LANDSCAPE
Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. ( 1557-1635) arrived with governor-general Gomez Perez Dasmarinas in 1590. He wrote “Relación de las Islas Filipinas (1604),” which is valuable because it captured a historical moment, those early “points of contact” between natives and Spaniards. Fascinated with
Published April 16, 2021, 1:05 PM
And what this says about our understanding of our colonial history
Philippine history teaches us that we have been under one foreign power and the next for the majority of our societal consciousness as a budding nation. There were the Spaniards, the Americans, and then the Japanese oh, and you might want to add the British who were in Manila for a couple of years, just for good measure. Of these, the longest “reigning,” were the Spaniards, who occupied the Philippines for over 300 years.
A Spanish mestizo family in the Philippines (National Library of Spain)
Now, the question is: Why is the Philippines not a Spanish speaking country? The answer is rather simple, and points to how nuanced our Spanish colonial history is.
SunStar
Photo by Cecilia Cobacha April 03, 2021 FIDELINO JOSOL, 53, did not mind the heat as he wore his hood and robe while walking barefoot in the streets of Palo, Leyte as Catholics observed this year’s Holy Week amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Josol, a senior member of an all-male group of religious devotees called “Penitentes,” joined in the veneration of the cross and the procession as part of their religious service and sacrifice to the parish on Good Friday.
A procession of penitentes during Holy Week has become a feature of the annual celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ in the town.