MINIATURES

If you go out to buy something at that time, people will always insist that your money: "Dapat may tatak ng Bagong Lipunan." Imagine that, the Marcos ideology, his envisioned new society seen in the most widely circulated object, nothing else but banknotes. The battle to win the minds of the people cleverly executed? Once in an afternoon, there was a commotion in the outski rt of our barrio; young people were shouting, "Nariyan na ang PC!" True enough, elements of the constabulary started rounding up young males with long hair. Ginupitan lahat ng long hair. The word curfew became a dreaded term because once caught in the forbidden hour of the night, you'll inevitably spend the rest of it in the precinto. And in the morning when you wake up behind bars, you'll probably hear the morning radio or even TV with the "Bagong Lipunan March." It was so monotonous and repetitive that up to now, the lyrics are still in my head. Law and government becam

I have imagined the cargo of wine carried by the so-called "Armada de Maluco" of Ferdinand Magellan in his voyage to the Spice Islands. According to the Seville archives, the armada of 5 ships was loaded with 508 butts of wine from Jerez de la Frontera. One butt is approximately 60 to 80 gallons. Could we equate one butt to middle size barrels? Yes, it is possible.  So we can imagine that each ship could have carried close to ten barrels, some even more. People would wonder, perhaps, if it was a happy trip after all. Never. In the 270 men that started the journey, only 18 were able to return to Europe. Precisely 500 years ago today, Magellan's armada left the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda heading towards the Canary Islands (Islas Canarias).

The Basi revolt happened when the Spanish colonial government implemented a monopoly on the Ilocano's favorite liquor by banning private production -- September 1807. Proper documentation of the event may well be the 14 frames painted by Ilocano artist Esteban P. Villanueva, the most interesting of which is the depiction of the great comet of 1807 (C/1807 R1) in the Philippine sky.  I always say it is our version of the famous Bayeux Tapestry, the medieval portrayal of the Battle of Hastings (1066) whereby the very first image of the appearance of Halley's comet was presented -- the comet being the bringer of evil omen.