Fray Montano: on Estrella's Character

"The Death of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador of Negros” by Rosario Cruz-Lucero “Bisan ano ka lawig sang prusisyon sa simbahan man guihapon padulong” is Visayan for “Pagkahaba-haba man ng prusisyon, sa simbahan din naman ang tuloy” or “The procession may be long enough but it will always end in the Church” and talks of the attitude of the Filipinos toward the Spanish culture of religion. The tale of “The Death of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador of Negros” talks about the period during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines and how the conqueror gets conquered by those he conquers. In the Filipino people’s perspective, however, comes another story. With Negros’ babaylan, Estrella, she becomes the prominent figure symbolizing the people of Negros, (and that of Filipinos) in general. Her unusual characteristics, such as her hands like claws symbolize the Philippine national symbol of the eagle. Also, Estrella chanted the Buyung Labaw Donggon or the Hiligaynon epic composed of the antagonist Yawa and the god Makagagahum, was considered to be a confusing story that bore the people like the Church teachings by the friars would do to them. The social classes are also implied in the story as the people of Pueblo Buyonan composed the working class who were oppressed in a sense. Along with the people of Negros, they come at an advantage of the conqueror as they simply carry on with their traditions and lifestyles even at the cultural instillation of the Spaniards. Estrella’s dialogues always seem to be brooding and wise in metaphorical, abstract, and implied speeches whenever she speaks to Fray Salvador Montano, such as:
“The tuburan is drying up because it knows to what evil the water of this island is bring put. Gray Duertas is turning rivers into ditches that will water only sugarcane. He is installing wheels in the water to run the machine that will crush my people’s blood out of the cane. He is flattening our diwatas’ sinalimba chariots into barges to carry the people’s spirits in jute sacks into your kapre’s diamond world, from where they will never return. And you—you’re dying, Padre. The next one who replaces you will have to begin anew if you don’t stop the few who are still here from running away too.”
The speech expresses many thoughts, like “your kapre’s diamond world” which may refer to the kind of malignant characteristic brought about by the self-proclaimed “superior” foreigners, “wheels in the water to run the machine that will crush my people’s blood out of the cane” possibly about the day and night workload that oppresses the Filipinos, “flattening our diwatas’ sinalimba chariots into barges” or the deterioration of the pre-colonial culture and belief systems, “you’re dying, Padre” which meant that the fray was being conquered by the one he is conquering, and “the next one who replaces you will have to begin anew if you don’t stop the few who are still here from running away too” which may possibly mean of his failure to inculcate the Spanish culture into the Filipinos fully.
On the other hand, the people of Negros, such as Pedro Latay who entertained the masses by doing a balancing act on a bamboo length placed end to end on rocks and would often fall to the ground were the personification of ignorance as told by the Spaniards, as the narrative would say, “This was an island where people crossed crocodile-infested rivers on lengths of bamboo everyday, so where was the wonder in this?” Moreover, the actions portrayed in the story by the Negros people (i.e. making love like locusts, etc.) were part of the pre-colonial belief systems and folk practices that remained. As during those times, Filipinos were dictated upon to work day and night under the Church and State; nonetheless, the pre-colonial practices never left, like drinking and such. Fray Montano “Had found that in this town, the truth sprouted many heads, and whatever explanation he gave would be as valid as the many versions it would give birth to overnight over bamboo cups of tuba.” The stereotypical images given by the Westerners to Filipinos in order to attain superiority such as indolence, ignorance, and eroticism are playfully written in the story. The baptism of villages under Spanish names were also worthy to take note of as a sign of colonialism. Another fact pointed out in the story was the use of cultural instillation along with armed forces. Pagan practices were modified so as to adjust to the people’s belief systems and natural lifestyles. One thing is that Estrella accepted the baptism offered to her as she realized that her treatments as a babaylan were not working over the diseases of “smallpox, cholera, measles, and malaria” of the Caucasian race. Nonetheless, the portrayal of the Filipino people in the tale was skillfully crafted so as to fit the historical context during the Spanish period. The story also created the imagery of the state of the Filipinos under the watchful eyes of the Spanish and their unusual characteristics that were diametrically opposite to that of the Westerners that made them very curious (or disdainful) to foreign eyes.