‘…during that Assembly hosted by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation brought to the attention of the public a plan to demolish a monument that honors thtree Kalinga heroes…’
EAST coast, I know you shakin’ right, Down South, I know you bouncin’ right, West coast, I know you walkin’ right, Midwest, I see you swing it right” [“Dilemma” (Nelly feat. Kelly Rowland)]
Yes, we are hanging and composing, even in “a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering.” [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/dystopia] Yes, we did attend the 7th LHCN (Local Historical Committees Network) General Assembly Part 2 last 22 October 2020, along with the UP Lipunang Pangkasaysayan and the Santa Rosa Historical Society, among others. Yes, the Hunters-ROTC Historical Society joined hands with the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, Inc. and the rest of the LHCN Affiliates in a continuing effort to monitor, coordinate, support and engage in the collection, documentation, popularization, conservation, restoration and preservation of extant historical materials found in different parts of the Philippines, as mandated by Section 21 of Republic Act 10086.
In fact, during that Assembly hosted by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation brought to the attention of the public a plan to demolish a monument that honors three Kalinga heroes (as stated in a notice dated October 1, 2020, issued by the Upper Kalinga District Engineering Office of the Cordillera Administrative Region, concerning a monument erected in 2017 along Bugnay village, in Tinglayan town of Kalinga province). The Foundation reported: “The faces of Macliing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc and Lumbaya Gayudan, all elders of the Butbut ethnic group in Kalinga, are depicted in the monument in question. These three earned their place in our history. They dared to join and then lead a people’s resistance to a dam project during the Marcos era that would have massively displaced thousands of residents living along the Chico River, and destroyed a precious chunk of their history and culture. Yet the monument pays tribute not only to the three men, but to all the ethnic communities in the Cordillera that stood up for their native and civic rights. A dictator backed with the full power of his army was trying to force the project through. Many were thrown to jail and Macliing himself was assassinated in his own home in Bugnay village. Still the Kalingas, Bontocs and other ethnic groups kept up their resistance and eventually prevailed.”
The Assembly was also informed of a similar problem facing the Bamban History Museum.
The case was captured in a letter by Cecilia I. Gaerlan, Executive Director, Bataan Legacy Historical Society: “Bamban holds a seminal role during WWII in the Philippines and our country’s history is much richer because of efforts by Mr. Rhonie dela Cruz and the Bamban Historical Society for keeping the legacy alive. It is a museum that is open to the public for free and relies only on small donations and the efforts of volunteers to survive. It is in our national interest to keep this museum and its legacy alive.”
Outside the Philippines, it is the Network of Concerned Historians that enumerates legal decisions like the one in the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing, Ge versus Hong; Song versus Hong on the defamation of dead Chinese revolutionary warriors considered heroes by questioning their historic deeds, c. 2016, and a different one in the Hangzhou Municipal Intermediate People’s Court, Lí¼ Gengsong’s Trial, c. 2008 (Subject: Historian tried for writing on the history of corruption).
[http://www.concernedhistorians.org/content/le.html]
“These are unpleasant facts; I know it. But then most historical facts are unpleasant.” [Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, 1932]
Yes, we are chillin’ and watching “When We First Met” (2018 American rom-com) and “About Time” (2013 British rom-com). Our column has been about Time Travel after all. Yes, we did attend “Impositions, Transformations, Negotiations: The Philippines from the 16th to the late 18th Century,” a Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day Conference organized by the UP History Department to interrogate the multi-faceted hispanization process. Thus, last 15 October 2020, Ana Hernández Callejas (Archivist, Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain) shared “Spanish Archives on the Philippines: The Archivo General de Indias” and explained that in 1565, the Philippines was chosen as the center of the Spanish administration in Asia. From the year Magellan left the port of Seville in 1519 until years after the loss of the Philippines in 1898, the documents produced in the management of the Philippine territory have been preserved.
Annabel Teh Gallop (Lead Curator, Southeast Asia Division, The British Library) introduced eight letters in Malay in Jawi (Arabic) script from Mindanao and Sulu, dating from 1703 to 1721. These documents, which are held in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, are the oldest known Malay documents from the Philippines. [“Malay Letters from Mindanao and Sulu from the Early Eighteenth Century”] Jorge Mojarro (Associate Professiorial Lecturer, Department of Literature, University of Sto. Tomas) offered a historical and literary analysis of nine Filipino authors who wrote poetry (Francisco Bagongbanta, Bartolomé Saguinsín), sermons (Andres López, Martín José de Endaya y Rayo), historiography (Francisco Moreno, Luis Beltrán Pigu), theatrical plays (Nicolás de San Pedro), and even scientific treatises (Tomás Pinpín, Ignacio Mercado) from the 17th to the late 18th century. [“Filipino Writers During the Early Colonial Period: From Bagongbanta to Saguinsín”]
Yes, we should attend the Rush Hour Concert Series of the Manila Symphony Orchestra this 30 October 2020 to appreciate the symphonic renditions of the Best of OPM from the 1970s to the 1990s. Brought to us by the Ayala Museum and for its Fundraising Campaign “Get Access, Give Access” that gives internet access to students for their online education. Get your Concert Passes: bit.ly/AMVirtualEvents2020.
Yes, the “simplicity of the mundane is to be prized, that time should be used for reading, running barefoot on the beach, father-son ping-pong matches.”
[https://www.npr.org/2013/11/01/241594516/its-about-time-for-romance-and-rather-more]
Meanwhile, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente had said he has ordered 2,736 Chinese to leave the Philippines for violating the conditions of their visas and were blacklisted. [https://malaya.com.ph/news_news/bi-orders-2736-chinese-to-leave-for-violating-visa-conditions/]
“Tavin cupped his hands to his mouth. ‘Here, dragon-dragon-dragon!’ he yelled. Lily stared in amazement. Well, that was bold, she thought, and stupid.” “• Richard Due, The Moon Coin
