Dugo Sa Bukang-Liwayway (Bleeding Sun)

by Rogelio Sicat, MA. AURORA L. SICAT (Translator)

‘What will become of our grains, Father?’ Simon asked with apprehension.
He had helped his father plow the fields and, like him, the storm had crushed his spirit, too.

On the night Simon is born, his mother passes on from childbirth. Their landlord had refused to lend Tano his car to take his bleeding wife to the hospital. Belonging to the poorest province, Tano toils tirelessly on the fields and raises Simon. He sends him to school in the hope of giving him a better future, a different fate.
As old age catches up with Tano, the landlord fires him and refuses to let Simon take his place at the farm—the fields Tano had tilled for almost forty years. When Tano passes on, Simon is left all by himself. He graduates from high school and leaves the village, a silent vengeance growing inside him.
Would Simon return to the village?
Will he get his revenge?
The journey of a poor farmer’s son, Bleeding Sun is a novel about agrarian reform.

Genres: Classics, Asian Literature, Novella

136 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2024

About the author

Rogelio R. Sicat (also "Sikat" in some publications) left his hometown San Isidro, Nueva Ecija in the 1950s to work on a degree in journalism at the University of Santo Tomas. After serving as a campus writer and literary editor of The Varsitarian , Sicat went on to become one of the greatest pioneers of Philippine fiction by deliberately choosing Filipino for the language of his prose, and by veering away from the concerns and conventions of the Western modernist writers.

Sicat's work, which rejuvenated Philippine literature's tradition of social consciousness, first appeared in the Tagalog literary magazine Liwayway . He gained recognition in the Palanca awards in 1962, and in 1965 came out in an anthology, Mga Agos sa Disyerto , alongside like-minded young writers. Sicat wrote on through the decades, establishing his position in literary history as fictionist, playwright and professor, eventually accepting deanship in the University of the Philippines Diliman.

"Impeng Negro" and "Tata Selo", both of which have been interpreted into film, are only two of Sicat's acclaimed stories. His other works include Dugo sa Bukang-Liwayway , Pagsalunga: Piniling Kuwento at Sanaysay , and the play "Moses, Moses". Sicat died in 1997, but was honored a final time through a posthumous National Book Award the following year for his translation of William J. Pomeroy's work into the title Ang Gubat: Isang Personal na Rekord ng Pakikilabang Gerilya ng mga Huk sa Pilipinas.

(from panitikan.com.ph.)

Reviews

[Random Spider (on a hiatus?) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleeding Sun — I mean, epic translated title, right? Should accurately be Bloody Dawn but I guess this still works.

Don't be fooled by my rating. This piece of significant literature is considered as a 20th century Filipino classic that had opened the eyes of many towards the gritty realities of our poor farmers. Now I wonder, why weren't we reading this at highschool?

------Stat Score------

Plot/Content: 6/10
Characters/POVs: 7/10
Prose/Style: 5/10
Themes/Messages: 9/10
Enjoyability/Impact: 7/10

OVERALL RATING: 7/10 (Good)

"Seasons change but the peasants' way of life never improves. We are both children of farmers, Simon. We can never deny our roots."

Synopsis and/or Premise:
Born during a thunderstorm, Simon was birthed by his dying mother. With all the responsibilities and grief, Tano isolates himself on the farm to raise his son. Comes next is a family saga about a farmer-son struggle in life under some disadvantageous system.

The Good and The Bad:
Out of the two protagonists, I can't determine who was more compelling than the other. They're both written competently as each contributed to the narrative in their own ways.

A.) Tano was a realistic representation of a farmer during the mid-1900s Philippines. A poor single father stigmatized by his community; he lived a hermit lifestyle to prove everyone (including himself) that he got what it takes to be a parent. He became a restless automated individual, blinded by his own ideology 😞. It's even more depressing if we factor the merciless societal structure, beating him to bone and dust. He's a flawed, tragic character, further proving how he's almost a tangible person.

B.) Simon's role was to be an observer at first 👀, witnessing his father being ruined while doing what he can to save his son from the same fate. You could feel his desperate intent to help his father against the inevitable, but was unable to (mostly by his father denying him.) The turning point occurred at halfway, where he was still subjected to the cruel system. Filled with grudge and vengeance, he had some character growth towards the end that solidified him as a heroic person.

Both culminating into a brief yet meaningful tale about the raw life struggles of these individuals.

Another thing that I love about this novella (a short novel at most) was that it acted as a window to the past by combining Historical Fiction with Realism. San Roque, the town in story, was inspired by the author's hometown (San Isidro.) This book served as a social commentary 🗣️, jabbing on the prevalent feudal system and classism. YES, YOU READ IT RIGHT! Something that existed centuries ago during medieval Europe was still being practiced here in Philippines just until a few decades ago. It revealed to everyone how unfair the system was (especially for poverty-stricken farmers) as it influenced trade, education, justice, politics, etc. This book was an eye-opening critique to the ignorance of the high class.

It wouldn't be fair if I only commend this book, as it's my role to point out any issues with it. Despite being important, it wasn't perfect:

1. Short 🤏 - I understand if you consider this not a problem. The book itself wasn't lengthy, only 120 pages or so. I don't even know if it's considered as a novella or a short novel. Nothing wrong with that...but because of this, events just happened quickly before proceeding to the next one. There's no time to pause and letting them mature to fullest. The ending even felt awkwardly cut, depriving of a deserved resolution. Even being written for a cause, it should have cared more on its structure.

2. Repetitiveness 🔁 - The prose had this tendency to repeat sentences that conveyed already delivered messages. Like, how often do I need to hear 'it's going to rain' at the start of the book, or 'Im getting old' in the middle. It's just inefficient/redundant.

3. Out of the Blue 🔵 - Yeah, some events just appeared random. Most recognizable was the inclusion of World War 2 in the narrative. I get that it's historically accurate but the way it was written felt like it belonged to another book (especially considering how Simon wasn't even the focus during the span of those pages.) There were a few minor ones scattered all throughout, but I guess you could interpret them as akin to real life.

Final Thoughts:
Bleeding Sun (Dugo sa Bukang-Liwayway) by Rogelio Sicat (and translated by his daughter, Ma. Aurora Sicat) is a Philippine classic about the plight of a 20th century Filipino farmer. The author was dedicated to writing literature in Filipino language, so I'm surprised how his daughter decided to translate it in English. Trading authenticity for accessibility, I guess? One thing I found odd was how the book glorified education, though it made sense for its time. Anyways, if you're not a fan of trauma and suffering you may put this down fast. It deserved to express them rightfully so.

I only read this translated version. If you're curious why I didn't take on the original before, it's because reading Filipino texts was just a pain in the ass for me 😅.

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Links to my ratings and reviews:
Goodreads reviews
The StoryGraph

[ᜐᜋ᜔ᜉᜄᜓᜁᜆ]

Looked for a free time to create a review on this book and the analysis (so-far) of my real life immersion with farmers in Malolos, Bulacan as part of my curriculum as a Development Studies student in the Philippines.

The overall experience of a feudalistic system still in fact exists even in the current times wherein there is a shift from a fully feudal system to a semi-feudal system that comprises of both “buwisan” at “purystenuhan” if the farmers do not own the land (which in fact is a common occurrence considering Land Transfers and Land Use Conversions by big developers are considered to be big issues within the agricultural sector).

Tano represents the peasants in the Philippines — overworked, underpaid, and undervalued considering that the Agricultural sector in the Philippines in real life has the smallest budget given by the government — a manifestation of the lack of initiatives to alleviate the peasantry towards a better future.

Moreover, the book also explores the aspiration of the farmers for their children, because farming has little gains, they want to at least give their children education for a better future. In reality, many farmers, their children, as well as the youth, aspire to go to school — while their aspirations are valid, this poses a problem. The issue on hand is that there comes a shortage of farmers because the next generation do not want to farm anymore since they consider this to be not “worth it” (in accordance to a study we are conducting in Malolos among the youth). What will happen to the country now that many of the younger generations want to get into mainstream specialized fields? Truly, a crisis that must be addressed before it fully manifests into society and we fully depend on other nations to supply us.

Sure, the book may take place decades ago, but the reality still exists, the message still exists, and the lives of the characters still exists within the farmers in the Philippines. We cannot sideline the agricultural sector anymore; a farmer once said during our interviews — “kami ang nagpapakain sa bansa, pero di kami nabibigyang halaga” (we feed the country, but we are undervalued). There must be Genuine Agrarian Reforms because we cannot ignore the sector that gives life to the country.

TUNAY NA REPORMA SA LUPA, IPAGLABAN!

[jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so these writings come to me like a dust haphazardly blown by the wind, it then settles down in my study, entrenching themselves on the nooks and crannies, until a day had come that I, too, had become one. The dust is dirt, it is an undesirable fleck that we wipe off. But then again these grimes certainly have a way of becoming omnipresent– of imprinting themselves in solitary items. That is why I have come to see death in cleanlines. Because every mess and every dust comes with unrealized affections.

These days the intellect that we so admired has become akin to dust. And what is repulsive and dirty to the rich in this country is immediately wiped off. But no matter how eagerly you displace the dirt; it will never change the fact that the dust will never intend to disappear.

Like Hernandez, Rizal, and Santos… Sikat also brings the similar socio-political themes such as colonialism, biased judicial systems, and cacique democracy in the book. It is significantly shorter than the others as it had been hewn by Liwayway, with that I admit that it seemed insufficient in some parts though still managing to get its intentions across. The grit in the voice of the farmers is felt and heard. Beneath the few passages quivered the freedom that we have been longing for. Sikat tells us that the dead speak even louder than the living could, that we can tip the scale align even if it should take a long time. It is not an idealist book, it seeks a material condition, it is hinged on our realities. My only worry I suppose is how easily Simon had obtained wealth. The execution with how he palmed power felt absurd, but I’ll take into account that the story is only a patchwork of nicked clothes. (How I long to read the unabridged book!) This is also why I find it important to be merciful in reviewing our post-war literature… Our political writers were in a tight place, bereft of resources and of support. They were not necessarily writing for art’s sake. They were fighting for a cause no literary rule can attenuate.

[Jody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably an important book in the post-colonial Philippines but the simplistic writing style did not work for me, even though it was appropriate to describe the lives of the farmers. The full title of “The Bleeding Sun, The Tale of a Farmer’s Crushed Dreams and Hopes,” is accurate in the bleakness of the farmers lives. The farmer’s son’s, Simon, rise to wealth and power is a bit too meteoric. The ending predictable from the early pages.

[Rise]

I posted a short review here: https://booktrek.blogspot.com/2024/05...

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝑂ℎ, 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛! 𝐴𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢; 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡, 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑.

All things have endings and some endings are beginnings. Many things have a reason and even death has its character to bet on. When they say that in this jungle of society, “the rich only becomes richer and poor continue to become poorer,” this short novel entitled, “Dugo Sa Bukang-Liwayway” or “Bleeding Sun” by Rogelio Sicat is the physical embodiment of it.

The story begins in the year 1922 set in the Philippines, magnified to the simple life of a husband and wife lovingly expecting a son after having many miscarriages. Giving birth one last time marks the end of the mother’s life and this poor tenant farmer was left with a son named Simon. From the obstacles that hindered them from experiencing a good life, which I will leave as traces for you dear reader, and old age as time passes by, death has come once more and now to his sickly father and made Simon an orphan. Though managed to go to school during his early years of childhood up until high school, receiving an education in college has become an option in his life. He took chances in Manila but it was the year 1942 and World War II had already started. Everything became a blur even his hometown. The colonization of Americans in the Philippines has ended. The country was sold and the Japanese Occupation came forth in our land; the global war continued. A decade has passed and the country has finally tasted liberation and restored peace and order. Yet, where is Simon?

Between those hindrances and impediments in the life of Simon and the other peasants like him living in poverty, a mock of social class is as transparent as the difference between rich and poor, foreigners lavishly living in the country, and locals striving to survive in their own land. I have found this novel similar to Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” yet set in the post-World War when the Philippines was still trying to stand up and get back from its own identity; when betrayal has left a deep mark not only in the hearts of the Filipinos but also in their land. As historically accurate as it is, I have also added in annotations some crossover of other Philippine historical moments that I traced have happened during the scenes which forever stay in my mind like the opening of the country to Jewish refugees who escaped during the holocaust (1937-1941) and the “Bataan Death March” in 1942, near the novel’s setting, under the Japanese colonization where many died during the March of a distance of 105km with physical abuse and wanton killings.

The ending left me in pieces and so my ruminations have piled up. So who are we to blame, our even own wounded land or the players of the politics and the monopoly of the whole system? The rest is still wounded and the blood is still flowing. Yet let this be the mark and a symbol of resistance as every dawn greets our homeland and as every child starts to dream — Bend not in adversity; bleed hard for the betterment.

It is with such honor that this classic novel has been translated by @penguinbookssea for many deserve this literary gem to be read too. May this book leave a place in your hearts as well.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll write this review in Taglish cause why not? (haha)

Just recently, I finished Filipino books for my class kasi required reading sila. El filibusterismo & Dekada '70 which i shall say na dalawa sa pinaka vital na libro at readings sa kasalukuyang estado ng Pilipinas. Dito ko nalaman at napag-aralan ang mga sistema at konsepto o ideya na patuloy na lumulugar sa ating lipunan. Mula sa frailadas hangang sa edifice complex. Sa tulong ng mga teoryang pampanitika, lalong-lalo na sa marxismo nabigyang liwanag ang pyudalismong lipunan na nasa pormang tatsulok. Kung saan patuloy na naghahari ang mga panginoong maylupa, at naghihirap naman ang mga ordinaryong magsasaka at mangagawa.

Sa librong Dugo Sa Bukang-Liwayway malinaw na inilalahad ang paghihirap n mga ordinaryong magsasaka at pang-aabuso ng mga naghaharing mayayaman. Na tila ba ang buhay ng isang pesante ay nagtatapos lamang sa kamatayan na wala man lang nakakamit na karangalan at kaginhawaan. It doesn't matter how diligent you are, social mobility are deemed to be impossible in a society in which, the minority are excluded and abused. Noong una may hope pa ako para kay Tano na makita man lang ang kaginhawaan na habang-buhay ay pinagkait sa kanya, ngunit hindi ito ang plano ng diyos.

The death of Tano is the most pivotal part of the story for me, this is when i became so enraged to the point i started cursing out the characters in my annotations (hehe). Imagine dalawang magulang mo na ang nawala, dahil lang mahirap ka? NAKAKAGALIT INDEED.

I saw a review here na masyado daw pinipinta na ang edukasyon ang tanging paraan ng pag-angat. But, for me is this not the point of the novel? sa panghahari ng mga mayayaman sa lipunan, edukasyon na lamang ang sagot sa kahirapan. Ganito ka lala ang social gap ng mga classes sa lipunan. At hindi rin ba ito repleksyon kung gaano kahirap ang buhay ng mga magsasaka, na kahit ultimo karapatang pantao ay nahihirapan silang makamit. Edukasyon na nagtuturo ng karunungan, hindi pang porma lang. Ito ang misyon ni Simon.

[renzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
theres this colonial idea permeating this book wherein you can only achieve salvation from a shitty life of servitude by studying hard. and the main character says oh its not that expensive dont worry our matriculation fees only cost one year worth of your harvest as if its guaranteed itll grant them a better life afterwards. then he gets shot by the man who killed his brother. but i get it though. but if only he wasnt a reformist...