Gemma Cruz Araneta | LANDSCAPE These are interesting times indeed. Those who enjoy reading history may have come across the phrase “interesting times” which is loaded with meaning. It implies unusual changes, drastic ones perhaps, that could bring about disorderly behavior and chaotic situations with unpredictable consequences. “Interesting times” may result in the total destruction of the existing order, or … Read more
Once the board meeting was over, the trustees of the Community Chest Foundation indulged in a delicious hopia and tea merienda, exchanging opinions and witty remarks about the current dispensation. After a while, a lady trustee begged off as her grand-daughter was waiting for her. There was a spark in her eyes when she said … Read more
I spent the weekend reading the memoirs of my uncle Francisco Lopez one of Paciano Rizal’s grandchildren who lived to a 100 lucid years. Tito Fran could recite the “Ultimo Adios” until the day he joined his Creator. Two decades ago, during one of Gen. Paciano’s birthdays– always celebrated with pomp at his lakeside residence– … Read more
In Tanauan, Batangas, beside Apolinario Mabini’s house there is a Philippine-American War Museum, which was opened on the sesquicentennial of the “Brains of the Revolution.” His “fellow traveler,” Gen. Paciano Rizal, appears in the roster of Filipino Revolutionary fighters who defended the First Philippine Republic against the American invaders. Ñor Paciano, which was how his … Read more
In notes dated 12 and 14 March 1906, Mark Twain of the Anti-Imperialist League expressed his horror and utter disgust at the massacre at Bud Dajo perpetrated by 540 American soldiers commanded by Gen. Leonard Wood, a medical doctor and veteran of “the splendid little war” in Cuba. They had heard that 600 Moro men, … Read more
After he read the Treaty of Paris, signed by Spain and the United States of America in December 1898, Mark Twain wrote to a friend: “Apparently, we are not proposing to set the Filipinos free and give their islands to them, and apparently we are not proposing to hang the priests and confiscate their property. … Read more
Until recently, I had not bothered to scrutinize the newly-circulated 5 peso coin; it feels much lighter and is smaller than the old one, and could very well be mistaken for a 1 peso coin. When I received an email from reader Arturo Boquer, I hastened to take a closer look because he said: “Since … Read more
In 1882, two decades before the USA invaded the Philippines and crushed the First Republic, a German expat, Dr. M. Koeniger, observed that “…an illness appeared among the natives that was new to them and at the beginning carried off its victims without exception in a few days or weeks.” The mortality rate of that … Read more
The Filipino-American War was still raging in 1902, when American colonial authorities precipitously declared it over. There was a cholera epidemic which, according to eminent historians like Dr. Reynaldo Ileto, was the direct result of the devastation caused by the Filipino-American War. Cholera was used to justify the unconscionable “hamletting” of Filipino communities. No wonder … Read more
My siblings and I were not advanced students of performing arts and our ages varied markedly, but that did not deter our mother from giving us her master classes in history. Without fail, on the 4th of February as we gathered for a family meal, she could tell us about the significance of that day. … Read more