Reaction Paper: Dark Side of Juan Luna

By Alyssa Javier Ramos

During the Spanish colonization, the Philippines was seen as a country of dwarves, black

and idle: a country that can be brought to slavery. During those times, Juan Luna’s obra maestras

proved that we “Indio” can excel. Even now, Juan Luna has always been celebrated as a genius: a

painter that has proved what we Filipinos can do. On almost all textbooks found in our country, he

has always been a national hero that we should look up to.

Juan Luna is the older brother of the famed Gen. Antonio Luna, and come from the Ilocos

Norte. Not only was he known as a famous painter, he is also said to be a supporter of the

Propaganda Movement. His most famous creation, Spoliarium, has won gold medals in the 1884

Madrid Expedition.

However, there was a specific time in Juan Luna’s life that was often forgotten or ignored

by textbooks; a page in his life certain people tried to rip off.

It was said, that on the 22nd night of September 1892, Juan Luna went mad and allegedly

killed three persons: Paz Pardo de Tavera, the woman Juan Luna married in 1886, Paz’s mother

and Juan Luna’s mother-in-law, Doña Juliana, and Antonio Regidor, a lawyer and the man who

Doña Juliana supposedly wanted to marry Paz.

The fact that Juan Luna killed those people are unreasonable. A person does not have any

right to take another person’s valued life. In this time and era, no matter the reason behind

attempting to murder someone, acting on violence, I think, results to nothing but a bloodbath and

uselessness.
 However, on his defense, it was said that Juan Luna suspected Paz of having an affair with

a certain painter, Monsieur Dussaq. And take note that, also, during that time in France, there is

an unwritten law that says a husband can hurt or otherwise kill his spouse if found to be guilty of

committing adultery with someone else. Taking that law in the picture, I think it was completely

sane and justifiable that Juan Luna kill his wife. The society that time completely supports being

abusive or using violence as a means of discipline and punishment to other people.

I do want to emphasize rather, that the law can only be effective if the spouse was

ACTUALLY guilty on committing adultery; if the wife was caught in the act of adultery. And in

Juan Luna’s case, Paz’s affair with Monsieur Dussaq was never justified or proven. Historians

believe that Paz never had any affair with any man, including Dussaq. They say that Dussaq was

only a friend that consoled Paz when their daughter, Maria, died when she was an infant. So the

basis on killing his wife is nothing more than a doubt on Juan Luna’s part. In fact, There is a

speculation that Juan Luna was the one having an affair with another woman, named Angela

Duche, his most favorite muse.

Adding to that, it was said by historians, that even before killing Paz, Luna would argue

with her and beat her whenever Luna was infuriated. It was also said that Luna once pointed a gun

on Paz’s head and forced her to sign a letter (that Juan Luna wrote) which states that Paz is having

an affair with another man. So in my opinion, the reason why Juan Luna killed his supposedly

beloved wife is an act of lunacy and hysterics, though the act itself can be considered legal and

appropriate if the committed adultery is to be proven true.

I believe that it was sheer madness that drove Luna into killing not only his wife, but also

two other people. His acts during that time, although it can be said as tenable in the face of the

law, are inhumane and rash. Juan Luna never proved his wife’s supposed “affair”. So even if his
acts can be justified using the society’s state in the 1890’s, it still remains a fact that Juan Luna

killed Paz without any tangible and factual evidence supporting his reasoning and suspicion.

I think that if people resulted to acting on violence without any second thought, our acts

would all become unjustified and corrupted. Acting on instincts is what animals of other species

do.

Even after admitting his acts in front of the court, Luna went out free with nothing but a

charge of 40 francs. It was an era where men are believed to be superior to women and the civil

law in Paris greatly favors men, especially those in high ranks and titles.

And everyone knew that aside from being a biological male, Juan Luna is a distinguished

painter around the globe. The civil law of Paris took that into the case, and dismissed Luna’s

murder on the charge of temporary insanity caused by passion. The law itself protected Juan Luna

from being convicted as a murderer. Juan Luna escaped imprisonment because of fame and power.

Aside from this, Frenchmen believed that Indios, including Juan Luna, are uncivilized and

illiterate people, so it is completely normal and justified that they kill each other.

This story, in my opinion, can be reflected to the state of our society today. There are

multiple leaders in our country that can run away from their deeds, not because they are justified,

but because they have the authority and power. Those people are able to bend the law as they

please to escape from what they did.

Just because we can have the power to alter events, doesn’t mean that we have to do it. If

we have to power to dodge the law, then laws can be said useless. Then there can be no true truth

and justice. I think, that if we, just try to catch the consequences of our actions, even little by little,
then in the far-fetched future, people can say that they have learned what not to do from Juan Luna.

They can say that they have learned from the stories of their past.

It is true that Juan Luna is a distinguished painter, not only in the Philippines, but also

around the earth; a true genuis. He raised the morale and standing of the Indios during the era of

slavery of the Spaniards. He helped fight the inhumane justification that we Filipinos are illiterate

people with no notable talents. His works will always and forever be admired by people of all

color, races and nationality. Even so, we must not forget his deeds, but learn from it. We must not

cover some of the pages of our textbook just so we can emphasize the good parts. A true story can

be written through the combination of both the good parts and bad parts. Each page is as valuable

as the page next to it and as the page next to it.