We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.
While history is mainly built on narratives from verified facts, we should also be sensitive to its silences. For example, our focus on the Victory at Mactan on April 27 obscures the Massacre in Cebu on May…
Fireworks of a different kind exploded last April 27 when politicians commented on the 500th anniversary of the Victory in Mactan. Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla posted on FB: “A salute to the bravery of one of…
Passive-aggressive” is the only way to describe the recent intrusion of 261 Chinese vessels into the West Philippine Sea as of April 11. We don’t know how events will unfold, but can only wish the Chinese will…
Lockdown extended another week? Nobody seems surprised. Some even think this will last till the end of the month, speculating that Malacañang is merely delaying the inevitable to keep people in the National Capital Region Bubble happy…
The spoiler for today’s commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the first Easter Mass in Limasawa are the advocates who stubbornly insist that it was actually held in Butuan. It seems we are far from closure after…
Following the directive from the National Historical Commission, Lapulapu is now spelled without the hyphen that formerly cut the hero’s name in two. If you go over manuscript copies of Antonio Pigafetta’s account of the Magellan expedition,…
We reached Homonhon last week, three hours by motorized boat from Guiuan, Eastern Samar. From the port to the Magellan Landing Site in Cantilan meant a five-kilometer travel on a rough, rust-colored road — a sign of…
March 16, 1521, is a date seared into my memory by textbook history and Yoyoy Villame’s 1972 hit song “Magellan.” Classroom history has come a long way since my childhood, and the “discovery of the Philippines” is…
My search for hopia and history in Chinatown last weekend required prior research, curiosity, and imagination. I learned, for example, that what we outsiders know as Chinatown is composed of Binondo and San Nicolas—two districts separated by…
Seasoned journalists from the print era told me that despite best efforts, mistakes still creep into a newspaper. Typographical errors are forgotten, but errors of fact or opinion are corrected in a rejoinder that appears the next…
Some students who were thoughtful enough to thank me for our recently concluded online Rizal course confessed that their hatred for history stemmed from boring content and being forced to memorize mind-numbing dates, names, and places. With…
Suspension of disbelief allows us to enjoy works of fiction, novels, telenovelas, or movies. Without it, we cannot enjoy the heartwarming Disney Christmas campaign to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. While most Filipinos the world over are teary-eyed…
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. To find out more, please click this link.