Restored Noli, Fili manuscripts for public viewing starting June 19

The celebration of the 150^th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal on June 19 becomes more meaningful because the public will be able to view the original manuscripts of his famous novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, at the National Library, courtesy of the German conservators who have meticulously restored the national hero's works.

Aside from "Noli" and "Fili," the conservators worked on Guillermo Tell, Rizal's translation of Friedrich Schiller's William Tell.

The project of restoring Rizal's works is a joint project of the National Library of the Philippines and the German government.

"The ultimate objective (of the restoration project) is to leave a legacy to another generation," said NLP Director Antonio M. Santos.

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, scathing commentaries of the Spanish colonial rule of the Philippines, inspired a nationalist revolution and caused the execution by firing squad of Rizal on Dec. 30, 1896.

The restoration project is more than three years in the making, when it was first conceptualized in 2007 by the NLP's then director Prudenciana Cruz as a joint undertaking with Germany where Rizal studied and wrote the two novels. The first copies of Noli Me Tangere were published in Berlin in 1887.

Rizal also has a statue in his honor in the German town of Wilhelmsfeld, where he met Pastor Karl Ullmer who opened his home to him. Ullmer's grandson Fritz donated the Ullmer Collection to the country in 1961, which includes letters and sketches by Rizal.

The Department of Budget and Management gave P2 million as seed fund for the library's conservation room, furnished with basic tools and equipment used by German restorers Monika Gast and Katrin Hüpeden.

"We established the Conservation Center to mark the first major step in achieving a better storage condition and a better preservation program for the posterity of our collections," Anne Rosette Crelencia, NLP Rare Books and Manuscripts head, said.

The Philippine government acquired Noli Me Tangere in 1911 along with other manuscripts by Rizal for P32,000. El Filibusterismo was acquired in 1925  for P10,000.

In January 1945, during World War II, the manuscripts were stored in vaults in the Manila City Hall but were found to have been looted during the Battle for the Liberation of Manila that started in February that year.

Efforts to retrieve the manuscripts bore fruit in April 1946 when a messenger of an unidentified individual offered to return the manuscripts on the following conditions: The individual would not be identified, no questions about the return would be asked, and no publicity regarding the return.

The NLP recovered 106 out of 120 stolen manuscripts. In 1953, the Spanish government also donated manuscripts of Rizal in its possession to the country. Rizal's manuscripts are kept in three vaults in the Rare Books and Manuscripts section.

Conservation, according to Crelencia, has a bigger scope than restoration.

Conservation consists of the storage of objects not limited to manuscripts and the monitoring the conditions of the area where these objects are stored, including boxes, air and temperature in the storage area. Restoration, on the other hand, is focused on the object or manuscript being repaired.

The restoration done on Noli Me Tangere includes reattaching loose pages, replacing missing areas in the manuscript's pages, taking off previous repairs done to the manuscript that have degraded, and mending breaks and tears in the manuscript.

El Filibusterismo was repaired by reattaching pages to the book block and mending some tears that are in the book's binding.  Guillermo Tell, as it only has one-section binding, was sewn again and the tears on its pages mended.

"On the whole, the state of the manuscripts is quite good," said Gast. But she suggested improvement of the room where the manuscripts are kept.

Crelencia said  the ideal conditions to slow down a manuscript's decay involve a round-the-clock and unvarying air-conditioning system, set at 18 to 22 degrees Celsius, with a temperature and humidity meter to monitor the conditions; clean air inside the storage room, minimal exposure to light especially ultraviolet light that can negatively affect the manuscript's pages, and minimal handling of the manuscript.

As of now, she said the air-conditioning of the section she heads operates only on the NLP's working hours.

"With the technology and discoveries today, we need to adapt some changes to keep our valuable collections in superb condition so many more generation of Filipinos can see and use all those resources,"  said Crelencia.

She said, too, that conservation of resources is "a very tedious process," and having a conservation room is just a part in preserving these resources.

The works next in line if ever, according to Crelencia, are Rizal's diary entries, postcards, other manuscripts, sketches and correspondences, as well as letters written to and by the revolutionaries such as Andrew Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini.

The NLP plans to present the restored manuscripts to President Benigno Aquino and afterwards hold an exhibit showcasing these for the public to be able to view them in time for Rizal's birthday.

"Dr. Jose Rizal's manuscripts will always be a remembrance to every Filipino that our country is worth its freedom and liberation," said Crelencia.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")

Rediscovering Rizal: Putting the ‘Fili’ in Filipino

Who is the Jose Rizal you know?

The author whose famous novels "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" were required reading in college? The hero we've read about in our history books, and whose monument is one of the most famous Philippine landmarks? Perhaps even the hip shades-wearing pop culture icon made famous by Team Manila.

With his 150th birth anniversary on June 19 just around the corner, Rizal's image is popping up everywhere. To try to keep track of all Rizal-related activities, the MY RIZAL 150 organizers have launched a one-stop-site at MyRizal150.com, while also tapping social media to encourage the Filipino youth to rediscover Rizal.

"That's why we started this My Rizal journey," Lisa T. Bayot, Rizal's great grand niece, told Yahoo! Southeast Asia in an interview. "We wanted to celebrate his life through education, culture, and the arts. And we realize that it's through the youth that we are able to make Rizal relevant today."

Bayot is the great granddaughter of Rizal's oldest sister, Saturnina. MY RIZAL 150 is a group of relatives and friends of the Rizal clan, which has partnered with Binhi English Literacy Foundation and Vibal Foundation to organize the events and launch the MY RIZAL 150 site.

"The Internet is a good tool for discovering the Rizal in you," added MY RIZAL 150 publicity officer Marga Deona.

Deona herself is an active user on the popular microblogging site Twitter, which allows people to post updates in real time in 140 characters or less. She shared that the organizers have launched official accounts on Twitter and Facebook to complement the MY RIZAL 150 site.

Technology notwithstanding, the MY RIZAL 150 journey is meant for Filipinos to relive the not-so-distant past when the Philippines was a colony of Spain, and rediscover the man behind the hero, and the wisdom behind his famous writings.

Fittingly, the MY RIZAL 150 media launch not only took place at the Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago,Intramuros, but the organizers also tapped Adarna Food and Culture Restaurant to recreate a turn-of-the century merienda cena. This traditional late afternoon snack harkens back to the days when the privileged class ate five meals a day.

Kesong puti was among the merienda cena dishes served, apart from bite-size rich man's pan de sal;empanada de kaliskis from Malolos, Bulacan; pancit 1930; and, of course, hot chocolate.

On June 19 itself, expect to be transported back to turn-of-the-century Philippines if you attend the "Maligayang Bati, Jose Rizal" event at the Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago, Intramuros. Guests are invited to come in period costume, avail of the free calesa rides, and enjoy the musical performances.

"June 19 is just the kickoff for a yearlong series of activities," Bayot said. She said they are hopeful that long after this year marking Rizal's 150^th birth anniversary is over, Rizal will continue to inspire and shape the minds of the Filipino youth.

MY RIZAL 150 organizer Maite Gallego said Rizal was truly ahead of his time, inspiring people across generations and from different nations.

"As you discover Rizal with us, if you go through the MY RIZAL journey with us, you'll see that Rizal was very much a person ahead of his time. He would have loved the Internet," Gallego said. "And Rizal would have been the type of person that the young people could really emulate, could be inspired by, and somebody who could grab their attention."

In fact, film producer and writer Ria Limjap, who also helped organize the event, stressed that the Filipino youth should take advantage of the wealth of information available online in the age of the Internet and social media. What's even more sobering is when we recall that people once risked their lives to read Rizal's novels, which were banned in those times by the Spanish authorities.

"Now, it's all readily available to us. With the Internet at our disposal, we should really maximize its use for research and getting the message across, and developing all these cool activities and advocacies that are Rizal-related," Limjap said.

Apart from the media launch of MY RIZAL 150 in Intramuros, that same day saw another Rizal-related activity, this time at the Yuchengco Museum at RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

Showcasing not only Rizal memorabilia but also examples of his impact on Philippine arts and pop culture, the "RIZALizing the Future" exhibit will run from June 3 to October 29. This exhibit is meant to mark not only the 150^th birth anniversary of Rizal, but also the 100^th anniversary of the Yuchengco Group of Companies.

Fittingly, museum curator Jeannie Javelosa also tapped social media for the media preview of the exhibit, which also became a tweetup. A tweetup refers to a face-to-face meetup among Twitter users. This #rizaltweetup was organized by Ros Juan, better known on Twitter as @juanxi.The exhibit was a fascinating journey into the life and psyche of Rizal, and his continuing influence on Filipino history and pop culture. From paintings and wood carvings by national artists, to pop art of our national hero as a cyborg, the exhibit showcase different interpretations and reinterpretations of Rizal.

For more photos and details of the "RIZALizing the future" #rizaltweetup, you may check out this post from Jonver David, one of the bloggers who covered the event.

"The youth is the hope of our future," Rizal steadfastly believed. In a modern society beset by many of the same evils Rizal railed against over a century ago, the Filipino youth might realize that the key to building a brighter future lies in rediscovering the past — and learning from it.