CEBU, Philippines - The country remembers June 19 as the birthday of national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, whose name appears several times in the book "I Laugh Only" by Dr. Agustin L. Sollano, Jr.
On page 8, paragraph 1 of the book, it reads: "Dr. Jose Rizal had Dr. Maximo Viola and Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt to encourage and help him. I had the good fortune of encountering Rev. Fr. Anthony Kolodziej, SVD, my first Latin teacher, and Rev. Fr. Frederick Scharpf, SVD, my instructor in Greek and Hebrew. Both recognized my potentials and inspired me. The result was that I was one of those in our class who were sent abroad."
The second to the last paragraph on page 76 starts with a hypothetical sentence: "Had the Spaniards not come to our shoes, we in the East would have had optional celibacy among our clerics. And what type of Christianity did these Westerners bring? We read in Dr. Jose Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" that Father Damaso was the father of Maria Clara! And that 'professional hypocrisy' (i.e., professing to be celibate, but is in reality having a lover, a paramour, a mistress or a "kabit" in our local dialect) has been handed down through the centuries up to the present. Of course, we do not want to generalize because there are truly celibate priests in our midst and I take my hat off to them!"
The first two paragraphs on page 78 say: "However, we gain some inkling or insights of the Perfect Society prepared for us in the next life from our experiences with the imperfect societies here on earth. I think this is what our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, means by these lines in his 'Last Farewell':
I go where there are no slaves, no hangmen nor oppressors;
I go where faith does not kill, where he who reigns is God."
On page 109, in the third to the last paragraph: "This duplicity in their lives was condemned by the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, in his novel, 'Noli Me Tangere.' In that story, Padre Damaso is the father of Maria Clara! This professional hypocrisy has been handed down from generation to generation until present."
The last sentence of the second to the last paragraph on page 109 goes: "And may I add that if his books were published during the time of Rizal, he too would have been executed at the Bagumbayan, now the Luneta."
Finally, his travels clockwise and counterclockwise around the world, as stated on pages 8-10, plus the enumeration of women that crossed the path of Rev. Father - turned real father - Dr. Agustin L. Sollano, Jr., on pages 99-100, reminds of our national hero's travels as well as of the women in his life.
Is the author of the book "I Laugh Only," not perhaps the reincarnation of Dr. Jose P. Rizal? Just asking.