Against forgetting

If I am not mistaken, I think it was Erich Hobsbawm who said that memory is not a simple record of events but a dynamic process that always transforms what it dredges up from its depths. He also said that recollection is a zone of contact between past, present, and future and that history is … Read more

The pagan in us

For decades, I have been completely flummoxed by the millions of male Filipinos who make the feast of the Black Nazarene (9 January) an unsettlingly idolatrous spectacle. From the fringes, feminine presence is starting to invade masculine territory.  In the past couple of years, women cradling  sick infants have risked life and limb just to … Read more

What they say

My column against the Manila Bay reclamation program which purports to build a new city for tourism and commerce (“Farewell Manila”) elicited the following comments from Mr. Larry Ong: “I love your article and I totally agree with everything that you wrote. One thing I like to add is PUBLIC BATHROOMS (emphasis Mr. Ong’s) or … Read more

Farewell Manila

There are several primary sources, most of them foreign, describing how awesome and tantalizing Manila Bay is at first sight, from dawn to dusk, with emphasis on its incomparably dazzling sunset. Because it is so spectacular and strategic, Manila Bay has always been irresistible to people driven by all kinds of motives. At the beginning … Read more

Year-end meetings

This is the second time we meet with President Rodrigo Duterte; by we, I mean the descendants of the sisters of Jose Rizal, my cousins. Every year, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) sends us invitations, by snail mail, to attend the commemoration of the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal. We call up … Read more

A congregation of ex-conventos

My favorite is the ex-Convento de Churubusco that has been re-christened Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones, an elegant euphemism for invasions. The convento was a bastion where the Battle of Churubusco took place in August 1847, when the USA invaded Mexico. In that museum, I saw an old map where Texas was called Nuevas Filipinas. … Read more

A challenging dinner toast

I would have wanted to be there; it must have been exhilarating, jubilant, and inspiring for Filipinos away from home, living in Madrid where it was, surprisingly enough, electrifying because of liberal, radical, scientific ideas nonexistent at home. In 1884, Filipinos in Madrid had no identity. They were mistaken for Chinese or Japanese because of … Read more

The Baler surrender

To date, I have seen three movies about the siege of Baler.  As you already know, on 27 June 1898, 54 Spanish soldiers, mostly young recruits with no battle experience, were holed up in a small-town church in Baler with their commanding officer, Capt. Enrique de las Morenas.  For 337 days, the army of our … Read more

Another endangered relic (2)

A few years ago, during a heritage tour to the Far Eastern University (proudly a UNESCO-awarded campus), we were taken to the basketball court which was not at ground level, but on the 5th floor. From that vantage point, I caught sight of the fabled Old Bilibid, now an endangered relic, no thanks to the … Read more