AMBETH OCAMPO LECTURES AT AYALA MUSEUM ON : “CHASTITY COVERS, PENIS IMPLEMENTS, AND THE BOXER CODEX: EXPLORING PHILIPPINE PRE-HISTORY”
The complete story of the Philippines and the Filipinos remains to be written. Since it is a long and complex story that depends on written records, how do we tackle pre-history? Jose Rizal took up the challenge when he annotated Antonio de Morga’s “Sucesos de las islas Filipinas” (1609) and published a new edition in 1890 because he believed that “to know the destiny of a nation, one has to open the book of her past”.
Today we have clues into Philippine pre-history from archeological artifacts supplemented by our earliest written records. In an illustrated lecture Ambeth Ocampo will introduce the collections of the Ayala Museum to explore how and why our past has been re-presented in the continuing search for that elusive thing we call national identity.
Ambeth Ocampo writes a widely-read editorial page column on history for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University. He is Chairman of the National Historical Institute.
The lecture will be held on November 28 at the Ayala Museum Ground Floor Lobby. The same lecture will be delivered twice: one at 1030AM and another at 130PM. Participation in the lecture is Php200 for students and Ayala Museum members and Php300 for regular adults. The price includes admission to all galleries of the museum.
Ayala Museum is located at the corner of Makati Avenue and De la Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City. For reservations and inquiries, please call 757-7117 to 21 local 28 or 29 or visit our website at www.ayalamuseum.org
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Hidden history of the Pasig river
Hidden history of the Pasig River
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:45:00 09/09/2009
Filed Under: Environmental Issues, history
When it rains I am happy for the Pasig River because its thick polluted water will be diluted. The water level will then be higher and its stench will be reduced.
It is sad that the river that has played a role in the history of the capital is practically dead in the sense that it cannot sustain fish and other pleasant aquatic life. The Pasig River may be dead to all but organisms that promote diseases.
When people speak about the beauty of Metro Manila, they speak in the past tense. When people speak about the romantic Pasig River, they also speak in the past tense.
Today there is a river ferry that can take you from Guadalupe to Escolta in less than an hour, compared to a ride through traffic-choked streets. The river ferry is air-conditioned, efficient, comfortable. Using the river again for transportation is like going back in time.
Alejandro Roces said it best when he described the Pasig as a short river with a long history. It is only 25 kilometers long, dividing Metro Manila in two parts, north and south. It is a long artery connecting Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. Depending on the season, the flow of the river changes: during the dry season when water levels are low, the flow depends on the tide, but during the wet season water flows from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay passing through Laguna, Taguig, Taytay, Pasig, Makati, Mandaluyong and Manila.
How the water flows gives us a clue into the origin of the name “Pasig” which is said to be rooted in a Sanskrit word that describes “a river that flowed from one body of water to another.” But despite this highly plausible linguistic explanation for its name, everyone is still drawn to the tragic legend of the lovers Virgilio and Paz: They were being separated by their parents, so they decided to elope and make their escape via the Pasig, but poor Virgilio fell off the banca (boat) and the terrified Paz realized he didn’t know how to swim. As he sank into the water, coming up thrice gasping for air, he struggled and shouted, “Paz! Sigue me! (Paz! save me!)” His famous last words are “Paz! Sig...?” This is the most popular story on the origin of Pasig.
Another etymological explanation is that in Spanish the river was known as “El rio de Pasig.” Its short form “el Pasig” happens to be an anagram of “Legaspi.” And that’s Miguel Lopez de Legaspi who founded Spanish Manila in 1571.
Pasig is a river with much history. It is what the Thames is to London, what the Seine is to Paris, what the Tiber is to Rome. The Pasig could be an alternative tourist attraction, except that our bridges are not as old or as pretty as those along the Seine.
There are 13 bridges that cross the Pasig from end to end: Bambang Bridge (a.k.a Napindan), C-5 Road Bridge, Guadalupe Bridge, Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge, Sevilla Bridge, Lambingan Bridge (which Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim wants to rename Corazon Aquino Bridge), Pandacan Bridge (a.k.a. P. Zamora), Mabini Bridge (formerly Nagtahan), Ayala Bridge, Quezon Bridge, McArthur Bridge, Jones Bridge, and Roxas Bridge (formerly Del Pan). All these bridges were given a face-lift in the centennial years leading to 1998, but only Mabini remains. Huge brass profiles of Mabini ornament the sides and at night the bridge has lights that change colors, reminding motorists of the interiors of seedy bars in the former red-light district in Ermita that bears the name of the “Sublime Paralytic.”
The Pasig is older than Manila or May-nila (not “May nilad” as propagated by the ignorant). The Pasig is older than all the other cities that have grown along its banks. Archeological excavations in Sta. Ana revealed fantastic grave goods, Chinese ceramics dating from the 11th to the 14th century, a time long before Magellan was even born.
Today the Pasig gives the visitor a different view of the metropolis. It shows you the city from the river.
A cruise down the Pasig also helps us imagine how people traveled in the past, making us realize that the way we see and describe our surroundings has already been formed by our history. For example, when you ask children taking Araling Panlipunan to describe the Philippines, they will probably say, “The Philippines is an archipelago, a country comprised of a group of islands separated by water.” While not entirely false, this statement would not have been the way a Filipino in pre-Spanish times described the archipelago. For a person who lived in the age before the coming of the wheel and the horse, for a person who lived before the construction of roads and bridges, the archipelago would have been a group of islands connected by water. In pre-Spanish times people traveled in boats. Isn’t the smallest unit in our government known as the barangay, from the pre-Spanish boat balanghai? River and sea were not obstacles to the pre-Spanish Filipino. For them water connected rather than separated islands. Water connected river banks bringing people and goods together.
I have been fascinated by the Pasig for many years and have not lost my enthusiasm for its hidden history. One can only hope that more people will travel on it to appreciate both its present and its past.
When the Pasig is cleaned up and revived, then we will not speak of it in the past tense anymore.
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:45:00 09/09/2009
Filed Under: Environmental Issues, history
When it rains I am happy for the Pasig River because its thick polluted water will be diluted. The water level will then be higher and its stench will be reduced.
It is sad that the river that has played a role in the history of the capital is practically dead in the sense that it cannot sustain fish and other pleasant aquatic life. The Pasig River may be dead to all but organisms that promote diseases.
When people speak about the beauty of Metro Manila, they speak in the past tense. When people speak about the romantic Pasig River, they also speak in the past tense.
Today there is a river ferry that can take you from Guadalupe to Escolta in less than an hour, compared to a ride through traffic-choked streets. The river ferry is air-conditioned, efficient, comfortable. Using the river again for transportation is like going back in time.
Alejandro Roces said it best when he described the Pasig as a short river with a long history. It is only 25 kilometers long, dividing Metro Manila in two parts, north and south. It is a long artery connecting Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. Depending on the season, the flow of the river changes: during the dry season when water levels are low, the flow depends on the tide, but during the wet season water flows from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay passing through Laguna, Taguig, Taytay, Pasig, Makati, Mandaluyong and Manila.
How the water flows gives us a clue into the origin of the name “Pasig” which is said to be rooted in a Sanskrit word that describes “a river that flowed from one body of water to another.” But despite this highly plausible linguistic explanation for its name, everyone is still drawn to the tragic legend of the lovers Virgilio and Paz: They were being separated by their parents, so they decided to elope and make their escape via the Pasig, but poor Virgilio fell off the banca (boat) and the terrified Paz realized he didn’t know how to swim. As he sank into the water, coming up thrice gasping for air, he struggled and shouted, “Paz! Sigue me! (Paz! save me!)” His famous last words are “Paz! Sig...?” This is the most popular story on the origin of Pasig.
Another etymological explanation is that in Spanish the river was known as “El rio de Pasig.” Its short form “el Pasig” happens to be an anagram of “Legaspi.” And that’s Miguel Lopez de Legaspi who founded Spanish Manila in 1571.
Pasig is a river with much history. It is what the Thames is to London, what the Seine is to Paris, what the Tiber is to Rome. The Pasig could be an alternative tourist attraction, except that our bridges are not as old or as pretty as those along the Seine.
There are 13 bridges that cross the Pasig from end to end: Bambang Bridge (a.k.a Napindan), C-5 Road Bridge, Guadalupe Bridge, Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge, Sevilla Bridge, Lambingan Bridge (which Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim wants to rename Corazon Aquino Bridge), Pandacan Bridge (a.k.a. P. Zamora), Mabini Bridge (formerly Nagtahan), Ayala Bridge, Quezon Bridge, McArthur Bridge, Jones Bridge, and Roxas Bridge (formerly Del Pan). All these bridges were given a face-lift in the centennial years leading to 1998, but only Mabini remains. Huge brass profiles of Mabini ornament the sides and at night the bridge has lights that change colors, reminding motorists of the interiors of seedy bars in the former red-light district in Ermita that bears the name of the “Sublime Paralytic.”
The Pasig is older than Manila or May-nila (not “May nilad” as propagated by the ignorant). The Pasig is older than all the other cities that have grown along its banks. Archeological excavations in Sta. Ana revealed fantastic grave goods, Chinese ceramics dating from the 11th to the 14th century, a time long before Magellan was even born.
Today the Pasig gives the visitor a different view of the metropolis. It shows you the city from the river.
A cruise down the Pasig also helps us imagine how people traveled in the past, making us realize that the way we see and describe our surroundings has already been formed by our history. For example, when you ask children taking Araling Panlipunan to describe the Philippines, they will probably say, “The Philippines is an archipelago, a country comprised of a group of islands separated by water.” While not entirely false, this statement would not have been the way a Filipino in pre-Spanish times described the archipelago. For a person who lived in the age before the coming of the wheel and the horse, for a person who lived before the construction of roads and bridges, the archipelago would have been a group of islands connected by water. In pre-Spanish times people traveled in boats. Isn’t the smallest unit in our government known as the barangay, from the pre-Spanish boat balanghai? River and sea were not obstacles to the pre-Spanish Filipino. For them water connected rather than separated islands. Water connected river banks bringing people and goods together.
I have been fascinated by the Pasig for many years and have not lost my enthusiasm for its hidden history. One can only hope that more people will travel on it to appreciate both its present and its past.
When the Pasig is cleaned up and revived, then we will not speak of it in the past tense anymore.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
PASIG RIVER CRUISE
A Pasig River Cruise
with Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo, Chairman, National Historical Institute
Saturday, 5 September 2009
2 pm to 5 pm
Organized by the Museum Foundation of the Philippines
P800 flat rate for members and non-members
The Pasig River is the major artery that runs through the heart of Manila. Long suffering from the effects of pollution and environmental degradation, renewed efforts are underway for its revival as a viable resource Filipinos can be proud of. Learn about its fabled place in history while seeing Metro Manila from a different vantage point aboard an air-conditioned ferry boat as it winds through the now urban towns of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and Marikina. A rare opportunity will be the brief stopover for a simple merienda at Malacanang Park.
Meeting point will be at 1 pm at the Sanctuario de San Antonio parking lot in McKinley Road, Forbes Park, Makati City. Participants will be brought back by bus to this point at the end of the tour.
For reservations and inquiries, please contact Elvie or Mae at the Museum Foundation of the Philippines office: Tel 404 2685 or 0928 503 9392.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Cory Day? Not yet.
From the Manila Standard
Aquino as hero? Hold your horses, says historian
by Fel V. Maragay
THE chairman of the National Historical Institute yesterday cautioned lawmakers against a proposal to declare the late President Corazon Aquino a national hero by legislation.
Testifying before the Senate, Ambeth Ocampo said historians normally waited for at least 10 years after the death of a patriotic figure to gain a historical perspective before endorsing any proposal to make him or her a national hero.
Even in the process of canonizing saints, proponents had to wait five years, he added.
“We cannot legislate heroes. Heroes are made by acclamation, and I think we have seen that in Cory’s case. But we still need some perspective,” Ocampo told the Senate committee on education, arts and culture led by Senator Mar Roxas.
Within days of Mrs. Aquino’s death on Aug. l, Roxas filed Senate Joint Resolution 28 to declare Jan. 25, her birth date, as Corazon Aquino Day.
At the House of Representatives, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza went farther by proposing that the country’s first woman president be declared a hero by Congress.
Ocampo said no Congress had declared any of the great Filipinos a national hero. He said even Jose Rizal was not a declared national hero.
“We are happy that this [Senate] resolution stopped short of declaring Cory a national hero as they have done in the Lower House,” he said.
Ocampo said the institute supported a resolution to declare a Cory Aquino Day, but added Jan. 25, her birthday, might be “too close to Christmas.”
The date need not be declared a non-working holiday.
“The holiday is actually supposed to make the people remember,’’ Ocampo said.
“That is the intent, but in practice we actually see the people going to the shopping malls instead of observing the holiday.”
Ocampo said Mrs. Aquino could be honored through other ways, like naming a street, a hospital or a school after her, to perpetuate her memory.
Education Undersecretary Wilma Labrador, also chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, said Mrs. Aquino was widely admired for her role in restoring democracy.
Aquino as hero? Hold your horses, says historian
by Fel V. Maragay
THE chairman of the National Historical Institute yesterday cautioned lawmakers against a proposal to declare the late President Corazon Aquino a national hero by legislation.
Testifying before the Senate, Ambeth Ocampo said historians normally waited for at least 10 years after the death of a patriotic figure to gain a historical perspective before endorsing any proposal to make him or her a national hero.
Even in the process of canonizing saints, proponents had to wait five years, he added.
“We cannot legislate heroes. Heroes are made by acclamation, and I think we have seen that in Cory’s case. But we still need some perspective,” Ocampo told the Senate committee on education, arts and culture led by Senator Mar Roxas.
Within days of Mrs. Aquino’s death on Aug. l, Roxas filed Senate Joint Resolution 28 to declare Jan. 25, her birth date, as Corazon Aquino Day.
At the House of Representatives, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza went farther by proposing that the country’s first woman president be declared a hero by Congress.
Ocampo said no Congress had declared any of the great Filipinos a national hero. He said even Jose Rizal was not a declared national hero.
“We are happy that this [Senate] resolution stopped short of declaring Cory a national hero as they have done in the Lower House,” he said.
Ocampo said the institute supported a resolution to declare a Cory Aquino Day, but added Jan. 25, her birthday, might be “too close to Christmas.”
The date need not be declared a non-working holiday.
“The holiday is actually supposed to make the people remember,’’ Ocampo said.
“That is the intent, but in practice we actually see the people going to the shopping malls instead of observing the holiday.”
Ocampo said Mrs. Aquino could be honored through other ways, like naming a street, a hospital or a school after her, to perpetuate her memory.
Education Undersecretary Wilma Labrador, also chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, said Mrs. Aquino was widely admired for her role in restoring democracy.
Cory Aquino Holiday?
From the Philippine STAR
National Historical Institute backs move declaring January 25 as Cory Aquino Day
By Christina Mendez Updated August 25, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The National Historical Institute (NHI) is supporting a resolution at the Senate seeking to declare Jan. 25 of every year as Cory Aquino Day in honor of the late president.
But NHI chairman Ambeth Ocampo said the declaration of holidays might take 10 years for historians to decide to gain historical perspective.
“As a Filipino, we support the resolution. As a historian, and following our rules, we actually advise that we study further, because as historians, normally when we are asked to comment on holidays, our standard excuse following from the time of the late Teodoro Agoncillo was always to ask for 10 years to gain historical perspective,” Ocampo said during the Senate hearing by the committee on education, arts and culture headed by Sen. Manuel Roxas II.
Ocampo noted that even the process of canonization takes five years to accomplish.
He also pushed for the legislative review of the declaration of holidays, which has jumbled the school calendar.
“Perhaps, we should review the existing holidays because there are a lot as you have mentioned, and see how we can (assess) further if we put in a Cory holiday to give it the importance that it deserves,” said Ocampo, who also noted that the public usually goes to malls during the holidays, rather than commemorate it.
“So we would suggest actually strengthening this resolution as a matter of support that we actually look into the way in which Cory Aquino or EDSA is taught in schools. Our textbooks are in great need of revision, there are still some textbooks that still state that Marcos declared martial law to save the Republic and everybody knows that it is not true anymore, but it is still there.”
While the NHI supports the resolution, Ocampo suggested that former President Aquino might also be honored by renaming new streets, schools and hospitals “to memorialize her.”
“We are happy that this resolution actually stopped short of declaring Cory Aquino as a national hero as they have done in the lower house simply because no Congress has actually been (able) to declare a national hero. We cannot legislate heroes, heroes are made by acclamation,” Ocampo said.
“We endorse and support this bill, but we must really look into the holiday, even the date. Do we want it to be Jan. 25, which is so close to Christmas? Do we want to merge it with Aug. 21, which is Ninoy’s (death anniversary)? We support it but we recommend further study and complete staff work,” he said.
NCCA supports resolution
Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador, also chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), supported Roxas’ resolution to give credence to Aquino’s contribution for the people.
“If we talk about democracy then there is one very important person who should be mentioned and I believe that it is just so fitting to have a very important day not only to discuss what this person has contributed to our country’s democratic way of life but to have a model, to have somebody as an aspiring motivator. We need models right now,” Labrador said.
She was joined by other education officials in saying that the school can declare make-up classes to ensure that students can cope with the academic requirements.
She added that Mrs. Aquino’s life and her political, cultural, and social contributions could be included in the Social Studies curriculum taught among levels in primary and secondary schools.
Labor Liaison specialist Raymond Rosales said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is not encouraging holidays, but it supports the resolution.
“We cited the holidays covered under RA 9492, we have 11 regular holidays and three special holidays. Our position is that we don’t encourage the declaration of holidays. But for this important measure, we appreciate the intention of the bill. We support the same,” Rosales told the committee.
Roxas vowed to submit the report on the measure after all positions were forwarded to his committee.
Roxas filed Joint Resolution 28 seeking to honor the late President Aquino by declaring her birth date Jan. 25 as a national holiday to be called Cory Aquino Day.
National Historical Institute backs move declaring January 25 as Cory Aquino Day
By Christina Mendez Updated August 25, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The National Historical Institute (NHI) is supporting a resolution at the Senate seeking to declare Jan. 25 of every year as Cory Aquino Day in honor of the late president.
But NHI chairman Ambeth Ocampo said the declaration of holidays might take 10 years for historians to decide to gain historical perspective.
“As a Filipino, we support the resolution. As a historian, and following our rules, we actually advise that we study further, because as historians, normally when we are asked to comment on holidays, our standard excuse following from the time of the late Teodoro Agoncillo was always to ask for 10 years to gain historical perspective,” Ocampo said during the Senate hearing by the committee on education, arts and culture headed by Sen. Manuel Roxas II.
Ocampo noted that even the process of canonization takes five years to accomplish.
He also pushed for the legislative review of the declaration of holidays, which has jumbled the school calendar.
“Perhaps, we should review the existing holidays because there are a lot as you have mentioned, and see how we can (assess) further if we put in a Cory holiday to give it the importance that it deserves,” said Ocampo, who also noted that the public usually goes to malls during the holidays, rather than commemorate it.
“So we would suggest actually strengthening this resolution as a matter of support that we actually look into the way in which Cory Aquino or EDSA is taught in schools. Our textbooks are in great need of revision, there are still some textbooks that still state that Marcos declared martial law to save the Republic and everybody knows that it is not true anymore, but it is still there.”
While the NHI supports the resolution, Ocampo suggested that former President Aquino might also be honored by renaming new streets, schools and hospitals “to memorialize her.”
“We are happy that this resolution actually stopped short of declaring Cory Aquino as a national hero as they have done in the lower house simply because no Congress has actually been (able) to declare a national hero. We cannot legislate heroes, heroes are made by acclamation,” Ocampo said.
“We endorse and support this bill, but we must really look into the holiday, even the date. Do we want it to be Jan. 25, which is so close to Christmas? Do we want to merge it with Aug. 21, which is Ninoy’s (death anniversary)? We support it but we recommend further study and complete staff work,” he said.
NCCA supports resolution
Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador, also chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), supported Roxas’ resolution to give credence to Aquino’s contribution for the people.
“If we talk about democracy then there is one very important person who should be mentioned and I believe that it is just so fitting to have a very important day not only to discuss what this person has contributed to our country’s democratic way of life but to have a model, to have somebody as an aspiring motivator. We need models right now,” Labrador said.
She was joined by other education officials in saying that the school can declare make-up classes to ensure that students can cope with the academic requirements.
She added that Mrs. Aquino’s life and her political, cultural, and social contributions could be included in the Social Studies curriculum taught among levels in primary and secondary schools.
Labor Liaison specialist Raymond Rosales said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is not encouraging holidays, but it supports the resolution.
“We cited the holidays covered under RA 9492, we have 11 regular holidays and three special holidays. Our position is that we don’t encourage the declaration of holidays. But for this important measure, we appreciate the intention of the bill. We support the same,” Rosales told the committee.
Roxas vowed to submit the report on the measure after all positions were forwarded to his committee.
Roxas filed Joint Resolution 28 seeking to honor the late President Aquino by declaring her birth date Jan. 25 as a national holiday to be called Cory Aquino Day.
Cory Aquino Day?
From GMA News August 25, 2009.
The National Historical Institute (NHI) is not keen on declaring a Cory Aquino Day, saying there are other ways to memorialize the late former President than giving Filipinos another holiday.
NHI chairman Ambeth Ocampo on Monday said that while they support the resolution filed by Senator Manuel Roxas II seeking to declare a holiday in honor of Mrs. Aquino, they believe that further study is still needed on the matter.
"A holiday is supposed to make people remember. That is the intent, I think, of the resolution. But in actual practice we see people go to the malls," Ocampo told the Senate committee on education in a hearing.
Mrs. Aquino, the country’s first woman president, died last August 1 at the Makati Medical Center after several months of battling colon cancer. She had been instrumental in toppling the Marcos regime in February 1986 through the historic EDSA People Power Revolution.
On August 3, Roxas filed Joint Resolution 28 seeking to declare Mrs. Aquino's birthday, January 25, as Cory Aquino Day.
Ocampo said that following NHI rules, 10 years are needed before they could recommend that a holiday be declared to honor a person. He added that even in canonization, or the act by which the Christian Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, the authorities wait for five years before starting the process.
"Perhaps we should review the existing holidays because there is a lot, and see how we can, if we put in a Cory holiday, give it the importance that it deserves," Ocampo, a noted historian, said.
He suggested that instead of declaring a holiday, Congress should just name new streets, schools or hospitals after Mrs. Aquino to honor her.
Ocampo also said that the NHI is happy that Roxas’ resolution stopped short of declaring Mrs. Aquino a national hero like what had been done at the House of Representatives, which approved a resolution calling for such.
“No Congress has actually been brash enough to declare a national hero. As a matter of fact, even Jose Rizal is not a declared national hero. We cannot legislate heroes. Heroes are made by acclamation," he said. - GMANews.TV
The National Historical Institute (NHI) is not keen on declaring a Cory Aquino Day, saying there are other ways to memorialize the late former President than giving Filipinos another holiday.
NHI chairman Ambeth Ocampo on Monday said that while they support the resolution filed by Senator Manuel Roxas II seeking to declare a holiday in honor of Mrs. Aquino, they believe that further study is still needed on the matter.
"A holiday is supposed to make people remember. That is the intent, I think, of the resolution. But in actual practice we see people go to the malls," Ocampo told the Senate committee on education in a hearing.
Mrs. Aquino, the country’s first woman president, died last August 1 at the Makati Medical Center after several months of battling colon cancer. She had been instrumental in toppling the Marcos regime in February 1986 through the historic EDSA People Power Revolution.
On August 3, Roxas filed Joint Resolution 28 seeking to declare Mrs. Aquino's birthday, January 25, as Cory Aquino Day.
Ocampo said that following NHI rules, 10 years are needed before they could recommend that a holiday be declared to honor a person. He added that even in canonization, or the act by which the Christian Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, the authorities wait for five years before starting the process.
"Perhaps we should review the existing holidays because there is a lot, and see how we can, if we put in a Cory holiday, give it the importance that it deserves," Ocampo, a noted historian, said.
He suggested that instead of declaring a holiday, Congress should just name new streets, schools or hospitals after Mrs. Aquino to honor her.
Ocampo also said that the NHI is happy that Roxas’ resolution stopped short of declaring Mrs. Aquino a national hero like what had been done at the House of Representatives, which approved a resolution calling for such.
“No Congress has actually been brash enough to declare a national hero. As a matter of fact, even Jose Rizal is not a declared national hero. We cannot legislate heroes. Heroes are made by acclamation," he said. - GMANews.TV
Monday, August 17, 2009
"El COÑO de Tondo"
‘El coño de Tondo’
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:17:00 08/12/2009
Filed Under: Language
My favorite Manila airport is Terminal 2, better known as the Centennial Terminal, because it is easier to navigate than the others. Best of all, some of its furniture and design details seem to have been acquired from ADP or Aeroports de Paris. One always bumps into long-lost friends here or makes new ones while waiting in line. Yesterday I saw Jose “Pepe” Alcantara, formerly of the Philippine Stock Exchange, putting on his shoes after passing through the metal detector. Each time I see him I can imagine how he endeared himself to his future in-laws by a spectacular linguistic gaffe. Being Ilocano he wanted to impress his girlfriend’s Batangas family by way of Tagalog greetings. He went up to his future father-in-law, then celebrating his birthday, and exclaimed, “Maligayang bati!” By placing the accent on the wrong syllable, the well-meaning “happy birthday” turned into “happy masturbation.” That broke the ice and got him accepted into the family.
William Sabalburo e-mailed from Hawaii to correct some misspelled Iloco words in a previous column. Tamarind is “salamagi” and its plural form is “salsalamagi,” pronounced sal-sal-la-ma-gi with the double “l” emphasized, turning an innocent Iloco word for sampaloc into a vulgar Tagalog word for masturbation. When one crosses over from one region to another, many funny situations crop up, like having a long haircut in Iloco is “nabayag a papukis” that to Tagalogs are anatomical terms best left unsaid.
Kapampangan is one of the Philippine languages spoken fluently by the President who knows that when it crosses over to Tagalog it results in amusing situations. For example, when you take the North Luzon viaduct from the Bulacan side where an egg translates into “itlog,” you will be surprised to be told at the Pampanga end that the same egg has become “ebun”—thus from egg to bird in one short trip. When Kapampangans refer to a time “later tonight” as “potang bengi,” Tagalogs laugh because they imagine a “deaf prostitute” (pota na, bengi pa!). Then, the phrase Tagalogs often ask Kapampangans to translate is “I caught the ball under the bridge” (Asapo ke ing bola king lalam ning tete). The Kapampangan word for “bridge” is the Tagalog word for penis.
Voltaire Oyzon e-mailed a warning that if you go south to Waray country and are given spicy food, remember that “sili” that refers to chili pepper in Tagalog means penis in Waray. Fe K. Gloria said that nobody in Cebu slurps their “sopas.” As a matter of fact, Cebuanos bite into their sopas because the word refers to bread or “tinapay.” There is also some confusion here because the word “langgam” that refers to “ant” in Tagalog translates into “bird” in Cebuano. Thus Tagalogs often search in vain for “flying ants,” to the delight of Cebuanos. While all these linguistic crossovers make us smile, we should take the trouble to reflect on these during August, the “Buwan ng Wika.”
How many Iloco surnames like Biag, Bayag, Penis, Pines and Pecpec have become extinct through change and revision. In my previous column I wrote about an Ilocana who went to court to change her surname “Pecpec” into “Perpec.” Remember Ilocos is a place where a “kapintasan,” the Tagalog word for flaw translates into an adjective for “most beautiful.” No wonder in old Spanish maps of the Philippines Ilocos was spelled with a “y” and became Ylocos that some people said was the contraction of “Ysla de locos” (island of the mad/insane).
Then we have the Spanish to Tagalog crossovers that I have written about before. When in Spain and you see that fluffy sweet cake called “Magdalenas” do not make the mistake of referring to them as “mamon,” which is a vulgar word for breasts. When in Spain you can use the word “pasyal” to mean taking a walk because that comes from the Spanish verb “pasear.” Do not use “maglamierda” because “la mierda” literally means excrement or to be more vulgar about it, shit. While Miriam Santiago is fuming over the television spots of government officials running for higher office in the coming elections, nobody, not even the normally eagle-eyed MTRCB, has noticed the bad word in the Manny Villar ad that seeks to clarify his origins. One line sung in rap says, “akala mo conyo, yun pala taga Tondo.” In Philippine usage “coño” is used to describe “mestizos” or people of Spanish descent who are wealthy, fair-skinned and high-nosed. Contrary to popular belief, Villar is not a coño from Forbes Park but an indio of humble beginnings from Tondo. It may surprise Villar and his copywriters that “coño” in Spanish is a vulgar word for vagina. Thus, Villar as the Coño from Tondo is not what it seems.
Finally, there is newly-minted Tondo-born National Artist for Fashion Jose Moreno, better known as “Pitoy Moreno.” Moreno never uses his nickname abroad because in Spanish “pito” or “pitoy” refers to a penis and “moreno” that Filipinos often think is a surname is an adjective for dark. While we are encouraged to speak the National Language this month, the “Buwan ng Wika,” we must see how other languages translate into Filipino and vice-versa.
* * *
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:17:00 08/12/2009
Filed Under: Language
My favorite Manila airport is Terminal 2, better known as the Centennial Terminal, because it is easier to navigate than the others. Best of all, some of its furniture and design details seem to have been acquired from ADP or Aeroports de Paris. One always bumps into long-lost friends here or makes new ones while waiting in line. Yesterday I saw Jose “Pepe” Alcantara, formerly of the Philippine Stock Exchange, putting on his shoes after passing through the metal detector. Each time I see him I can imagine how he endeared himself to his future in-laws by a spectacular linguistic gaffe. Being Ilocano he wanted to impress his girlfriend’s Batangas family by way of Tagalog greetings. He went up to his future father-in-law, then celebrating his birthday, and exclaimed, “Maligayang bati!” By placing the accent on the wrong syllable, the well-meaning “happy birthday” turned into “happy masturbation.” That broke the ice and got him accepted into the family.
William Sabalburo e-mailed from Hawaii to correct some misspelled Iloco words in a previous column. Tamarind is “salamagi” and its plural form is “salsalamagi,” pronounced sal-sal-la-ma-gi with the double “l” emphasized, turning an innocent Iloco word for sampaloc into a vulgar Tagalog word for masturbation. When one crosses over from one region to another, many funny situations crop up, like having a long haircut in Iloco is “nabayag a papukis” that to Tagalogs are anatomical terms best left unsaid.
Kapampangan is one of the Philippine languages spoken fluently by the President who knows that when it crosses over to Tagalog it results in amusing situations. For example, when you take the North Luzon viaduct from the Bulacan side where an egg translates into “itlog,” you will be surprised to be told at the Pampanga end that the same egg has become “ebun”—thus from egg to bird in one short trip. When Kapampangans refer to a time “later tonight” as “potang bengi,” Tagalogs laugh because they imagine a “deaf prostitute” (pota na, bengi pa!). Then, the phrase Tagalogs often ask Kapampangans to translate is “I caught the ball under the bridge” (Asapo ke ing bola king lalam ning tete). The Kapampangan word for “bridge” is the Tagalog word for penis.
Voltaire Oyzon e-mailed a warning that if you go south to Waray country and are given spicy food, remember that “sili” that refers to chili pepper in Tagalog means penis in Waray. Fe K. Gloria said that nobody in Cebu slurps their “sopas.” As a matter of fact, Cebuanos bite into their sopas because the word refers to bread or “tinapay.” There is also some confusion here because the word “langgam” that refers to “ant” in Tagalog translates into “bird” in Cebuano. Thus Tagalogs often search in vain for “flying ants,” to the delight of Cebuanos. While all these linguistic crossovers make us smile, we should take the trouble to reflect on these during August, the “Buwan ng Wika.”
How many Iloco surnames like Biag, Bayag, Penis, Pines and Pecpec have become extinct through change and revision. In my previous column I wrote about an Ilocana who went to court to change her surname “Pecpec” into “Perpec.” Remember Ilocos is a place where a “kapintasan,” the Tagalog word for flaw translates into an adjective for “most beautiful.” No wonder in old Spanish maps of the Philippines Ilocos was spelled with a “y” and became Ylocos that some people said was the contraction of “Ysla de locos” (island of the mad/insane).
Then we have the Spanish to Tagalog crossovers that I have written about before. When in Spain and you see that fluffy sweet cake called “Magdalenas” do not make the mistake of referring to them as “mamon,” which is a vulgar word for breasts. When in Spain you can use the word “pasyal” to mean taking a walk because that comes from the Spanish verb “pasear.” Do not use “maglamierda” because “la mierda” literally means excrement or to be more vulgar about it, shit. While Miriam Santiago is fuming over the television spots of government officials running for higher office in the coming elections, nobody, not even the normally eagle-eyed MTRCB, has noticed the bad word in the Manny Villar ad that seeks to clarify his origins. One line sung in rap says, “akala mo conyo, yun pala taga Tondo.” In Philippine usage “coño” is used to describe “mestizos” or people of Spanish descent who are wealthy, fair-skinned and high-nosed. Contrary to popular belief, Villar is not a coño from Forbes Park but an indio of humble beginnings from Tondo. It may surprise Villar and his copywriters that “coño” in Spanish is a vulgar word for vagina. Thus, Villar as the Coño from Tondo is not what it seems.
Finally, there is newly-minted Tondo-born National Artist for Fashion Jose Moreno, better known as “Pitoy Moreno.” Moreno never uses his nickname abroad because in Spanish “pito” or “pitoy” refers to a penis and “moreno” that Filipinos often think is a surname is an adjective for dark. While we are encouraged to speak the National Language this month, the “Buwan ng Wika,” we must see how other languages translate into Filipino and vice-versa.
* * *
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
Saturday, August 15, 2009
"Bad Words"
Looking Back
‘Bad words’
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:43:00 07/29/2009
Filed Under: Language, Books
When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo alluded to a critic in last Monday’s State of the Nation Address and exhorted him not to say “bad words in public,” it drew laughter and applause from the gallery.
This reminded me of Sen. Mar Roxas who shouted the “P” word during an anti-Charter change rally in Makati a few weeks ago. It also reminded me of many hard-hitting columns by Ramon Tulfo who is polite enough to scramble his bad words into symbols like ?@#$%^&*!!? But sometimes Tulfo pushes the limits by letting us fill in the blanks and mentally say the unmentionable. Tulfo’s younger brother has a radio program where he berates abusive police and public officials on the phone with strong language, but he always stops short of using expletives or “bad words.”
Although I was born too late to have been under Rolando S. Tinio at the Ateneo de Manila University, I still hear stories about his legendary temper, on and off-stage, when he threw tantrums or objects (like a bakya) at an actor or audience that displeased him. In the classroom, Tinio terrorized students with his genius and sharp tongue. According to Ateneo legend, he was one of the few who got away with using “bad words” in class.
Early in his teaching career, Danton Remoto tried to copy Tinio’s pedagogical method and was hastily summoned by the uneasy department chairperson who began by saying, “I heard, Mr. Remoto, that you have been using four-letter words in class.” Danton quickly owned up saying, “Of course I use four-letter words in class. Which one did you have in mind—‘love’?” That was the end of conversation.
The “P” word is something we hear every day. My father used to use it like an exclamation mark. As far as I can remember, he never used the word in anger and so it caused no offense. But these days my father has to watch his tongue, fearful that his five-year-old grandson might pick it up and use it in pre-school. The grandson often reminds his grandfather that the “P” word is a “bad word.”
When I was in college, I wrote a research paper on curse words that required poring over many dictionaries, including those compiled and published during the Spanish period. This exercise gave me a life-long appreciation for dictionaries, so that now I have two shelves of dictionaries in my study always ready for work or pleasure.
I have learned early on that when buying a dictionary, one of the ways to measure its completeness is to look up the “bad words.” If no expletives are found or explained away, the dictionary or vocabulary is not worth buying or using.
When I started my research into “bad words” in Filipino, my first stop was the huge dictionary by Vito C. Santos better known as the “Vicassan’s Pilipino-English/English-Pilipino Dictionary.” From there I went through, and was disappointed by, the thick volume “Hispanismos en el Tagalo” (Oficina de educacion Iberoamericana, Madrid, 1972). The dictionary has only one “bad word” in its 628 pages: “puta” (prostitute).
What turned out to be more useful were the anatomical terms in “Vocabulario de la lengua tagala” (Manila, 1869) compiled by the friars Noceda and Sanlucar in the 18th century. For example, the vulgar word for a part of a woman’s anatomy “puqui” (now spelled with a “k”) was not translated from the original Tagalog to Spanish unlike the rest of the words in the dictionary. The anatomical terms were rendered into Latin. Thus, “puqui” was rendered as “pars vaerenda mullieris, verbum turpissimum.” Noceda and Sanlucar did not want to corrupt laymen and the general public that had access to their dictionary so they left some of the “bad words” in Latin so that it would sound clinical and scientific, and of course could only be deciphered by someone who knew Latin.
Someone should really compile a dictionary of “bad words” that will not only give their meanings but also their etymology or the origin and the development of the words. Perhaps the words can also be placed in the context of usage, because how a word is understood over a period of time can change as I have shown in my last column where I explained why “salvage” in Philippine usage means the opposite of its meaning in English.
To someone doing a dictionary equivalent, nothing should be wrong with the word “leche” which is “milk” in Spanish. How did this become a “bad word?” Well, there is a forgotten original “mala leche” that implies that one sucked or was raised on rotten or bad milk. Depending on how it is used, “leche” can simply mean milk or semen.
When two languages use the same word but this word has different meanings they are called “false friends.” “Leche” is a good example. A more hilarious example is “lamierda” which in the Philippines is a colloquial term that means “going out together” (maglamierda tayo) and whose synonym is “pasyal” which in turn comes from the Spanish “pasear,” a verb that means “take a walk” or “stroll.” But “mierda” is the vulgar Spanish word for excrement, so if a Filipino invites someone in Spain to “lamierda,” he may not realize that he has used “mierda” (shit) as a verb, and in a completely different way.
Language can indeed be fascinating, but in the case of “bad words” there is much that cannot be printed in this space. So to repeat President Arroyo’s wise advice, if one aspires to the presidency, “don’t use bad words in public.”
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
‘Bad words’
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:43:00 07/29/2009
Filed Under: Language, Books
When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo alluded to a critic in last Monday’s State of the Nation Address and exhorted him not to say “bad words in public,” it drew laughter and applause from the gallery.
This reminded me of Sen. Mar Roxas who shouted the “P” word during an anti-Charter change rally in Makati a few weeks ago. It also reminded me of many hard-hitting columns by Ramon Tulfo who is polite enough to scramble his bad words into symbols like ?@#$%^&*!!? But sometimes Tulfo pushes the limits by letting us fill in the blanks and mentally say the unmentionable. Tulfo’s younger brother has a radio program where he berates abusive police and public officials on the phone with strong language, but he always stops short of using expletives or “bad words.”
Although I was born too late to have been under Rolando S. Tinio at the Ateneo de Manila University, I still hear stories about his legendary temper, on and off-stage, when he threw tantrums or objects (like a bakya) at an actor or audience that displeased him. In the classroom, Tinio terrorized students with his genius and sharp tongue. According to Ateneo legend, he was one of the few who got away with using “bad words” in class.
Early in his teaching career, Danton Remoto tried to copy Tinio’s pedagogical method and was hastily summoned by the uneasy department chairperson who began by saying, “I heard, Mr. Remoto, that you have been using four-letter words in class.” Danton quickly owned up saying, “Of course I use four-letter words in class. Which one did you have in mind—‘love’?” That was the end of conversation.
The “P” word is something we hear every day. My father used to use it like an exclamation mark. As far as I can remember, he never used the word in anger and so it caused no offense. But these days my father has to watch his tongue, fearful that his five-year-old grandson might pick it up and use it in pre-school. The grandson often reminds his grandfather that the “P” word is a “bad word.”
When I was in college, I wrote a research paper on curse words that required poring over many dictionaries, including those compiled and published during the Spanish period. This exercise gave me a life-long appreciation for dictionaries, so that now I have two shelves of dictionaries in my study always ready for work or pleasure.
I have learned early on that when buying a dictionary, one of the ways to measure its completeness is to look up the “bad words.” If no expletives are found or explained away, the dictionary or vocabulary is not worth buying or using.
When I started my research into “bad words” in Filipino, my first stop was the huge dictionary by Vito C. Santos better known as the “Vicassan’s Pilipino-English/English-Pilipino Dictionary.” From there I went through, and was disappointed by, the thick volume “Hispanismos en el Tagalo” (Oficina de educacion Iberoamericana, Madrid, 1972). The dictionary has only one “bad word” in its 628 pages: “puta” (prostitute).
What turned out to be more useful were the anatomical terms in “Vocabulario de la lengua tagala” (Manila, 1869) compiled by the friars Noceda and Sanlucar in the 18th century. For example, the vulgar word for a part of a woman’s anatomy “puqui” (now spelled with a “k”) was not translated from the original Tagalog to Spanish unlike the rest of the words in the dictionary. The anatomical terms were rendered into Latin. Thus, “puqui” was rendered as “pars vaerenda mullieris, verbum turpissimum.” Noceda and Sanlucar did not want to corrupt laymen and the general public that had access to their dictionary so they left some of the “bad words” in Latin so that it would sound clinical and scientific, and of course could only be deciphered by someone who knew Latin.
Someone should really compile a dictionary of “bad words” that will not only give their meanings but also their etymology or the origin and the development of the words. Perhaps the words can also be placed in the context of usage, because how a word is understood over a period of time can change as I have shown in my last column where I explained why “salvage” in Philippine usage means the opposite of its meaning in English.
To someone doing a dictionary equivalent, nothing should be wrong with the word “leche” which is “milk” in Spanish. How did this become a “bad word?” Well, there is a forgotten original “mala leche” that implies that one sucked or was raised on rotten or bad milk. Depending on how it is used, “leche” can simply mean milk or semen.
When two languages use the same word but this word has different meanings they are called “false friends.” “Leche” is a good example. A more hilarious example is “lamierda” which in the Philippines is a colloquial term that means “going out together” (maglamierda tayo) and whose synonym is “pasyal” which in turn comes from the Spanish “pasear,” a verb that means “take a walk” or “stroll.” But “mierda” is the vulgar Spanish word for excrement, so if a Filipino invites someone in Spain to “lamierda,” he may not realize that he has used “mierda” (shit) as a verb, and in a completely different way.
Language can indeed be fascinating, but in the case of “bad words” there is much that cannot be printed in this space. So to repeat President Arroyo’s wise advice, if one aspires to the presidency, “don’t use bad words in public.”
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Mabini's syphilis: A demolition job.
Mabini’s syphilis: A demolition job
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:48:00 07/21/2009
Filed Under: Language, history
“Demolition” is a word we often read in the news these days. In the current Philippine context, it can mean either the clearing of squatter dwellings that blight the urban landscape, or the tarnishing of somebody’s good name and reputation, especially if the victim is prominent enough to be considered a candidate for high political office.
One can at least say that “demolition” retains its original meaning, unlike “salvage” which the dictionary defines as the saving of a ship or its cargo from loss at sea, or saving of scrap materials for future use. In Philippine usage, “salvage” as a verb means the opposite of its dictionary definition and describes the summary execution of “undesirable” people. This has come about because Filipinos wittily move from one language to another, hence the Philippine “salvage” is not rooted in the verb “salvar,” meaning to save, it actually comes from the Spanish “salvaje,” meaning primitive. In Filipino usage “sinalbahe” describes someone who has been savaged or brutalized. Write it out in its Spanish form “sinalvaje” and then it sounds like the English “salvage.”
Words aren’t always what they seem in the Philippines, and I often wish someone would chain National Artist Virgilio Almario to a library carrel so he would compile a new dictionary of Filipino etymology and usage that will not only be a standard reference tool but a delight to read—especially for the vulgar words.
We will leave the anatomical and sexual words for another column, because today we must remember Apolinario Mabini and the demolition job that has kept a cloud hanging over him for over a century now. I still remember the afternoon in the National Library when senior members of the National Historical Institute were looking out the window towards T.M. Kalaw Street. Teodoro A. Agoncillo and E. Aguilar Cruz first commented on the statue of pre-war National Library director Teodoro M. Kalaw by National Artist Napoleon Abueva that stood guard in front of the library. Then they looked at the statue of Apolinario Mabini that also adorned the lawn. One of the historians quipped, “Oh, from the sublime to the syphilitic?” and both laughed like college students enjoying a dirty joke. I was to learn later that Mabini was supposed to have lost the use of his legs because of syphilis.
I was always warned that syphilis could lead to blindness and even madness, but paralysis? Both historians did not seem to know that in 1980 the remains of Mabini were exhumed by a team of orthopedic specialists, led by Dr. Jose M. Pujalte, whose son Brix is now the president of the Philippine Orthopedic Association. After careful reconstruction, X-ray and analysis, the team concluded that Mabini’s paralysis was not caused by syphilis, as some people would like to believe, but it was the result of adult polio.
Unfortunately, juicy rumors like this have a long shelf life because some people just want to believe the worst of someone as upright as Mabini. In contemporary times isn’t Elpidio Quirino remembered for a “golden orinola” under a P5,000 bed? One can only hope that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be remembered for something more substantial than breast implants.
In case someone objects to the topic of today’s column, the rumor of Mabini’s syphilis should really be forgotten especially in the light of the findings that he had polio. But the story resonates as we approach the coming presidential elections when we will see, hear, and read similar mud-slinging.
The more important lesson in the Mabini syphilis rumor is why the story was created. If you take the time to study Mabini’s short stint in government, you would see how he rose to become the most powerful man in the First Republic. Mabini went through all of Emilio Aguinaldo’s papers, often drafting replies and recommending action. Mabini’s wise and principled counsel was always at Aguinaldo’s disposal so that he made many enemies who described him as the “camara negra (dark chamber) of the President. Mabini was not the same as a crony in the Marcos administration or “we bulong” in the Aquino administration or even the “midnight cabinet” in the Estrada administration. Mabini felt it was his job to protect the President and the Republic at all cost. He was criticized and insulted for doing his job. And when no anomaly could be laid at his door, his enemies concentrated on his disability and tarnished his reputation with the syphilis rumor.
Mabini was removed from office through political intrigue, which was probably a good thing because, failing in that, his enemies would have probably resorted to assassination in the same way they disposed of Antonio Luna.
It is unfortunate that few people read our history because they are jaded by boring textbook history. With the exception of Teodoro Agoncillo, who tried to write history and make it as engaging as fiction, most academic history is written by academics for fellow academics, their research buried in deadly prose and entombed in academic journals squirreled away in university libraries. Our history has everything, from the inspiring to the depressing. If more people read and learned from it, then the Philippines would be a better place today.
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Solar eclipse of 1955
The solar eclipse of 1955
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:25:00 08/07/2009
Filed Under: history, Science (general), Astronomy
Antonio Pigafetta describes the last moments of Ferdinand Magellan in Mactan after he was wounded in the arm by a bamboo lance, and had a javelin thrust into his left leg by the defenders of Mactan. Having been recognized and falling on his face, a band of angry Mactan warriors gang up on Magellan and Pigafetta says tearfully, “they slew our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide.”
(Where was Lapu-lapu in all this? I leave that to your imagination and a future column.)
Pigafetta’s description of Magellan came to mind the other day as I watched the farewell given to Cory Aquino. Seeing the golden sun on the flag that draped her coffin, I realized that while she has passed away, her memory will linger and continue to inspire people more than when she was alive.
The golden sun on our flag seemed brighter than ever before, reminding me of a column I wrote on the recent disappointing solar eclipse. I wrote that there has been no total solar eclipse in living memory and it seems that many people older than I had experienced a total solar eclipse at noon in 1955, long before I was born. I will share their impressions here so that the historian who writes about another eclipse will know how people reacted.
Arturo G. Nazareno of Cavite wrote: “I just don’t remember if it was a total or partial solar eclipse but at that time it seemed to me like a total eclipse. I remember that we were asked to bring a piece of glass blacked by candle smoke so we could look at the spectacular sight without damaging our eyesight. We could see the sun slowly being blocked by the moon until there was darkness over the city.”
Lina Angsico wrote: “I’m sorry to disappoint you. But perhaps you were not yet born when we had a solar eclipse at about noon time. I was in Grade 2 then in 1955. I don’t remember the exact date it happened. That was the time we still spent the whole day in school even in the elementary grades. We were told to go home early for lunch break because there was going to be a solar eclipse. And, indeed, there was! What an experience it turned out to be! There was total darkness for a few minutes. We had to turn on the lights like it was night time. Perhaps you could ask other senior citizens like me.”
Liberato Ramos of Quezon City wrote: “I was in grade school in the 1950s when a total solar eclipse occurred at noon. I looked it up and this was on June 20, 1955, and lasted for 7:07 minutes in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and the Pacific Ocean. That means I was in Grade 2, LOL! Our teachers prepared us for this unusual event some days before. We were told not to look at it but asked to go to the town’s photographer for negatives, or to fill up palanganas with water and look at the reflection of the eclipse there. Us kids were greatly amused as the sun turned black with a bright rim (that’s how we put it then). We had a big suha tree in the yard and we had plenty of chickens on the range. As day turned into night, the chickens started to roost up the tree. And when the sun started to rise again, our father’s fighting cock crowed. That’s the picture still clearly etched in my mind. I missed the eclipse this time as I am abroad. But there would be no more chickens on the range roosting.
“I came across a study (I don’t know if it has been vetted) on the behavior of makahiya during an eclipse: the leaves close (go on vertical orientation, the study says). The Jesuits who manned the Manila Observatory may have kept records of their observations during total solar eclipses (TSE), although these have nothing to do with the acacia or makahiya. Fr. Federico Faura, for example, organized/led an expedition to the Celebes to observe the TSE in 1868, three years after the observatory was established. During the TSE in June 1929, Fr. Charles Depperman led a team in Cebu to observe the phenomenon. Fr. James Hennessey and his assistant Jesus Torres measured the characteristics of the ionosphere layers during the TSE of June 20, 1955. It’s reported that they wrote an article concerning the effect of the shadow of the moon on the ionosphere layers.”
Francisco H. Bautista of Parañaque consulted his wife before writing: “I was in high school... Classes might have been suspended (my wife from Paco Catholic School recalls), but I remember we were in our school—Torres High School in Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila—with our teachers, who provided used X-ray films, wide basins half-filled with water to see the reflection with, and similar paraphernalia. Some of my rich classmates, I seem to recall, had sunglasses (this was before they acquired the hipper term ‘shades’). It must have been around noontime. We waited an eternity for the sun to completely darken. But when the light went out, it was an eerie feeling. I don’t recall how long it lasted. It was brief, not as long as the six or more minutes reported in some parts of Asia, but I could not be sure. I wonder why you could not find any record of this awesome event. Yielding to your authority in our history, then maybe my wife and I were living in a dream.”
One of the wonderful things about living in the 21st century is that columnists get immediate responses and as always I welcome letters that also look back and teach me about a world before my own.
* * *
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:25:00 08/07/2009
Filed Under: history, Science (general), Astronomy
Antonio Pigafetta describes the last moments of Ferdinand Magellan in Mactan after he was wounded in the arm by a bamboo lance, and had a javelin thrust into his left leg by the defenders of Mactan. Having been recognized and falling on his face, a band of angry Mactan warriors gang up on Magellan and Pigafetta says tearfully, “they slew our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide.”
(Where was Lapu-lapu in all this? I leave that to your imagination and a future column.)
Pigafetta’s description of Magellan came to mind the other day as I watched the farewell given to Cory Aquino. Seeing the golden sun on the flag that draped her coffin, I realized that while she has passed away, her memory will linger and continue to inspire people more than when she was alive.
The golden sun on our flag seemed brighter than ever before, reminding me of a column I wrote on the recent disappointing solar eclipse. I wrote that there has been no total solar eclipse in living memory and it seems that many people older than I had experienced a total solar eclipse at noon in 1955, long before I was born. I will share their impressions here so that the historian who writes about another eclipse will know how people reacted.
Arturo G. Nazareno of Cavite wrote: “I just don’t remember if it was a total or partial solar eclipse but at that time it seemed to me like a total eclipse. I remember that we were asked to bring a piece of glass blacked by candle smoke so we could look at the spectacular sight without damaging our eyesight. We could see the sun slowly being blocked by the moon until there was darkness over the city.”
Lina Angsico wrote: “I’m sorry to disappoint you. But perhaps you were not yet born when we had a solar eclipse at about noon time. I was in Grade 2 then in 1955. I don’t remember the exact date it happened. That was the time we still spent the whole day in school even in the elementary grades. We were told to go home early for lunch break because there was going to be a solar eclipse. And, indeed, there was! What an experience it turned out to be! There was total darkness for a few minutes. We had to turn on the lights like it was night time. Perhaps you could ask other senior citizens like me.”
Liberato Ramos of Quezon City wrote: “I was in grade school in the 1950s when a total solar eclipse occurred at noon. I looked it up and this was on June 20, 1955, and lasted for 7:07 minutes in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and the Pacific Ocean. That means I was in Grade 2, LOL! Our teachers prepared us for this unusual event some days before. We were told not to look at it but asked to go to the town’s photographer for negatives, or to fill up palanganas with water and look at the reflection of the eclipse there. Us kids were greatly amused as the sun turned black with a bright rim (that’s how we put it then). We had a big suha tree in the yard and we had plenty of chickens on the range. As day turned into night, the chickens started to roost up the tree. And when the sun started to rise again, our father’s fighting cock crowed. That’s the picture still clearly etched in my mind. I missed the eclipse this time as I am abroad. But there would be no more chickens on the range roosting.
“I came across a study (I don’t know if it has been vetted) on the behavior of makahiya during an eclipse: the leaves close (go on vertical orientation, the study says). The Jesuits who manned the Manila Observatory may have kept records of their observations during total solar eclipses (TSE), although these have nothing to do with the acacia or makahiya. Fr. Federico Faura, for example, organized/led an expedition to the Celebes to observe the TSE in 1868, three years after the observatory was established. During the TSE in June 1929, Fr. Charles Depperman led a team in Cebu to observe the phenomenon. Fr. James Hennessey and his assistant Jesus Torres measured the characteristics of the ionosphere layers during the TSE of June 20, 1955. It’s reported that they wrote an article concerning the effect of the shadow of the moon on the ionosphere layers.”
Francisco H. Bautista of Parañaque consulted his wife before writing: “I was in high school... Classes might have been suspended (my wife from Paco Catholic School recalls), but I remember we were in our school—Torres High School in Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila—with our teachers, who provided used X-ray films, wide basins half-filled with water to see the reflection with, and similar paraphernalia. Some of my rich classmates, I seem to recall, had sunglasses (this was before they acquired the hipper term ‘shades’). It must have been around noontime. We waited an eternity for the sun to completely darken. But when the light went out, it was an eerie feeling. I don’t recall how long it lasted. It was brief, not as long as the six or more minutes reported in some parts of Asia, but I could not be sure. I wonder why you could not find any record of this awesome event. Yielding to your authority in our history, then maybe my wife and I were living in a dream.”
One of the wonderful things about living in the 21st century is that columnists get immediate responses and as always I welcome letters that also look back and teach me about a world before my own.
* * *
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Alone with Cory
Alone with Cory
By Ambeth Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:30:00 08/05/2009
Filed Under: Cory Aquino
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Marcel Proust’s seven volume novel “In Search of Lost Time” (“A la Recherche du Temps Perdu”), which is better known under the old translation as “Remembrance of Things Past,” has been described as a story of a man eating a cake. The narrator takes a bite from a madeleine dipped in warm tea and when this touches the tip of his tongue, a flood of memories is unleashed.
Like Proust, we are in the midst of a flood of memories too. We remember a housewife in yellow who made history. There are enough memories being recorded in media these days to fill more than Proust’s seven volumes. People who knew Cory, people who worked with Cory, even people who rose in failed coups against her, have been interviewed, their reminiscences recorded and shared. People in the street have nothing but good words for the woman who effected change in Philippine history simply by being there and playing her part.
I did not know Cory Aquino well. I met her only thrice. The total word count of these brief encounters was less than 50 words, not enough to fill this column space. But the first and last encounter is worth narrating here.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 1986, I came face to face with Cory Aquino, then president of the Philippines, and it was a very awkward meeting indeed. Evelyn Forbes had asked me to cover the Malacañang visit of students from P. Gomez Elementary School Manila as part of the Manila-San Francisco Sister City Agreement. Clueless, I obliged and was ushered into Cory’s office in the Malacañang Guest House while the rest of the reporters were made to wait in a holding area for the photo opportunity. All the children were in their best uniforms and at the principal’s signal, they sang a sorry version of “Bayan Ko.” Cory endured this with a smile and afterwards rewarded each of the children with a loot bag of candy and a personalized official photograph.
I was surprised to find Manila Mayor Mel Lopez and other officials who I thought had joined the line for candy. Everyone told me to line up because it was not every day that the President was in the mood to sign pictures.
I don’t know how or why it happened, but when the last person in that long line stepped out of the office with an autographed photo I found myself alone with Cory. Everyone, including staff and security personnel, were outside. There was an uneasy silence because I didn’t know what to say. Cory didn’t know why I was there and broke the ice with the question, “Would you like a signed photograph too?”
I nodded nervously. She broke another uneasy silence by asking, “What size do you want?”
Taken aback I replied, “What do you have?”
Cory opened a desk drawer and said, “well, we have: passport size, calendar size, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10.”
I blurted out that I wanted 8 x 10 and she took up the pentel pen and signed her name, date, dedication, and waited for me to give my name, which she added last. She handed over the photograph (no more candy unfortunately), and I should have taken that as a signal that the audience was over.
She did not stand up. Neither did I. We had another uneasy silence that was broken by a secretary who entered to remind her that a delegation from Birch Tree was waiting in another room to explain that their powdered milk was not contaminated by radiation from Chernobyl.
So went that historic and uneventful meeting with Corazon C. Aquino. The signed photograph is one of my prized possessions.
Leaving the President alone in a room with a complete stranger was a security lapse. My friends, who were lying in wait for an “ambush interview” downstairs, wanted to kick me for wasting a precious encounter with silence. Nobody checked who I was and why I was there. Nobody even bothered to keep the President company.
This reminds me of another security lapse narrated by Aquilino Pimentel Jr. who brought a rebel returnee to Malacañang so that the President could personally accept his surrender. When the press corps was called in for photos, somebody exclaimed, “Sayang! The photo would be better if the rebel handed over a gun or ammunition to the president.”
Then the rebel discreetly reached deep into his pants and said, “Hey! I have a gun here!”
How an armed rebel got that close to Cory without being frisked still amazes everyone.
The last time I spoke to Cory Aquino, she commented that her grandsons were unable to enroll in my over-booked history class at the Ateneo. Surprised, I replied, “Why didn’t you ask?”
In her characteristic humility she said, “I didn’t want to bother anyone.”
I then promised that I would take any of her grandchildren who would come my way, including Baby James. It is the least I can do for someone who made Philippine history and tried to guide people into becoming the nation we always fail to be.
However, the biggest regret of my life was passing up on her invitation to visit the Aquino Museum in Tarlac. She invited me when we last met and followed it up with two text messages. Now that she is gone, I realize that history waits for no one, time continues to fly and we often pass up on the opportunities of the present. Sometimes we are too busy, or like to think we are too busy, to rearrange our lives and schedules for what is truly important. A tour of the Aquino museum would have made up for all those silent encounters. Missing Cory’s invitation to talk history is something I will regret for the rest of my life.
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
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