PHA BALITA

Newsletter of the Philippine Historical Association

PHA holds General AssemblyThe PHA held its General Assembly last January 31, 2009 at the National Historical Institute, T. M. Kalaw St., Manila. Mrs. Emelita Almosara, Deputy Executive Director of the NHI presided over the nomination and election process. The new composition of the board of governors are Mr. Jerome Ong (UP Manila), Dr. Evelyn Miranda (UP Diliman), Dr. Evelyn Songco (University of Santo Tomas), Dr. Cesar Pobre (AFP), Mr. Jonathan Balsamo (Ateneo de Manila High School.), Mr. Michael Charleston Chua (De La Salle University), Dean Gloria Santos (St. Mary’s College-QC), Dr. Estrellita Muhi, Mr. Orestes delos Reyes (Admason University), Dr. Celestina Boncan (National Historical Institute), and Dr. Teofista Vivar (Universtity of the East). Also included in the PHA board are Darlene Machell Espeña (Ateneo de Manila University) and Arleigh Ross dela Cruz (De La Salle University). ●

PINOY IDEAL Matagumpay na Isinagawa! Sa unang pagkakataon pagkatapos ng matagal na panahon, nagtulungan ang Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas (PHA), ang UP Departamento ng Kasaysayan at ng UP Lipunang Pangkasaysayan (UP LIKAS) upang isagawa ang isang sampaksaan na pinamagatang “PINOY IDEAL: The Search for the Filipino Political Leader” noong 20 Agosto 2009, mula 1:30 – 4:00 N.H., sa Silid 207 (CSSP AVR), Bulwagang Palma, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon. Ito ay bilang paggunita sa Araw ng Himagsikang Pilipino, Araw ng Pagkamartir ni Ninoy at Buwan ni Magsaysay. Ang sampaksaan na nilahukan ng 44 na mga kabataan, karamihan ay mga estudyante ni Bb. Analyn Muñoz, ay nagsimula sa pamamagitan ng isang pambungad na pananalita ni Evelyn Songco, ang Pangulo ng PHA. Ito ay sinundan ng pagbasa ni Dr. Evelyn Miranda ng UP Diliman sa papel ni G. Napoleon Almonte, may-akda ng Rizal Is My President, “When Bagumbayan Meets

EDSA: Finding Jose Rizal in Cory Aquino.” Matapos nito, nagkaroon ng pagpapalabas ng dalawang maiikling bidyo dokumentaryo: "My Guy Redux" ukol sa karakter at pamumuno ni Pang. Ramon Magsaysay, at “Ninoy: The Heart and the Soul,” na sinundan ng pagbasa ni G. Michael Charleston Chua ng DLSU ng kanyang papel ukol kay Ninoy Aquino, "Ang Trapo na Hero, ang Hero na naging Bayani." Bilang pagbubuod, tinalakay ni Dr. Dante Ambrosio ng UP Diliman ang “Ang Ideyal na Lider-Pilipino” habang nagbigay naman ng reaksyon mula sa mga estudyante si G. Kerby Alvarez, Ikalawang Tagapangulong Panlabas ng UP LIKAS. Matapos ang isang maikling malayang talakayan na dinaloy ni Aaron Abel Mallari, ang Pangulo ng UP LIKAS, nagbigay ng mga pangwakas na mga pananalita sina Dr. Ma. Luisa Bolinao, ang Tagapangulo ng UP Departamento ng Kasaysayan, at si G. Chua, na siya ring Pangalawang Pangulo ng PHA at pinuno ng Komite para sa mga Talakayan. ●

PHA BALITA ● SEPTEMBER 2009 1

KAPISANAN

G PA

NGKASAYSAYAN NG PILIPINAS

September 2009 Issue

ISANG INA NG KAPAYAPAANIsang Parangal Para kay Dr. Evelyn Ansay

Miranda sa Kanyang Pagreretiro

Michael Charleston B. ChuaPangalawang Pangulo, PHA

Kaiba sa mga nagsalita noong pagpaparangal ng UP Departamento ng Kasaysayan kay Dr. Evelyn Miranda noong 27 Agosto 2009 sa Balay Kalinaw, hindi ako kakontemporanyo, hindi ako naging estudyante at hindi ko rin siya naabutan bilang tagapangulo. Subalit siya ay aking nakasama sa tatlong pinakamasasayang taon ko sa pagtuturo sa UP at bilang isang bago niyang kasama sa Lupon ng mga Gobernador ng PHA. Bagama’t limitado pagkakakilala ko sa kanya at siya sa akin, hindi naging hadlang sa akin ito upang makita ang kanyang magagandang katangian. Siya ang isa sa aking unang tagapagsalita sa pinakauna kong proyekto sa departamento bilang lektyurer, ang sampaksaang “Pananalig: The Filipinos and Their Faith.” Nakasama ko siya sa ilang “working-outing” ng departamento—sa Baler noong Hunyo 2005 at sa Tagaytay noong Tag-init ng 2006. Nababahaginan niya ako ukol sa mga tagumpay at pakikibaka sa buhay ng isang guro. Si Dr. Miranda, sa aking nakita, ay isang babaeng malaki ang pananampalataya, reflected sa kanyang aura at sa kanyang mga pananaliksik, halimbawa ukol sa Turumba,

ispiritwalidad at Laguna. Siya rin ang inaasahang maging tagapamayapa sa tuwing may krisis sa departamento, isang tinig ng hinahon. Hanggang ngayon ang kanyang paalala sa akin ay binabaon ko saan man ako magpunta, “Huminahon ka!” Kapag may bigat sa aking loob, natatakbuhan ko siya at alam kong maaari kong asahan na lihim ang aking sinabi. Alam na ni ma’am iyon na nang matrobol ako at mapilitang lisanin ang pagtuturo sa UP, may tulong siyang ginawa sa akin. Salamat po doon. Huwarang guro sa kasaysayan si Dr. Miranda. At kahit na aktibong bahagi ng lupon ng mga gobernador ng PHA, siya ay kaibigan ng lahat ng mga historyador, anuman ang samahan at paniniwala. Sa kanyang pagreretiro, bilang Pangalawang Pangulo ng PHA, masaya ako dahil alam kong sa pagreretiro niya sa departamento, “Sa amin na kayo!” Kung si Tita Cory ay tinawag na Ina ng Demokrasya nang siya ay pumanaw, ngayon pa lang hindi na ako mag-aalinlangang tawagi ang ating MAMI (Ma’am Miranda) na isang Ina ng Kapayapaan, na patuloy na magiging ilaw para sa ating lahat na naging mas mapalad dahil siya ay nabuhay. (Nirebisang mga pananalita ni G. Chua sa pagpaparangal sa pagreretiro ni Dr. Miranda na nilahukan ng iba't ibang mga historyador at mga mahal sa buhay, kasama na sina Dr. Teofista Vivar at Dekana Gloria Santos, mga kasapi ng Lupon ng PHA)

PHA BALITA ● SEPTEMBER 2009 2

PHA Secretary Goes To Korea

South Korea was recently visited by Prof. Jerome A. Ong, PHA Secretary, for the ‘2009 Fellowship for Filipino Textbook Specialist Program’ from August 18 to 24, 2009. The program was sponsored by the Academy of Korean Studies and Center for Information on Korean Culture based at Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Prof. Ong presented a paper entitled ‘Korean Portrayal in Philippine Textbooks: What Filipinos Read and Think of Korea’. The six-man Philippine delegation was cordially welcomed by the Korean hosts as the group toured the city of Seoul and the province of Gyeong-ju and visited various historic sites, museums, and other significant landmarks of the country.

Also, Prof. Ong became the first ever recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences (C. A. S.) Alumni Association Junior Faculty Grant. The grant was given by the College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Manila during the Closing Ceremonies of the C. A. S. 58th Foundation Week Celebration at Little Theater, College of Arts and Sciences on July 24, 2009.

REMEMBERING DR. ROSARIO M. CORTESDr. Napoleon Casambre

I knew Dr. Rosario M. Cortes as a colleague and friend in the Department of History, UP-Diliman. I first came to know her when she joined the department after transferring from the UP Prep School in Manila. Being colleagues in the same department, we saw each other more often than not. Sometimes, we would bump into each other along the way going to our classes at Palma Hall; at other times, we met during college or departmental faculty meetings. Among the members of the teaching staff in the department, perhaps, I was one of those close to her. For one thing, both of us could trace our roots from the same province of Pangasinan and we sometimes spoke in our native tongue. Besides, she knew my older brother, Kuya Alex, who was once her classmate in the Pangasinan provincial high school. And believe it or not, by some twists of fate, both of them were born on the same day, the same month, and in the same year.

As time went by, that bond of friendship was reinforced when she worked for her doctoral degree and I became chairman of her dissertation committee. Dr. Cortes was interested in local history and she wrote her MA thesis on the early history of Pangasinan. When she pursued her doctoral studies, she wanted to continue her research on Pangasinan history. Thus, she proposed to the director of the Philippine Studies Program that she wanted to do her dissertation on Pangasinan history in the

19th century. Then I was chosen as chairman of her dissertation committee. As adviser and as advisee, we worked closely together. She was a diligent and thorough researcher. Having the facility of the English language, she finished writing her dissertation in record time. In all my experience as a dissertation adviser, she was the one who gave me the least problem. The first draft of her dissertation she submitted to me was well done that it also became the final draft. Subsequently, she made two other copies to be read by her two critics/readers and after their approval , made other copies for the members of her oral defense committee. After passing her oral defense with flying colors, she became the first home-grown Ph. D. in the Department of History. All her works on the history of Pangasinan had been published and, as far I know, they are the most authoritative on the subject. Due largely to these works, she was appointed emeritus professor of history when she retired from UP in 1987.

One incident that makes me remember Dr. Cortes was when she came to my office one morning and asked me why and how come she was referred to in a petition circulating in the History Department in the 1980’s as one of the “Gang of Three.” At that time, the department faculty was seemingly fragmented into two factions. I was identified as the leader of one faction with Drs. Cortes and Leslie Bauzon and a few others as members. Since the three of us

PHA BALITA ● SEPTEMBER 2009 3Continued on page 4…

REMEMBERING DR. CORTES… (continued from page 3)

came from Pangasinan, we were referred to as the “Gang of Three” by the other faction. I told Dr. Cortes that she was not directly involved in the controversy in the department, but since she was also a Pangasinense, our opponents thought that she was a member of my group. We did not know exactly who write the petition, but all those who signed it belonged to the other group. As observed by a non-history faculty, those were the days when the History Department “thrived” in controversies.

As a historian, Dr. Cortes wrote history for the sake of historical scholarship. This is well reflected in her works. She observed rigorously the canons of the historical craft, such as the use of historical facts, instead of just facts. I have read all her published works on the history of Pangasinan and I found no sign to use them as an argument pro or con. Unlike some historical works which are slanted, her published works were products of an impartial mind. While some historians would consider a good history as a product of less historical facts but more of imagination, Dr. Cortes believed the other way around.

According to my feedback, Dr. Cortes as a teacher was well liked by her students. Though a bit strict in class, she was fair and reasonable. She knew how to teach and what to teach. She taught history as a good story by telling it as it is. The only complaint of some of her students was that she conducted her class in English instead of Pilipino. Understandably, she did not use Pilipino because she was not proficient in the language. To her, teaching is essentially communication and, therefore, she had to use the language in which she was proficient. She had English language proficiency and to her she felt at home in class using it as her medium of instruction. One time she came to me and told me of her language problem knowing that I, too, had the same problem with some of my students. She said to me, “If I had to use Pilipino as the medium of instruction in my classes, I might only be betraying my ignorance instead of showing my erudition.”

My contacts with Dr. Cortes continued even after her retirement from UP. We saw each other in meetings, conferences and seminar-workshops undertaken by the Philippine Historical Association (PHA). We were then active members and, at one time or another, served as officers in various capacities. Dr. Cortes was president for two terms and editor of the Historical Bulletin, the official journal of the PHA, for quite sometime. We gave lectures in conferences and seminar-workshops in different parts of the country. She started to be less active in the PHA only when she became sickly.

Since I came to know Dr. Cortes, I have always called her Manang Rose as a show of respect and admiration. ●

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Philippine Historical Association Supports HB No. 5945, Strengthening NHI

The Philippine Historical Association expressed ardent support for the passing of the House Bill No. 5945 entitled “An Act Changing the Nomenclature of the National Historical Institute into National Historical Commission of the Philippines , Strengthening its Powers and Functions and for Other Purposes”. In a letter addressed to Rep. Del De Guzman, Chairperson of the Committee on Basic Education of the House of Representatives and Hon. Ambeth Ocampo, Chairman of the National Historical Institute, Dr. Evelyn Songco, President of PHA, firmly states that the Philippine Historical Association, as an honor and professional association of historians of the Philippines, fervently shares with the National Historical Institute’s endeavor to uphold nationalism and strengthen Filipino identity through the promotion of the country’s historical and cultural heritage.

She further asserts that the PHA stands resolute on its belief that the enactment of House Bill No. 5945 will reinforce the position of NHI and give it better leverage to further facilitate its powers and functions.