Day by day history

In 1968, the National Historical Commission published its compilation of day-to-day historical happenings in the Philippines. This was an excellent idea; create a resource that allows people to learn about Philippine history one day at a time. Unfortunately, we are not sure if the work was ever re-published, much less updated and converted to a new more modern medium.   We also remember a daily column called Halupi (which ran from February 5, 1985 to 1989) that was jointly written by Corazon S. Alvina (current head of the National Museum) and Felice Sta. Maria (an international award-winning food writer). For three years, through daily vignettes, it shed light on the development and influences of what is now Philippine culture.

Philippine history is not boring, far from it actually, and almost every day in our history has some item of interest. On October 25 in 1845 then Governor-General Narciso Claveria ordered that sidewalks be constructed in the noble and ever-loyal city of Manila. Before that, pedestrians had to share the roads with the horses and calesas. Now they had an exclusive pedestrian pavement alongside the road.   So we have Narciso Claveria to thank for initiating the construction of sidewalks in the country. I’m sure he never thought that it was a decision that would be recorded in history. Actually, Narciso Claveria made many lasting contributions while he was Governor-General in the Philippines: one of which is timely considering we are in the month of November.

 In November 1849, Claveria issued a decree that made it mandatory for all Filipinos to have surnames. A catalogue, “Alphabetized Catalogue of Surnames”, was drawn up and names were selected from it. Before that, Filipinos were baptized with a first name that was usually the name of the patron saint for that particular day. That is how Filipinos got to have family names and it explains why almost all of them are Spanish names. The name of Claveria will also be familiar for architectural historians. The original name of the Puente Colgante (Asia’s first steel suspension bridge and was owned by Ynchausti y Cia and completed in 1852) was Claveria Bridge. Alas, the Puente Colgante was torn down in the 1930s by the Americans to make way for a larger, but less attractive, bridge across the Pasig River.

From November 9-11, there was the long-forgotten Battle of Binakayan in Cavite, which was led by General Emilio Aguinaldo and was a resounding victory of the Spanish. The battle was initiated by the Spanish forces led by Governor-General Ramon Blanco. On November 11, the Spanish retreated to waiting warships in the bay. The victory was one of the greatest moments in the Philippine fight for independence and became a rallying point for the Philippine revolutionaries. Alas, the exact location of the battle is not even known. This shows how neglected this event, and parts of our history, have become. 

There are resources out there that are helping aid the study of Philippine history. One such resource is the Vibal Foundation’s website Filipiniana.net (www.filipiniana.net), which has positioned itself as a digital library of Philippine history. You can find pictures and original documents on the site (including the complete works of Jose Rizal and even documents dating back to the time of Don Miguel de Legazpi). The work they are doing to preserve Philippine historical documents and pictures and make them widely available to everyone with access is commendable. The website and resources on it are free to access and use.

Columns and resource like Halupi and Filipinana.net are important. They help make Philippine history accessible for all. We hope to see more like them in the future. Learning about history is as simple as taking it one day at a time. Learn our history, learn more about yourself.