My commute to school has been challenging since we lost the point-to-point (P2P) bus that ran from One Ayala to UP Town Center. It provided an economical and comfortable ride for many people in the south who had to make their way north to Ateneo, Miriam, and...
I have been teaching Rizal and Philippine history at the college and sometimes graduate level for close to 40 years. My area of specialization is the late 19th century—Rizal, the Philippine Revolution, and the Philippine-American War—and my courses focus on the...
It is unfortunate that late president Manuel Luis Quezon has been reduced to a meme by schoolchildren who only remember him as the “Father of the National Language.” This meme is reinforced each year in August, when K-12 schools celebrate “Buwan ng Wika” (National...
In my mind’s eye, I see it clearly, the first day I entered a classroom as a teacher. That was almost four decades ago. Many of my former students probably have children and grandchildren of their own by now. I had very little teaching experience then, just a few...
I teach a required college freshman course called “Readings in Philippine History.” When the course title is abbreviated for the course catalog, it looks like “RIP History.” Literally, the death of Philippine history. My generation had 12 units, or four History...
Yesterday, July 31, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, I read up for a column on Jesuits in Philippine history. Founded in 1540, the Society of Jesus began after Ignatius of Loyola and six friends formed a group called the Companions of Jesus, in Spanish “Compañia de...
Revolutionary Gen. Artemio Ricarte fought in two revolutionary periods, first during the Philippine Revolution against Spain, then the Philippine-American War. He is also known under his nom de guerre “Vibora” (Viper). How is he remembered today? Depending on the book...
It literally rained on Apolinario Mabini’s parade last Wednesday. Heavy rain and resulting floods led to the cancellation of the commemoration of his 161st birth anniversary at the two Mabini Shrines: in Tanauan, Batangas (where he was born in 1864), and Manila (where...
When you ask Filipinos what typhoons they remember, the most devastating and recent ones come to mind like “Yolanda” (2013) and “Ondoy” (2009). Since I was born in the last century, the two typhoons seared in my memory both begin with “Y,”—Yolanda and “Yoling” (1970)....
Growing up, when I saw balut and penoy on the kitchen table, I knew that my mother’s relatives from Pateros had come to visit. Balut and penoy are cooked fertilized duck eggs, the former has a partially developed embryo or “sisiw,” the latter had no embryo. Browsing...