GE 2: READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

MODULE 5:
CRITICAL EVALUATION AND PROMOTION OF LOCAL AND ORAL HISTORY

Module Learning Objectives:

At the end of the module, the students are expected to:
a. Manifest interest in local history and show concern in promoting and preserving the
country’s historical and cultural heritage
b. Appreciate local history of eventful places such as museums, landmarks, shrines

Section 1: History of Manila

 The official name of the city under Malay aristocracy was Seludong/Selurung, which was
the same name given for the general region of southwestern Luzon at that time,
suggesting that it was the capital of ancient Tondo.
 Manila became the seat of the colonial government of Spain when it gained authority
over the Philippines in 1565.
 The seat of the Spanish government was situated within the fortified walls of Old Manila
(Intramuros).
 The walls was constructed
a) Keep out for the Chinese pirates from invading
b) Protect the city from native uprising
 The city became the center of trade between Manila and Acapulco, which lasted for three
centuries and brought the goods from the Americas to South East Asia and vice versa.
 In 1762 the city was captured and then occupied by Great Britain for two years. The city
remained the capital of the Philippines under the government of the provisional British
governor.
 During the American period, some semblance of city planning using the architectural
designs and master plan by Daniel Burnham was done on the portions of the city south of
the Pasig River.
 During the World War II, much of the city was destroyed but the city was rebuilt in after
the war. It was the second most destroyed city in the world after Warsaw, Poland during
the World War II.
 The Metropolitan Manila region was enacted as an independent entity in 1975.

Section 2: National Museum of the Philippines

 The National Museum of the Philippines can trace its history to the establishment of the
Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas, established by a royal order of the Spanish government on
August 12, 1887.
 It opened on October 24, 1891 at the Casa de la Moneda on Calle Cabildo in Intramuros,
then home of the Philippine Mint, later moving to Calle Gunao in Quiapo.
 The Museo-Biblioteca was abolished in 1900 at the onset of the American occupation of
the Philippines, and what is considered the direct precursor of the National Museum, the
Insular Museum of Ethnology, Natural History and Commerce, was soon afterwards
established under the Department of Public Instruction by the Philippine Commission on
October 29, 1901.
 One of the reasons for the creation of the Insular Museum was to complement the Bureau
of Non-Christian Tribes, and it was subsequently integrated with the Bureau of
Ethnological Survey under the Department of the Interior.
 In 1904, the name of the Museum was changed to the Philippine Museum.
  During the Battle of Manila in February 1945, virtually the entire national collections
were destroyed when the Legislative Building, where most items were placed for
safekeeping, as well as the Bureau of Science building, were reduced to ruins. After the
war, the Natural History Museum Division in 1945 was reunited with the National
Library’s
 Fine Arts Division to become the National Museum – its final change of name – under
the Office of the Executive Secretary. In 1951, the National Museum was placed under
the Department of Education.
 Regulatory functions were added to the National Museum, which provided for the
protection and preservation of Philippine cultural properties, and continuing through the
1970s, including management of important cultural sites around the country.
 In 1996, President Fidel V. Ramos established a presidential committee to oversee the
creation of a National Museum complex.
 Under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III, the vision for the National
Museum complex in Manila as formulated in the 1990s was revived.

Section 3: Intramuros
 It is an urban district and historic walled city within Metropolitan Manila, in the
Philippines. The name, from the Spanish word meaning “within walls,” refers to the
fortified city founded at the mouth of the Pasig River shortly after 1571 by the Spanish
conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi.
 It became the capital of the New Spanish island dominion and flourished during the 17th
and 18th centuries.
 The 146 acres (59 hectares) within the original 20-foot- (6-metre-) thick walls contain
Manila Cathedral, Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church, the University of the City of
Manila, and other monuments to the Spanish colonial period.
 The building now famous stone walls was the work of Governor-General Gomez Perez
Dasmariñas. It was built from the taxes of Chinese food, playing cards, the galleon trade,
and king of Spain’s resources.
 The present ruined walls were completed by Governor Valdes y Ramon after 1729 with
additional heights completed after by Governor Juan Arrechedera, blending the Spanish
and Italian schools of barricades.
 The last governor to improve on the walls was Governor-General Pascual Enrile.
 A total of 145 long years were spent in building these walls-Manila’s most fascinating
monument.
 Urban congestion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries gradually encircled the
site and wore down and replaced the distinctive Spanish colonial architecture with
government offices.
 In 1944 U.S. bombing completed the reduction of the city to rubble. The site was cleared
after World War II, but reconstruction proceeded slowly.
 The pentagonal walls, seven gates, and small plazas that distinguish Intramuros from the
surrounding Malay and Americanized districts of Manila have been restored, together
with a few period houses.

Section 4: Ateneo de Manila University

 The Ateneo de Manila University began in 1859 when Spanish Jesuits established the
Escuela Municipal de Manila, a public primary school established in Intramuros for the
city of Manila.
 The first Spanish Jesuits arrived in the country in 1581. While primarily missionaries,
they were also custodians of the ratio studiorum, the system of Jesuit education
formulated about 1559. In 1590, they founded one of the first colleges in the Philippines,
 the Colegio de Manila (also known as the Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio) under the
leadership of Antonio Sedeño, S.J. The school formally opened in 1595.
 In 1621, Pope Gregory XV, through the archbishop of Manila, authorized the San Ignacio
to confer degrees in theology and the arts. Two years later, King Philip IV of Spain
confirmed this authorization, making the school a royal and a pontifical university, the
very first university in the Philippines and in Asia.
 However, by the mid-18th century, Catholic colonial powers, notably France, Portugal,
and Spain, had grown hostile to the Society of Jesus. The colonial powers eventually
expelled the Society, often quite brutally, from their realms.
 The Jesuits had to relinquish the San Ignacio to Spanish civil authorities in 1768, upon
their violent expulsion from all Spanish territories. Finally, under pressure from Catholic
royalty, Pope Clement XIV formally declared the dissolution of the Society of Jesus in
1773.
 Pope Pius VII reinstated the Society in 1814, after almost seven decades of persecution
and over four decades of formal suppression. However, the Jesuits would not return to the
Philippines until 1859, almost a century after their expulsion.
 Authorized by a royal decree of 1852, ten Spanish Jesuits arrived in Manila on April 14,
1859. This Jesuit mission was sent mainly for missionary work in Mindanao and Jolo.
However, despite almost a century away from the Philippines, the Jesuits’ reputation as
educators remained entrenched in the minds of Manila’s leaders. On August 5, the
ayuntamiento or city council requested the Governor-General for a Jesuit school financed
by public money.
 On October 1, 1859, the Governor-General authorized the Jesuits to take over the Escuela
Municipal, then a small private school maintained for 30 children of Spanish residents.
Partly subsidized by the ayuntamiento, it was the only primary school in Manila at the
time. Under the Jesuits, the Escuela eventually became the Ateneo Municipal de Manila
in 1865 when it was elevated to an institution of secondary education. The Ateneo
Municipal offered the bachillerato as well as technical courses leading to certificates in
agriculture, surveying, and business.
 When American colonial rule came in 1902, the Ateneo Municipal lost its government
subsidy. In 1908, the colonial government recognized it as a college licensed to offer the
bachelor’s degree and certificates in various disciplines, including electrical engineering.
In 1909, years after the Ateneo became a private institution, the Jesuits finally removed
the word “Municipal” from the Ateneo’s official name, and it has since been known as
the Ateneo de Manila.
 Devastation hit the Ateneo campus once again during World War II. Only one structure
remained standing – the statue of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus which now stands in
front of the Jesuit Residence in the Loyola Heights campus.
 But even if the Ateneo campus had been destroyed, the university survived. Following
the American liberation, the Ateneo de Manila reopened temporarily in Plaza Guipit in
Sampaloc.

Section 5: Mabini Shrine

 Even before the house of the intellectual patriot Apolinario Mabini in Nagtahan, Paco
was declared a national historical shrine in 1968.
 The Mabini Shrine is a historic site in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines.
 It is the original house owned by the del Rosario family in Pandacan to whom Apolinario
Mabini, known as "the Sublime Paralytic" and "the Brains of the Philippine Revolution",
was related by affinity.
 On May 13, 1903, Mabini died of cholera at the age of 39 in this house.
  It is situated next to the newly-constructed Museo ni Apolinario Mabini (Apolinario
Mabini Museum), where some of his belongings and memorabilia can be found.
 The Mabini Shrine is a government recognized National Shrine and cultural property
based on the official lists provided by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts,
National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the National Museum of the
Philippines.

Section 6: Kadayawan Festival

 The festival’s name is derived from the Mandaya word “madayaw,” meaning treasured or
valuable, as the locals use this time to give thanks for the season’s bountiful harvest.
Back in the day, the ethnic tribes of Davao would come together to celebrate abundant
crops, performing rituals that paid tribute to the nature gods.
 They used to display fruits, vegetables, flowers, rice, and corn grains on their mats and at
the front of their houses as a sign of respect for the great year they’ve had. They also sing
and dance to show reverence.
 In the 1970s, then Mayor Elias B. Lopez, encouraged the different Davao tribes to
showcase their thanksgiving rituals. In 1986, the Davao City government launched a
project that aimed to unite the people during the turbulent times of the Martial Law.
 Back then, the name of the festival was called Apo Duwaling, after three natural wonders
you can find the region: Mt. Apo, Durian, and Waling-waling.
 It was first officially renamed as the Kadayawan Festival in 1988 by then Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte, and now, over 30 years later, it’s still being celebrated.
 Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan, this is a colorful parade features graceful dancers decked in
splendid, colorful costumes, and dancing to the beat of ethnic-inspired music.
 Pamulak sa Kadalanan, it is a colorful parade of majestic floral floats that offer a wide
range of stunning designs and intricate craftsmanship. This event as designed to
showcase the beautiful flowers and abundant vegetation grown across the city. The
festival is celebrated in the month of August with floats of fresh and fruits, and indak-
indak sa Kadalanan or street dancing in colorful costumes.

Section 7: Pahiyas Festival

 According to the oral and recorded history of Lucban, the Feast of Saint Isidore was first
observed by the native Tagalogs who used to settle at the foot of Mt. Banahaw during the
early Christianization of the natives of Lucban, Tayabas circa 1500.
 The whole community of Lucban conducted a simple celebration as a form of
thanksgiving to the anitos for the good harvest of farm products such as palay,
vegetables, fruits, and fish.
 Every May 15, the townsfolk of Lucban, Quezon, embellish their houses with fruits,
vegetables and colorful kiping (a leaf-shaped wafer made of rice and dyed with food
coloring) in celebration of the Pahiyas Festival.
 The word “KIPING” was derived from the root word “KIPI” or “KINIPI” and
“KINIKIPI”, a local term which means “to dehydrate the extra water content out
of the dough by putting heavy object on it”.
 The drained dough is then kneaded by putting the desired color and by adding
enough water to make the dough semi-liquid.
 The semi-liquid form is poured in measured amount over the squared banana
leaves, tilted a bit and made to spread thinly over the entire surface of the leaf.
The process is repeated with every square patterned banana leaf.
 Then, it is steamed on squared bamboo sticks over boiling water in a covered pan,
big enough to contain several leaves at a time for ten minutes.
  Then, the cooked kiping still sticking on the banana leaf is laid to a mat to dry
overnight. The next day, the dried kiping is removed from the leaf, tied with
buntal fiber on one corner, each bundled together, laid on a board and put a heavy
object over it press the kiping flat.
 After six hours the heavy weight is removed and lo, the KIPING is made! The
bundles of KIPING are hanged on a clothes line to dry finally.
 The word ‘pahiyas’ was derived from the word ‘payas’, which means decoration or to
decorate. The reason behind such practice dates back to the 15th century, when farmers
used to offer their harvests at the foot of Mount Banahaw. Over time, they brought their
farm produce at the church in honor of the town’s patron saint – St. Isidore the Laborer,
who is the patron saint of farmers, laborers and peasants.
 During that time, farmers would bring their harvest to the town church and the parish
priest would bless them as a way to give thanks to the Lord for their bountiful harvest.
 But as time progressed, the church can no longer accommodate all harvests. It was then
agreed upon for the harvests to be displayed in the farmers’ houses instead. Thus, the
parish priest would go around the community to bless their harvests.

NO MAIN MODULE REQUIREMENT (BUT WILL STILL BE PART OF FINAL

EXAMS). HOWEVER, THERE WILL STILL BE MINI-TASKS AS PART OF
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT.