Reliving history

RE: LIVING HISTORY

PROFILE

by Francesca Lim

Unfold, oh timid flower!

Lift up your radiant brow, This day, Youth of my native strand!

Your abounding talents show Resplendently and grand, Fair hope of my Motherland!

-Dr. Jose Rizal, To the Filipino Youth

Many people throughout time have said that to understand ourselves better we must first understand our past – to understand our common humanity. The accumulation of years became a collective of every experience running through our veins and filling our hearts and minds as Filipinos.

Growing up Jose Rizalino “Jerry” Acuzar sees himself as a “Little Rizal.” Born the youngest in a family of twelve on the same day as our national hero, June 19, 1955, Acuzar hails from Balanga, Bataan. He observed how schools focused so much on the dates and details yet failed to instill the very sentiment that Rizal would want to reach the Filipino youth – to have a sense of nationalism; to hold their heads high for they possess talents, skills and abilities that would make their country proud.

There is a story to tell, and Acuzar has a vision for telling that story.

REVERENCE AND RELEVANCE We live in a time of rapid change, a time of progress. And mostly we prefer to define ourselves in terms of where we are going instead of where we came

from. But no one is and should be above the influence of the past.

Acuzar learned construction from his father and credits his value of perseverance and success to his origins, an impoverished family. When most of his contemporaries are household names, he remained, in his eyes, an ordinary person who pushed beyond the frontier of his limits and went an extra mile to rise from an obscure corner of the world.

With an irrepressible passion for design, he transferred from Manuel L. Quezon University (MLQU) to the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP). And while still a student of architecture, he worked as a draftsman for the National Housing Authority (NHA) under General Gaudencio Tobias.

Under General Tobias’ tutelage he learned to value his work and how important it is to be loyal to his superior. He recounted that whatever his boss would ask he would follow in all his capabilities and with a happy, never just in his willingness, never out of force. He figured it’s something to be asked a task and be trusted to carry it out. That’s what motivated him to work, and now that’s how he runs his businesses.

Thanks to his experience in government, Acuzar continues to work for the public good. He is chairman of one of the premier developers in the Philippines, the New San Jose Builders, Inc. (NSJBI), focused on projects that ranged from public works, land development, and providing affordable housing options. He is also chairman of Goldenville Realty

and Development Corporation (GRDC) which engages in the development of low-cost and economic housing projects and development of resettlement sites for the informal settlers of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

HISTORIES, MEMORIES, AND LEGACIES Collapsed. Crumbled. Fallen. But it’s not destruction, it’s re-birth. History may have its claims, but it’s human too. And the most important things are not things, they are stories. And at the heart of all stories is human interest.

When faced with a deteriorating ancestral property, Acuzar’s first instinct is to restore, defying the impulse to hop over the fence to modernization. In the absence of what we know today as modern convenience and in the presence of urbanization, Acuzar accepted and embraced the challenge. He acknowledged the truth in the situation and decided to do something about it.

Acuzar refused to surrender and so he welcomed old houses that have no more place in the modern times to his hacienda and worked on restoring them to their earlier glories. This endeavor led to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (The Philippine Houses of Acuzar), a museum and heritage park in Bagac, Bataan.

Las Casas is now host to more than 30 casas including, most memorably, Casa Mexico which was reconstructed from salvaged materials bought from junkshops and is now acting as the resort’s

front office. These houses were not just underappreciated but abandoned, neglected and were left to rot and deteriorate, to vanish in the face of the ever changing times and priorities. And as interests shift from house to house, the minds of their residents change from a country and heritage-loving ideology to a foreign-supporting one. Las Casas is a place where you can see the past undergoing an evolutionary process, being rebuilt for an integral function – a better way to interact with history.

As a pre-requisite to his interest with ancestral houses, Acuzar believes that these houses will speak for the people who passed through their doors and walked by in everyday life. The windows, the doors, and the walls have all paved the way for history to happen; they served as openings to opportunities and events, as escapes to the struggles of the colonial times, and formed refuge and shelter in times of distress. They are the witnesses as well as the proof that it all happened and that they were real.

And they continue to remain the dwelling place of it all.

REVIVING THE PAST Though at first Las Casas is just a recreational venue for Acuzar he is now dedicated to the conservation of our past architectural masterpieces. He employs residents from all over Bataan and nearby provinces to support the local economy, presenting Bagac community with a heritage tourism marketing opportunity that would complement existing arts and outdoors offerings. Acuzar employs tour guides, local artisans, waiters and waitresses, and members of a performing troupe to help him re-create the Filipino Spirit and tell the stories of these settlements and their residents.

One sculpture in the heritage park is that of Lola Basyang reading a book.

It is Acuzar’s way of encouraging storytelling and book reading among younger generations. However, he knows that our ignorance of the past is not the result of a lack of information (there are tons of books and historians for that), but of indifference. We do not care enough to believe that history matters.

History teaches values, priceless and timeless values that books cannot even come close to portraying. It’s the art of actively and consciously listening which we struggle with, hence stories don’t

leave a mark and that’s why they don’t have an impact. Students fail to see the significance behind the text and behind the page.

Different stories and ideas move life to emotions. They are never too outdated or irrelevant. They can inspire and empower. Acuzar wants to rekindle whatever peace and love has died in our country. He wants to restore the broken and heal the hurting by cultivating a thirst for knowledge in young Filipinos and encouraging the children to know their past, to know where they come from, and understand the blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into creating the world that they live in today. Why they are surviving, prevailing despite of all the other odds that has come our way.

He emphasized that preserving our heritage is a big deal because when you have something physical to see and hold on to, you also have something to hold up to, to set as an example to inspire you and challenge you to do the same. Acuzar hopes that when the next Rizal or the next Bonifacio sees his work, they will be inspired and moved to action. To nationalism. To continue what w a s started.

VALUES OF HISTORY

Run ! For genius’ sacred flame Awaits the artist’s crowning Spreading far and wide the fame Throughout the sphere proclaiming With trumpet the mortal’s name Oh, joyful, joyful day, The Almighty blessed be Who, with loving eagerness Sends you luck and happiness.

-Dr. Jose Rizal, To the Filipino Youth

History teaches values, priceless and timeless values. Rizal believed that the Filipino youth is as brilliant as those of any other nation. H ardwork, dedication, and loyalty drove him to go to such lengths as to sacrifice himself for the motherland. He has so much faith that he moved barriers and inspired others to claim our freedome. And Acuzar never forgets that. His passion to overcome trials and hardships has helped sculpt his humanity and so does Philippine history.

Acuzar believes that we all began with a blank. “When you’re a child, you believe you can be anything you want to be. There’s no limit to what you can dream. You expect the unexpected and have faith in possibilities. You have to be passionate about you’re doing, and if that doesn’t make you happy, find something else that will.”

When there is love for heritage, there is love for country – there is nationalism.

When there is nationalism, there is love for our ancestors. And when there is love for our ancestors, there is love for our fellow Filipinos. There is compassion for society and reverence to our Motherland.

Acuzar considers it his assignment in life to save old houses because they are part of our history, part of our lives.

He believes that nationalism is viral, contagious to the point that when we have it, we cannot contain it and we have to something about it to express it, proudly and most diligently. That’s what he did with Las Casas, a public service to educate young minds and to inspire the future to talk about the past with insight, love and understanding for it. To look at the past with pride, to the future with hopes for better days, and to evolve whenever possible with regards to the past.

When our Filipino values and integrity seem to be questioned and often slipping away, we must remember that there are stories to tell that are reflective of the historic values that are characteristic of the Filipino Spirit. The Spirit that needs to be preserved with the stories that needs to be told.

Indeed, no one is above the influence of the past. History lives. And we, ourselves, give it life.