tree

et in the 1950s in the Philippines,[3] Tree was the story about an unnamed Filipino boy, the son of a plantation manager and “subjugator of other Filipinos”,[3] who grew up in an Ilocano town known as Rosales, Pangasinan. He was surrounded by acquaintances beneath his social class, relatives, and servants.[2] He was described as a youth who “searched for parental love” and a “place in a society with rigid class structures”. He was also the grandson of the landlord protagonized by José in the novel Po-on. In Tree, the boy narrated the weakening relatiThere were many others but of course there’s also the jaded Espiridion who went to work for Don Vicente in spite of his own wealth – just so he will be able to secure his own wealth – because he knew that if he didn’t, Don Vicente can and he will, take whatever catches his fancy.

Then there was the son – the narrator. He didn’t know what was going on, he was young then and no one would tell him anything! And so, when he finally understood what was happening, he became another Espiridion – jaded and at the same time – ridden with guilt.

I think that the purpose of the book really is to show what happened to the Filipino people after all those occupations — the Spanish, American, and the Japanese occupations – how the people had lost their own identity in the process [just like the balete tree nilamon na ng vines yung tree mismo, na-strangle... yung vines yun na ang naging tree pero yung puno mismo, hindi na makita kasi natabunan na]. And how these events brought the worse and the best out of people. And how they were divided by their own steadfast beliefs and their respective conditions and situations in life.

People like Tio Baldo and Teresita and etc. will come and go, but another set of people with the same predicament will replace them… they are like the balete tree whose vines multiply as the days pass by. These ailing people grow by the number just like how the balete tree grow bigger each day.

And so, I think that that’s what the Tree is all about. We were meant to see a glimpse of each of the character’s life only. For that mere glimpse is already enough to see that everyone is getting suffocated and was being strangled already by the system. And they will continue to be swallowed and get strangled because of their singularity – there was no unity at all.

Regarding Tio Baldo’s suicide, it was the hopelessness that drove him to do that. We all know that Don Vicente is a mean person [and that's an understatement, wait until you read My Brother, My Executioner... what he did in Carmay (tama ba, Carmay ang lugar nila? Nalilito na ako hahaha) was nothing compared with what he did in Sipnget. But I am digressing, again hahaha!].

And then we have these people who “sell themselves because they don’t have beliefs, only a price.” The ones who took the bribe from Don Vicente… but what really did Tio Baldo in was the despair that his very own people didn’t believe in him. That they thought that Tio Baldo did all these so he could take these people’s money.

There’s no cure for ignorance. And a lot of our people are like that because they are uneducated and will continue to be, at this rate where our country only ever gets corrupt politicians as leaders, who are only interested in advancing themselves and not their people.

As for Espiridion (the father of the narrator) – part of him knew that Tio Baldo will be unsuccessful – that everything he was doing was futile. However, a tiny part of him wanted to hope and see that Tio Baldo will succeed… that was why he didn’t persuade him much into changing his mind. And, in the end, what happened to Tio Baldo really did warp him. He had always believed that at the end of the day, we are all alone. No one will help you except yourself. After what happened to Tio Baldo, this belief was strengthened. Because, for Espiridion, you can help other people all you like, but when you are the one in despair – who would help you? No one… that is what he had seen all his life. That is Espiridion’s reality.

It really didn’t help that he had seen how ignorant our people are – how uneducated. And he knew that that only added to the helplessness of our people, of the predicament that they are in. These knowledge and realizations had left him so jaded he had given up on trying to help and save the world or our country, for that matter (unlike Tio Baldo who chose to press on but this was because he was idealistic). He knew that until our people became more aware, more educated, helping them could only gain catastrophic results. This is because the people’s understanding of things is limited. And he knew nothing he’ll ever do can change this so he gave up. After all, he also had his own life and his family to tend to.

To understand this statement better, you have to read the book yourself.

Espiridion is not really a bad person – just that – disillusioned and jaded. Why did he send Tio Baldo to school if he’s truly a mean person? It is because he saw that Tio Baldo had dreams and aspirations unlike the other people in their village – content with what they have and they didn’t seem to have any goals in life. Tio Baldo, on the other hand, was different, and he saw that.

In the end, Tio Baldo’s life ended tragically. His people failed to see that he himself was hurting. That he also needed to be consoled, comforted. He needed someone to tell him that everything will be fine. That what happened was just a stumbling block, that they will all stand up again and fight another day. But sadly, no one ever did. He was alone. He was shunned. He had no one. In the end, even the people he was trying to help had turned their backs on him.

I love this book because it tells our country’s realities. I hope that more people will be able to read this and be able to see what the book is really trying to say: start educating our people!

I have yet to read two books in the saga and many other books written by the author, but I know that out of all his works, that this is my most favorite. It tells a resounding truth (and a very painful one at that), one that every Pinoy must acknowledge and accept if we want to become a better country.