MINIATURES

I have always associated Taiwan with its old colonial name, Formosa, and with the 17th-century Chinese general, Koxinga. In the early 1600s, Koxinga captured Formosa from the Dutch and used it as a base to challenge Spanish Manila. Meanwhile, the island is also known as the first settlement of Austronesian peoples, who began migrating southward around 3000 BC, eventually reaching the Philippines and spreading across the Pacific. These layers of history—military, colonial, and ancestral—have long shaped my imagination of Formosa, and they set the backdrop for my own journey there. I finally experienced the “Formosa” of my imagination when I was chosen to present my paper the IASPM-SEA - International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference, August 6 to 8, 2025, at National Taiwan University in Taipei, themed “Peripheries, Margins, and Ambiguities Across Borders in Southeast Asia.” My paper discusses on the social realities and struggles of Filipino musicians in the local g...

Prelude-The British Invasion of Manila during the Seven Years’ War Simón de Anda defense of the Philippines against British Indian attacks Alegoría de la defensa de Filipinas The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) was a global conflict driven by colonial rivalries. In 1762, Spain joined the war on France’s side and attempted to invade Portugal, a British ally. In response, Britain ordered the British East India Company to attack Manila, a Spanish colony in Asia. A diverse British force—over 6,000 strong—led by Brigadier General William Draper and Vice Admiral Samuel Cornish, sailed from Madras, India, to Manila. Their troops included British regulars, Indian Sepoys, African Caffrees, Lascars, Portuguese Topazes, and even French prisoners of war conscripted into British service. At the time, Manila was under the weak leadership of Archbishop Manuel Rojo del Río y Vieyra, who lacked military experience. With no knowledge that war had already begun, the Spanish were caught off guard when the Br...

Violinist Luis C Valencia Fondly called by his friends, peers and students as "Maestro Popoy" In late 1936, Luis C. Valencia came to the attention of Austrian violin pedagogue Gottfried Feist—it was mainly due to his triumph in Manila in a contest that would determine who would represent the Philippines in the 1937 Eugene Ysaÿe Violin Competition, named after the Belgian violin virtuoso. Valencia, then under the tutelage of Ernesto Vallejo, topped the competition—thereby earning a trip to Brussels. Luis Valencia was born in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija. In his teens, he went to Manila and enrolled at the UP Conservatory of Music, studying the violin under the freshly returned-from-U.S.-studies Ernesto Vallejo. In between, he became concertmaster of the Manila Symphony Orchestra under Austro-Hungarian conductor Alexander Lippay. Incidentally, it was Valencia who was one of the early popularizers of Kreisler pieces in Manila--Playing it in salon musicale and evening performance (soiree)...

Unang Mga Balita sa Masamang Sinapit ni Bonifacio Noong Mayo 10, 1897, binitay si Supremo Andrés Bonifacio ng sariling pamahalaang Pilipino na pinamumunuan ni Pangulong Emilio Aguinaldo. Sa panahong iyon, hindi agad nalaman sa Maynila ang totoong sinapit ng Supremo. Gayunman, sa mga kumalat na balita, nabanggit na mayroong hidwaan sa pagitan ng panig ni Aguinaldo at ni Bonifacio. Narito ang isang ulat mula sa isang pahayagan sa Sevilla, Espanya, na may petsang ika-15 ng Mayo, 1897, na nagbabalita hinggil sa naturang pangyayari: "Ang nasabing katutubo ay isa sa mga huling empleyado ng kompanyang Fessell, ngunit inihalal ng mga kasapi ng Katipunan upang gampanan ang tungkulin bilang pangulo ng konseho. Ang iba pang mga ministro ay may kaparehong kalagayan at hindi rin higit ang taglay na katalinuhan, kaya’t maaaring ipagpalagay na ang tinatawag na pamahalaan ay isa lamang pantabing na ginagamit upang pagtakpan ang mga tunay na pinuno ng kilusang insurrekto. Si Andrés Bonifacio, na m...

  I have been intrigued by Panecillos de San Nicholas, a delicately molded biscuit available at Panaderia Dimas-Alang in Pasig, one of the oldest surviving bakeries in the country. It is modestly labeled as “San Nicholas bread” in their glass display, yet not many people coming in the bakery perhaps know that the name and form carry a deep legacy. My fascination with it began when I started exploring the intersection of early local industries and the spread of Catholicism—an inquiry that naturally led me to the history of the construction of the Pasig Cathedral. Panecillos available at Panaderia Dimas-Alang , Pasig Why should a study of local history begin with a biscuit named after a medieval saint? San Nicholas of Tolentino, a 13th-century Augustinian friar from central Italy, was said to have received a shortbread-like loaf from the Virgin Mary after a long period of fasting. The bread miraculously restored his health. In time, San Nicho...