History unleashed, a nation alive at Heroes Square

It was too rainy a Sunday to go to Intramuros, the idea of which I didn’t relish to begin with, what with memories of losses riddling those old structures from Letran to the site of the first Ateneo, from San Agustin Church to the Manila Cathedral, to Fort Santiago. National losses yes, but even more so loves in crevices left by loss.

This romance with sadness would be perfect for those walls, though it might be more productive to kill the romance and see these sites differently. A kind of rebel within, the one that’s been silenced, the one that ties us still and ultimately to the lives that were once here. Right here is history unleashed from the pages of a book, and it’s about you and me. Heroes Square is a beautiful structure, the newness of which melds seamlessly with Fort Santiago in front of it and Intramuros outside of it. The building is still mostly empty, for good reason: the dream is to slowly build on it as a space where heroic characters, real and fictional, dwell. A Heroes Land of sorts, where we might have some lunch with Jose Rizal, get to talk to Andres Bonifacio, sew a flag with Tandang Sora, go shopping with Sisa. The first steps towards this dream have been taken by a team of three and a generous philanthropist-family, all willing to spend money, blood, sweat, and tears on history and culture, and the possibility of change. So far it’s been a heroic feat in itself. Heroes Square is currently about its tours, the kind you don’t expect to enjoy, especially not on a rainy Sunday. After all, the first tour is La Ciudad Murada, which involves a ride on a Tranvia with music and a docent, which in an ideal sunny setting would mean getting off the vehicle and enjoying the sights. Yet, it didn’t seem so bad, not with a docent who by all counts was a dream. Alvin Campomanes can single-handedly keep history alive with his words, making it seem like much of it happened yesterday. His excitement filled that Tranvia, and as with any good teacher, this could only be infectious. The plaza of Spanish Colonial times is real, the rationale of Intramuros as a city makes sense, sites are different given what they were in the past: here where Rizal was tried, there where a canon is said to be aimed at the head of Rizal statue, there where Douglas MacArthur kept headquarters, here where the US Flag was first flown. Stories of real people are given historical change, racial difference, personalities and scandals, and riddle the informal narrative. When tied together with a historian’s voice that’s funny without being silly, and is always relevant, everything just works perfectly. In a Tranvia with grade school kids, Campomanes had them in the palm of his hand. He got me by ending the tour with rapping, FrancisM’s “Three Stars and the Sun" no less, and no mean feat that one. Between the Intramuros tour and the rap song, there was Mi Ultimo Adios, a performance of Jose Rizal’s life. It’s one show that can’t be missed because it is sweeping without sacrificing content, beautiful despite space and budget limitations. It is directed by Anton Juan, with (free) music by Gary Granada and script by Juan and Heroes Square’s Oliver Quintana. Right here is proof that all we really need is creativity, and heart. Both happen clearly here, at Heroes Square, because the performance chooses a battle that can be won: focus on the core of Rizal’s upbringing, deal with the questions that lead to his heroism. The rich-poor dichotomy works because it isn’t simply shoved down our throats; instead it is connected to the story of Teodora Alonzo being victimized by friars. Rizal’s geographic movement from Calamba to Europe is logically shown as a product of his personal history of discovery and learning. His insistence on questions, his life lived with curiosity, the moth drawn to the flame, is shown to be valid, if not worth it, no matter the sacrifice it becomes. Within the Rizal Shrine Museum’s second floor Valedictory Room, against the white wall on which the “Mi Ultimo Adios" is carved, the dark wood floors on which are written the words of Asuncion Lopez-Rizal Bantug, three actors, a narrator (Garry Lim) and one musician (Melvin Sumalinog) will bring you into a life of books and freedom, curiosity and imprisonment, change and nation. With only Doña Teodora, Josephine Bracken and Jose Rizal as characters, this is proof of creativity at its best; with Heidi Arima, Jean Judith Javier, and Erick de Paz in these roles, on a stage that’s all of a room, the manner in which talent can navigate space and history here is astounding. It’s easy to imagine what the interactive plays in the other sites are like. The truth is, you don’t owe it to Rizal or any hero to go on this tour. You owe it to yourself. Bring your kids, set it up for your students, and go on this ride with Heroes Square. It’s a journey that’s not just about getting on a Tranvia or hearing some beautiful music or watching a play. It’s about nation and history, and the possibility of taking home some heroism, the kind that might just be about keeping the heart open to the unjust and unfair, and knowing that you have to speak of it, regardless of how times have changed. Because you know as well that many things since Rizal have stayed exactly the same. – YA, GMA News