With one's past…

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora recently called out the Estradas, now both senators, for questioning San Juan’s recent voter registration increase. As I am not from San Juan nor do I have relatives there, I have no interest in the squabble. Wala akong manok sa tupada na ito. What caught attention was Zamora’s using the term “sanjuañeno”.

We (Pepe Alas) encountered proper use of hispanofilipino demonyn while helping the late San Pedro Mayor Calex (who uses Sanpedronian). I thought for all the names of places just put an ending (suffix) “ño”; you now correctly identify the people who lived in them. Manila-Manileño, Bulacan-Bulakeño, Pasig-Pasigeño, Batangas-Batangeño and so on.

For our writing assignment, Elizabeth Medina, a Filipina writer and translator based in Chile, edited our work (or at least the first chapters, since Alas continued the rest without me). She clarified that -eño/-eña can only be used in place names with native origins.

Muntinlupa – muntinlupeño/muntinlupeña

Cavite – caviteño/caviteña

Batangas – batangueño/batangueña

Muntinlupa, Batangas and Cavite are all native words.

But for places whose names are of hispanic (Spanish) origin, the suffix -ense is to be used:

Negros – negrense

Laguna – lagunense

These place names are of Hispanic origins.

Tama ba o mali? All comments are welcome, so feel free to weigh in.

In the past, I planned my trips using notebooks. There was no iPad or mobile device, just a pen and a notebook. Although it wasn’t as efficient as logging everything on a mobile device, it sure was fun. It is very calming and makes you feel relaxed.

The days of using pens, pencils, and papers are gone forever. Even holdouts like me, who still use these rudimentary tools to keep records, find productivity in using mobile devices. Working in the tech industry, I am fully aware of the future of technology.

I showed my son these old notebooks the other day. The only thing he liked was the sketches. Tomorrow’s children and their children won’t even touch a physical pen with ink. In 2016, I worked for a start-up that developed a digital smartpen. A camera-like device is attached to the end of these pens, detecting almost invisible dots in paper while still using ink. Because the smartpen and notebooks are proprietary technologies, I felt they wouldn’t scale. Seeing how things have evolved since then, we face a purely digital writing future. 

Here are some pages from the journal I keep when I am planning trips:

Recently, I released Elizabeth Medina’s “Sampaguitas in the Andes” on Kindle. Since I felt it deserves to reach more Filipinos worldwide, I requested it to be published on Amazon’s platform.

In 2006, Chile released the original Spanish version, “Sampaguitas en la cordillera”. Later, she translated it into English. So, I had my work cut out for me. The extent of my involvement was limited to book cover design, minimal editing, and conversion to Kindle.

Appeal

Sampaguitas was an enjoyable discovery. It took me on an emotional journey as I read it. My own family history mirrored the author’s.

Medina’s grandfather, Gov. Emilio Medina, was executed by guerillas in Ilocos as the war was ending. My Father’s family suffered losses in Negros because of the same people. I remember my father telling me a story about witnessing his uncle, Castor Canete. Accused of being a Japanese collaborator, he was buried alive.

I can’t help but wonder, how many Filipinos went through the same ordeal? For the sake of their children, how many had to rebuild their lives from scratch?

Japanese collaborators were persecuted and killed at the end of the war. Many of them lie buried with their history, their descendants unaware of what happened to them. Complex and multilayered, their histories are difficult to comprehend.

At the tail end of the war, those believed to have collaborated with the Japanese were persecuted and killed. Many of them lie buried with their history, their descendants oblivious of what happened to them. Their histories are complex and multilayered, difficult to understand.

Even before the war began, that generation was disappearing. Their old world was being dismantled by American policies. There were many Hispanofilipinos who spoke Spanish and lived a way of life influenced by our Hispanofilipino culture.

“It (the American occupation) truncated us from our old world,” wrote the historian Guillermo Gomez Rivera.

As similar to Medina’s story, I had mestizo grandparents who never became part of my life, yet their influence weighs heavy, as if they’re pleading not to be forgotten.

Chance meeting

Andrea Gallo of Università “Ca’ Foscari” Venezia interviewed Medina in 2008, writing about the chance encounter between the author and Angel García, a Hispano-filipino gentleman, at the Philippine embassy in Chile (the following translated from Spanish):

Her reencounter with her “mythical” grandfather took place in Santiago de Chile in 1990. During a buffet at the Philippine Embassy, Elizabeth, by chance, came into contact with a “hispanofilipino” who had known her grandfather and who “delivered, unintentionally, a message from my grandfather.”  It was this unexpected encounter that led the author to “a secret desire to return and recover the point of origin” and made her aware of “the internal need to complete things” (p. 85). For this, she realized that it was necessary to travel, or rather, to travel to those remote regions of memory, in northern Luzon, and see “beautiful” places “in the middle of nowhere” (p. 110), speaking with witnesses who could provide fragments of truth about herself, her family and personal history. The rediscovery of memory: “The psychological importance of such an act transcends the mere revelation of ”true facts“ or anecdotal reality.[1]

In the book, Medina says, on meeting Angel: “Suddenly, it had all become real. Through Angel Garcia, my grandfather reached across a gulf of time and touched me. It gave new purpose to the long trip home that I would soon be making.”

What were the chances of that happening?

[1] Here’s the extract from the interview in the original Spanish: “El reencuentro con el abuelo “mítico” se verificó en Santiago de Chile en 1990. Durante un buffet en la embajada filipina, Elizabeth, por azar, entró en contacto con un “hispanofilipino” que había conocido a su progenitor, el cual: “entregó, sin proponérselo, un mensaje de mi abuelo”. Fue este encuentro no buscado lo que provocó en la autora “un secreto anhelo de volver y recuperar el punto de origen” e hizo crecer en ella el sentido de “la necesidad interna de completar las cosas” (p. 85). Por ello advirtió necesario viajar, o más bien, peregrinar a esas remotas regiones de la memoria, en el norte de Luzón, conociendo “hermosos” lugares “en el medio de la nada” (p. 110), hablando con testigos que pudieran proporcionarle trozos de verdad sobre sí misma, sobre su historia familiar y personal.

Note

While clearing my old laptop of notes and files, I came across this writing. I forgot what it was for (maybe an introduction to Kindle publishing?). Back in 2020ish, I released and edited Elizabeth Medina’s “Sampaguita in the Andes”, adding very few changes since Tita Liz has it almost entirely polished. As of now, there have been few buys of the ebook on Kindle, but it’s fine. The most important thing is that the book is online and accessible to anyone interested for a small fee. Check it out, click here: https://amzn.eu/d/4LG8vqC. – Arnaldo, Singapore Oct 2024

While watching NHK, I saw a short feature on Ueyama Eiichiro, the Japanese inventor of mosquito coil repellants. The fumigant mosquito repellant Filipinos grew up with. Katol is thought to be a Filipinized word for mosquito coils or Katori Senko. It is also the name of a popular brand sold in the country by Azumi and Company of Osaka in the early 1900s.

Initially, Ueyama produced incense katol that lasted no longer than an hour. Developing a design to increase its burn time took him a long time. Ueyama’s wife’s discovery of a coiled snake in their garden led to a breakthrough in design. Instead of making the incense vertically longer, which could be a fire hazard, she suggested coiling it like a snake. He put her name on the first mould he made for the coiled mosquito repellent as a tribute to her.

In the 80s, we were entertained by the Indiana Jones-inspired ad with the tagline “Dragon Katol, lamok siguradong tepok”. Then, children tease other children for acting stupid or slow if they have inhaled katol smoke.

My late father told me katol was around even before the war. The other day, I found old newspaper ads for katol products (marketed as “mosquito destroyer”) that predate his birth year (1935). As he correctly points out, katol has long been around.

In many ways, Katol is like many early Japanese exports that have become so ingrained in our culture that we don’t even recall where they came from; we assume they have always been around. Historian Ambeth Ocampo suggests that halo-halo was a Japanese import.

Many prewar Japanese exports, such as Kikkoman and Asahi Beer, were sold in Manila. These were not available again until after the war when relations with Japan and trade resumed.

Another thing I would like to know is the history of hopia hapon. I enjoyed them as a child, and I still enjoy them today—especially Ho-Land’s hopia hapon. How did it get its name? I heard it’s so named because it has a square and circle in the middle resembling a Japanese flag. Hopia is common in Chinese culture, so we had them before Spain arrived on the islands.

Hopia hapon, to me, is a local version of Japanese red bean buns called anpan. Did the Japanese introduce it to us? It also made sense that it was called Hapon because Japanese red beans were used back then.

The company founded by Ueyama, popularly known as Kincho, is still in business. Pyrethrin (an extract from the Pyrethrum plant) is the main ingredient in old katol. Synthetic pyrethroid has replaced natural pyrethrum. In the mid-1900s, the natural form of pyrethrum was discontinued in favour of the cheaper synthetic form, which we all inhaled as children. It made me wonder if it affected kids of my generation whose parents habitually lit Katols like incense in Chinese temples.

It has been a busy time for me lately between family and work. Though life has been good, things just occupy your mind, and you forget things you normally don’t.

Even I forgot that my late father’s birthday is today.

When we moved to Muntinlupa, Papa began buying at the market food for the weekends in order to save my mother from having to go. Para makapahinga naman ang Nanay sa pamamalengke. He usually bought Kamote or Kamoteng Kahoy for breakfast.

Papa prepares them as his family did during the Japanese occupation. There isn’t much preparation involved—he just boils them!

According to him these are the most accessible food crops during the war. But smoke exposes them to the enemy while preparing them, so they must be cautious.

This connection to his war tales made it memorable to me. His war experiences are constantly repeated to us his children. My brother suspects it was his way of teaching us that life is hard and will never be easy. Our memories of these often harrowing tales were never forgotten, so he succeeded.

Let me go back to what happened this morning.

So, I forgot it was my father’s and brother’s (his junior) birthday. The first minutes of my day are usually spent preparing breakfast and writing in my journal. Then, my mind zoomed into an overwhelming memory: my father’s Kamoteng Kahoy and Kamote! It was so intense that I could taste it and faintly smell it.

What was that?

But, even this was not enough to remind me that it was my father’s birthday. Upon waking up, my wife told me it was.

An unexpected memory evoked out of nowhere.

Of course.

That’s my father. Hoy, nakalimot ka na? siguro ang gusto niya sabihin.

Today would have been his 89th birthday.

This is the Bata Shoe shop on Rizal Avenue and Carriedo Sts. in Sta. Cruz, Manila if I am not mistaken.

Bata is still popular in Malaysia and Singapore, where they are the go-to shoe shop for reliable but cheap shoes. I’ve owned several myself and they’re great. After WWII, they stopped operating in Manila and never reestablished their presence.

As I recall, Czech employees of Bata in Manila volunteered to fight the Japanese during WWII. According to this post from the Czech embassy, they fought in Bataan. My understanding is that the majority of them perished. To keep them in memory, I think it would be good to write about them. Sacrifices of this kind should not be forgotten, and this generation must learn from them.

One of the first books I read in Perpetual Help’s then small library was Quezon’s autobiography, The Good Fight. I found it easy to read. The former president lived an exciting life. Surprisingly, his autobio was not as voluminous. As straightforward as it gets, he wrote more for the people and avoided too much detail.

I enjoy reading the diaries of prominent heroes and leaders as well. I finished reading Ferdinand Marcos Sr’s diary. There is no doubt that his diary is intended for the public. This is odd since diaries are meant to be personal musings. Marcos knows he’ll be read, obvious he was overly conscious writing.

We associate Quezon with our national language (Wikang Pambansa). He wrote about his experiences fighting in a war as a young man, and I’ve been thinking about it because Filipinos seem completely complacent about conflicts with a much larger militaristic state.

During the revolution, Quezon was under the command of General Mascardo. When he first saw combat.

“I heard for the first time in my life the whistle of a bullet. I ducked. Then the number of the flying bullets became too numerous to duck and I felt inside myself an irresistible impulse to run away. Before this, I had a very high opinion of my own valor… But when the test came, I discovered that the fear of death was instinctively quite strong with me. My whole body was shaking and my knees became so weak that I felt they could only carry me if I turned around and ran in the opposite direction, not another step could they take in the direction from which the bullets were coming. “

In his youth, he was an idealistic man who was ready to fight for his country. Though he was assigned to office work, he insisted that he be sent to the front lines.

“Before this, I had a very high opinion of my own valor. Indeed one of the reasons why I asked General Aguinaldo to send me to the front was because I felt pretty certain that I could be one of the national military heroes of Philippine history.”

No doubt, this experience has shaped his perspective on conflict. A coincidental event would lead Quezon and Aguinaldo to meet in Malacanan during the war against the Americans.

“During the day I turned over in my mind whether I should tell Lieutenant Miller of the special mission which General Mascardo had confided to me, and having come to the conclusion that by so doing I would sooner find out whether General Aguinaldo had been captured or not, I decided to do so. Lieutenant Miller said: “Of course, it is true that General Aguinaldo has been captured, he was captured by General Funston in Palanan. He is now a prisoner of war, but he is living in Malacañan Palace where the Military Governor, General Arthur MacArthur, lives, and where he is treated with the utmost courtesy and consideration. I will inform Manila of your mission at once, perhaps they will let you see Aguinaldo with your own eyes.”

“On the afternoon of the following day, a small launch carried me from Mariveles to Manila and I was conducted directly to Malacañan Palace … trembling with emotion, I slowly walked through the hall toward the room, hoping against hope that I would find no one inside. At the door two American soldiers in uniform, with gloves and bayonets, stood on guard. As I entered the room, I saw General Aguinaldo — the man whom I had considered as the personification of my own beloved country, the man whom I had seen at the height of his glory surrounded by generals and soldiers, statesmen and politicians, the rich and the poor, respected and honored by all. I now saw that same man alone in a room, a prisoner of war! It is impossible for me to describe what I felt, but as I write these lines, forty-two years later, my heart throbs as fast as it did then.”

He then relayed to Aguinaldo that Mascardo had asked him to check on him and seek instructions on whether to fight or surrender.

“As you see, I am now a prisoner. I have taken the oath of allegiance to the United States and I have no right directly or indirectly to advise you to go on fighting. On the other hand, if I were to send word to General Mascardo to surrender, he might think that I am acting under duress and he would have the right to disobey me. General Mascardo has to assume the responsibility and decide for himself, whether he wants to surrender or not. If you see him, give him my best regards and tell him what you have seen, that is, that I am in Malacañan, very well treated by the Americans, but a prisoner just the same.. With tears in my eyes, I prayed, “God keep you, Mr. President,” and left. I went to the house of Dr. Alejandro Albert, a former colonel of the Philippine Army, and spent the night there. I did not sleep. I thought of General Aguinaldo, my country and the future — a very dark future as it seemed to me then!

Quezon is more than just a big city and the father of “Wikang Pambansa”. The man and many other historical figures who left behind writings for us to study can teach us so much.

Special thanks go out to Manolo, Pres. Quezon’s grandson for adding “The Good Fight” online. His project The Philippine Diary Project is hands down one of my favorite history sites. It deserves more traffic than what it’s getting.

I look forward to Sundays because I finally get to read (while eating and listening to old love songs). Today, I finished “How to Hide an Empire: A Short History of the Greater United States” by Professor Daniel Immerwahr. 

The book explores the history of American imperialism. Focusing on the territories and colonies that the U.S. has controlled but which often go unmentioned in mainstream historical narratives.

We teach students about the Revolutionary War against Spain in school, but we keep quiet about the brutal Philippine-American war. Genocide is the best way to describe the war conducted by the Americans against the Filipinos.

It is not by accident that American history in the Philippines has been largely scrubbed clean.

How to Hide an Empire challenges readers to rethink everything they know about the U.S. and challenges the denial of American annexation’s negative effects. Such books are highly recommended. 

Napapanahon na para maintindihan natin ang kasaysayan. Kung papaano tayo sinakop ng mga Amerikano at ang mga idinulot nito na nakasama sa atin.

The book mentions Aguinaldo being duped into going back to fight the Spaniards. Only to be barred from entering Manila when they marched towards it. It has been reported that many of his men, including Gen. Cailles, wept over this incident. 

Why wouldn’t they? They were so close to the prize but couldn’t grab it.

Political optics are crucial in the present and the past. Those who capitulated had to surrender to the new masters, and Filipinos were thus denied any legitimacy. 

There’s a power dynamic at work here. Americans have taken advantage of us and have continued to do so up to the present day.

I’ve heard on several occasions Guillermo Gomez Rivera joke that our leaders must have been the dumbest to accept American rule.

To prove his point, he would say that we are the only colonised territory that did not acquire US citizenship rights. My response is that there were many reasons why they didn’t, but I know he is right.

Here is an excerpt from Immerwahr’s book “How to Hide an Empire” on citizenship rights:

Americanized

Why do Filipinos feel an affinity to Americans despite their history of exploiting us since the start?

In my opinion, the events of World War II have legitimized them as our true allies. 

Despite the failure of US military adventures in Vietnam and Afghanistan, we still regard them as our invincible partners who will fight for us. We see this affinity in our leaders’ flocking to them to aid us against thorny neighbours.

I have written this short entry because the book suddenly reminded me of Guillermo Gomez Rivera—the walking encyclopedia of Philippine Spanish history. He is, to my eyes, a panhispanist (even if he disagrees with this).

Since he’s been moved into hospice, I have not heard from Señor Gomez. He was bedridden and unable to speak the last time (December 2023) I saw him in his Makati home.

I have never met a more passionately anti-American scholar. Filipinos were always looked down upon by Americans, he said. 

I hope to visit him one day and talk like we used to. I have heard that he’s had issues remembering now, so perhaps we never be able to talk for hours about history like before. But who knows, maybe he remains sharp when it comes to Philippine history as I remember him to be.

Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de la Naval

Nick Joaquin hails the Spanish-Dutch wars (the naval battles in Spanish Philippine territory) as our history’s greatest largely forgotten conflict. In the eyes of many Filipino historians, the war was only a clash of European powers. As a colony, we only served as a base for defending Spanish interests. For Joaquin, the war meant more—a profound cultural and religious significance lay behind it.

“The battles of La Naval were not just the bloody naval wars between the Dutch and the Filipino-Spanish forces. The battles were not a fight for the supremacy of one religion over another. Those various battles were really one, concerned with the same eternal conflict between fate and freedom, and in each of those wars won through Our Lady’s intercession. The Rosary has always been wielded against the same enemy: Hopelessness and despair.” 

Dutch forces invaded the Philippines in 1646. There were a total of five naval battles. The Spanish fleet routed the Dutch Armada despite being undermanned. Spanish success was attributed to the Virgin’s intervention.

October

Traditionally, every second Sunday of October, a feast is held in honour of the Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de la Naval.

After the Dominicans left Intramuros, all religious activities related to La Naval, including the procession, were moved to Quezon City. The grand procession in Intramuros, which began in October 1646, can now only be read in obscure histories.

The late teacher and author, Lourdes “Nena” Syquia-Bautista remembered La Naval in Intramuros:

To Filipinos, especially of that time, October was La Naval and La Naval was the fiesta par excellence, at least as far as drawing power was concerned. As early as four o’clock in the morning the huge bells would start tolling. But long before that there would be early Mass-goers waiting for the massive doors to open. Masses would continue nonstop at the main and side altars until almost 10 (remember that we fasted from midnight. There were no afternoon Masses then). High Mass was at eight. All these Masses were attended by thousands. Afterwards the crowd would dwindle, only to return in the afternoon for the novena. Devotees came from all over. Out-of-town buses from Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, and Laguna crowded the patio; calesas transported people from nearby suburbs, and residents from Santa Ana, Malate and Tondo, riding on tranvias, alighted at Plaza Lawton and then crossed the Sunken Gardens and the Muralla to get to the church. From black limousines descended society matrons in their elegant ternos, and aristocratic gentlemen in their white de hilo suits. And all of them crowded the church, praying the rosary aloud, singing the hymns, reciting the novena prayers, and listening to the sermons which, to my recollection, were never shorter than 30 minutes. (For your information, all these prayers and songs were said in Spanish and Latin. The sermon was likewise in Spanish, delivered in the florid manner of the times and from the pulpit without a microphone). The climax of the celebration was the procession in the afternoon of the second Sunday of October. One particular procession I will never forget was when I was 12.”

La Naval celebration in Intramuros is now but a distant memory.

Chinese at the gates

Though many devotees still revere our Lady of the Rosary today, the naval battle she helped Filipinos and Spanish win is no longer commemorated and honoured. There was never a naval clash of this scale on our territory until WWII. Somehow, we did not learn about it in school.

As the Chinese aggressively claim territories close to our main islands, some Catholics have called upon Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario de la Naval’s intercession. The Facebook page La Naval de Manila recently posted “oratio imperata” for the increasing tension between China and our country.

ORATIO IMPERATA IN TIMES OF GRAVE TENSION 

O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, the sky and the seas, look kindly on us your children of the Philippine islands, our home, now beset with tensions over our West Philippine Sea.

We pray to you for peace over that part of our islands and waters. We pray that questions over it may be resolved through justice and respect for people’s rights.

We pray that no harm be done to our marine creatures and habitat. We pray that our fellow Filipinos protecting our islands and seas be kept safe from natural and man-made disasters.

Loving God you are wonderful Creator, our generous Provider of good things; send your Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding to our leaders that they resolve this crisis with courage and in the spirit of dialogue. 

Help us all to remain faithful to your Word and obedient to your Will always. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

As a rapidly expanding state, China aims to stretch its resources excessively to meet its citizens’ needs. Apart from fishing, there are other resources in the area that are of interest to all claimants.  The bulk and superiority of China’s military assets have made it the bully. They say everything looks like nails when you’re the hammer.

US activities in the region spur local politicians to want to appear tough and courageous. Often, leaders with poor records want to distract from their incompetence. A wag the dog strategy, as it is called.

The only thing we can do is pray, not for victory in a military conflict, which would leave our country in ruins, but for calm and cooperation between all parties involved. We can only take the diplomatic route since the alternative will lead to nothing positive.

Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval de Manila, Protectress of the Philippines & Patroness of the Philippine Navy, pray for us!

—

Photo courtesy of Justine Uel Abit FB Page

Over the past few years, I have lived part-time in San Pedro Laguna. Part-time because my wife’s parents live there (only her mother now since her father passed away). As a result, we split our vacation time between my ancestral home in Muntinlupa and San Pedro.

In many ways, San Pedro is like other Laguna towns. It is rich in history and culture. But unlike its neighbours, you hardly see any of its tangible heritage today. Urbanization (more appropriately, its government and people) has wiped out most of its material heritage.

I remember a story that Calixto Cataquiz told us. He used to shoot fish with an air gun in the river when it was abundant with fish. With his friends, he dived in it, too. When he assumed the mayorship (1986), the water was still fine and not overly polluted. But factories and houses began to be built along the banks (not only in San Pedro, also in surrounding towns) rapidly, which he conceded he was powerless to stop.

Many of the old houses in town ended up being renovated similarly. With the pressure of land development coming to the poor town of San Pedro, real estate developers began to develop. As is often the case in many of our towns, heritage is never considered when it comes to urban planning.

Swerte na kung maisama sa plano at desenyo pero madalas ay hindi.

Pepe Alas, a fellow heritage blogger, pointed out many years ago that Casa Hacienda is still in the main town near the plaza. Since I drive by the old town often, I was perplexed. “Saan doon?” I inquired. The area does not seem to have any old big structure (as Casa Hacienda surely would have been).

The Dominicans of Laguna, who faced the Rizals of Calamba in a public and contentious land dispute, constructed an administrative office in San Pedro Tunasan town. Here, they housed most of their land administration functions. Now, many historical sites have been saved because of their association with Rizal, but this did not. A short distance from Casa Hacienda is the old church where the miraculous wooden cross of San Pedro Tunasan, cited in Rizal’s Noli, is exhibited.

Currently, there’s a Dominican built Casa Hacienda now used as an elementary school in Naic (Cavite). It played a significant role during the revolution, including Bonifacio’s acta de naic and Aguinaldo’s leadership. It would have been great if San Pedro had retained its version.

A thorough reconstruction has occurred at San Pedro’s Casa Hacienda to make way for offices and shops. Only its name, Casa Hacienda, remains. I don’t understand why they kept it after ruining the old building.

The rapid urbanization and neglect of historic structures would only worsen over time. There is an insatiable need to develop real estate, and the amount of money involved makes it extremely difficult to stop.

When asked if the Torre de Manila must continue, the then-mayor asked what would happen to the community if there were no jobs and no food.

Nakakain ba yan heritage na iyan?

Well, it couldn’t nourish us, yes. However, what kind of people are we if we cannot respect our inherited material heritage to honour our past? Are we not supposed to value history anymore since we are a poor nation?

Ganun na lang ba ang paninindigan natin?

There are indeed laws to protect old structures, both at the national and local levels. Although these are good starts and guidelines, the implementation is lacking. This isn’t new in our country, where laws aren’t always carried out in reality.

Getting back to Casa Hacienda in San Pedro last December (2023), I finally came close to it (by accident). As it looks rundown and unkempt, the reconstruction must have been done decades ago.

I could only imagine what the building would have looked like if it had been preserved. As Filipinos, we should get used to imagining what our old buildings and houses might look like in the future since there will be little left.

Could there be hope for our lesser-known old historical sites? Perhaps there is little hope.

But right now, our underdeveloped country is swept along by an unstoppable juggernaut of land development and urbanization.

Photo from Pepe Alas/ pepealas.wordpress.com/

I guess I’m dating myself with that Boy George song. But no statement could be more true than calling war stupid.

Yes, there are just wars in our history. We fought in full-scale aggressions with the subjugation of our people that occurred in our history. There have been countless sacrifices made by our forebears that we must never forget.

However, most wars aren’t necessary. Most are devised by the same powerful states who manipulate lesser-developed countries into armed conflicts for their benefit.

Our land has never been annexed by China in modern history. Do you know who did? The US and Japan, our biggest allies in the region, did so with pure carnage and violence. Millions of Filipinos in both wars (Philippine-American war and WWII). We often forget these tiny tidbits of our history.

Look. It hasn’t even been 100 years since Japan occupied us, but our memory has already been wiped clean.

When I first visited Sta Cruz Laguna, I wandered around its main town. It was there that I found a modest monument commemorating Chinese fighters who fought the Japanese during WWII.

Filipinos might gain a better understanding of how Chinese, both born on our islands and those who migrated, have been more on our side than Japan and the United States.

Neither the United States nor Japan are without agendas against China. These giants are in tension in both the political and military spheres. In dealing with China, if there are other countries we should emulate, it would be South East Asian countries.

But the aggressive behavior of China in the South China Sea is disappointing to say the least. There have been so many instances in which they have bullied us in the disputed seas.

But the reactions to their provocations should not to bring the US to the fight. Away ng mag-kapitbahay ito. It would not do us any good and lead to further escalation since the US is not interested in diplomatic solutions.

Just look at how the US meddled in Vietnam to Afghanistan and how they handled the opposition. Not many talks and peace calls, but aggressive military action.

Ukraine is a recent example of how the US leads countries into reckless and destructive wars. Over the years, they have meddled in the country’s political affairs. In 2014, they supported a coup in Ukraine. The country is now in a mess because of its design. It is only because Russia is a nuclear power that the US hasn’t sent troops to Ukraine.

Why am I bothering with these things right now in this blog?

This is because we are being led to believe that we can only deal with China through direct conflict.

In response to Chinese incursions, have Indonesia and other claimants decided to harbour US arms and soldiers? No. Without a Western partner, these countries dealt directly with China. For many years, we approached it this way until Marcos Jr made his trip to the US and seemed emboldened to confront China.

For anyone who doubts that the US has been planning to get involved in the territorial dispute, check out the story of the intelligence officers who were killed while conducting covert operations near Scarborough Shoals. This is back in 2008, all US operatives died (or were captured?).

Undoubtedly, the US is not disinterested in the territorial dispute. Why drag them into negotiations with China? Is it to scare China? Such a large and powerful country would not bend. But turning to China’s history with us, our peaceful relationship for centuries may have more positive effects than what Marcos is doing now.

Those who advocate direct confrontation with China, I pray that their heads would clear and that they would act with more sobriety.

No matter how small, lands belonging to us must be defended. The answer isn’t always war, and it shouldn’t be.

Lessons must be learned from the Ukraine war, which was driven by US and Western actions that led to a war that has been raging for years with no end in sight.

We could not afford a war that would destroy the flower of our nation’s youth. We can’t gamble with their lives. They are our future!