“The chief glory of every people arises from its authors.”

Debatable to some, for sure. But I am inclined to agree with Samuel Johnson, and with Susan Sontag. Especially after having read The Three-Cornered Sun.

The Philippine War of Independence is usually summed up as a racial conflict that the Filipino Katipuneros waged against Spanish oppressors from 1896-1898, thus ending three hundred and thirty-three years of colonial rule. But it was so much more, as Linda Ty-Casper demonstrates in this intricately written novel. She shows how the revolution was, as Manuel L. Quezon III writes in the foreword, “a confrontation between Filipinos.”

In other stories written about this period, our national heroes usually take centerstage. Ty-Casper takes an unusual route by approaching it through the lives of the Viardo family. Andrés Bonifacio and his men ripping and burning the cedulas that signified Spanish subjugation is briefly mentioned; Dr. Jose Rizal’s novels are discussed and re-read by several characters despite the threat of death for the illegal possession of his books; the execution of Bonifacio by Emilio Aguinaldo’s men, and Rizal’s assassination all come to pass in the narrative; but it is through the different members of the Viardo family that the conflict can be deeply felt.

Simeon Viardo, who returns from Spain after petitioning for reforms is seen as someone who takes action against injustice but believes that there is hope outside of war. On the other hand, Simeon’s brother, Blas, is described as “the newest breed of Indio, the equal of the flashiest peninsular,” and who exemplified the prominent Indios whose comfortable lives felt threatened by revolution. In contrast, Blas’s son, Cristobal, insists that the revolution needs all of them and takes up arms to join the Katipuneros, where he also finds growing rivalries between revolucionarios coming to light.

These contrapuntal voices are accompanied by the musicality of Ty-Casper’s prose. “The sea struggled gently, bearing the sun on each wave,” sings in page two! She often writes of the Philippine sunlight as one who has bathed in it. She writes of our flora and fauna as someone whose clothes have been victims of amorseco, whose slippers have kissed the makahiya, and as the native who could tell between the leaves or trunks of the mabolo, duhat, banaba, talinum, kataka-taka, sampaloc, and who makes room in the narrative for our glorious fire trees!

And now, the loaded questions: Why this need to reveal and relive, in persuasive storytelling through characters that urge us to evaluate our past, this schism among Filipinos? Why does the author’s preface speak of historical novels as “a form of advocacy to defend our country against false depictions,” so that, “we do not forget who we were, and are; and we can therefore resist ‘occupation’ by foreigners, and by our own countrymen”? (By our own kababayan!) Why the caution from the old teacher in the novel, Zacarias Clemente, about becoming our own oppressors and therefore committing the greatest betrayal?

It’s brilliant how Exploding Galaxies highlights the original year of publication on their spines. It is particularly important for The Three-Cornered Sun. It leads the reader to wonder what transpired in 1979 and in the annals of Philippine history that spurred Linda Ty-Casper to write a book that ultimately asks the introspective reader — who reads between the lines — the timeless question of whether we, as a people, remain worthy of the War of Independence and of the sacrifices offered up for our freedom.

~ ~ ~ ABOUT THE REVIEWER ~ ~ ~

Miracle Romano is a book-butterfly who flies off to places influenced by her literary choices and reads books influenced by her travels. She is a pianist, a music teacher, and a former columnist for the Mindanao Observer who juggles her time between two passions — words and music. More of her writing can be found here.

The book was purchased by the reviewer from the Exploding Galaxies online store, for P780.00. It is also available on Lazada and Shopee, and selected local bookstores.