Textbook history drills us into remembering people and events relevant to the development of the nation. We forget that history is also about forgetting. In 1971, Republic Act No. 6215 renamed Governor Forbes Street in Manila to Mayor Arsenio H. Lacson Street without...

Having no children of my own, I compensate during commencement exercises, cheering for students who endured my course and hurdled four years to get their diplomas. During the last graduation, I noticed that the Class of 2025 was different from the rest. First, I did...

With a height of 45.72 meters, the “Independence Flagpole,” fronting the Rizal Monument in Luneta, is the tallest in the Philippines. Twice a year, on June 12 and Dec. 30, a huge and impressive flag flies proudly on this flagpole. Due to its size and material, this...

This is my first column for the Inquirer under Inquirer Interactive. Nothing has changed except the sister company that succeeded the parent company. I guess many of the concerned readers who asked about my future and that of my column were nostalgic about the print...

Since March, I have been leafing through old books dating from the 16th to 19th centuries. Last Monday, I spent half a day documenting Philippine “Incunabula“—not the sexual demons known as “incubus” but, rather, the books printed in the Philippines from 1593 to 1643....

June 24 reminds me of rowdy water dousing in San Juan and the foundation of Spanish Manila in 1571. It also reminded me of Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, who, as chair of the Manila Historical and Heritage Commission, taught me that “Araw ng Maynila” should not be...

I received a lot of birthday greetings yesterday (my birthday is two months away, in August) because it was Jose Rizal’s 164th birthday. Fortunately, nobody sends me similar greetings on Rizal Day, Dec. 30, the commemoration of his martyrdom. “Looking Back,” one of my...

One of my favorite paintings in the National Museum is going abroad. Juan Luna’s “La Bulaqueña” is off to the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, a triumph of Philippine cultural diplomacy. Our Bulaqueña is not going to the Louvre in Paris, where she would...

From the many “Happy Independence Day” texts I received early yesterday morning, one stood out like a sore thumb with the question, “Is this our real Independence Day?” That question is something out of an Araling Panlipunan teacher’s playbook that is hopefully...

Every semester, when I go over the syllabus with the class, I hear an audible collective groan when they hear the word “research.” If students were diehard Nazis, they would reach for their guns when they hear the word “library.” I remember that day vividly, when a...