MINIATURES

    In his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Jose Rizal shares insights into how Christmas is celebrated in the Philippines. Throughout their friendship and correspondence, Rizal consistently took the time to convey his holiday greetings to the Blumentritt family. What makes this particular letter fascinating is Rizal's mention of the old Teutonic-German tradition of setting up a Christmas Tree, known as the 'Christbaumfest,' which is exclusively practiced in German-speaking regions on Christmas Eve. Rizal admired and embraced this tradition, going so far as to share it with his family back home. In the same letter to Blumentritt, Rizal, perhaps feeling homesick, penned the following description of Christmas in the Philippines: "At home, the entire family comes together for a midnight dinner; the children adorn a Belen with figurines of the Child Jesus, shepherds, animals, and more. This season is the most beautiful and delightful time we have in the Philippines....

December 7, 1941 -- Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan which was then followed by bombings of US bases in the Philippines and the subsequent landings of Japanese troops in Lingayen.-- Because of the International Dateline (IDL), it was December 8. 1941 in Manila -- The Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion. Mass was being celebrated in Pasig Church when the news of the bombing of Hawaii began to spread in the town.  MANOLO LOZADA He arrived at the venue sporting a distinctive Breton hat, a choice that, I must admit, suited him well—not for making him look younger, but for the intrigue it could generate as the "man in a hat." However, to many Pasiguenos of another generation, and to those who recognized the worth of the man, he is "Tito Manolo," the owner and proprietor of the city's oldest "panaderia," known as "Dimas-Alang," an artist-painter, and the brother of the much-celebrated Filipina violinist, the late Carmencita Lozada. Manolo Lozada w...

  He possessed the most lethal-sounding nom de guerre of his generation - El Vibora, the Viper. He once pointed out that he was there, at the early beginnings - the initial pace of the armed struggle. One of the many children of the events of 1872. He was initially associated with the Supremo and Cavite's Magdiwang council. In the attack he led against the Spanish garrison of San Francisco de Malabon (Gen Trias, Cavite), it is said that El Vibora, along with his men, posed as customers in a carenderia, waiting for the ideal time to launch the attack. The symbolism of the carenderia must have held significance for him, as he later named his restaurant-quasi tambayan "Karihan," in his place of exile - Yokohama, Japan. A man of contradictions, was he an "oportunista" or "segurista"? And although he was Ilocano by birth, he is undoubtedly a fine specimen of "cavitismo." This owes to his true loyalty to his adoptive province. He remained ...

Larawan ng ilan sa mga kilalang miyembro ng noo'y Berliner Anthropologische Gesellschaft (Berlin Anthropological Society). Kuha ito sa kanila taunang "Tagung" or excursion noong 1885. Napansin ko agad na marami sa kanila ay may dalang payong. Prominente sa larawan yung may no.5 sa ulo, hawak ang kanyang payong -- Siya ay walang iba kundi ang pamosong Aleman, siyentipiko at parliamentarian na si Dr. Rudolf Virchow, isang tunay na "Renaissance Man. Sabi nga ehh, Virchow challenged both the authority of the State and Religion. Hinamon daw ito ng duelo mismo ni Otto von Bismarck, dahil napikon ang Bismarck sa batikos ni Virchow tungkol sa isyu ng militarisasyong na nangyayari noon sa sandatahang lakas ng Imperyong Aleman. Ang simbahan Katolika naman ay naging katungali ni Virchow sa isyu ng separation of church and state pati na rin ang kapangyarihan ng sektor ng pang relihiyon lalu na nga ang Katolisismo gamitin ang kanilang pulpito upang batikusin ang inaakala nitong m...

  I'm rereading Max Frisch's most popular opus; Man in control of his being, his technology, and surroundings, as the Latin term defines, "Homo faber". What if your rational "Weltbild" is challenged by a series of events that defies logic? Shall we depend on the use of percentages, statistics, or the truth of numbers? Are there such things as equations of accidents and coincidences? I first encountered Frisch in a discussion (I felt it was a debate) around a table filled with various sweets and cups of brewed coffee. In a dismal Zurich weather, the people around challenged me to give my opinion about the writer, who I only knew then in some magazine articles. A young colleague who prided herself belonging to a family of traditional village cheese makers sarcastically smiled at me, her eyes glowed with schadenfroh glee as if saying to hell with your Third World Literature, having labeled me before as disseminator of the narratives of pain and the displaced de...

  He was given a name quiet unheard of even during his time. How many people shared the name "Paciano"? On the other hand his younger brother was called Jose or Pepe, a very common name that even has popular Americanized versions like Joe, Joseph or Joey. Actually their names could also be taken as a mirror of the big disparity of fate and personality. But on close scrutiny we maybe are looking at the alter ego of each one-- Each one a mirror of the other? Much of what can be said about the Pepe-Paciano relationship could be deciphered in their collected correspondence. Yet many people would find it odd that brothers communicated mostly in Spanish, somehow too formal and stiff to be labeled as correspondence between siblings. It will not also help our understanding of the said relationship if we consider the writing style of Jose Rizal in many of his letters. Somehow one has this feeling that our national hero was not only writing to the person to whom the letter was addres...

  The first page of Julio Nakpil's "Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan". Right away one would desire to know if this was the original manuscript of the said hymn? But then this first page  also yielded some information about the history of the music itself --  On the top of the music line and below the title, its written: "Himmo Nacional" BALARA Nov. 1896. -- Balara was one of the high grounds controlled by the group of Bonifacio. The date indicate that months after the supposed debacle in Pinaglabanan Bonifacio's base was Balara,  yet the movements and reconnaissance of the group were never really restricted. One proof was Nakpil's  said meeting of  the Katipunan men who fetched him  in Manila weeks after the outbreak of the revolution of August of 1896. Somehow around that time upon reaching Balara, he was commissioned by the Supremo to write a national anthem--The date he finished the said music, November 1896. As written by Nakpil on top-- It is a ...

  A Legacy of Resistance --The Enduring Symbol of Our Flag We frequently encounter old photographs depicting Filipinos at the turn of the 20th century, clutching white flags. This era, marked by American control over much of Luzon, saw the indigenous population – young and old alike – under constant suspicion of insurgency. The white flag served as a desperate plea, signifying their noncombatant status and intent to simply go about their daily lives. However, American soldiers subjected them to searches nonetheless. Examining the history of Filipinos and their flags reveals a deep-seated connection. As early as the American arrival in Manila Bay in 1898, the US Expeditionary Force bristled at the sight of Filipinos proudly displaying their national emblem. Reports documented small civilian fleets and bancas adorned with Philippine flags dotting the waters around Manila Bay, prompting the Americans to confiscate many of them. This aversion to national symbols culminated in the passa...

  The news material was from a Manila newspaper .1920s. The photo was just superimposed -- With Antonio Abad interviewing Janolino. Can anyone tell the reason for the existence and also the duty of the Kawit detachment, battalion, troop... whatever? Somehow it has a vague order and command. This group of Cavitenos perhaps had only one defined role, being the extra and ultra military exponent of Cavitismo and "Aguinaldismo" -- If I may say. They might have been true patriots at the beginning of the revolution, abled men who were with Aguinaldo during Cavite's glorious run against the Spanish Forces, but what happened to them after politics took its divisive role in the revolution was a different story. We define "henchman" in Tagalog as "tirador or the much blunt version perhaps would be "taga-tumba". The Bonifacio brothers were said to be , one of the first victims of the "tiradors" of Cavitismo. But there was a certain Col. Ignacio Paua...

Nobody personifies Carlism better in the Philippines than Carlos Maria de la Torre--Photographed here when he was an officer in the Carlist Army. The Rise and Evolution of Carlism in Spain Carlism emerged as a potent force in 19th-century Spain due to a dynastic crisis within the Bourbon monarchy. It pitted one branch of the family against another, with supporters of Don Carlos, Count of Molina, challenging the legitimacy of Isabella II's claim to the throne. This initial focus on succession morphed into a broader ideological movement. Carlists championed a return to traditional values, advocating for a strong monarchy, Catholicism as the state religion, and fueros (regional privileges) – particularly appealing in areas like the Basque Country. This ideology naturally clashed with the prevailing winds of change. As Spain grappled with economic hardship following the loss of its American colonies, liberals and progressives advocated for reforms, including restrictions on the Church...

  In his letter to his family, dated 6. February 1886 from Heidelberg, Germany, Jose Rizal describes German life to his family rather candidly: "La vida alemana no es desagradable, solo que está llena de patatas. A cualquier cosa, patatas: por la mañana y por la noche. A la noche se toma té con patatas y carne fría.. Translation: "German life is not unpleasant, it is just full of potatoes. To anything, potatoes: in the morning and at the night. At night tea is taken with potatoes and cold meat." Incidentally, there is one cartoon drawn by Rizal when he was in Germany describing the consequences of an early morning farting of a man named Alfred. Incredibly our national hero used the German term "Bombardierung"(Bombardment) to put the utmost humor into the cartoon where the scene was of funny chaos. Perhaps the result of too many potatoes? By the way, the German word for potato is "Kartoffel". In Swiss-German it is much more fanciful, they call it ...