MANY Filipinos believe that MSG, or vetsin, can poison our dogs. But as Ian Alfonso, author of “Dogs in Philippine History,” said, “… There are Filipino cuisine seasoned with it, which we share with our dogs (especially the aspins, who like Filipino food than dog food), such as sinangag, menudo, sinigang and adobo.”
Alfonso now believes, reading the work of historians Nicolo Paolo Ludovice and Ros Avila Costelo, that this may have come from the substance which was used to kill dogs during the Spanish colonial period to control rabies since 1861: strychnine, a fine crystalline substance, applied on meat which authorities will throw out at night from 10 p.m. to 4 a. m. which homeless dogs will unsuspectingly eat. Basureros would collect the carcasses of the dead animals by morning.
One such incident happened on June 15, 1875, when Manila Spanish Civil Governor Jose Morales Ramirez issued a public bando (order) to mitigate the spread of rabies infection. The dead dogs killed daily were so many that the mass grave stretched from the beaches of Campo de Bagumbayan to Tondo (approximately the present-day area between Roxas Boulevard in front of the Rizal Monument and Mel Lopez Boulevard).
Since last year, Ian Alfonso has been proposing a statue for the Asong Pinoy (Aspin) to commemorate this tragedy and as a reminder against dog cruelty. To demonstrate the seriousness of the proposal, he took Biyaya Animal Care President Rina Ortiz’s vision and enriched it, got outstanding muralist Derrick Macutay to design the statue based on their vision and sculptor Jester Oani to execute the design which shows a skinny homeless mother Aspin with left wrist broken but standing dignified, with three puppies of various representations: “Her three puppies represent Mindanao, the Visayas and Luzon. Moreover, the suckling puppy symbolizes the survival of the Aspins and all the abused and neglected dogs, regardless of breed, in the only paradise they know — our country, the Philippines; a sleeping puppy commemorates all the dogs killed throughout Philippine history, especially during the war against rabies infection the past 225 years; and a playful puppy heralds hope that a Filipino may still choose them, despite being unwanted.”
This monument was supposed to have been inaugurated for the 150th anniversary of the mass killings of dogs last June 15. I have heard that the National Parks Development Committee, the administrator of the Rizal Park Luneta, was open to the matter, but this needs the approval of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Obviously, it is still under deliberation.
When the Dogs in Philippine History Facebook page announced the proposal publicly in time for its supposed inaugural, there were people who actually welcomed it. Obviously also, there were some who had reservations. The park, they said, was created in honor of our national hero José Rizal and therefore it would be out of place there. In fact, there are some who believe that the park should be exclusively used as a memorial to Rizal and nothing else, like those Holocaust memorials in Europe.
When we in the Knights of Rizal protested a condominium tower that forever destroyed the vista of the monument, historian Zeus A. Salazar, who disagreed with our position, told me, “You should know the real history of the park.” In my mind, “Of course I know the history of the park.” The debates about whether this dog monument is appropriate for the park made me realize what Salazar really meant. Yes, Rizal Park was named in honor of Rizal, but definitely its history and purposes go beyond Rizal. Yes, tourists come to Holocaust memorials; perhaps they can even have picnics there. But to make the park remain solely as a solemn memorial to Rizal will shortchange the very reason why our national park is relevant and why people come: It is the people’s park where we celebrate our freedom of expression, freedom of religion, where national celebrations, political protests, religious gatherings, athletic events, artistic performances, the Manila Carnival, etc., were held. Where people congregate to celebrate life, love, family, even food. It is firmly the place that celebrates the Filipino culture of kapwa, bayanihan and kapistahan. It only happened that the martyrs’ blood made this park sacred. But doing things other than the solemn here doesn’t desecrate their memory. In fact, the festive mood drives the point: We are a free and happy people because of them. This is the reason why I guess I made the right decision to propose that rebranding the park should include the name Luneta, hence Rizal Park Luneta (after this, I discovered that most laws pertaining to the park call it Luneta, not Rizal Park), to say that yes, Rizal is a big part of this but it is more than about Rizal; it is about the people.
Anyway, Rizal Park Luneta as a space is truly flexible; it is solemn during national commemorations and festive on other days. I do not see a dog statue being a great disservice to Rizal. As a dog lover, he might have welcomed it himself. It can even bring more interest to the park, like Hachiko is to Japan. But the most convincing argument is this: buried nearby are dogs that were killed, to remind us, may we never again treat Aspins like that. They are part of our “kaginhawaan ng tao.”
