MINIATURES

  Execution in Cavite September 1896 Days after the Katipunan's attack in San Juan, Manila was gripped by the fear of a full-fledged insurrection, similar in magnitude to that in Cuba, spreading to the suburbs and nearby provinces in a short time. The Spanish crown, already challenged by dwindling resources due to years of fighting revolutionaries in its prized Caribbean possessions, was frantic to avert another impending disaster. Other European powers were eagerly eyeing their hidden interests in the Pacific, waiting for Spain to finally fall. Meanwhile, the American press continued to entice the American public with the idea of U.S. intervention in the Cuban conflict. At the start of the revolution, the colonial government in the Philippines rounded up suspected leaders and sympathizers of the uprising. It first vented its anger and vengeance on its known critics, the "Ilustrados," some of whom curiously returned to the Philippines from Europe one by one just before th...

The young children of Pasig Parochial School 1935 The photo highlights my high school Alma Mater-- Pasig Catholic College (1935). Back then, PCC was known as just a small parochial school offering primary to secondary education. There are a couple of interesting things to see in the photo. First, there's the banner in the background featuring a cross. To be more specific, it is a "Maltese Cross," characterized by its eight pointed edges. This banner symbolizes the medieval Catholic order known as the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, or simply "The Knights Hospitaller," founded in Jerusalem during the turbulent years of the Crusades. During our student days at PCC, we often wondered why the Belgian fathers (CICM) used such symbols as Templar Knights, medieval crosses, and the Crusades. Are they somehow connected to the legend that Catholic military orders, such as the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller, still exist secretly? W...

  Manila chronicles its founding in an edict issued on the 24th of June, 1571, declaring the palisade-enclosed township as a territory of the Virreinato de Nueva España. This marked Manila's Hispanic beginning, intriguingly not directly with Spain, but with the Americas, specifically Mexico, where the Viceroy or the unroyal second king represented the Spanish crown. Thus, Manila itself was a colony of a colony, brought into existence under the labors and stewardship of an aging conquistador from Gipuzkoa, a region the Spaniards called "Pais Vasco" (Basque region). This conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, was given the old Medieval title of adelantado, or "advancer." The Basques, or "Vascos," spoke an ancient language not related to the Latin-Romance languages like the dominant "Castellano" (from which native Filipinos derived the term Kastila). Proud of their heritage, it is often questioned how Legazpi communicated with his inner circle, ...

Illustration -- Petra Bernardo by Carlos "Botong" Francisco In the mid-1930s, a story emerged in newspapers and discussions about a certain Petra Bernardo, purportedly a woman general in the Katipunan. According to one narrative, the Supremo personally knew her and even tasked her to lead a "sandatahan," a unit armed with bolos and machetes—a woman general of the so-called "cuerpo macheteros." Is there truth to the story of Petra Bernardo? Her story begins in Dinalupihan, Bataan, where, according to one account, she was born to Florentino Bernardo and Narcisa de los Reyes in 1860. The family moved to Manila when Petra was young but later relocated back to Bataan. In 1893, she married Silverio Husayan. Strangely enough, after this period, she was known as "Petrang Anting Anting" and lived in Zambales with a niece. In 1895, Petra Bernardo was invited by a relative to Manila and was drawn to the Katipunan in Cavite the following year. She was said t...

  Fernando Cano y Faustino (1860-1938) Sometime 1883, in a letter from Madrid to his family back in Calamba, Jose Rizal mentioned a "paisano" who will be their special guest in a dinner party at Antonio Paterno's place. The guest was none other than Fernando Canon whom Rizal referred to in the letter as "celebridad guitarrista" (celebrity guitarist) . Canon that time was beginning to be noticed in Madrid musical salons with his guitar performances. Rizal then continued: "dentro de algunos años quizás será el mejor en Madrid" -- In a few years he will perhaps be the best in Madrid. The celebrity guitarist was not really new to Rizal or even to the Mercado family-- Fernando Canon like Rizal was from Laguna, born in Biñan . The Filipino expats had really something to celebrate, , Canon was probably one of the first Filipinos (mestizo or Indio Filipino ) featured in some soirée intime in Spain-- (Unless we find articles mentioning Manuel Luna , in a b...

We always wanted a tamarind tree to prosper in our backyard. It never did. I must say, it is one of our true frustrations. My mother used to say that we just have to throw the tamarind seed, spitting it out from our mouth onto the ground after munching the flesh of the ripe fruit. Don’t bite hard or you might crack the seed, thereby leaving the pungent taste on your tongue. The seed that hits the ground will germinate — it never happened. We had papaya trees, rambutans, kamias, guyabano, and even banana trees but the tamarind was a desire. It was highly demanded in our household cooking, not only for “sinigang” but also for another native recipe called “pinangat”. In my younger years, our mornings were often greeted by the familiar calls of women fish vendors making their rounds. Our barrio, Pinagbuhatan in Pasig, lay close to the winding channels that linked the Pasig River to the vast waters of Laguna de Bay. Two kinds of fish were always offered or sold by these ambulant sellers sho...

  Gestern Abend hat mich ein Artikel über das Studentenleben an der École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in den frühen Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts fasziniert, während der letzten Zeit der Troisième République oder in manchen Fällen auch der Belle Epoque. Anfangs konnte ich nicht umhin, es mit Juan Luna in Verbindung zu bringen, doch dann wurde mir plötzlich klar, dass es eigentlich nicht seine Zeit oder gar seine Institution war – sondern vielmehr um seinen Sohn Andres ging. Es war ein Paris, das mit den Experimenten einer tieferen Gesellschaft begann – dunkel, provokativ, verborgen und doch drohte es, sich zu verflüchtigen und die moralischen Ansprüche der Zeit in Frage zu stellen. Die Kriegsjahre hatten viel von der bürgerlichen Fassade abgetragen, doch als die Dinge wieder ihren gewohnten Alltag aufnahmen, wurde überall gefeiert. Dennoch dachte ich an die Provokationen von Rimbaud, wie er den Weg zu einer kompromisslosen Kultur ebnete – surreal und absurd. Es ist eines, das die Anonymi...