The Challenge of Philippine Historical Studies

Someone asked me if I believe that the Spaniards really helped ["may nagawa ba sila"] us throughout their almost 400 year rule. The query was sarcastically solicited since I've been known to blog about the gifts of our Spanish past, it was a simple query that I regularly get even from family, teasingly posed, but certainly merits to be answered.

Never once did I assumed that the Spaniards were absolutely guiltless from acts of cruelty and pilferage against the natives. It is a historical fact that even the boldest Hispanist could not refute. But the focus of our studies must not end in exploring colonial errors but also the consequences of that contact, between an imperialist Christian power and a group of indigenous tribes, this I believe is a balanced approach that ultimately would make us better students of our history.

In our orthodox history education, its regrettable that the core appears to be lessons in history with a 'nationalist' attitude. That in order to glorify the homeland we must acknowledge that colonialism was entirely immoral and therefore never produced any meaningful transformation, that we have an obligation to focus on ways to remove its influence, and that we must to go back to our pristine origins - that the more aboriginal mind-set be, the more Filipino we become. Along the lines there are those who argue that to be a Filipino, the correct attitude must be above all that of an Asiano [Asianization], this essentially puristic approach is an attempt to undo the path of our evolution as a society. The trouble with this is that the Filipinos base can only be traced in its Mestizo genesis, even the formation of its name, Filipino & Filipinas, is the outcome of that merger.

Colonialism has its faults and we all could say now that it was unjust, this knowledge is the gift of history, we've already learned our lessons and has move on. In contemporary time, it should no longer be accepted there is no room for it, but even at present everyone appears to be tolerating some nation invading other independent nation. As Filipinos we must never permit being under any country again, but it appears that we are still silently under the American colonial influence, what we thought ended 50 years ago is enduring, proof is our government's consenting position with all of its policies, locally and globally.

Spaniards had long disappeared, leaving a country that proudly calls herself after one of its great monarch, with an impression that can not be simply removed from a people that embraced not only its religion but some of its character. For almost 400 years, its culture has pervaded with that of the native, forming a culture we now call Filipino, its way of life, ideals and concepts had influence our otherwise Asian mentality. Since they were the dominant culture they discriminatorily imposed on the natives what they perceived was good for themselves, for the people and the new colony.

The accounts of Spanish coercions of the natives are numerous, its well documented, even the first Spanish Bishop of the new colony had wrote about it in disgust and frustration. But if we would've ended our lessons with those dishonorable acts by the conquistadores and disregard the kind efforts made by that Spanish Bishop and the Friars established, when he initiated the first synod for the new colony [one of them, a wise Augustinian even raisgin the question, "what right do we have to conquer them?"], we would've subjected ourselves in a narrow and meaningless course in Filipino history.

People could go endlessly on the cruelties that took place and there are not far from the truth, a look at our written records would actually expose it more, but here is where I always challenge everyone to keep on researching, don't just simply focus on those already identified error, so far we have already established those. but also search for the true meaning of the Filipino - his being and his society, how he developed and reacted to the challenge posed by the Spanish colonialization, is his identity hispanic or oriental?, was he less a Filipino because of the Spanish influence or was he truly hispanized? or will he ever be Filipino without Hispanization?

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Filipinos Lack of National Pride and Identity

This article was written by an American, Barth Suretsky. His observations are interesting and his comments about our culture and his respect and love of the Philippines are nicely written. Due to the worsening situation in our country, let's hope this will make an impact on other Filipinos who read it...

BE PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO

My decision to move to Manila was not a precipitous one. I used to work in New York as an outside agent for PAL, and have been coming to the Philippines since August, 1982. I was so impressed with the country, and with the interesting people I met, some of which have become very close friends to this day, that I asked for and was granted a year's sabbatical from my teaching job in order to live in the Philippines. I arrived here on August 21, 1983, several hours after Ninoy Aquino was shot, and remained here until June of 1984.

During that year I visited many parts of the country, from as far north as Laoag to as far south as Zamboanga, and including Palawan. I became deeply immersed in the history and culture of the archipelago, and an avid collector of tribal antiquities from both northern Luzon, and Mindanao.

In subsequent years I visited the Philippines in 1985, 1987, and 1991, before deciding to move here permanently in 1998. I love this country, but not uncritically, and that is the purpose of this article. First, however, I will say that I would not consider living anywhere else in Asia, no matter how attractive certain aspects of other neighboring countries may be. To begin with, and this is most important, with all its faults, the Philippines is still a democracy, more so than any other nation in Southeast Asia.

Despite gross corruption, the legal system generally works, and if ever confronted with having to employ it, I would feel much more safe trusting the courts here than in any other place in the surrounding area. The press here is unquestionably the most unfettered and freewheeling in Asia, and I do not believe that is hyperbole in any way! And if any one thing can be used as a yardstick to measure the extent of the democratic process in any given country in the world, it is the extent to which the press is free.

But the Philippines is a flawed democracy nevertheless, and the flaws are deeply rooted in the Philippine psyche. I will elaborate... The basic problem seems to me, after many years of observation, to be a national inferiority complex, a disturbing lack of pride in being Filipino.

Toward the end of April I spent eight days in Vietnam, visiting Hanoi, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City. I am certainly no expert on Vietnam, but what I saw could not be denied: I saw a country ravaged as no other country has been in this century by thirty years of continuous and incredibly barbaric warfare. When the Vietnam War ended in April, 1975, the country was totally devastated. Yet in the past twenty-five years the nation has healed and rebuilt itself almost miraculously!

The countryside has been replanted and reforested. Hanoi and HCMC have been beautifully restored. The opera house in Hanoi is a splendid restoration of the original, modeled after the Opera in Paris, and the gorgeous Second Empire theater, on the main square of HCMC is as it was when built by the French a century ago. The streets are tree-lined, clean, and conducive for strolling. Cafes in the French style proliferate on the wide boulevards of HCMC. I am not praising the government of Vietnam, which still has a long way to travel on the road to democracy, but I do praise, and praise unstintingly, the pride of the Vietnamese people. It is due to this pride in being Vietnamese that has enabled its citizenry to undertake the miracle of restoration that I have described above. When I returned to Manila I became so depressed that I was actually physically ill for days thereafter. Why?

Well, let's go back to a period when the Philippines resembled the Vietnam of 1975. It was 1945, the end of World War II, and Manila, as well as many other cities, lay in ruins. (As a matter of fact, it maynot be generally known, but Manila was the second most destroyed city in the entire war; only Warsaw was more demolished!) But to compare Manila in 1970, twenty-five years after the end of the war, with HCMC, twenty-five years after the end of its war, is a sad exercise indeed. Far from restoring the city to its former glory, by 1970 Manila was well on its way to being the most tawdry city in Southeast Asia. And since that time the situation has deteriorated alarmingly. We have a city full of street people, beggars, and squatters. We have a city that floods sections whenever there is a rainstorm, and that loses electricity with every clap of thunder. We have a city full of potholes, and on these un-repaired roads we have a traffic situation second to none in the world for sheer unmanageability. We have rude drivers, taxis that routinely refuse to take passengers because of "many trapik!" The roads are also cursed with pollution-spewing buses in disreputable states of repair, and that ultimate anachronism, the jeepney! We have an educational system that allows children to attend schools without desks or books to accommodate them. Teachers, even college professors, are paid salaries so disgracefully low that it's a wonder that anyone would want to go into the teaching profession in the first place. We have a war in Mindanao that nobody seems to have a clue how to settle. The only policy to deal with the war seems to be to react to what happens daily, with no long range plan whatever. I could go on and on, but it is an endeavor so filled with futility that it hurts me to go on. It hurts me because, in spite of everything, I love the Philippines.

Maybe it will sound simplistic, but to go back to what I said above, it is my unshakable belief that the fundamental thing wrong with this country is a lack of pride in being Filipino. A friend once remarked
to me, laconically: "All Filipinos want to be something else. The poor ones want to be American, and the rich ones all want to be Spaniards. Nobody wants to be Filipino." That statement would appear to be a rather simplistic one, and perhaps it is. However, I know one Filipino who refuses to enter a theater until the national anthem has stopped being played because he doesn't want to honor his own country, and I know another one who thinks that history stopped dead in 1898 when the Spaniards departed! While it is certainly true that these represent extreme examples of national denial, the truth is not a pretty picture. Filipinos tend to worship, almost slavishly, everything foreign. If it comes from Italy or France it has to be better than anything made here. If the idea is American or German it has to be superior to anything that Filipinos can think up for themselves. Foreigners are looked up to and idolized. Foreigners can go anywhere without question. In my own personal experience I remember attending recently an affair at a major museum here. I had forgotten to bring my invitation. But while Filipinos entering the museum were checked for invitations, I was simply waived through.

This sort of thing happens so often here that it just accepted routine. All of these things, the illogical respect given to foreigners simply because they are not Filipinos, the distrust and even disrespect shown to any homegrown merchandise, the neglect of anything Philippine, the rudeness of taxi drivers, the ill-manners shown by many Filipinos are all symptomatic of a lack of self-love, of respect for and love of the country in which they were born, and worst of all, a static mind-set in regard to finding ways to improve the situation.

Most Filipinos, when confronted with evidence of governmental corruption, political chicanery, or gross exploitation on the part of the business community, simply shrug their shoulders, mutter "bahala na," and let it go at that. It is an oversimplification to say this, but it is not without a grain of truth to say that Filipinos feel downtrodden because they allow themselves to feel downtrodden. No pride. One of the most egregious examples of this lack of pride, this uncaring attitude to their own past or past culture, is the wretched state of surviving architectural landmarks in Manila and elsewhere.During the American period many beautiful and imposing buildings were built, in what we now call the "art deco" style (although, incidentally, that was not a contemporary term; it was coined only in
the 1960s). These were beautiful edifices, mostly erected during, or just before, the Commonwealth period. Three, which are still standing, are the Jai Alai Building, the Metropolitan Theater, and the Rizal Stadium. Fortunately, due to the truly noble efforts of my friend John Silva, the Jai Alai Building will now be saved. But unless something is done to the most beautiful and original of these three masterpieces of pre-war Philippine architecture, the Metropolitan Theater, it will disintegrate. The Rizal Stadium is in equally wretched shape. When the wreckers' ball destroyed Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, and New York City's most magnificent building,  Pennsylvania Station, both in 1963, Ada Louise Huxtable, then the architectural critic of The New York Times, wrote:

"A disposable culture loses the right to call itself a civilization at all!" How right she was! (Fortunately, the destruction of Pennsylvania Station proved to be the sacrificial catalyst that resulted in the creation of New York's Landmark Commission. Would that such a commission be created for Manila...)

Are there historical reasons for this lack of national pride? We can say that until the arrival of the Spaniards there was no sense of a unified archipelago constituted as one country. True. We can also say that the high cultures of other nations in the region seemed, unfortunately, to have bypassed the Philippines; there are no Angkors, no Ayuttayas, no Borobudurs. True. Centuries of contact with the high cultures" of the Khmers and the Chinese had, except for the proliferation of Song dynasty pottery found throughout the archipelago, no noticeable effect. True. But all that aside, what was here? To begin with, the ancient rice terraces, now threatened with disintegration, incidentally, was an incredible feat of engineering for so-called "primitive" people. As a matter of fact, when I first saw them in 1984, I was almost as awe-stricken as I was when I first laid eyes on the astonishing Inca city of Machu Picchu, high in the

Peruvian Andes. The degree of artistry exhibited by the various tribes of the cordillera of Luzon is testimony to a remarkable culture, second to none in the Southeast Asian region. As for Mindanao, at the other end of the archipelago, an equally high degree of artistry has been manifest for centuries in woodcarving, weaving and metalwork. However, the most shocking aspect of this lack of national pride, even identity, endemic in the average Filipino, is the appalling ignorance of the history of the archipelago since unified by Spain and named Filipinas. The remarkable stories concerning the Galleon de Manila, the courageous repulsion of Dutch and British invaders from the 16th through the 18th centuries, even the origins of the Independence movement of the late 19th century, are hardly known by the average Filipino in any meaningful way. And thanks to fifty years of American brainwashing, it is few and far between the number of Filipinos who really know - or even care - about the duplicity employed by the

Americans and Spaniards to sell out and make meaningless the very independent state that Aguinaldo declared on June 12, 1898. A people without a sense of history is a people doomed to be unaware of their own identity. It is sad to say, but true, that the vast majority of Filipinos fall category. Without a sense of who you are how can you possibly take any pride in who you are?

These are not oversimplifications. On the contrary, these are the root problems of the Philippine inferiority complex referred to above. Until the Filipino takes pride in being Filipino these ills of the soul will never be cured.If what I have written here can help, even in the smallest way, to make the Filipino aware of just who he is, who he was, and who he can be, I will be one happy expat indeed!

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Thanks to Liz Medina for sharing this.

Pan De Manila "Disclaimer"

I have been receiving email's and comment's asking information for the Pan De Manila. I sure would love to provide you with contact information and how to get your franchise but I can not, I am in no way connected to this bread company, I wish I was so I could drop by at any of their outlet and get my bags of goodies. I'm just a fan of their concept and line of products.

I owe people an apology especially those who thought that I work for PDM, I was looking for some information on them too but I don't think they have a corporate website. The post was just my way of thanking them (PDM), they clearly advocate the appreciation of our heritage and what more could be a better representation of that beautiful past than the mighty Pan De Sal!

The Undisputed Queen of Bagtican

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="240" caption="James, Mommy and me"][/caption]

I finally got the chance to visit my step grandma (salamat sa friendster at nagkita kami ng apo niya), affectionately called 'mommy' by the entire Calle Bagtican neighborhood, this great lady has in so many ways showed me what a grandmother's love is, I never had a living grandparent when I was a child. The Magcale was the royal family of Calle Bagtican. Mommy has always look after the neighborhood, she is the 'undisputed queen of Bagtican'.

I was delighted to know that she still remembers me even with her faltering memory as a result of old age, I was more surprised that she can remember the things that we did together. "Gago ka kasi, tinuturuan ka hindi ka nakikinig" she told me yesterday when I boasted that I'm trying to learn Spanish now and that I could speak a little, you see, she did try when I she took me as her step grandson (ampon kuno) but the child that I am, I paid no attention.

It was her who also taught me to take on reading English literature, they once had a roomful of books (stacked as high as 6 feet or more), it was bigger than our elementary school library. I learned last night that all those books were disposed when their place was sold. How I wish I could've acquired them.

She speaks beautiful Spanish, she sings songs and recites poems in pure Castilian. She told me that Maria,  her dearly beloved mother taught her how to be a Filipina, she was a fine lady according to Mommy, a mestiza, who taught her unica hija Spanish, the basics of education, even proper attire for different occasions and how to conduct oneself in public. This sophistication in culture is expected from them then, she was born in Calle Cabildo (in Intramuros), where speaking in Spanish and being a Catholic (a cerrado Catolico) is part of life, (The Irish American father is also a practicing Catholic).



Macati then according to her was home to rich families, who migrated to their vacation homes from their old residential houses in Manila after the war. Part of her childhood was spent in La Paz Iloilo, the provincial farm of his American father, a high ranking US Marine officer. She inherited huge chunks of lands in Pasay (later sold to Chung Hua Chinese academy and portions to what we know now as Cartimar) and Macati.

I  remember when I was a child that I would runaway when I see her coming, she's probably the first white person I've ever met and I was afraid of her, and those piercing green eyes made me hide behind my Nanay's saya. She's always had a beer in hand, she was after all Irish, so this interest in drinking comes naturally I guess. So after buying a bottle of cerveza at our small sari-sari store she would ask Nanay if she could bring me with her, the lady needed a drinking buddy, too bad I was a minor (but she was the one who taught me to drink beer later on!)! my Nanay busy with her store and her small carinderia would not mind of course, I was one less boy  to worry about (we were four in the family all male).

Mommy would engage me in this unending historical discussion that was too much for a child my age (most I never understood, how can I?) like when she explained why the atomic bombs that destroyed the two great cities of Japan was a great idea to end the war, I was in grade3 or 4 (while other kids were probably learning that Jose Rizal's dog is named alipato) Every now and then she would become emotional over certain subjects, "Alam mo ang mga putang inang mga Hapon na iyan walang mga puso iyan, barbaro! animales!". I laughed so hard when I told her that Samuel (my brother) married a Japanese woman, she said,"ay gago iyan si Samuel! hindi ba siya nagaral ng historia? alam niya ba nangyari sa familia ni Omeng (my father)?" she was still the same woman after all this years, it was very Doña Amparoesque!

She would request of me to recite poems in English and of course, talk about Philippine history and what I've learned so far, a subject that I would fall in love later but not during those days, no, I was too young. I was very fortunate, I never got this education in our mababang paaralan (mababa nga!). I was privileged that I had her, she was God sent.

She would romanticize in her lovely stories the Spanish traditions and culture, for her its always about urbanidad and delicadeza and all those Catholic based tradition of the old days, this is the reason why I learned too see it differently than most of  the educated youth whose introduction to history is Lapu-Lapu, the aborigines of the islands and the revolution of Rizal, mine was stories of how beautiful the culture was and why it is important that we embrace it.

She would always tell me, "We are Spanish hijo (of course the correct term is Hispanic but she uses Spanish often maybe because of our status as citizens during the colonial years), right or wrong, if we want to change this truth, we should rewind, back to the days when Magallanes arrived, unite all the tribes and islands and fight the invaders but there was no army, no unity, no nation then. Wala hijo mga Españoles ang nagbigay sa atin ng nacion at unidad sa ayaw man natin o hindi." And I knew that if she would have her way she'll pick the Americans over the Spaniards but she reasons that its history not some social science where theories can be accepted.

Though she was, in my eyes, a hispanist, a lover of that culture, she was still American. Very pro American I should say in her views. Her historical lessons would not be complete without glorifying the her country, "The Americans liberated us, they are our friends hijo, why are we expelling them out?", referring to the on going US Base issue then. "Ingrato iyan mga putang inang politicos na yan, los tontos! nagsipagaral pa naman sa UP, fondo ng mga Americano ang nagbigay sa kanila ng educacion! noong panahon ng Hapon nagsipagtago ang mga elitistang familia ng mga iyan, while Americans like my father fought and drove the Japones away!",  her father was an accomplished career US Marine, he was her true American hero.

Make no mistake about it she's one of the kindest soul one could meet. Mapagbigay masyado, even to the extent of offending some of her family members, "ano ba ang kailangan niya?" she would ask me if a neighbors would show up in her house. "Binigyan ko na iyan locarit na iyan ah", in the end her generous spirit would always overcome her reasons. "vale,vale, heto! por Dios sabihin mo kay __ maghanap ng trabaho!". She was really a Mommy to all. This is why, last night, tears begun to fall when I was told that no one among those she helped, the old Bagtican dwellers even came to visit her for almost a decade, I felt guilty that I was, in a way like them - I could've visited her earlier, when she was stronger. She no longer could see because of an eye condition. Thank heavens that his youngest grandson (James) takes good care of her. He was the one who inherited her intelligence and her generous spirit!

Old age has gotten into her, she use to be so sharp and witty. It was painful for me to see her that way, blind and incapable of moving around, the last time we were together she was eating oysters, smoking and drinking her favorite San Miguel beer (in a bottle, never cans).

When I told her that I will visit her again she said, "Kung ang paa mo ay sipagin sige, kung hindi naman ok lang din." I found it hard to say good bye because of what she whispered to me, "my time is almost up hijo", I did not know how to react. I guess that's life, its that beautiful cycle and we'll all end up like this great lady, in her life she always made sure she shared her blessings, I now feel that this is what we should aim after, that we share more than we take.

I could go on and on with what I learned from this amazing lady, Doña Amparo, I could never thank her enough, words just won't do it but I believe living my life the way she taught me how, with love, honor, gratitude and care for the people around me is the greatest tribute I could ever give her.

Sanctuario de San Pedro Bautista

The Franciscan Garden

Just when you thought that Quezon City has nothing to offer but the metro feel, top schools, colossal malls and trendy subdivisions, think again.

When you reflect on the old Filipinas what comes to mind is Manila and the well-known  provincia's (Vigan, Taal etc) but rarely someone would think of Quezon City as having something similar to the grand old churches and casa's of this enchanted Filipino Spanish towns.

The new fascade of the ol' Iglesia (it still stands on the original foundations of the first church, the rearrangement and renovations has drastically altered the first church)

Well, of course there are fine historical sites in Quezon City, I've always wanted to visit President Quezon's final resting place in Quezon circle but never had the time (or find not to have time). In Bagong Silang you have the site of the "Battle of San Mateo", Pugad Lawin and the Tandang Sora Shrine, just to name a few.

But the most amazing discovery I made recently was the Franciscan church in San Francisco del Monte, and it was a wonderful discovery. For hundreds of years it has served its dominion, not only establishing Christianity, which it has successfully completed but also introduce arts, like music. The town organizer and church builder, San Juan was a gifted musician.

Driving from Manila via España to Quezon City most of the times is a taxing charge(especially if your from the south metro), passing through this major roads are always better during the weekends. I thought for awhile that Sr.Gomez would take us to Santo Domingo, the church that was originally built in Manila but was later relocated because of its demolition during the American's unrelenting offensive of Manila (Liberation?). The La Naval de Manila (in Quezon City?) culture lost its continuity - but there must be some divine explanation we don't know that would explain why, the old site I believe is where BPI now stand in Intramuros.

Going back to this goldmine of a discovery, we headed to the San Francisco del Monte Church and was welcomed by its historical markers, appraising it made me appreciate that I was in one of the oldest church in this once Spanish province, here, in the heart of the metropolis.

The Antillan

I found this brief history of the place and its venerated Spaniard saint, San Pedro Bautista & his Iglesia.

Pedro Bautista Blasquez arrived in 1584 with the 4^th group of Franciscan Missionaries to the Philippines, was not an inexperienced man. He was 42 years old who acquired fame as a preacher in the cathedral of Toledo, Spain. He taught philosophy for three years in Madrid and was an excellent musician. He arrived as the head of the mission and was to preside as the chapter of custody. In a word he was a mature man, educated, experienced and placed in a position of authority.



The fourth Chapter of Custody and the first after the arrival of Pedro Baustista was held in the convent of Manila on September 24, 1584. The conference elected Pedro Bautista, Custos of Superiors of all Franciscans in the Philippines.



Apparently he preferred not to accept the position of authority. After the election Fray Pedro hid and only later when his brethren refused to accept his resignation did he took the position. That was in 1588. having accepted the responsibility he put himself dynamically into his work. He animated his religious to live out their profession and to care the conversion of others. To encourage them he learnt the language of the natives. He counseled his Friars living at a distance and encouraged them with his letters worthy of a holy man.

Because of his  deep concern for the spiritual welfare of his friars, Pedro Bautista saw the need for a secluded place where the missionaries, true to reform spirit of their province, could revive their spiritual vigor by prayer, reflection and discipline. After a long search, he selected a site a little over a league from Manila.



On February 15, 1590 Gov. Santiago De Vera donated "Una Pequeña Encomienda", an estate of some 150 hectares to the Franciscans: Pedro Bautista immediately ordered the construction of a small  bamboo  and nipa convent and church under  the title of Nuestra Señora de Montecelli, which however, was popularly known from the very beginnings of "San Francisco Del Monte".



It was opened as a retreat for missionaries and as a novitiate house from 1580 the novitiate had been in San Francisco De Manila but the noise of the city and the coming and going of the friars to the Provincia headquarters made it less than appropriate for contemplation. The first profession recorded in San Francisco Del Monte took place in December of 1591.

The cave for prayers (yes, this guys are pretty serious with their prayers that they dug a cave where they can pray in complete silence)

In 1699, a church was made of stone was built and the convent restructured. This was dedicated t the newly beatified Blessed Pedro Bautista and his companion martyrs. This church had now become the sanctuary with the Baroque altar that is still preserved today.



In 1895, the friars abandoned the lace and Filipino revolutionary forces occupied the church. In 1898, American Negro soldiers of the occupued the church. the church was left idle until it was repaired in 1912. In 1914, the Church was blessed and a town fiesta was held in honor of San Pedro Bautista.



On November 11, 1932, the Church was declared a parish name in honor of its founder and patron saint, San Pedro Bautista, before the decree, the parish belonged to the parish of Caloocan.



In 1989, the three century old baroque altar was transferred to the main sanctuary. In 1990, a statue of San Pedro Bautista was enshrined at the center of the altar. One February 5, 1997, the parish marked the 400^th anniversary f the Martyrdom of San Pedro Bautista. On February 25, 2007  the parish church was declared an  archdiocesan shrine to be known as Sanctuario de San Pedro Bautista in view of its monasterical and religious significance.



After a successful effort from Padre Gobo left for Manila but he was lost at sea. Gov. Dasmariñnas waited one futile year for his return then decided to send Pedro bautista as his new ambassador. brother Gonzalo Garcia who knew Japanese very well was designated as the new emissary's interpreter; tow other completed the group. after his diplomatic mission Pedro Bautista was to stay on as the permanent representative of the Governor of Manila and labor for the conversion of the Japanese.



That was the plan of the Governor but the "Superior of the Jesuits in Manila" reminded him of the prohibition of Gregory XIII. The Governor called a meeting at the church of San Agustin on May 18, 1593 to discuss with the prominent theologian and authorities what could be done. The outcome was his firm decision to send Bautista's party.



On May 30, 1593 Pedro Bautista and his companions sailed for Japan, their new work and eventually their martyrdom four years later.



Continuing  the policy of his famous predecessor Fray Juan de Placentia, "The Father of Reductions", San Pedro worked to gather  the native of the towns. In Morong, he obliged the numerous rancherias spread throughout the mountains to form the "Doctrinea" of Morong. He was the moving spirit behind the behind the foundation of many towns. In Camarines: Quipayo, Cagsawa, Baac, Oas, Libmanan and Buhi. In Laguna - Rizal area: Tanay, Baras, Longos and Paquil. And in Bulacan: Catangala (Polo). He likewise started churches and convents of Meycuayan and Calilay, centers in the days of Bulacan and Tayabas.

It was a great experience walking around, seeing people celebrate mass on a Sunday, thinking that Catholic tradition here is almost as old as the founding of the walled city, it was alive, surviving the wars (both sectarian and military conflicts). The place is a legacy of the Catholic missionaries. It reminded me how it all happened, the religion and the country.

One of the most interesting historical facts that were not taught in schools is that this Catholic missions, founded almost all of our old towns, paving the way to unanimity, inspiring the shape of the islands into what we know now as the Philippine Islands, christianization and domination, and perhaps its unseen and under valued gift, our identity.

As I was walking along the Franciscan garden I tried to visualize what it was like living their lives, far away from their beautiful mother country, the endless prayers and the remote, often, perilous missions to convert, some say we never desired their interference and Christian convertion but we still remain transformed Katoliko's anyway, to say now that 'all Friars' - are wicked and that they corrupted us, is plainly erroneous.

Let's give credit, where credit is due

...speaking of credits, this two brought me here.

...speaking of credits, this two brought me here.

Gracias, mis amigos...

Pepito, me & the man, the legend GGR

The Cross of Tunasan San Pedro

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="302" caption="San Pedro's Cross of salvation"][/caption]

The ‘Cross of Tunasan San Pedro' has been with the old town of San Pedro for centuries. Its miraculous healing powers became popular during the epidemic years, were countless of towns folk sought divine healing from the deadly diseases that ravaged the once rustic town.

It's a silent witness to the transformation of the small town from a Sampaguita plantation and a narrow passage to the richer Laguna towns to what it is now, a residential and industrial urban municipality. It survived both natural and man made disasters - during this difficult years the older generation of San Pedro knelt in front of the miraculous cross and prayed for a better tomorrow.

Legends varies, from its sudden apparition from some unknown San Pedro barrio to its creation by some miracle Abbott, some even claims that it came straight from heaven. Its one of those icons that represented time and people, one could not tell a story about the small town without suggesting to see it for a visit to San Pedro Tunasan during the old days is incomplete without touching its base.

Today, its odd that its not as revered as it was once, one could watch people go in and out of the church without even noticing the mighty Cross, the Krus ng San Pedro Tunasan. Once it attracted hundreds of churchgoers from different places in La Laguna during Sunday's and dates of Catholic religious importance. Now, it sits quite in its dark place, with out lights, without candles and if you were to sit inside and attend mass, your back would face it. How could such an important relic be relegated to an obnoxious space inside the church that it practically created?

Rizal appreciated its role both as spiritual and cultural representation of the people of Tunasan San Pedro, he mentioned the cross in his first novel together with the other celebrated Catholic images of the old Spanish era .The least that we can do is its restoration as the center piece of the church, it deserves no less.

A closer look would reveal that its base is of poor construction; a piece of rock holds it in place. Some genius mind painted over the original varnish. Obviously the preservation and its location in the church was not one of those well thought out plan. It could be attributed to a miracle that this Cross made of wood and is said to be the oldest Catholic cross in the whole of Laguna is still in a very good condition.

Perhaps, the reason why its not being noticed is that, today - church and government officials failed to highlight not only its place inside the iglesia but its role as San Pedro's greatest religious icon.

There is no IKON in this small struggling town that could better represent its past than this cross! La cruz de Tunasan San Pedro!

A Hispanized Philippines: A Good Option?

A Hispanized Philippines: A Good Option?
© Elizabeth Medina, Santiago, Chile, March 30, 2000

Recently a Filipino friend who lives in the U.S., Rafael Onrubia, asked me why I thought it feasible and positive for the Philippines to be hispanized, and my answer was as follows:

The Philippines has 479 years of written history (from 1521 to the present), and 379 of them have been recorded in Spanish. It is a fact that we have a documentary legacy that is untranslated into English and that therefore we are unable to read - a motherlode that has hardly been mined by our historians. Aside from this, the works of modern Spanish historians, who have researched and published innumerable works on our Hispanic culture and past with such dedication and skill, are accumulating in libraries without the Filipinos' being able to make use of such an invaluable store of new contributions.

It is undeniable and curious that the Spanish wrote much on the Philippines, and I suspect that they wrote more about her than about the majority of their American colonies. This surely is due in part to the fact that the Philippines only became independent 88 years after Spanish America. However there can be no doubt that the Philippines in and of herself was a fascinating geographical and cultural space that captured the imagination, scientific interest and human sensibility of the many scholarly Spaniards who spent long years living among the people.

Speaking as a non-expert and basing myself on what I have been able to gather from the few contacts I've had with Filipino academics and their writings, from my own inquiries and those of independent researchers, it seems to me that the Spanish-language documentation overflows with gems that still wait to be rediscovered by the scholars of Philippine history. Our historians have not paid them much attention, preferring to study the writings of Anglo-Saxon historians and the few works written by Spaniards and translated into English, for a very simple reason - because unless one has profoundly assimilated Hispanic language and culture, it is impossible to penetrate the deep, implicit levels of meaning in the documentation.

We therefore have a double magnification of the problem. Filipino historians and scholars cannot read Spanish documents on one hand; on the other, they study their own history by reading Anglo-Saxons' interpretations of the Spanish documents. Thus they study it from third hand, through the cultural filters of researchers who, though they may possess an operative knowledge of the language, nevertheless have cultural filters that invariably select only those contents that reinforce the particular way of knowing that characterizes their non-Hispanic sensibility and understanding.

Therefore, no matter how sincere their interest in penetrating into the profound messages ciphered in the documents, they lack the pitons that they need to scale that cultural glacier. Without pitons and all the specialized equipment that only profound experience and study of the culture that has produced that documentary wealth can give, it is impossible to receive its messages and capture its spirit. This is because, even more important than the external information that they offer, is the inner landscape, adequately grasped and then deployed, that equips a researcher for perceiving all the other information - implicit, invisible, unstated - that underlies the external linguistic content.

The result is that, although data and interpretations of apparently great scientific value are accumulated, the human and spiritual significance of that history remains unapprehended.
And if we assume - as I do - that knowledge must always incorporate a cultural and spiritual component that goes far beyond mere accumulation of neutral data, that concerns itself most of all with giving orientation to human development, then this manner of proceeding ought to be corrected and reoriented, without further loss of time and effort.

Culture, I am convinced, is the gold mine of this new century. It is the last undiscovered continent and the greatest wealth of nations. If a people discovers the way to create in other countries a vivid interest in their culture, and they materialize that fascination in marketable products, they can assure themselves of an inexhaustible source of earnings. Spain has created markets for her music, literature, architecture, fashion; Italy has done the same, particularly through her gastronomy and haute couture; Germany with her engineering know-how, her cars; likewise France, and of course, the U.S., whose products fill our homes to overflowing, even our brains, and everywhere on our planet.

The Philippines necessarily must learn to create external markets for her culture, not just the culture of folklore and tradition, which leads to not much more than a proliferation of objects. Most important, the innate talents of the Filipino people, which are already recognized worldwide, must be developed - in the culinary, plastic and visual arts, music, fashion, inventiveness and - something that today is just beginning to arise - the creation of a new literature that gives witness to the marvelous complexity and richness of our historico-cultural experience. All of these things have their deepest roots, their creatives sources, in the culture of the Hispanic-Filipino past.
This, without mentioning another issue of extreme importance, which is the development of our trade relations with the Spanish-speaking countries of the Pacific Rim.

An Invisible World that Refuses to Die
The 377 years of Filipino hispanization gave birth to a culture and a past that some have tried to annihilate and that is still under siege -- but that refuses to disappear and die. It is a culture and a past that only become visible when -- like the Little Prince of St. Exupéry -- one learns to see with the heart.

If one doesn't know how to speak Spanish fluidly, one cannot realize what a wealth of Castilian words there are in Tagalog and in so many other Filipino dialects. If one doesn't carry Hispanic culture within oneself, one cannot recognize the Hispanic culture that informs and suffuses Filipino social customs and practices.

If one has no familiarity with the landscapes of Spain and Hispanic America, with their imposing buildings from the Middle Ages and the Colonial Era, one will be unable to recognize the Hispanic past whose faithful witnesses are the old churches, homes and towns of the Archipelago.

The Responsibility of the Cultural Guardians of Filipino Society
The fact that the majority of our years of written history took place during the Spanish colonial period and that they are recorded in the idiom of our Hispanic-Filipino culture necessarily places the guardians of culture and education in a position of heavy responsibility. To erase the past is to erase the future. The greatest cultural problem that we Filipìnos face, in my opinion, is that fact that we do not have the habit of reflecting deeply on cultural and educational issues in the Philippines, because as we have said, we were not clarified about the importance of profound culture. Part of the blame rests without doubt on our old Spanish administrators; another on the North American educational system that was implanted afterwards, which necessarily tried to erase the cultural past in order to impose an Anglo-Saxonized present and future.

But another portion of blame rests squarely on those who have governed the country and have allowed the love of the old generations for Hispanic-Filipino language and culture to be abandoned under the new conditions of independence, when they surrendered themselves completely to the new foreign power, to the detriment of their own identity and historical legacy.

Therefore, though our new proposal cannot be an attempt to flip the cultural tortilla from one day to the next, and - just as English was imposed on us - to impose Spanish this time, what is indeed indispensable is the modification of the educational canon so that our historians, sociologists, anthropologists, writers, architects - all of our agents and formers of culture - may recover a full awareness of the past and be given the option of undertaking profound studies, whether in the Philippines, in Spain or in Latin America, in Hispanic-Amerasian history and culture, in the Spanish language.

I am likewise convinced that cultural exhange between Hispanic America and the Philippines cannot but lead to a new synthesis that in turn will produce a blossoming of the best in each one of our countries, thanks to the new climate of brotherhood and unity that it will tend to promote. A synthesis that will help lead our relations with Spain to a new level of maturity and mutual cooperation.

The foregoing does not mean that I advocate the separation of the Philippines from her Asian family, which would be absurd, a new backlash under the sign of the very same purism of those who today advocate our fanatic separation from our Western past. The fact is that we Filipinos are a living link between East and West. We come from both worlds, and both worlds are ours. The naturalistic and deterministic look, first of the Spanish and the North Americans, and now of ourselves in front of ourselves, said that we were Indians or Asians and therefore we had to be what we were and nothing more.

And this is the origin and the root of the continuing absurd debate about whether the Philippines should be hispanized once again, or not. When the Philippines has always been hispanized, except that the "Filipinos" born from 1901 onwards rapidly suffered, first of all, a cultural switch and the suppression of the past, and later, the outright deformation and annihilation of their historical consciousness.

In synthesis, I would say, in answer to the question of "Would it be positive for the Philippines to be hispanized once again?" that the Philippines already is hispanized. All that is lacking is for the Filipinos to realize this truth and make it work for their own benefit, to enrich themselves and progress, instead of impoverishing themselves and regressing. Because regression - unlike progress - has its limits, and it seems to me that we have already reached those limits.

Comment on the article by Alfredo Chicote, a Spaniard born in the Philippines, residing in Madrid, who considers himself Hispanic-Filipino:

"As you know, I am in complete agreement with your thesis. It is a fact, without the Filipinos' knowing it, that the Philippines is a hispanized country. I believe the article is well written and argued. It is necessary to know Spanish in order to dig into one's own past. We must see things as they are: the Philippines - for good or ill - was born as a country under Spanish dominion and her history -- as W.E. Retana well saw it -- must be read in that language, as well as in English, Tagalog, Bisaya, etc.

To give you an example to illustrate your thesis of the deformation of Philippine history, I cite a passage from a tourist brochure that I've just gotten:

"In the 19th century, Spain's colonies were racked by corrupt administration and internal disorder. Liberal ideologies fired the spirits of enlightened manileños (residents of Manila) like Philippine national hero José Rizal, who studied abroad, and Filipino rebel leader Andrés Bonifacio, who read books on revolutionaries and philosophers........"

"But freedom would not come so easily, for the Filipinos found themselves under their erstwhile ally, the Americans. Under the new conqueror, Manila spread outwards, roads and bridges were built and schools taught Filipinos Western culture in a new language -- English. Democratic processes were introduced; and Neo-Classical government edifices rose around the old city..."

Not one word about the Revolution and the war between the United States and the Philippines, which cost more lives, perhaps, than all the years under Spanish rule! And of course, they also taught the Filipinos Western culture -- as if Spain had not done. But Spain, aside from being Western, is also mestiza [of mixed blood] -- is Jewish, Arab, Roman and Phoenician; in other words, she is as mestiza as her former colonies. Therefore perhaps she has a greater capacity to understand the Philippines than the North Americans.

From another brochure, written at least by a Spaniard, I send you this very brief passage:

"When Magellan landed on the island of Homonhon in 1521, he claimed these islands for King Philip II and called them 'Felipinas'." Well, my dear, I don't know who taught this writer his history -- two huge mistakes in just one short sentence! The king at that time was Carlos I, and the name 'Felipinas' was coined by Ruy López de Villalobos in 1542 for part of Mindanao or Leyte -- we do not know with precision. Only with the passing of time was the name used for the entire archipelago. At that time, in 1521, it was known as the Western Isles or the Spice Islands, the latter because it was believed that spices grew there, as in the Moluccas Islands.

In other words, two vivid examples that illustrate your thesis:

An absolute lack of knowledge about one's own past -- no doubt inherited from an equally ignorant "Thomasite" -- that no one throughout the years has bothered to correct.

An utter disregard for the achievements of the Hispanic period. In the Philippines, before the Americans arrived, there was nothing -- only corruption and disorder. Western civilization and democracy reached the islands with Merritt's soldiers (the Cádiz Constitution never existed). And Manila, far from being the vibrant and beautiful city that the chroniclers describe for us (See Morga), did not have a single building worth mentioning, until the "Neoclassical" government buildings were built (might they be copies of those in Washington, D.C.?).

Worst of all, Elizabeth, is that the people who publish these brochures really believe these things. There are a lot of false beliefs that must be changed! Long live Sr. Gómez and his grain of sand![*]
Regards,

Alfredo

[*] Refers to Prof. Guillermo Gémez, Head of the Spanish Department, Adamson University, Manila, who to this day publishes two Spanish-language newspapers in that city.
Everybody is invited to discuss this article on our Discussion Board.
See also by the same author:Who was Wenceslao Emilio Retana?
The book "Rizal According to Retana: Portrait of a Hero and a Revolution" is available from the author.