious exchange between a congressman from the Visayas and a congressman from Maguindanao, the transcript of which he had unearthed from the Congressional records. By sharing his materials and his views, Jojo takes his readers along on a journey into Mindanao from where they will radiate outward to the nation and Southeast Asia. I assure the readers it is a most rewarding experience.

Senator Nene Pimentel. 2008. Federalizing the Philippines: A primer. Manila: Philippine Normal University Press. xviii. 494 pages.

by Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD

Like the proverbial cat that has nine lives, federalism is in the air again, perhaps stronger this time, because of the failure of the central government to dissociate itself from high level corruption, or perhaps weaker, and for the same reason that the settlers in Malacañang simply want to survive by whatever means, including adopting federalism as a reason for charter change. Senate Minority Leader Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. is aware of this argument...

Grace Nono, with Mendung Sabal, Henio Estakio, Baryus Gawid, Salvador Placido, Sarah Mandegan, Gadu Ugal, Florencia Havana, Sindao Banisil and Elena-Rivera-Mirano. 2008. The shared voice: Chanted and spoken narratives from the Philippines. Ed. Carolina Malay. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing and Fundacion Santiago. 248 pages.

by Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD

“My name is Grace Nono. I am a singer and a creator of songs.” That is how the author of this magical book introduces herself. That is also how she immediately connects her identity with the rest of the million “singing Filipinos” whose voices she celebrates in print. By voice Grace Nono means much more than a physiological function. “It is the summation of spiritual and sociocultural experience, of vision, and of creative imagination.” In the first few chapters...