There were a few Puerto Ricans working at the CEESTEM (Centro de Estudios Económicos y Sociales del Tercer Mundo) where I was a researcher in the Asian division. When asked about citizenship, one of them said, “I am a US citizen but I am not an American, I am Puerto Rican. Soy Boricua.” Puerto Rico’s … Read more
“Benevolent assimilation” was how Pres. W. McKinley called the conquest of the Philippines; in Puerto Rico, our half-sister, it was “benevolent imperialism.” Directly after the 1898 Treaty of Paris was signed, the USA began setting up schools in Puerto Rico and sending American teachers there to train their native counterparts in the educational ways of … Read more
They knew enough to observe the maneuvers of the United States of America in the Pacific Ocean, which was too close for comfort. “La Solidaridad”(15 April, 1889) reported in its “Political Trends” section that the United States of America (USA) was taking a very active part in colonial politics involving Samoa. By 1889, it was … Read more
“Is Cuba for sale?” This was the provocative title of an article that appeared in a certain democratic fortnightly entitled “La Solidaridad” (31 March 1889, No. 4, Year 1, Barcelona). The writer, an anonymous Juan, reported an alarming rumor that Cuba was for sale because it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Referring to a … Read more
I could not put down this riveting book, Resettling the Huks in the Land of Promise, by Dr. Faina Abaya Ulindang, retired professor of the History Department of the Mindanao State University in Marawi. Last Tuesday, I wrote about it in connection with a painting entitled “Santiago Matamalayu” an indigenized “Santiago Matamoros” which is part … Read more
“Santiago Matamalayu” is an oil-on-wood painting, one of the most intriguing because it depicts an indigenized “Santiago Matamoros.” It is part of the HOCUS collection exhibited at the Gallery XXI of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Like the rest of the 26 paintings, this one has an intellectual author, lawyer-historian Saul Hofileña, whose ideas … Read more
There is an allegorically provocative painting at the Gallery XXI of the National Museum of Fine Arts – The Spanish Dirge – which depicts a pair of Indio musicians dressed in patriotic colors playing an elegy as winged angels flee from the Philippines taking with them the symbols of Spanish power. That work of art, … Read more
Though Puerto Rico’s contact with Spain started with Cristobal Colón (Christopher Columbus) in 1492, our two histories were destined to catch up with each other in the 19th century. Like the Philippines, Puerto Rico was also a capitania-general(captaincy- general) administered by the Virreinato de Nueva España (Viceroyalty of New Spain, now Mexico) until 1821, when … Read more
Puerto Rico, our half-sister, is on my radar these days. I learned that there are more Puerto Ricans living and working in the United States of America than there are on the Caribbean island. According to reliable sources, there are approximately 5 million Puerto Ricans in the USA and New York has the biggest number, … Read more
Last week, my mother turned 95 and as we gathered around her bed to sing the birthday song, I realized that she was indeed the first person with whom I first hung out. Curiously enough, when all that hanging out began, she was newly married to the dashing Architect Angel Nakpil, my stepfather. Perhaps it … Read more