Jacinto Tolentino

Background

Jacinto Tolentino was born on July 3, 1865, in Guagua, Pampanga, Philippines. He was the fourth among six children.

Education

Jacinto Tolentino finished the primary course in the school directed by Pedro Serrano Laktaw in San Luis and in Malolos later to where Serrano Laktaw moved. Then he was sent to Manila where he enrolled in the Ateneo Municipal de Manila (now Ateneo de Manila University). He took a commercial course which he finished in 1885 when he was granted the certificate of an accountant.

During his boyhood, he had early contacts with the local writers of San Luis and became interested in writing.

Career

After studies, Jacinto Tolentino was clerking for some time in the Manila Railroad Co. but left it upon suffering from a kidney ailment. He later joined his brother Aurelio in Morong as a clerk when the Revolution of 1896 started. The two brothers were brought to Manila hand-bound. During the Filipino-American war, he enlisted in the revolutionary ranks and became a captain under General Vicente Lukban. He was again with his brother during the campaign in the Bikol region.

Tolentino authored just a few works. Luis Manankil and Luis Tikan are mentioned as local scribblers who influenced him, and so also a certain Potenciano Macapagal from Arayat. Gutierrez states that it was from these people that he learned how to write, but it was not until he was about middle age that he actually began to write seriously, and then "he did not realize that he could write until his friends from Guagua urged him to write." Ing Mangaibugan was the result, a zarzuela in two acts, written in Guagua on June 27, 1901, with the music composed by Camilo Dimson. This was staged in Teatro Trining of the town and was warmly received. It was presented again and again.

Tusu Yaman ing Machin Apaglalangan Mia Murin, a one-act zarzuela with musical parts by Dionisio Andres, followed. Then he wrote King Bingid ning Bakulkul, a zarzuela in three acts, with the music provided by C. Dimson. He also translated the latter into Tagalog, but he was not as successful as his younger brother was in this respect. Ceferino Joven, the patron of the arts in the province, having insinuated that he could produce no better zarzuela than his first work, he took the challenge and wrote in the same year, 1901, Yng Casalipit nang Ynduna ó Angela, in two acts. His dramatic attempts seem to have ended there.

During this time his brother's plays were rising in popular favor. It seems that this was the reason for his giving up writing dramas altogether. He now assisted in the presentation of his brother's plays until 1904 when the brothers suffered from a discouraging incident relative to the production of Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas. Jacinto Tolentino was the prompter while this was being staged and the players and author were seized by the Manila police. He got involved in the complaint about sedition filed against Aurelio Tolentino and others. From that time on, he desisted from having any participation in the production of his brother's plays.

The following year he secured employment as a bookkeeper in the Manila Railroad Co., a position he held for sixteen years until the end of World War I when he transferred to Springer & Co. Then he worked for the Universal Drug Store and lastly in Gonzalo Puyat's establishment. After his separation from the latter enterprise, he wrote a novel entitled Himala ó Pagkakataun, a piece that was published serially in Tagumpay. In the same year, he began another novel, Lua Ding Adwang Angel, started while he was already suffering from illness. This he was, however, able to finish before his death. Both these works, unlike his zarzuelas, were written in Tagalog. He occasionally wrote verses which were ephemeral. His periodical articles are scattered and have no particular interest.

Achievements

• Jacinto Tolentino was a gifted Filipino author, who received acknowledgment for his first zarzuela Ing Mangaibugan that became one of the most popular zarzuelas of that time. Besides zarzuelas, Tolentino succeeded in writing novels. His novel entitled Himala ó Pagkakataun is still highly acclaimed by contemporary writers.

Interests

• theater, music, reading, storytelling

• Writers

  William Shakespeare, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Jules Verne, Alexandre Dumas

Connections

Jacinto Tolentino married Maximo Gonzalez on April 11, 1903. The marriage produced eleven children.

Wife:

Maximo Gonzalez

References

• Dictionary of Philippine Biography
  1970