June 15, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--University of Oregon professor Glenn May, the author of a controversial book that says historians have distorted the truth about Philippine national hero Andres Bonifacio, will lecture on "The Philippine Revolution of 1896-98 Reconsidered" to audiences in Portland and Eugene. The Portland lecture is at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the Multicultural Center, 126 Smith Memorial Center, Portland State University. The Eugene talk is at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at the Eugene Public Library, 100 W. 13th Ave. The University of Oregon and the Filipino-American community of Oregon are sponsoring the talks, which are free and open to the public. May's book, "Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio," concludes that the commonly believed history of Bonifacio's early life was based on unreliable testimony, as well as dubious and possibly altered documents. The book has generated criticism and controversy in the Philippines. "My research is viewed in much the same way Americans would look at a book by a foreign scholar questioning the hero status of George Washington," says May. "I think nations struggling for independence need heroes to keep their efforts alive," May says. "Bonifacio was a likely subject since so little was known of him. There's no doubt that he was a brave man and a driving force in the revolution: there's just no evidence that he did all the things attributed to him, and in some cases, there's proof that he didn't." May's lecture will emphasize three issues. First, May will deal with Bonifacio, the hero whose face appears on Philippine currency and postage stamps and whose bronzed figure towers over crowded intersections in communities throughout the archipelago. Second, May will explore the internal dynamics of the revolutionary movement. One of the central developments of the revolution was a conflict between the two principal revolutionary leaders--Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. May will argue that, at its core, the tension between the two leaders issued from their radically different approaches to warfare. Third, May will explore the impact of the revolution of 1896-98 on common men and women. For more information about the Portland lecture, contact Simeon Mamaril, president, Filipino American National Historical Society, Oregon Chapter, (503) 639-9562. For information about the Eugene lecture, contact Jon Labrousse, outreach coordinator, UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, (541) 346-5084. -30- #P-6125/Local,OrDailies,PDX,Asian Reporter