It’s National History Month!
You’ve heard it before: ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makararating sa paroroonan. Or, how about this, coming from the other end of the spectrum: past is past.
In the recent years, we have witnessed a renewed interest of Filipinos in our history. Fueled by political events, we are seeing Filipinos of different ages and walks of life engaging in discussions about what happened in the past. From a mere onlooker’s point of view, it’s wild – with historians’ decades of research accused to be works of fiction to proud grandchildren asking you, “So, you mean, my grandmother’s experience is not valid?”
Read more: August is Philippine History Month: What did you do?
August of every year is National History Month. This commemoration is by virtue of Proclamation No. 339, s. 2012, signed by President Benigno Aquino III. August was chosen because many major historical events happened within the month.
Among so many events of historical significance are the Cry of Pugad Lawin and Battle of San Juan Del Monte, as well as the birthdays of Marcelo H. Del Pilar, President Manuel L. Quezon, and President Ramon Magsaysay, the death anniversaries of President Quezon and President Corazon Aquino, and the assassination of Ninoy Aquino.
Here’s how we know Filipinos are taking our history seriously:
The Historians and History Workers
If you told me back then I will see the day when people are following historians and academics on social media, I would have laughed. But look at these:
- Rizal historian Prof. Ambeth R. Ocampo commands an impressive following of over 224,000 on Facebook and has also made appearances in a couple of movies. At the time of writing, he just gushed about an episode on a popular TV show in which he was featured garnering a remarkable 1.1 million views in just five days on YouTube.
- Genealogist and social media influencer Mona Magno-Veluz, widely known as Mighty Magulang, boasts an even larger audience, with more than 470,000 followers and an impressive 5 million cumulative likes on TikTok.
- Kirby Araullo, a historian with royal lineage as a datu and lakan, has also made his mark in the digital space, with nearly 90,000 subscribers on YouTube. One of his most successful videos, titled “Why did the U.S. buy the Philippines?”, has amassed over 400,000 views to date.
Meanwhile, public historian Xiao Chua has this warning on his first Facebook account: DON’T FRIEND THIS!!! Already full.
The History Books
Another proof of Filipinos’ newfound love for history are the books. Thankfully, gone are the days when we can only read history in boring school textbooks. Now, they come in books beautifully designed and laid out, written in an easy-to-read, easy-to-digest manner.
History books are no longer confined to university and specialty book stores as well. Now, you can buy them from physical and online stores of mainstream book sellers. Sometimes, you can even contact the writer or publisher directly to order an autographed copy.
History books are getting more accessible, giving more Filipinos the opportunity to read them.
Contrary to the belief that the book industry is declining, it has experienced a surge in print book sales like never before. In 2021, a director from a university printing press revealed that they had witnessed unprecedented levels of physical book purchases. One contributing factor, as he pointed out, was the closure of libraries during the global lockdowns, which led individuals to buy personal copies of the books they wanted to read.
And if that didn’t surprise you, history books are among the recent bestsellers in the Philippines. Two notable examples are Ricardo Manapat’s “Some Are Smarter Than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism” and Primitivo Mijares’ “The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos,” both emerging as top-selling books in 2020.
The Discourse
Regardless of your political inclinations (and the version of Philippine history you subscribe to), you can’t deny that the discourse has surged among young Filipinos. Whether it’s about the Marcoses, the stolen gold mouth covers that adorned a starlet’s gala attire, or the historical significance of Maria Clara at Ibarra, Filipinos are engaging in historical dialogue.
The surge in historical discourse is a positive development as it indicates a growing interest among Filipinos to understand our country’s past and its impact on the present and future. It reflects a desire to uncover truths, challenge conventional narratives, and seek a deeper understanding of the complex events that have shaped the Philippines that we have today.
This Year’s National History Month
This year, the theme of the celebration is “Pagpapalaya ng Kasaysayan para sa Sambayanan.” The theme stresses the importance of learning and understanding history from sources beyond what we traditionally use.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines has laid out different activities and programs throughout the month to be held in different parts of the country.
Check out NHCP’s calendar at http://bit.ly/2023-History-Month-Calendar.
Happy National History Month, Philippines!
References:
- https://nolisoli.ph/87915/aklatan-book-fair-ateneo-press-ayuvallos-20201015/
- http://web.nlp.gov.ph/nlp/?q=node/10902
