Friday, June 8, 2018

Remigio Agpalo & the Local Dance



Only a tiny portion of our province's population was able to know the legacy of the late Prof. Remigio E. Agpalo, PhD, the political scientist who was born in Occidental Mindoro.

To commemorate his 90th birth anniversary this coming Sunday, this little space is this lowly blogger's humble tribute to him.

Born in Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro June 10, 1928, 3rd of 8 children, born to Paulino Agpalo and Paulina Escalona, Remigio studied college at the University of Maine and returned to the Philippines in September 1952 to fulfill his promise of sharing his gift of academic quest and taught at UP in 1953. He later went to University of Indiana and took his doctoral studies. Agpalo taught at the University of the Philippines (UP) for almost 50 years and was laid to rest February 10, 2008. He succumbed to prostate cancer. He was 79.

The political picture that Agpalo emphasized decades back remains relevant even today. In his book “Pandanggo sa Ilaw : The Politics in Occidental Mindoro” published in 1963 he wrote, “The elite exploited these (Filipino traditional) values and brought them into play, together with their material potentials, to their own advantage. The unsatisfactory economic situation, the general poverty of the population, the insufficient education … as well as broadening gap between the elite and the masses…” (pp. 83). For me it is a very imaginative as well as accurate description or emblem of how politics is practiced in the whole country until today.

The Pandanggo sa Ilaw is a native folk dance where his political concept is derived. The dance which originated in Lubang Island is described in terms of the following according to Agpalo himself: 1) the participant dancers, 2) the objects the dancers carry or hold, and 3) the way the participants dance. The participants are male or female, two or more of them, who carry lighted glass oil lamps on their heads and the back of their hands. Dancing to the rhythm of lilting music, they sway and balance, go around the stage or dance floor, intermingle, manipulate the glass lamps with amazing and spectacular deftness, and maneuver for dramatic and arresting position on the floor. Swift of hands and agile of feet, the dancers do not trip or drop the glass lamps that they carry.

Here’s the analogy: The dancers are the politicians (and their staunch supporters and the citizens in general) and the glass lamps are the political powers while the stage is the political arena. Agpalo wrote further, “The movement of the political actors can be compared to those of the dancers; these consist in skillful manipulations and manuevering. For this reason, the political actors, like the dancers, are fascinating to watch.”  In his another book called "Adventures in Political Science" at full length he explained, “Unlike the politics of ideology where the ideological doctrines guide, direct, and dominate the political process, there are no doctrines guiding and directing the political actors in Pandanggo sa Ilaw politics. Thus, elections, legislations, administration, adjudication, and other processes of the government in this system are not ideology-oriented ... What interests them are personal and practical matters -- what favors can be allocated to supporters and burdens imposed on non-supporters; what personal traits certain public officials or citizens have or do not have; what party can grant favors and what group cannot give patronage; and the like. In other words, Pandanggo sa Ilaw politics is oriented towards personality, practicality and material goods." Now, who says that this isn’t true today? Our “dancers” (read: political leaders) been lingering on the “stage” (read: political positions) almost for life resting the proverbial “glass lamp” (read: political power) in their hands endlessly amusing and fascinating the “audience” (read: citizens) with stunts and trivialities in between, as emphasized by their critics.

Dr. Remigio Agpalo did not stay in Occidental Mindoro most of his life except during his twilight years and that's maybe the reason why only a few of us know him. He was called the Father of Political Science in the Philippines and the leading political scientist during his time. Dr. Remigio E. Agpalo’s invaluable collection of books were turned over at the DLSU Library in June 10, 2013 and afterwards, Ms. Christine Helen Perez-Eustaquio, the daughter of Dr. Agpalo, delivered the Remarks of Circumstance and shared some stories she has about her father. Well while known in the intellectual circle, only a few knows Dr. Agpalo in his province because he did not stay here for long.

Only last month, I stumbled from the web a book titled “Dance & Politics: Moving Beyond Boundaries” (Manchester University Press, 2017) by Dana Mills. Mills, stressed that, “Our political world is in constant motion. Our lives are continually shifting. Collective communicative structures which have held us together in various forms of communal life are relentlessly being challenged by new languages.” In our context, I believe that these “new languages” suggest aspirations of the common people, the masa, and the non-hardliners. What they hoped is a first-hand dance with different dancers on the deep-rooted stage holding firmly and efficiently the sacred but desecrated glass lamp. 

Mills’ book expounds on why dance is political and how it can articulate political perspectives. As such, therefore, searching for and learning a new “dance”, like searching for and learning new politics, provide opportunity and outlet for those who are fed-up of this national situation...

------

References:
http://librarynewsette.lasalle.ph/2013/06/remigio-e-agpalo-collection.html 




1 comment:

  1. Thank you for writing this article. Happy 91st Birthday, Lolo Remi!!!

    ReplyDelete