A Touch of the Patriot

Scarlet Cheng had missed the most obvious reference on the title of one of Manuel Ocampo and Curro Gonzalez’s works (“Painted Dispatches From Abroad,” April 29).

The title “Noli me tangere” is a direct reference to the title of a novel by Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ national hero. This book was about Spanish repression in the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. The book was banned in the Philippines by the Spaniards during the 1890s.

One can see the irony of the reverse historical position of the characters in the painting. Gonzalez, a Spaniard, is prostrate at Ocampo’s feet. Ocampo is a Filipino. That’s why perhaps Ocampo says, “Curro is being sarcastic.”

BERNARDO AYSON

Cerritos