Looking back on the 40th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution, I see one event seen from different points of view. Divergence of stories and opinions are the staple of historians who have to sift through it all to get as close to the past as possible. In my...

I often have to remind myself that my present freshman students were born after 2000. Martial law and the 1986 People Power Revolution are as ancient as dinosaurs and cavemen. Nothing brought this home more clearly than the Edsa conference at Ateneo the other day....

Lost Books in Cebu is the smallest bookstore in the country. You will not believe me if I told you that Lost Books is located inside a repurposed ATM kiosk. However, to see is to believe. A few weeks ago, I offered to do a book signing at Lost Books and was surprised...

The first editions of Jose Rizal’s ”Noli Me Tangere” (1887) and ”El Filibusterismo” (1891) are not mere historical artifacts. Central to the canon of Philippine literature, the novels are said to have inspired the Philippine Revolution and have played an important...

Many years ago, I advised teachers in a seminar to add map reading in their Araling Panlipunan classes because many Gen Z cannot point out Cebu or Sulu on a map without consulting Google. Worse, some cannot even take or give simple directions. They may know right,...

Growing up, I was taught that Jose Rizal was irresistible to women. In time, I learned the names of Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Rivera, O-sei (or Usui Seiko), and Josephine Bracken. I believed Rizal to be a heartthrob in his day, that is, until I came across his...

Carmen Guerrero Nakpil taught me to see the Philippines in 1945 from a different angle. Textbook history taught me about the 1945 “Liberation of Manila” from Japanese occupation. Nakpil, as head of the Manila Historical and Heritage Commission, referred to the same...

Passing by San Juan Bridge on the way to F. Manalo Street and onward to Makati recently reminded me of the way history shifts and changes as new evidence and perspectives come along. In 2003, the National Historical Institute (NHI) revised history by moving the site...

In April 1625, Pedro de Arce, bishop of Cebu, began an investigation into the theft of a gold cross from the venerated Sto. Niño de Cebu. More than its metal and monetary value, the cross was historical; it was believed to have been found together with the image in...

Although I have been to “Magellan’s Cross” and the Basilica of the Sto. Niño de Cebu numerous times, I always drop by because there is always something new to see. Sometimes, what I saw on a previous visit, when seen with fresh eyes or from a different angle, leads to...