blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

As Bonifacio Day nears, we remember the story of what happened to the Katipunan. The Katipunan became irrelevant as a political player when the Magdiwang faction of Andres Bonifacio lost to that of Magdalo Emilio Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo's government eventually became Republica Filipina. Bonifacio was executed in questionable circumstances. One of the casualties of this power play is the National anthem commissioned by Bonifacio in November 1896 perhaps in what is now UP Diliman. Entitled Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan (Honourable Prayer of the Tagalogs) the hymn goes on with these lyrics Mabuhay ‘yang Kalayaan! At Pasulungin ang puri’t kabanalan. Kastila’y mainig ng Katagalugan. At Ngayo’y ipagwagi ang kahusayan. Long live Freedom! Uphold the cause of honor and piety. The Spaniards have been overwhelmed by the Tagalogs. Now fight for order to triumph. (Ambeth Ocampo's translation) The Nakpil anthem had been almost lost to history save for the 1898 centennial celebrations when it...

The UP Archaelogical Studies Program, The National Museum and the UP College of Arts and Letters yesterday hosted the "Ang Sulat sa Palayok: A symposium on the Calatagan Pot" at the Recto Room of Bulwagang Rizal (for old UP alums in the archeological record, this used to be the FC!) The Calatagan Pot is the only evidence we have (with the archeological context) about pre-colonial writing. On the pot's rim are several verses in baybayin, the ancient Philippine script. The pot was unearthed in 1961 in Calatagan, Batangas by the National Museum. That Filipinos were literate was first documented by the Spanish friar missionaries,whose first task was to write and translate Catholic prayers from Latin to the Philippine languages. The first catechism The " Doctrina Christiana " is written in Roman letters and baybayin. But since we can easily read the Roman letters with the baybayin, we can easily know what sounds the baybayin symbols represent. Also we know the direct...

Browsing through Powerbooks' sale, I found a copy of "Quarens, Searching, Paghahanap" edited by Jovino G Miroy and Ma Liza Ruth A Ocampo. Reading through the first pages, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there exist Pinoy medievalists! They have an organization called Philippinarum Studii Medioevalis Societas . I once thought that medieval studies are pursued mostly in European universities and a dwindling number of American ones that have classics departments. In the Philippines, I know not of any classics department in any college or university. Anyway, I had my first brush with the classics when I was reading for the doctorate in marine biology in Australia. You may ask "Why read classics when doing a quintessentially modern science like marine biology" I have to answer that my dissertation was on systematics and biogeography and many of the original marine species descriptions of molluscs were in Latin. I had to learn Latin! Fortunately, there was a ...

If you have the time to look beyond the usual Hollywood dishes, Metrowalk can spring DVD surprises for viewing on Gloria's three day weekends. I found a copy of the award winning 2005 German film "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage " that features the story of the Scholl siblings Hans and Sophie who founded the resistance movement White Rose . The White Rose distributed thousands of anti-Nazi mimeographed leaflets in Bavaria and other parts of Germany. The Scholls were arrested on 18 February 1943 when Sophie Scholl caught by the Munich university porter scattering the leaflets in Munich University hall. After a spurious show trial by the Nazi "people's" court presided by Roland Friesler , the Scholls were convicted of treason and executed on 22 February. The film is based on trial depositions and transcripts that were held in East Germany. After German reunification these were made public. The actors played their roles magnificently. Noted German actress Juli...

Talk about historical trivia and a glaring Wikipedia error. President Manuel Quezon once considered the possibility of the Philippines joining the Commonwealth of Nations. Quezon was apparently disconcerted by how the Americans were planning for the Philippines' political future. So he dropped hints with a ranking British expat. The Americans got wind of this and the slippery Quezon denied everything. Ambeth Ocampo had this to say "In 1933, Quezon was preoccupied with rumors that the United States was finally leaving. He then expressed the view to a British resident in the Philippines, Lt. Col. Frank Hodsoll, that since Britain treated her colonies better than Spain and the U.S., he was 'prepared to go to London and in the name of fourteen million inhabitants of the islands ask for admission to the British Commonwealth of nations." MLQ thought of Handing RP Over to England. Bonifacio's Bolo. Ambeth Ocampo. Anvil Publishing Inc. 1997. page 57 Later on Quezon's ...

The Chairwrecker Mac Esposo reflects on the coming Philippine-American Friendship Day on July 4 with this op ed piece in the Philippine Star. Mac writes "At best, Philippine-US relations can be considered a mixed blessing. The US introduced public education here as well as the US brand of democracy which we follow to this day. But if we are to weigh what they gave versus what they took — we will find that they took more than what we could afford to give." Well for our younger readers that's what colonialism is exactly all about whether it was for the Christianization of the islands by Spain, making the islands in their own image by the Americans, the Japanese idea of "Asian for Asiatics" etc. Our colonial history is unfortunately a part of where we came from. It is in our best interest and sanity to remember its legacy, which is at best mixed. That's why I think that it is of childish "nationalistic" spite that the Philippines removed from its cale...

The most famous ides is that of the month of March (which incidentally is my birthmonth). By the ides of that month, I should have been able to 1) mark all student essays, 2) give exams, 3)finish three scientific papers etc....arrgh. Ides is nothing but a Roman way to divide the month. We still divide the month when we get our measly Salarium ! My workload isn't the reason why the ides is famous but because of the soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar "beware of the ides of March". Nonetheless Caesar appeared before the Senate and the Senators (who called themselves Liberatores ) assasinated Caesar using daggers. Caesar got 23 stab wounds. Of course it was in the Roman Senate where the crime was committed. But in our Senate, the Senators have long stopped wearing togas. Thus they have no place to hide their daggers but they can still cast dagger eyes. The Senators justified their actions as a tyrranicide. The tyrant lies bloodied on the Theatre's portico. Mark Ant...

In Robert Bolt's "A Man for All Seasons", the Earl of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England was sent to collect the Chancellor's chain of office from Cardinal Wolsey, who was dying in Leicester Abbey. Norfolk said "Thank God you're dying here. The King would have sent you to the Tower!" The Tower is where Lords, other members of the nobility, knights, princes and princesses and even Kings were jailed. This leads us to an ancient tradition where these people are held in comfy detention. In some cases they have their whole household with them. In 1995, I went on a special tour of the Tower of London. I got to see where the nobles were detained, their heads chopped off, where funeral services were held and where their remains lay. Of course the main tourist drawers then as now were the two ravens (legend says that they guarantee that the monarchy survives) and the beefeaters (who until 2007 were all ex-servicemen of reputation. Now London has a servicewoman be...