The novel “Without Seeing the Dawn” first published in 1947, is set in a small farming village called Manhayang, Sta. Barbara, somewhere in Negros. Like most rural baranggays, the hardworking and closely-knit village folk there had simple needs, simple wants, and simple dreams. They were living their own simple lives when the violence of war reached their place and brought death to their village, their homes and their hearts.
Here revolves the story of one Ricardo Suerte, also called Carding, son of Juan Suerte. An industrious, strong and sometimes quick-tempered young man, he aspired to marry sweet Lucia, the daughter of the teniente del barrio. Though his father thought he was not yet prepared and had wished to send him to school, he gave his blessing to the decision of his son. He consented to asking Lucia’s hand from her parents in the traditional pamamanhikan, accompanied by the village’s best orator and the godmother of the lass. After agreeing to the conditions of the village chief, the marriage was set. Tatay Juan gathered up almost all of his hard-earned savings for the dowry and expenses for the wedding feast. Meantime, Carding excitedly built their house despite the advice of the elderly- that building one’s house in May will bring misfortune to its inhabitants.
And so it came to pass that after the grand wedding and the feast that followed- which was even attended by their representate- the newlyweds lived happily on the land entrusted to Tatay Juan by Don Diego, but not ever after. Misfortune struck early when their first child was stillborn. A more difficult trial came when Lucing disgraced herself, her family and her husband by the temptation of a houseguest-Luis, the son of their landlord. Caught naked, he was beaten up by the strong, angry husband whose honor and pride were hurt. The couple patched things up, but the land that Carding and Juan Suerte had been tilling for a very long time was given to another tenant.
With no land to till, the pair tried their luck in the city. There, in Iloilo, Carding met Rosing and Nestong. The latter was his fellow stevedore and union member, and the former, a prostitute besotted with him, and also the reason why his wife left him and returned to their barrio. Soon, Carding followed Lucing with news that the representante entrusted them with land to till in Badlan. Lucing too, had news for her husband: she was again pregnant.
They moved to Badlan and worked harder than ever. They were blessed not only by a promise of a bountiful harvest, but also with a healthy son they named Crisostomo. Sadly, their landlord sold the land, and they were given time to harvest what they sowed. Misfortune was like a shadow though. A great flood destroyed everything that they had- harvest and carabao as well.
Wanting to own their own piece of land, they were convinced to move to Mindanao, but Carding was drafted for military service. When he returned, he was delighted to find his wife heavy with another child. Misfortune welcomed him again as he was told that Tatay Juan and Crisostomo died of some illness. Little did he know that the Japanese soldiers who attacked their village killed his father and son and raped his wife. When he found out the truth, he became like a fearsome madman that even his wife and mother-in-law thought him to be bad. As his neighbors, relatives and friends in barrio Manhayang were tortured, raped and massacred by the Japanese soldiers, Carding too became a seemingly heartless executioner to his enemies, and not even his friend nor the brother of his mother-in-law were spared. He also almost killed the child that his wife had just delivered, were it not born dead. For that, Lucing was so enraged that she sent him away and wished him dead.
The Japanese ordered everyone to enter a collective barrio or else be considered guerrilla supporters and be shot. But the villagers of Manhayang also refused to be considered enemies of their own sons, and so they decided to evacuate in barrios farther away. However, Lucing was hesitant to go. She was waiting to see her husband despite everything, knowing that he will be leading the suicide attack to the Japanese garrison. When they did see each other, Carding asked for her forgiveness and left her what cash he had as he bade her farewell. In the end, Lucing refused to flee for she knew that she was still his wife, duty-bound to receive the corpse of her beloved husband.
NOVEL DISCOURSE
War is indeed both mysterious and tragic. By the same vein that it can easily kill man’s body and soul, and bring out the monster in him, it can also bring out the hero in him, responding to a feverish emotional or mental call for action brought forth by patriotism, justice and sadly, vengeance. It spares no one—not the elderly, the women, nor the children. It certainly did not spare Carding, his family and his baranggay in Panay Island.
Stereotypically and from my direct observation as a result of years of association with them, Ilonggos are a malambing, respectful and hardworking lot who put a premium on family and dignity. This is explained by F.Landa Jocano in The Hiligaynons, An Ethnography of Family and Community Life in Western Bisayas Region, as:
“Huya, as a normative concept, underlines most of the recurrent and consistent Hiligaynon behavior having to do with self-esteem, honor or dignity. The nearest popular English equivalent is ‘losing face’. It has the aspects of embarrassment, same, and shyness rolled into one. It also implies politeness. X x x with relationships pertaining to (1)personal dignity or honor (dungog) of the individual; (2)the status or position(kahimtangan) of the principal actor relative to other people; (3)the internal cohesion (hiliugyon) of the family as a unity; and (4) reputation(pangalan) of the entire kin group relative to the outside world.The Hiligaynons give emphasis to individual behavior, specially in public. They are sensitive to impropriety. Politeness and gentleness are highly valued. This is best expressed in speech etiquette—that is the tone of the voice, the choice of words, and the like.”(p223.)
They are also a superstitious people who are not only very close to their family, but are also very involved neighbors. And so when Carding was shamed by his wife’s tryst with the landlord’s son, it was a community event. And when the couple needed help in moving their house, the neighbors did not hesitate. This is most probably because:
“The social prescriptions to many individual actions are said to emanate from the feelings of the collectivity. It is the consensus of the community or neighborhood which ‘keeps individuals within the bounds of acceptable behavior’ x x x Sometimes the term paiway is used to describe the subordination of one’s own ways to the larger interest of the group. Local emphasis on the concept of ‘being neighbors’ is pervasive and bound up with expectations people have of each other”( Jocano,F.L.The Hiligaynons, An Ethnography of Family and Community Life in Western Bisayas Region,p.220)
Though these neighbors were almost relatives, there were still the common tsismis and panglilibak, and the allusion to Carding’s malas as a result of his not minding the local almanac and the old folk’s advice that “Raising a house in the month of May will saddle the owner of that house with ill-luck. Misfortune will hound his heels and he will drink his fill from the cup of misery”( Javellana,S. Without Seeing the Dawn, p.91). This is by the way contrary to Jocano’s contention that:
“There are ways of determining the best time to build a house. One is consulting the almanaque(almanac) and the other is by signosan(augury).(Jocano, p.16)
“Before building a house the almanaque is consulted for a good day, week, month and time to begin the construction x x x A house built in May or June is called balay sang mga manggad(house of wealth). The house owner will acquire wealth and happiness in life. Good fortune awaits the owner of this house.”(Jocano, p16-17)
“Another way to determine the time favorable for house building is the signosan or augury. Selection of the house site, as well as the day and time to begin construction, is guided by owner’s mood, feelings, dreams, and other natural signs which appear at the time he is about to decide. X x x The most favorable months for constructing a house are January, December and May. These are harvest months, and therefore a period of abundance.”(Jocano,p.18-19)
Here, I am inclined to consider these two views. The novel’s first copyright was dated 1947, and in that respect—judging also from the relative accuracy of the narration of the fiction in relation to historical events during that period, I would not hesitate to advance that Javellana had a close, if not first-hand experience with respect to this culture and place. However, although Jocano’s book is more recent(1983 copyright), it cannot be ignored that “The data for this purpose were gathered through the standard anthropological method of participant-observation and case study. Actual field work was carried out on several occasions and covering a period of ten years—starting in 1969 and ending in 1979. Whenever necessary archival materials have been used to supplement or elaborate the ethnographic description.”(Jocano,p.vi) Jocano’s study surely cannot be taken for granted, but personally, I would be apt to lean more on Javellana’s view, believing that since his piece was written much closer to the time subject of the book(late 1930s-mid 1940s), his facts are less polluted by the passing of time.
In any case, Carding did seem to be the “son of misfortune”, with one of his son born still born, another killed by the Japanese, and the other son—also stillborn—had a questionable paternity. Whether fathered by him or by one of the Japanese who had raped his wife, nobody knows for sure.
These misfortunes were surely hard for Carding to take especially since children were, and still are, very important in a Hiligaynon family. Aside from the fact that children are parents’ investments—who in the future will help them and will take care of them— “Other reasons for wanting more children have supernatural undertones. X x x Children are considered gifts of God, the grace derived from divine blessings, the result of clean and honest living. X x x censures surrounding the coming of children make the child central to any marriage, and the desire to have more children a religious and social requirement, because the birth of a child is a public testimony that the parents have led clean, obedient, and pious lives during their pre-nuptial and through their child-bearing years.”(Jocano, p.160-161)
His sons were dead, his father was killed, his wife was raped and intriguingly impregnated, not to mention that he had lost the land he had been tilling twice—one to his wife’s indiscretion and the other to nature. One can just imagine his predicament. To say that what he could be feeling was grief and hurt pride would be an understatement. If I were to put myself in his shoes, if I didn’t die of heart attack first, I would probably be more crazed and desperate than he was, and rightfully so since:
“The Japanese slaughtered civilians, burned houses, harvested and destroyed corn, hauled and burned palay, shot livestock, looted poultry and clothing, and committed all kinds of atrocities, such as, tortures, rape, and roasting of children.”(Rodriguez, p.140)
Javellana told a faithful story of human beings, like you and me, in Without Seeing the Dawn, and successfully brought, hands and ears, a 21st century Manilena like me in 1940s Negros. The Japanese were indeed “pursuing a policy of attraction to persuade the people who had evacuated to the hills to come down to the towns they had deserted x x x The intention of the Japanese in occupying Negros was to exploit and appropriate for themselves the vast resources of the island, which intent could be realized only if normal conditions were restored.”(Rodriguez, C.A. Negros Oriental, From American Rule to the Present: A History [Volume II],p.97-98). This was expressed by Javellana through Uncle Jaime—the brother of his mother-in-law who returned from the United States but who was “mediating” for the Japanese side—who was executed by Carding, and because of which the latter was seen by most of his village mates, and even by his wife and mother-in-law, as a heartless verdugo or executioner. What Nanay Maria, the mother of the slain boys, said to Carding’s mother-in-law was more sensible:
“But I who have undergone travail and experienced the trials of rearing children, should I not weep every night when I see the wide empty mat which my sons used to share? And you, Pia, where are the arms that worked to give you food and defended you from danger? The spirit of your husband is grieved that you should speak so against Carding and the things that he stands for. Revenge! Revenge!”(Javellana, p.282)
Indeed, Carding stands for the revenge which all the people in Manhayang desires—for the pain that hits them to their core—and whenever he “scores” against the “enemy”, it was as if they too, had been avenged. Beyond all this, Carding still has his heart. Why else would he avenge the prostitute Rosing, or bother with the sad plight of a Alicia—a neighbor turned “veteran prostitute”, or come back and bid his wife—the one who said she wished him dead, but obviously did not mean it—his seemingly final farewell before he went on a “suicide mission”.
As a woman, I could sympathize with Lucing. In the end, she still proved to be her husband’s wife. She opted to stay on to wait for her husband, presumably dead or alive, despite the need to evacuate immediately. Almost all of their village mates, or what was left of them, had decided to move to safer places because “the Japanese ordered everyone to enter the Japanese collective barrio. After a period of twenty days all persons who had not entered this collective barrio would be considered sympathizers of the guerillas and shot. The Japanese issued posters naming all barrios which they considered outside the boundaries of the so-called collective barrio, the only safety area, ” (Javellana p.352) They did not also want to enter this safety zone since “If we enter the collective barrio, we would then be considered the enemies of our own sons”(Javellana, p.352)
This dilemma by the people of Manhayang was reflected in real life, as supported by Rodriguez:
“Because of the zoning plan of the Japanese, there had been a widespread exodus of the mountain population, especially those having small children, to the lowland barrios. This was called the ‘Safety Zone’. The Japanese drew a demarcation line beyond which all people living there were considered bandits and therefore could be shot on sight. This area was called the ‘Bandit Zone’”.(Rodriguez,p.105)
“If they sold or gave to the guerillas, the Japanese would shoot them; if they sold or gave to the Japanese, the guerillas would also shoot them. It was the civilians that suffered much in that kind of set-up.”(Rodriguez, p.53)
“While it is true that many people came back to the towns, a lot of others stayed put in the mountains. This decision to remain in the hills was due to various reasons. People were not sure what the Japanese would do next. Some members of a family were unsurrendered soldiers; some families had beautiful daughters; there were those who loved freedom more than life under the Japanese; and they were convinced that the Americans were coming back. This people endured the hardships, inconveniences, diseases such as malaria, unfavorable weather such as cold and most of all, the risk of being captured by patrolling Japanese.”(Rodriguez, p.98)
In my point of view, Javellana wrote beyond his time. The universality of human emotions he has expressed through his characters has never been made as clear to me, traversing time, gender, and culture. Not only did he tell of Carding’s desperation, he also explored the thoughts and desperation of the castrated Lucio. In a time where it was seemingly shocking to speak of “good girls” in a “worldly way”, he candidly told of the sexual excitement of Lucing. He even reversed it and made heroines out of prostitutes, as in the case of Rosing blowing up the Japanese ammunition dump. He also makes us “Remember Alicia”—Carding’s neighbor, who became a “veteran prostitute” after the Japanese massacred her family, raped her and forced her into their brothel—who frighteningly “will have my revenge. I have the beginnings of the disease. It gives me joy to know that I am giving it to everyone who comes to share my bed.”(Javellana, p.348)
Though World War II has long ended, another war seems imminent today, yet, I feel that it is dangerously taken for granted by most of us. With all the freedom, conveniences and high-tech luxuries we are privileged with, we do seem to realize that in just snap, we could be experiencing the plight of Carding, Lucing, Nanay Maria, Lucio, Tatay Juan and all Javellana’s characters who had known how war was, and maybe, we might also remember Alicia.
REFERENCE:
Javellana, Stevan. Without Seeing the Dawn. Phoenix Press, Inc. Quezon City. 1996.
Jocano, F. Landa. The Hiligaynons: An Ethnography of Family and Community Life in Western Bisayas Region. Asian Center, University of the Philippines, Quezon City. 1983.
Rodriguez, Caridad Aldecoa. Negros Oriental, From American Rule to the Present: A History (Volume II). The Toyota Foundation and The Provincial Government of Negros Oriental, Cebu City. 1989.
