The day's 'real hero'

OUR newspapers and TV screens are bursting with stories on John Paul II. On display in Quiapo is the pope mobile; and in the University of Santo Tomas, the throne he sat on when he was here. From all over the world, we see a chorus of condolences and sorrow. Such is the passing of a long pontificate, the passing of an age.

One of the stories that caught my attention was on the foiled plot to blow up the pope mobile of JPII along Quirino Avenue.

In another time, another pope also survived an actual assassination attempt in Manila. History records the attempt on the life of Paul VI at the then Manila International Airport. The would-be assassin was a 35-year-old Bolivian painter named Benjamin Mendoza; and the hero of the story, depends on whose version is being peddled.

Like all would-be tragic historical events, things happened very fast on the morning of November 27, 1970. It was the first time that a pope would visit the Philippines and, as expected, the faithful cheered wildly as soon as he made his appearance on the door of the airplane. Pope Paul VI was led down the stairs to a red carpet lined with VIPs eagerly waiting to kiss the pontifical ring or hand, whichever was more convenient. As he walked the red carpet to a dais where he was to read a brief arrival statement, Mendoza, clad in a black clerical suit, with a gleaming Medal of St. Benedict hung from his neck, suddenly lunged at the Pope with a 10-inch kris; but he was subdued by security men. The Pope proceeded to the podium as if nothing happened.

In a statement issued shortly after the incident, Imelda Marcos said her husband, Ferdinand E. Marcos, then the incumbent Philippine president, delivered the life-saving karate chop with his left hand (Marcos was left-handed) and pushed the Pope away from the attacker with his right hand. The Pope, according to Mrs. Marcos, was shoved toward her and that she saw the kris drop to the floor. Naturally, others corroborated this story and even added that aside from the famous karate chop, Marcos even tried to deliver a flying kick to Mendoza. Now that is material for a film version of this story, but unfortunately history is more sober.

The official Vatican statement on the incident made no mention of the Marcos karate chop and went on to suggest that a Korean cardinal parried the potentially lethal blow. Reading the sources today, one gets a feeling that everything seems confused and confusing. Asked to comment, an irritated Marcos described the Vatican version as "ridiculous" and snapped, "Why don't they ask the persons who know? Why don't they ask the man [Mendoza] himself?"

So they did ask Mendoza at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters during a press conference the next day, November 28, 1970. "I feel disappointed for failing to kill the Pope," Mendoza said, "and would do it again if given another chance." Then, as if on cue, he added:

"Although I thought then that it was President Marcos who parried my hands, I was not very sure about it. But when I saw the pictures upi [NBI Director Jolly Bugarin] showed me, I am convinced that it was really he [Ferdinand Marcos] who prevented my killing the Pope. Sorry, sorry about the disappointment."

Were the above quotes spoken in English or Spanish and only later translated into English? Aside from this, I'm not so sure who is telling the truth, but if you look at the photos of the incident, Marcos is too far away from the Pope to have managed either a karate chop at close range, much less attempt a flying kick. On December 1, 1970, Anthony Dennis Galvin, Bishop of Sarawak, issued a statement in Singapore saying he did "not remember President Marcos give the Bolivian painter a karate chop and kick." He was an arm's length from the Pope at the time and what he remembered was that:

"It was one of the two papal security guards who played the vital role of saving the Pope, for he stuck out his hand to parry the attacker's lunge and pushed him away -- right into my arms... I stretched my arms, folded them around the man and pulled him further backwards, while presidential security men grabbed the man's hands and tugged him away."

A historian trying to recreate the event is stuck with conflicting accounts of one and the same event. Aside from a terse Vatican statement, you have eyewitness accounts from a bishop, a mad painter, and a discredited president whose war medals are now in question.

The incident is but another footnote in the life of Paul VI, which is often overlooked. The would-be assassin was deemed too weird with his words: during his trial, he claimed that he was only trying to kill the Pope "symbolically." A later investigation revealed that he was able to deal two weak strokes on the Pope's neck. Since the Pope survived, he was charged with "frustrated murder." Our question then should be: who or what frustrated this attempt on the Pope's life? It was surely nothing worldly or miraculous, not even the disputed Marcos karate chop.

Unknown to many is that Paul VI suffered from back trouble. To ease his pain and keep him upright, he wore a neck brace concealed under his papal robes. Thus, the two simple blows on the neck by Mendoza would have been fatal as they would have cut into his jugular veins. So the real life-saver of the day was the simple neck brace that was hidden under his heavily starched breast cape. Now that is truly providential.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu.