《“海军上将”托马斯·克洛玛传》评析

Some Reflections on Admiral Tomas Cloma: Father of Maritime Education and Discoverer of Freedomland/Kalayaan Islands: A Biography

《“海军上将”托马斯·克洛玛传》是目前首部以菲律宾人视角对托马斯.克洛玛的一生进行系统梳理和全面评价的学术传记。与我国学者给予他"狂人/妄人”的评价截然相反,传记作者强调了主人公“海事教育之父”、“‘自由地'/‘卡拉延群岛’‘发现'者”和“海军上将”的三个主要身份。其中,“海军上将”象征着他“民族英雄”的终极身份。根据传记提供的线索可推断出,所谓克洛玛“发现”“自由地”的时间是在1948年9月18日之后或更晚,而不是菲律宾宣称的1947年。克洛玛遭到菲律宾当局监禁的根本原因是马科斯政府既要廉价地讨要“自由地”,又不肯给予让克洛玛满意的承诺,这种承诺可能是金钱上的补偿,但更有可能是要求菲律宾政府承认他在“自由地”的政治经济权利或"自由地”的被保护国地位。一方面,该篇传记运用了大量的一手材料,提出了不少的新说法,具有一定的参考价值。另一方面,该篇传记涉及的部分史实残缺不全甚至错误,对一些明显无道理的观点缺乏批评等。此外,一个的重要启示是应注意从新国家的成立这一角度来批判菲律宾对“卡拉延群岛”的领土主张。

Admiral Tomas Cloma: Father of Maritime Education and Discoverer of Freedomland/Kalayaan Islands: A Biography is the first academic biography systematically looking back on and reviewing Tomas Cloma's whole life from the perspective of the Philippines. Instead of calling him a madcap in China, the author focuses on the protagonisfs three key statuses. They are "Father of Maritime Education","Discoverer of Freedomland/Kalayaan Islands59 and "AdmiTal". The three honorary statuses are in fact equal to a national hero. We can infer from the book that the time Cloma "fbund" Freedomland is probably after September 18,1948, not in 1947 and the main reason why Cloma was put in prison is that the Marcos Authority wanted to take away the Freedomland, but was unwilling to pay him back. Cloma was less likely to ask for more money from Marcos, but more likely to have the government recognize his political, economic rights in his protectorate. On the one hand, the biography is worth reading because of a lot of first-hand materials and providing a few new narratives. On the other hand, there also exists some shortcomings. These are incomplete historical facts, even factual errors, and not rectifying some obviously ridiculous points of view. What the biography can enlighten us more is considering how to refute Philippines' territorial claim to Kalayaan Islands from the establishment of a new country.