Cinco De Noviembre

Winner, Ceres Alabado Award, 1997

Written By

Rene B. Javellana, S.J.

Illustrated By

Felix Mago Miguel

Jason Moss

Synopsis

Children are never part of “adult things” like revolution, much more so in the Philippines. No historical records exist of how children reacted to the revolution. With this in mind, Jesuit art historian RENÉ B. JAVELLANA, S.J. creates Toto and weaves a story using the events surrounding the bloodless take-over of Bacolod by Negrenses revolucionarios. Toto sees the revolution from his child perspective. He does not understand everything, In a sense we are all like Toto because we cannot fully comprehend the ramifications of our historical decisions. This tale of the Negrense’s skillful use of subterfuge and deception to gain a military advantage for an ill-equipped ragtag army is marvellously brought life by the dreamy oil paintings of Felix Mago Miguel and the expressive mixed.