(Dedicated to the memory of Apolinario Mabini in honour of his 150th Birth Anniversary.)
Me and my friend, Jojo Mabini at the Mabini house in Nagtahan.
I knew of Mabini before I knew of Rizal. I could write the name Mabini before I could even write a straight sentence. Today, the mention of his name of Mabini brings back fond memories of childhood.
I grew up in Nagtahan Street. We lived in the SyCip compound barred from the public with spear-like steel fencing. It was a sanctuary from the unwanted while still providing a glimpse of the daily passersby. It was situated right in the middle of Nagtahan, right smack in the middle of San Miguel, Sampaloc and Sta. Mesa districts. And over the old, rickety Nagtahan bridge was Otis, Paco and Pandacan.
To our left was Grace Christian School and E. Rodriguez Vocational School was across the street. Behind the house, was the Soyalac Factory where there was an open playground area with a pathway that led to the Pasig River embankment where we could stand from the step and watch, whatever it was we were supposed to watch. But it was always a good stroll.
Across the street, in Ruiloba Street, one of the side streets, was where my very first best friend lived. Her name was Jojo Mabini. We went to the same school and spent most of our waking moments together. We were simply inseparable. On weekends, her father, Antonio Mabini would take us for a walk down the cement path to the end of the street, just before the bridge, a veer to the right, and there stood the quaint little nipa hut. We would bring either our pencils and pads or our toy palayoks and play on the porch of the house. That’s as far as we were allowed but for us, it was our little playhouse. Her father seemed to be the only one allowed to enter.
We were too young to comprehend the significance of it all. Her father’s father (Agapito Mabini) was the brother of the man who lived in that house, whom my friend, Jojo, referred to as “Lolo”. In words kids could understand, her father would tell us stories about the man who lived there. He was of great importance to the Philippines; was very intelligent; was sick and could not walk and how much he loved to write. It was only years later and much older, that all the pieces fell into place to reveal that the man who lived in our playhouse was none other than, Apolinario Mabini.
The Mabini family moved to Ohio, USA by the early sixties. It was the first time, I learned that nothing lasts forever. Progress slipped in, too and the widening of Nagtahan Street and the re-building of Nagtahan Bridge were underway. The Mabini house, which was originally owned by the Del Rosarios had been moved across the Pasig River, over to the Bureau of Animal Industry and then later moved to Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). By the time it was all completed in 1967, the bridge was renamed after Mabini. By then, we had moved as well to another part of Nagtahan.
All that was, is gone but Mabini’s memory lives on. Now much older, I understand and extol his legacy and its relevance today. He was born in Tanauan, Batangas on 23 July 1864 and he died on 13 May 1903 in that Nagtahan house. He surmounted poverty and his own physical challenges to contribute to the great cause of freedom. He was the “brains of the revolution”, the thinker; Aguinaldo’s policy maker and Chief Adviser; the first Prime Minister; and was the first Secretary of Foreign Affairs; and the peace negotiator with the Americans. He was the undeterred idealist who defended his convictions and the dignity of the Filipino to his death. His ideologies were immersed in nationalistic pride and most importantly, he abhorred clashes between Filipinos.
Of his many writings, I’d like to reflect on his words below as it is ever so relevant to today:
“Who shall be that power who will order others and to whom obedience is necessary…and who will mediate on the clash of interests — that chronic disease of society? .…The moment the leader disgraces himself before his people, he ceases to possess the power granted to him.”
