And how one of the Seven Wise Men behind the 1935 Constitution tried—and failed—to bring it back home
In the Philippines, Filipino creativity is celebrated during the entire month of February, well at least since 1991 when a Presidential Proclamation was signed, designating the second month of the year as the time “to celebrate the artistic excellence and pay tribute to the uniqueness and diversity of the Filipino heritage and culture.”
Heading the celebration is the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the cultural arm of the government and the overall policy-making body on anything cultural and heritage related. Its basic task is to develop and promote culture and the arts in the country.
Under the NCCA, you have six agencies—the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Library, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the National Museum, the National Archives of the Philippines, and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language).
Speaking of the Filipino language, the oldest brother of my lolo was Norberto “Nonoy” Lopez Romualdez, or Papa Nonoy, as my father called him. He wore many hats, among them philologist. A philologist is defined as “someone who studies the history of languages, especially by looking closely at literature.” Papa Nonoy was the Father of the Law on the National Language.
The Philippines was still under the Americans then and when it was decided that the Filipinos should have their own constitution, the 1934 Constitutional Convention was held to draft what was to become the 1935 Philippine Constitution. Papa Nonoy was one of seven men, later tagged by the press as the “Seven Wise Men,” picked to draft the 1935 Constitution.
One of the provisions in the constitution was the national language of the Filipino people. Which language to pick? A 24-member committee on style was created to take charge of the national language provisions in the proposed constitution. Papa Nonoy was the only philologist.
According to the biography Master of His Soul: The Life of Norberto Romualdez (1875-1941), my Papa Nonoy “realized only too well that, scientifically and historically, national languages are formed by choosing the most culturally developed, strategically located language or dialect in one country, and then developing this into a common national language through active government support. This is how the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Spanish languages were developed into national languages.” With this in mind, he pushed for Tagalog to be the national language of the Philippines.
Now as I said, Papa Nonoy had many talents and skills. He was a judge, the first Filipino Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, as well as a lawyer, composer, lyrist, poet, translator, writer, and politician. When he was running his own private law firm, Governor General Francis Burton Harrison appointed him to represent the Philippines at the Madrid Postal Congress in October 1920.
The Postal Congress in Madrid was significant because this was the first International gathering since the end of World War 1 (1914-1918). It was also where the Philippines was given an independent vote (despite us still being a colony of the US) and where the proposal to adopt the peso as the monetary unit in the Philippines versus the American dollar was granted. But this was not the only task of Papa Nonoy during his trip to Madrid.
Before leaving Manila, Papa Nonoy asked if he could be given authorization to negotiate the acquisition of Juan Luna’s Spoliarium, which was hung at the Palacio de la Generalidad in Barcelona, Spain. His request was granted.
Despite my granduncle’s failure to take Luna’s Spoliarium back with him to the Philippines—because of Spain’s steep asking price at ₱100,000—he was able to locate and repatriate the remains of Luna’s compatriot and fellow Ilustrado, Marcelo H. del Pilar.
Papa Nonoy was set to leave Madrid by train to Barcelona to catch the mail boat Alicante, which was set to leave on Oct. 27, 1920, for Manila. About a week before his departure, he received a telegram from Secretary Dionisio Jakosalem of the Philippine Department of Commerce and Communications. It was a request from Speaker Sergio Osmeña, in addition to his duties as a delegate to the 7th Universal Postal Convention in Madrid, to locate the remains of Marcelo H. del Pilar and arrange for his return to the Philippines.
M.H. del Pilar or Plaridel was known as one of the leaders of the Reform Movement in Spain. As the editor of La Solaridad, he was very critical of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
With the help of his good friend Spanish journalist Joaquin Pellicena y Camacho and Filipinologist Wenceslao E. Retena, they were able to trace del Pilar’s final days from the time he entered the Hospital de la Sta. Cruz in Barcelona on June 20, 1896, to being taken to the “surgeon’s sala” (inference of undergoing a surgical procedure of some sort), up to his death at 1:15 a.m. on July 4, 1896. He was buried the following day. His tomb was located and his remains were exhumed.
Papa Nonoy, along with the remains of del Pilar, arrived in Manila on Dec. 3, 1920. In an article by the Manila Daily Bulletin on Dec. 4, 1920, entitled “Finds Spanish Interest in P.I.,” my granduncle was quoted as saying he was “especially honored by the distinction conferred upon him in bringing the body of del Pilar to the native land.”
Del Pilar’s body was transferred from the Alicante to the Coast Guard cutter Basilan, then brought to shore at Pier 3 to start the long procession to the Funeraria Nacional. On Dec. 12, 1920, M. H. del Pilar’s remains were interred in the Mausoleum for National Heroes at the Manila North Cemetery.
Despite my granduncle’s failure to take Luna’s Spoliarium back with him to the Philippines—because of Spain’s steep asking price at ₱100,000—he was able to locate and repatriate the remains of Luna’s compatriot and fellow Ilustrado, Marcelo H. del Pilar.
Papa Nonoy had a daughter named Milagros. Milagros married Dr. Domingo Abella (1906-1976), a scholar, historian, and later director of the Bureau of Records, which was known from 1967 up until the early ’70s as the National Archives.
On March 28, 1955, Abella headed a three-man committee that participated in dialogues with the Spanish government for the acquisition of the Spoliarium by the Philippine government.
As an act of goodwill, when Spain was preparing to establish diplomatic ties with the Philippine Republic, the Spoliarium was returned to the Philippines as a gift from Spain to its former colony.