The great Bernad
By Antonio Montalvan II
Inquirer News Service

"MINDANAO is a large island, but this fact is not always remembered (or perhaps it was not known) by those who plan its development. Nor is this fact always remembered by journalists. It is rather amusing to see news reports that state, 'There was a fire in Mindanao last night,' as though Mindanao were but a tiny island."

That is how the author of a new book, "The Great Island, Studies in the Exploration and Evangelization of Mindanao," (Ateneo de Manila University Press) begins his preface. It is a line that has been said countless times; perhaps, to end up most of the time on the deaf ears of Manila. Except that this time, it is being said by Fr. Miguel A. Bernad of the Society of Jesus. And for that to be said by Father Bernad-who minces no words in his writings yet is able to say it succinctly in so few words (the Bernad style I call it)-is something.

For Father Bernad is not just a native son of Mindanao. He is in fact one of its most brilliant sons. Fr. Asandas Balchand,his superior in the Jesuit community at Loyola House in Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan -- where Father Bernad has been working quietly for the past 26 years -- refers to him as "one of the most highly accomplished Jesuits in the Philippine Province."

It is from that "quiet" outpost that Father Bernad has been churning out books and essays on Philippine history and literature, including a weekly column in a national daily. At 87 and at a time when many university journals are good only for the trash bins, he continues to single-handedly edit the "Kinaadman" -- he calls it "a journal of the Southern Philippines" -- one of the most reputed journals of scholarly learning in the Philippines today, whose readership extends abroad. Few perhaps remember that it was also Father Bernad who once edited Ateneo de Manila's top-notch "Philippine Studies" journal way back in 1954-1959.

To say that Father Bernad is a prolific writer is to miss the point. It is the Bernad prose that makes the man distinct and has created for him a wide following in Filipino literature circles, which he had once described as "inchoate" (no longer so today; he once intimated to Mindanao writer Christine Godinez-Ortega).

But more than the Bernad prose and the meticulous predilection for detail in his historiography is the great mind that lies behind the man. The Bernad writing has found its usefulness not just among literature teachers, students and writers, but also among historians and anthropologists, and among those who care to know about the cultural humdrums and goings-on in Filipino socio-cultural life. I remember his scathing remarks against the perceived persecution by the Arroyo government of Acsa Ramirez who had spilled the beans on corruption in a government agency. Father Bernad's words said in so few lines what others had probably wanted to say.

The rare combination of history and literature has made Father Bernad one of the most sought-after lecturers in public forums held in different parts of the Philippines. And so it was to one such forum that my colleagues and I went to a few days ago. We had been mistakenly told that the lecture would be on the teaching of history. But arriving at the venue, we saw the streamer announcing it was a lecture on "Dante's Cosmic Journey." For many of us, we had forgotten our Dante and were, in fact, the least interested in it. But we were already there and there was no turning back. Two Bernad books will be launched anyway following the lecture, I said, and this was what I shall focus on.

I am no literary writer, but all I can say from my forgotten stock of college literature is that Father Bernad brought all of us in the audience to a journey that was indeed cosmic. His knowledge of Dante was sharp, very sharp, in fact. Aside from reciting entire lines from memory in impeccable Italian, he had interspersed Dante with social and theological realities. The audience was a wide mix of young and old, students, teachers (active and retired), and mixture of people and professionals from Iligan City and from the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, all of whom obviously were Father Bernad fans.

At the open forum, somebody asked about hell. "God does not bring us to hell. Hell is a choice that we make," Father Bernad answered. "In other words Father, there is no judgement?" to which he replied "In a way perhaps yes, but would you want to share your space in heaven with Adolf Hitler?"

At the end of the lecture, the entire audience in that heavily packed room, to a man, rose in thunderous ovation. It was the moment I loved. It was the honor I had wanted for this man whom I have long ago appointed as my own mentor. There was a time that when I write, I would always think that my readership was composed of nobody but Father Bernad. And that was a lot of readership!

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A new journal of learning is now out of the press, inspired by Father Bernad's penchant to bring Mindanao to a level of scholarly interest. This is Capitol University's "MINDAyawan Journal of Culture and Society." Subscriptions are at P300 for one year for two copies coming out in March and October. Those interested to subscribe to this embryonic effort toward culture scholarship may write mindayawan@cu-cdo.edu.ph.

Comments to monta@cu-cdo.edu.ph