Keep on dreaming, Pepe

Philippine national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal and his two novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo seem to be popular topics not just in history and literature classes here but also in plays. In August, we watched the Philippine Educational Theater Association's "Noli at Fili: Dekada 2000," a modern interpretation of the two novels, and the same theater group is currently staging "Batang Rizal," which discusses the ideas of heroism and nationalism from the point of view of children, one of whom is the child Jose "Pepe" Rizal. Dulaang U.P., the resident theater group of the state University of the Philippines, recently staged "Isang Panaginip na Fili" (A Dream of Fili). Basically, the play is just a dramatization of Rizals' entire second novel. What makes it different is the fact that it is a musical, and the novel's story is interspersed with scenes where Pepe discusses his novel-in-progress with a friend. In the end, they differ in their ideas about how Pepe should end his novel. Tunying wants him to choose the way of weapons and warfare. But Pepe—much like his other choices in life—in the end decides to reject violence. It's a slower and more difficult path, and many of the social ills of the Philippines that Rizal wrote about still exist to this day. But, as the play exhorts in the end: Keep on dreaming, Pepe, and maybe one of these days, your dream of justice, freedom and equality for Filipinos just might come true. Especially if enough Filipinos dream with him, I think.