Monuments are erected to commemorate significant figures or events in our history. They are supposed to remind us of the past, but after the inaugural fanfare what they represent are quickly forgotten. People see monuments but seldom…
By declining to be interviewed by a “biased” Jessica Soho of GMA News and opting for the showbiz Boy Abunda of ABS-CBN, it is obvious that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not inherit his parents’ chutzpah, that extreme…
As a historian I should join the lynch mob calling for the retention of our three World War II heroes on the face of the P1,000 bill, but I must admit that the decision to replace Josefa…
Justiniano and Mariano Asuncion were Filipino artists active in mid-19th century Manila. Mariano (1802-1885) specialized in religious paintings, while his younger brother Justiniano (1816-1901) made a living, like his teacher Damian Domingo, painting delicate works on paper…
Of the many Immaculate Conception homilies I have endured in my life, one stands out simply because it opened with a compelling story, with history, and concluded with the theology I forgot soon after. Homilist was Fr.…
Every year on Nov. 30 wreaths are offered at Andres Bonifacio monuments nationwide. Media often covers the official rites of the inspiring song in bronze by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino in Caloocan, or the tacky komiks re-presentation…
As the circus leading to the 2022 elections has begun, we should take a hard look at the roster of presidential candidates and weigh each on a balance set by Apolinario Mabini in 1898: “The President is…
Encarnacion Alzona (1895-2001) is often remembered as the first Filipino woman to obtain a Ph.D. She had two Master’s degrees in history: one from the University of the Philippines (1918) and another from Radcliffe College, Harvard University…
What does the devil look like? For me, he is an adult male with horns and bat-like wings. As a child, I was terrified of illustrations of the devil and hell in a pre-Vatican II catechism owned…
There are amusing YouTube videos of foreigners trying out “Pinoy” food. The best one shows American grade-schoolers giving adobo a passing grade but unanimously hating laing on sight. What if they were fed and given the ingredients…
Politicians live in glass houses. When one of them starts to throw stones, as the President has been doing to distract the public from the current Senate blue ribbon committee investigation into the acquisition of overpriced medical…
My Philippine history course begins with two central pages from Marcel Proust’s kilometric novel, “À la recherche du temps perdu” (In search of lost time). A madeleine on the tip of Proust’s tongue triggered the memory of…
