Ninoy!

21 August 1983. Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. is assassinated upon the orders of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, triggering a national outrage that exploded into the 1986 People Power Revolution thus ending the autocratic regime of Marcos. Republic Act 9256 subsequently declared August 21 as “Ninoy Aquino Day. Former Senate President Jovito Salonga once [...]

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Lubuagan Centennial

18 August 2008. The municipality of Lubuagan, Kalinga Province, celebrates its 100 years as a municipal unit in a three-day festival dubbed as Lumin-awa (lit., “to be of sound physical and/or spiritual state”). It will be recalled that in 1908 today, Act 1870 of the Philippine Commission carved the old Mountain Province out of northern [...]

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Philippine Independence (2)

04 July 1946. The Philippines gains its political independence from the USA. Some Filipino historians regard this date as the “real” Independence Day and the 12 June 1898 declaration of independence as “fictional” (read Bobby Reyes‘ online article @ bibingka.com).

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La Liga Filipina

03 July 1892. Tondo, Manila. Jose Rizal establishes the “La Liga Filipina,” a nationalistic civic organization that sought, among others, to solidify efforts at seeking redress for injustices committed by Spain against Filipinos. Elected president of the society was Ambrosio Salvador. The founding of the Liga led to Rizal’s arrest by the guardia civil [...]

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“Origins of the Hukbalahap”

You don’t have to be an activist or a communist to appreciate the efforts put into the making of this documentary. Although far from being perfect, it provides us a good backgrounder on one aspect of the social unrest that has plagued the country from the colonial era to the contemporary or post-colonial period. As [...]

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Philippine Independence

12 June 1898. Emilio Aguinaldo declares Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite. The United States and Spain, however, refused to recognize Aguinaldo’s proclamation and proceeded to strike a deal that came to be known as the 1898 Treaty of Paris in which Spain formally and totally relinquished imperial control over the Philippines to the [...]

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Elizalde “Discovers” the Tasaday

07 June 1971. Manuel Elizalde, Jr., head of the now defunct Office of the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN), foists what some scholars dubbed as “the greatest anthropological hoax since piltdown man” by initiating the “first contact” with a supposedly isolated indigenous tribe of 26 individuals dwelling in the mountain fastnesses of Mindanao. For [...]

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GSP Charter Signed

26 May 1940. President Manuel L. Quezon inks the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) charter under Commonwealth Act No. 542. Josefa Llanes Escoda or “Pepang” — acclaimed as “Florence Nightingale of the Philippines” — set her mark on the pages of Philippine history as the GSP’s first national executive. More about this [...]

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Luis Taruc’s Surrender

17 May 1954. Luis Poblete Taruc, the noted commander-in-chief of the HUKBALAHAP (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Mga Hapon - People’s Army Against the Japanese), surrenders to President Ramon Magsaysay after a four-month negotiation with Benigno Aquino Jr. who served as Magsaysay’s representative. Taruc, along with Casto Alejandrino and other revolutionaries, organized the Hukbalahap on [...]

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Corregidor

06 May 1942. 27 days after the fall of Bataan, the combined US and Filipino forces of about 3000 under General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright in Corregidor finally surrender to the Japanese Imperial Army under General Masaharu Homma. Although the US Command in the Philippines folded up in June of that year, thousands of [...]

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World Press Freedom Day

This “World Press Freedom Day” we remember and salute the 96 Filipino journalists killed from 1972-2004 (see Danilo Araña Arao’s article), as well as the 388 journalists slain worldwide from 2003-2007 (see UNESCO report).

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KMU

01 May 1980. The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is established (during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos) to advocate workers’ causes.

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Spanish-American War: Battle of Manila Bay (Cavite)

01 May 1898. Seven days after the US declared war on Spain, Commodore George Dewey’s squadron easily destroys Admiral Patricio Montojo’s fleet after a seven-hour battle in Manila Bay. 63 days later, the infamous (Mock) Battle of Manila would transfer Spanish control over Manila to the US. For detailed online accounts on this event, [...]

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UST

28 April 1611. The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas - Catholic University of the Philippines, reputed to be Asia’s oldest existing university, is established by Miguel de Benavides with the blessings of King Philip II. Originally named Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario and later Colegio de Santo Tomas, it officially became [...]

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Cordillera Day

24 April 1980. Kalinga pangat (tribal chief) Macli-ing Dulag is killed by government troopers led by Lt. Leodegario Adalem in Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga-Apayao (now Kalinga). The cold-blooded murder of Dulag all the more solidified the opposition of the indigenous peoples in the area to the Chico River Basin Hydroelectric Dam Project. Five [...]

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The Gallant Igorots of Bataan

While watching on TV some of our remaining WWII veterans who joined yesterday’s 66th commemoration of the “Fall of Bataan,” I was reminded of the stirring accounts of heroism in Bataan which I have come across in my readings, one of which is the gallantry shown by fearless Igorots who fought alongside American troopers. [...]

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Fall of Bataan

09 April 1942. Following an all-out, relentless air, land and sea assault launched six days earlier, the Japanese imperial forces finally overwhelm the gallant defenders of Bataan thus ending a gory three-month battle. The next day, the surrendering Filipino and American forces of Bataan under the command of General Edward P. King would [...]

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World War II: Gen. Masaharu Homma’s Execution

03 April 1946. Lt. General Masaharu Homma dies by firing squad in Los Baños, Laguna. The “poet general” (an epithet given to him for his love of literature) was tried and sentenced to death for his supposed direct involvement in the Bataan Death March atrocities.
For an account of his trial, see Hampton Sides’ [...]

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Philippine-American War: Aguinaldo’s Capture

23 March 1901 marks the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the 1st Philippine Republic, by General Frederick Funston and his four American officers through the aid of 80 Filipino soldiers belonging to a group of mercenaries called “Macabebe Scouts.” (For a long, distinguished history of the Macabebe Scouts, see John Alan Larkin’s article).

Recommended Reading: [...]

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