TEGR104: Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Grades (Culture and Geography) 1

This lesson focuses on known personalities in the Philippines who have made
significant contributions recorded in its history from the period of colonization to the present.
Also, you are expected to do localization of this topic by conducting profiling.

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. List known personalities in your locality and their contribution.
2. Enumerate a locality’s local chief executives in the last two (2) decades.

Have you ever come across the idea of thinking about how proud you are as a
Filipino? What are the things that influence you enough to have the pride of your nationality?

One important thing in studying history is that we get to study the lives of people who
made a significant impact on our society that are worthy of emulation. We have seen races,
nations, tribes, and individuals rise carrying different ideologies that have influenced either the
progress or dissolution of one civilization. Nationally, the Philippines is known in the world for
having people who have excelled and become successful in different walks of life. Take a look
at these personalities mentioned below and their contributions:

José Rizal
An advocate of civil equality for Filipinos,
political activist José Rizal published a book critical
of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines in 1886,
while he was studying in Europe. When he returned
to the Philippines, Rizal was exiled to Mindanao. In
1896 Rizal was accused of sedition and executed.
He has become a national martyr of the Philippines.
He is a patriot, physician, and man of letters who
was an inspiration to the Philippine nationalist
movement. (Source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Rizal)

Fig. 9. José Rizal, in full José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, (born June 19, 1861, Calamba,
Philippines—died December 30, 1896, Manila). (From: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.)

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Leonor Orosa Goquingco

Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater Dance” and “Dean of Filipino
Performing Arts Critics”, Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino choreographer in balletic
folkloric and Asian styles, produced for over 50 years highly
original, first-of-a-kind choreographies, mostly to her own
storylines. These include “TREND: Return to Native,” “In a
Javanese Garden,” “Sports,” “VINTA!,” “In a Concentration
Camp,” “The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,” “Firebird,” “Noli
Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,” “The Creation…” Seen as her
most ambitious work is the dance epic “Filipinescas: Philippine
Life, Legend and Lore.” With it, Orosa brought native folk dance,
mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its
highest stage of development. She was the Honorary Chair of
the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines (ABAP),
and was a founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.
(Source: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-
profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/leonor-orosa-
goquingco/)

Fig. 10. Leonor Orosa Goquingco (July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005) National Artist for Dance. (From:
http://www.orosa.org/images/Sixto%20Y/Leonor%20O.%20Goquingco.gif)

JOVITA FUENTES
Long before Lea Salonga’s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita
Fuentes‘ portrayal of Cio-cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Italy’s Teatro
Municipale di Piacenza. Her performance was hailed as the “most sublime interpretation of the
part”. This is all the more significant because it happened at a time when the Philippines and its
people were scarcely heard of in Europe. Prior to that, she was teaching at the University of the
Philippines Conservatory of Music (1917) before leaving for Milan in 1924 for further voice studies.
After eight months of arduous training, she made her stage debut at the Piacenza. She later
embarked on a string of music performances in Europe essaying the roles of Liu Yu in Puccini’s
Turandot, Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, Iris in Pietro Mascagni’s Iris, the title role of Salome (which
composer Richard Strauss personally offered to her including the special role of Princess Yang
Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe). In recognition of these achievements, she was given the unprecedented award
of “Embahadora de Filipinas a su Madre Patria” by
Spain. Her dream to develop the love for opera among
her countrymen led her to found the Artists’ Guild of
the Philippines, which was responsible for the periodic
“Tour of Operaland” productions. Her life story has
been documented in the biography Jovita Fuentes: A
Lifetime of Music (1978) written by Lilia H. Chung, and
later translated into Filipino by Virgilio Almario.
(Source: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-
arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-
philippines/jovita-fuentes/)

Fig. 11. Jovita Fuentes (February 15, 1895 – August 7, 1978) National Artist for Music. (From:
https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/sk-fuentes-jovita.jpg)

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 TEGR104: Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Grades (Culture and Geography) 3

Ferdinand Marcos
Philippine lawyer and politician who, as head of state from 1966 to 1986, established
an authoritarian regime in the Philippines that came under criticism for corruption and for its
suppression of democratic processes. (Source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-E-Marcos)
Ferdinand Marcos was elected president of the Philippines in 1965. In 1972 he
imposed martial law and seized dictatorial powers. A massive four-day protest known as the
People Power Movement forced him from office in 1986 and restored democracy in the
Philippines. The 1965 elections gave the presidency to Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Senate
president and Nationalist Party candidate. Rapid economic development created by the
American military buildup in Vietnam and ambitious public-works projects, financed by foreign
loans, brought prosperity during Marcos’s first term. He was easily reelected in 1969, making
him the first Philippine president to win a second term. The
Marcos government soon faced several challenges on the
domestic front, however. Government debt led to
lackluster economic growth, while criticism increased
over the dominant U.S. economic position in the
Philippines. Many Filipinos actively opposed the
continued presence of the U.S. military bases and
Marcos’s support for United States policy in Vietnam. In
addition, by the early 1970s two separate forces were
waging guerrilla war on the government: the New People’s
Army (NPA), the militant wing of the Communist Party of
the Philippines (CPP) that included former Huks, and the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim
separatist movement based in the southern islands.
(Source: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

Fig. 12. Ferdinand Marcos, in full Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, (born September 11, 1917, Sarrat, Philippines—died
September 28, 1989, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.). (From: https://cdn.britannica.com/89/159689-050-
B7AB2870/Ferdinand-E-Marcos-1972.jpg)

Corazon Aquino
Corazon Aquino became the first woman president of the Philippines in 1986 when
she defeated Ferdinand E. Marcos. After she became president, she abolished the National
Assembly and replaced the constitution with a new one that was adopted by the popular vote
in 1987. She had been married to Benigno Aquino, who was assassinated in 1983. Aquino
took office amid high expectations that she would undo all of the wrongs of the Marcos years.
She quickly used her presidential powers to free all political prisoners, abolish censorship of
the media, replace many officials installed under Marcos, and institute legal proceedings to
try to recover Marcos’s ill-gotten wealth. Domestic support for Aquino was severely
undermined in January 1987, however, when about 15,000 demonstrators gathered at
Manila’s Mendiola Bridge to demand land reform. In what became known as the Mendiola
Massacre, government security forces opened fire on the protesters and killed at least 20
people. The incident illustrated that the military was not under Aquino’s control. The public’s
disillusionment only intensified after the incident when Aquino turned the issue of land reform
over to the most conservative legislature. (Source: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

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Fig. 13. Corazon Aquino, in full Maria Corazon Aquino, née

Maria Corazon Cojuangco, (born January 25, 1933, Tarlac
province, Philippines—died August 1, 2009, Makati). Philippine
political leader who served as the first female president
(1986–92) of the Philippines, restoring democratic rule in that
country after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
(Photo from: Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.) (Text from:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Corazon-Aquino)

Manny Pacquiao
Filipino professional boxer, media celebrity, and
politician who became world-famous for winning boxing
titles in more weight classes than any other boxer in
history. His rise from abject poverty to the pinnacle of
his sport was made even more remarkable by his life
outside the ring. The charismatic “Pac-Man” was an idol
and a unifying force in the Philippines, where his
unprecedented popularity led to commercial
endorsements, movies, television shows, CDs, and his
image on a postage stamp. (Source:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manny-
Pacquiao)

Fig. 14. Manny Pacquiao, in full Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao, byname Pac-Man, (born December 17, 1978,
Kibawe, Bukidnon province, Mindanao, Philippines), Filipino boxer and politician. (From:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manny-Pacquiao)

Paeng Nepomuceno
Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno (born January 30, 1957) of the Philippines is a six-time
world bowling champion and is acknowledged worldwide as the greatest international bowler
in the history of the sport.
In recognition of his achievements, in November 1999, at the opening ceremonies of
the 1999 World Championships, Juan Antonio Samaranch who was then the president of the
International Olympic Committee personally awarded Paeng with the prestigious IOC
Presidents' Trophy which is the first for the sport of bowling and is the highest sports award.
He is the only bowling athlete in the world who has been bestowed this award. At the
International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum in Arlington, Texas, USA, Paeng's life-size
picture is prominently displayed and greets you at its entrance along with his memorabilia. He
is the first to be enshrined in the Hall of fame by the World Bowling Writers, an association of
more than 300 sportswriters from over 90 countries. He is the only bowling athlete to have

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 TEGR104: Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary Grades (Culture and Geography) 5

received all awards possible in all categories by the World

Bowling Writers when he received the World Bowling
Writers Mort Luby Jr. Distinguished Service award on
April 19, 2009. He has also been named World Bowler of
the Year three times.

He has been honored by the Guinness Book of World

Records four times and has three unbroken records:

1. For being the youngest World Bowling Champion

at 19 years old
2. For winning the most World Titles in three
different decades
3. For winning the most Worldwide titles in a career.

Fig. 15. Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno (born January 30, 1957). (From: http://www.paengbowling.com/summary-
achievements)

Catriona Gray
Catriona Gray is an Australian-born Filipino model, singer, and philanthropist. She is
the fourth Filipino to be crowned 'Miss Universe.' She won the title in 2018. Gray spent her
childhood in Australia, where she earned her first beauty-pageant title at the age of 5. Minor
modeling gigs followed. By the time she graduated high school, Gray was already on her way
to becoming a supermodel. She subsequently began her career after moving to the
Philippines. She was featured in several TV commercials
and eventually became a prominent face in the fashion
industry, too. When her modeling offers started
dwindling, she turned her focus to philanthropy. At the
suggestion of a fellow beauty-pageant winner and
friend, she began participating in pageants, primarily to
support her charitable pursuits. Gray won two
prestigious titles, 'Miss World' in 2016 and 'Miss
Universe' in 2018. Following the pageant wins, she
continued with her philanthropic works and is now
associated with several charitable organizations.
(Source:
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/catriona-
gray-53024.php)

Fig. 16. Catriona Gray, an Australian-born Filipino model, singer, and philanthropist. (From:
https://healthyceleb.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Catriona-Gray-as-seen-in-Atlanta-Georgia-in-February-
2019.jpg)

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No.