Books for Camiguin

I can only hope that some of this blog's readers will donate not only books, but also money for the "I-CARE Reading Program" alluded to in the photo above, which I took at a public elementary school in Bug-ong, Mambajao, Camiguin. In case you would like to help, please call or text +639089742613 or send an email to blessed.woman1@yahoo.com.

I am featuring this appeal on my blog, however, for another reason: as an example of what persons assigned to public school libraries in the Philippines should NOT do. Please don't get me wrong. I am not blaming the blessed woman for her lack of marketing savvy. She is, after all, a school property custodian, not a licensed librarian.

She did a few things right. The most significant was a big sign saying "READING PARK," which caught my eye as I rode past the school several times on my way to and from the resort where I was staying. I kept wondering what a reading park was, so I finally asked the driver to stop on one trip, and knocked on the school's gate.

The following photos indicate what I saw before I actually encountered the sign above:

So what's the problem? Even though the "READING PARK" sign could be seen from the road, I did not see the banner asking for book donations—even though it was written in big, bold letters—until I had entered the school and approached the unfinished structure.

Question: Are you sure that your requests are being seen by the right people?

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Director, Rizal Library

One more post. This one is for those who are wondering what I plan to do now that I'm done with my PhD. The memo below also reveals a little about my background and why blue is my favorite color =)

Director, Rizal Library


Again, for those who have difficulty reading the document above, I am reproducing its text below:

Ateneo de Manila University
Office of the President

12 November 2012

Memo to: The University Community

Subject: Director, Rizal Library


Upon the recommendation of the Search Committee headed by Dr Maria Luz Vilches, and endorsed by Dr John Paul Vergara, I am appointing Dr Vernon “Von” R Totanes as Director of the Rizal Library effective 1 April 2013. He succeeds Mrs Lourdes T David whose term ends on 31 March 2013. As part of the transition process, Dr Totanes will assume the position of Assistant Director beginning 16 November 2012.

Dr Totanes holds a PhD in Information from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Library and Information Science from UP. He obtained his license as professional librarian in 2004, topping the licensure exam. As a researcher, he has published in books and journals locally and internationally.

Von is no stranger to our school, having graduated from the Ateneo de Manila with a degree in Management Engineering (1995), High School (1991) and Grade School (1987). From 2003 to 2004 he did volunteer work at the Rizal Library and at the Gehring Library of the Loyola School of Theology.

His career history includes working as a librarian for the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Asian Development Bank as well as teaching in Sacred Heart School in Cebu, the UP Institute of information and Library Science, and the University of Toronto. Immediately after college, he was employed as Service Quality Officer for CityTrust Banking Corporation and as Assistant Manager for the Total Quality Office of the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

I thank Dr Vilches and the members of the Search Committee for their commitment and generosity in conducting the search process. The members of the Committee are: Dr Filomeno V Aguilar, Mr Eduardo Jose E Calasanz, Dr Jonathan O Chua, Dr Edna P Franco, Dr Ma Celeste E Gonzalez, and Dr Ma Louise Antonette N de las Peñas.

Let us welcome and support Dr Totanes as he assumes this new assignment.

On behalf of the Ateneo de Manila, I would like to express our profound gratitude to Mrs Lourdes David who has led Rizal Library to where it is now. By her vision and dedicated work, Rizal Library's dynamism has been exemplary in terms of infrastructure, resources, and its networking relationships with our academic community and outside. Mrs David shall continue to serve as Consultant for the Rizal Library beyond her term.



Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
President

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History of the Filipino History Book

In case you haven't heard, I successfully defended my dissertation last 22 June 2012. And now I'd like to share its abstract, acknowledgments, and table of contents here on my blog to publicly thank everyone who helped me get to this point, and perhaps inspire other Filipino librarians to obtain their own PhDs.

History of the Filipino History Book


For those who have difficulty reading the document above, I am reproducing the abstract and acknowledgments below:

History of the Filipino History Book

Vernon del Rosario Totanes

Doctor of Philosophy

Faculty of Information

University of Toronto

2012

Abstract

Studies of Philippine historiography often trace the emergence of history books written by Filipinos—or, more simply, Filipino history books—to the influence of Spanish and American colonialism, and the rise of Filipino nationalism. In most cases, the names of historians and the titles of their works figure prominently in discussions devoted primarily to texts and/or their authors' backgrounds, while the names of their publishers and other bibliographical details are either relegated to the footnotes or dispensed with altogether. This study proposes an alternative, complementary approach that seeks to enrich the study of Philippine historiography by reconstructing the history of the Filipino history book using the framework of the discipline known as "book history," and Pierre Bourdieu's theory of the field of cultural production.

The histories of three books, namely, Jose Rizal's annotated edition of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1890), Leandro Fernandez's A Brief History of the Philippines (1919), and what is now commonly known as Teodoro Agoncillo's History of the Filipino People (1960), are presented as case studies through which the evolution of the Filipino history book as a material object and commodity, and not merely as a text to be read or interpreted, may be better understood. Each book represents a different period in the evolution of the study of Philippine history by Filipinos, and was published in multiple editions over several decades.

By examining the prevailing conditions throughout each book's life cycle, the contributions of agents other than their authors, the struggles that accompanied their publication and distribution, and the evidence that may be gleaned from the books themselves, this dissertation shows that Spanish and American colonialism, and Filipino nationalism, did shape the development of Philippine historiography from the late nineteenth century to the twentieth century, but it also reveals that the Catholic Church played an important role in the production and circulation of books regardless of who was in power, and that struggles between agents involved in the historical field have affected the history of the discipline in ways that have yet to be fully acknowledged.


Acknowledgments

Dissertations, like books, are usually credited to their authors alone, but such works often also benefit directly and indirectly from the efforts of family and friends, librarians and archivists, publishers and professors, and many others. This dissertation is no exception. Hence, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to those who have contributed in various ways to the writing of this work:

Patricia Fleming, for agreeing to be my adviser even though she had just retired, and for her kindness, patience, and support as I wrote and rewrote numerous drafts over the years; Alan Galey and Malavika Kasturi, the members of my committee, for challenging me to complicate my analysis using methods and approaches I had not previously considered; and Vyva Victoria Aguirre, Roland Sintos Coloma, Gordon Davies, Leland de la Cruz, Tarleton Gillespie, Greta Golick, Christine Lao, Thomas Kessler, Susan MacDonald, Scott McLaren, Ari Ngaseo, Fr. John Schumacher, Brian Cantwell Smith, Karen Smith, and Ethel Tungohan, for asking questions, answering queries, giving feedback, and suggesting improvements.

Sharon Henry, for encouraging me to apply for the travel grant that brought me to Toronto; Lourdes David, for planting the seed that led me to contemplate the pursuit of a doctorate; Patricia May Jurilla, for introducing the study of book history as an academic discipline to Philippine studies; Leslie Howsam, for showing that history books are material objects and commodities with their own histories; Ambeth Ocampo, for suggesting that I look into the history of what is now commonly known as Teodoro Agoncillo's History of the Filipino People; and Filomeno Aguilar Jr., Bernardita Churchill, Natalie Zemon Davis, Milagros Guerrero, Reynaldo Ileto, Gregory Pfitzer, Vicente Rafael, and Edgar Wickberg, for showing interest in my research and encouraging me to continue.

Salvacion Arlante, for granting access to the Teodoro A. Agoncillo Papers and other resources at the Main Library of the University of the Philippines; the librarians and archivists at Ateneo de Manila's Rizal Library, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Biblioteca del Ateneo de Madrid, Bibliotecas AECID, Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Library, Columbia University, Lopez Museum and Library, Newberry Library, New York Public Library, Philippine National Library, US Library of Congress, US National Archives, University of California Berkeley, and University of Michigan, for not only preserving the primary sources I needed for my dissertation, but also for organizing them so that necessary materials could be easily found; and the visionaries behind Google Books, Internet Archive, and Hathitrust, for digitizing books and documents, and making them freely available online.

Teodoro V. Agoncillo III, for answering my questions and generously sharing documents I could not find elsewhere; Elvie Lapuz, Grace Tabiendo, and Ricky Punzalan, for their help in obtaining copies of library and archival materials that I was unable to physically examine; and Jonathan Balsamo, Maricor Baytion, Jonathan Best, Karina Bolasco, Mario Feir, Stephen Feldman, Caroline Garcia, Susan Go, Caroline Hau, Chas Navarro, John Silva, and Gas Vibal, for welcoming me into their offices and homes, translating documents, and/or assisting with the collection of data.

The University of Toronto, for providing the fellowship that made it financially possible for me to study in Canada; the Doctoral Thesis Completion Grant, as well as the Ethel Auster Bursary, for additional funding; Bonnie McElhinny, for the research assistantship that allowed me to visit UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library and the US National Archives; and the Faculty of Information, the School of Graduate Studies, the Asian Institute, and the Doctoral Students' Association, as well as the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library, for grants and awards that facilitated research trips and conference-related travel outside Toronto.

Bro. James Dunne, Onofre Pagsanghan, and Fr. Victor Salanga, for being good teachers and advisers inside and outside the classroom, and for being even better friends after I finished high school and college; Dulce Abad and Donna Shotwell, for being my mentors in and out of the corporate world even after we set off in different directions; Jim Arshem and Raphael Gancayco, for befriending a stranger like me and letting me stay with them on research trips to Washington, D.C., and New York, respectively; and Vanny Bicomong, Bong Buenaventura, Rene Cruz, Tom Frias, Ed Gulane, Cheche Soberano-Kau, Tony Liam, Malix Huidem, and Rancy Recato-Buenafe, for their friendship and support as I traveled between Toronto and Manila over the past six years.

My aunts and uncles in Canada and the United States—namely, Fe and Ben Dueñas, Tessie and Rudy Escribano, Aida Geronimo, Cora and Dick Macalinao, Gee and Bill Orr, Ernie and Mae Totanes, and especially Lory and Phil Mancini, and Stan and Rose Totanes—for welcoming me into their homes, and essentially treating me as one of their children; my cousins and their husbands or wives (if any)—Ben and Emily, Edgar and Teena, Erwin and Lyn, Eugene, James, Joey and Weng, Maris, Mike and Priscilla, PJ, Rachel, Rhia and Mike, Tony and Chiqui, and Vi and Ronnie—for going out of their way to spend time with me; and my siblings, Veraflor and Verchie, for helping me in countless ways over the years.

And finally, my parents, Ver and Flor, for teaching me to read and to write, to live and to love. This dissertation is dedicated to them.

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Librarians' Licensure Examination 2012: Results

Congratulations to the new librarians!

The passing rate for the Librarians' Licensure Examination is 47 percent (379 out of 812), which is almost double the passing rate of 28 percent in 2011.

As usual, the list of the top scorers and the list of successful examinees are reproduced below (both downloaded from the official website of the Professional Regulation Commission), but since these lists have already been shared by others elsewhere, I’d just like to call your attention to the astonishingly high passing rate, which reminds me of the late 1990s and early 2000s when it seemed as if half of all examinees could be expected to pass the board exam every year.

"There must be a logical explanation," I thought to myself, "for the significantly higher number of successful examinees this year compared to the number of board passers every year since 2004." So I sent a Facebook message to Mrs. Mila Ramos, a member of the Board for Librarians, which administered the exam:

Ma'am, I'm planning to post about the board exam results. I noticed that the passing rate jumped from 28 percent to 47 percent. Would you like to comment on the reason for the increase? Was the exam easier? Were the examinees better? Was the passing rate lowered? Something I can share with my blog's readers...

Mrs. Ramos's reply is reprinted in full below with her permission:

It is the aim of the BFL to increase the passing rate by 5% this year, 5% in 2013, until we reach the 50% mark in 2015. But it looks like we don't have to wait till 2015 to get the 50%. The passing rate was not lowered, we stuck to standards. We don't want sub-standard Librarians to be called professionals. We conducted peer reviews of questions and made sure the questions were structured in such a way that the takers would easily comprehend them. Perhaps the 2012 examinees belong to a higher tier of graduates. Also, the BFL Chair, together with CHED reps, have been visiting library schools and checking on their facilities and resources. Perhaps these 3 factors contributed to the higher passing %. But to lower the standards is not on our agenda.

I think Mrs. Ramos's reply is comprehensive and informative, and further comment from me is unnecessary, but do watch out for updates related to my previous studies on passing rate trends (see "Librarians' Licensure Exams: 1992-2007" and "The Best and the Worst LIS Schools, 2007-2009").


Top 11
BRIAN LLOYD BAELLO DAYRIT 87.55
MARK ANTHONY ANDRESIO SANTOS 87.45
FRANCES ELAINE LIRIO LOWE 86.90
JOHN LOUIE TOBIO ZABALA 86.30
GENEVIEVE LOSEGRO VIVERO 86.15
LOUISE KAYE GUDMALIN MENDOZA 85.95
AARON PAUL LAURENTE MADRIÑAN 85.75
JERIK-JAMES ESQUIVIAS DIONELA 85.70
KARIS DAWN MANALO SALINAS 85.50
NOEL SALVADOR BERNARDO CASIMIRO 85.45
MA VICTORIA MONILLA LAGO 85.45

Successful Examinees
ABARQUEZ, CRISTINE CALAGO
ABAYA, JEANYLEEN VILLANUEVA
ABDULMANAN, SUADA PANONDI
ABELLAR, MA THERESA REGALADO
ABIAN, GIANINA ALEXEA INGLES
ABRENICA, IDA MAE BORDAS
ABRIGO, ELIZABETH DISCAYA
ACASIO, JONAH JOY BUISING
ADAG, ANNABETH EDAL
AGBON, MARIVEL SAQUILABON
AGRAVANTE, JOVY CHICA
AGUIDAN, RUBILYN VERZANO
AHALUL, ERLINA USBAN
ALBOROTO, JEHONEY VILLANUEVA
ALCOLEA, GERLITA MERCADERA
ALFARO, JELITO JR AVILA
ALIBANGBANG, MAE FATE MANZANO
ALINGCO, ANALEE BACALSO
ALLORDE, APRILYN PERALTA
ALMEDA, MA LAISSA KATE
ALMENARIO, KRIZIA SHAE BALANO
ALMIROL, MELISSA MELEGRITO
AMION, MARIA TERESA DUNGOG
ANINO, JUNEL MONOY
ANOG, GRACE GERSON
ANTIPORTA, MARICEL ABARQUEZ
ANTIPUESTO, ROSELYN SOLDANO
ANTONE, MADELYN TORRES
ANTONIO, MARY GRACE RAYMUNDO
APUADA, LEONISA TAPAYA
AQUINO, NOIMIE VALMOCINA
ARCIAGA, ROBELYN BENITO
ARGUELLES, JANETH MANLAPAO
ASUNCION, JANICE ORBASAYAN
ATENCIO, MARLON ACHIN
AUSTRIA, EVANGELINE PATACSIL
AVILA, ANNABELLE RUPIDO
AYO, NASBIAH GURO
BA-AS, NOEMI TUMBAGA
BABA, RIO LANE TAPANGAN
BABA, RIO LYNNE TAPANGAN
BACUG, NORJINA SAMPORNA
BAGAYAO, FELIXANDER AGUSTIN
BAGAYO, EVAN JHON ADVINCULA
BAHUG, JOVIE SUCDAD
BAJAO, ALMA PANIO
BALAG-AY, JULIE BANDAO
BALAWAS, NOVELYN ALGEN
BALBAS, YUGOSTO ALEJO
BALBIN, ROSEMARY BUSICO
BALLESTEROS, AIZA RAMOS
BALUYOT, REEZ BERYL QUIAMBAO
BAMBA, GENESIS TAIZE
BANAYO, AARON ABEL DUMAPLIN
BANGAYAN, ROBERTO ANGELO NAVARRO
BAQUIRAN, MARJORIE ANN TURINGAN
BARBIRAN, JAYSON BENEDICT BEGORNIA
BARUT, SHERYLL DELA CRUZ
BAT-OG, JOVY JANE IBAÑEZ
BAUTISTA, KRISTINE ANNE DE LEON
BAUTISTA, RUBY CANDELARIA
BAYO, ANGELA MARIE DONAYRE
BELISON, CAMILLE SULIT
BERINA, JIJI PARREÑO
BERNABE, MA LEONISA AZUCENA MIRANO
BERNARDO, MELANIE MACEDA
BEROÑA, IMELDA DE VERA
BIANG, SCHURLYNS MAGCIANO
BILLANO, MIGNON LOIS POLO
BIN-ONG, MYRNA PINDOG
BOLO, KATHERINE IVY DUPALCO
BONCAYAO, MARY GRACE ARMADA
BORDAJE, CLIFFORD NACORDA
BORERO, SARAH NINA POLIDARIO
BORLASA, FAMELA SIEGA
BUD-OY, DANICA ROSE FELICIANO
BUSWILAN, RENE ANDREW MERCADO
BUTUNGAN, NAIMAH SALIC
BUÑAG, RAIZZA MARIE REYES
CABALAR, MA VIRGINIA FUNGO
CABASAC, JAMELA JUARE
CABAÑERO, ROWENA LABIANO
CALDERON, MICHELLE CAYABYAB
CALIPAYAN, MARICEL FERRANDO
CALZADO, MARIA LOPEL NACOR
CAMARA, KRISTINE BERNADETTE CORTEZANO
CANILLAS, JOHN LLOYD JOSE
CANTORNA, AGNES DOLORES CAMPO
CAO, RENZ CORPUZ
CAOLBOY, SARAH PATRICE FRANCISCO
CAPULOT, ROSELYN CASCABEL
CARILLO, LIEZETTE CRUZ
CARLOS, MA TERESA CONSUELO FRANCISCA EUSEBIO
CARPIO, JENIVIE ROMAN
CASANGUAN, SORAYYAH MINDALANO
CASIMIRO, NOEL SALVADOR BERNARDO
CASTILLA, JONNA VIGEN
CASTRO, CATHERINE REVILLOSA
CATAMEO, KRISTINA INNOCENCIA TABINGO
CATOLOS, NADINE MADDELA
CATUBIG, FRANCISCA MANANQUIL
CAYANAN, ROWENA ROMAN
CAYAT, ABEGAIL BELMONTE
CHENG, ROXANNE RUCHELLE CORDERO
CLOSA, MARIE PAZ BERANIA
CODAMON, RONALYN BALOG
COH, VANESSA ALYSON VARILLA
COLLADO, NETH NILZEN SANDUCAL
CONTAOI, CYNTHIA ULLERO
CORLA, LEOVILYN MANZANO
CREAG, LARIZA PERCIL
CRUZ, FRAYMON JOY PIO
CRUZ, HAYLIE GRACE CRUZ
CRUZ, MICHELLE APRIL MORDIDO
CRUZADO, JOSEPH ANGELO ESTRADA
CUBAROL, RVGLEN MARAÑAN
CUER, CARMELA CESA
DALA, CHARRIE LYN CABITE
DARADAR, ELLA MARIE SUMILHIG
DAULAT, PAULO DOMINIK PERALTA
DAVID, PRINCESS MABASA
DAYRIT, BRIAN LLOYD BAELLO
DE GUIA, RAYMOND DIAZ
DE GUZMAN, GERALD IGNACIO
DE GUZMAN, ROSA MARIA DEL MUNDO
DE LA CERNA, LADY CHRIS DALING
DE LA CRUZ, JAIME JOSE SOMOZA
DE LEON, JUAN GABRIEL ANGULO
DE LEON, JULIE ANN DOMINIQUE PERALTA
DE POLONIA, IMEE CABRERA
DE VERA, MARY JANE CRUZ
DEL CASTILLO, SHIELA JOY SALAZAR
DEL ROSARIO, LEILANI GUEVARRA
DELA CRUZ, MARGIE DANGCALAN
DELA CRUZ, MARICAR RAÑA
DELEN, ARVIN QUITA
DELIMA, ANNACEL BAJURA
DIAMNUAN, RAYMOND ANONGOS
DICCION, VIRGICHELLE TORRANO
DICTAAN, MARK FAJARDO
DIONELA, JERIK-JAMES ESQUIVIAS
DIONISIO, ROSE ANNE CAMILLE CRUZ
DOLOTINA, ANNAMOR AMBA
DUHAYLUNGSOD, REX BINONDO
ECHALUCE, SHEILA JUAREZ
ENRICO, AILEEN TARUBAL
ENRIQUEZ, RECHELDA EDREA
ERIO, MARIANNE SECUGAL
ERO, HAZELLE TOQUERO
ESBER, ALLAN MENDOZA
ESPACIO, CHERRY MAE ESCARPE
ESPINA, ANNA FRIZELLE QUILANTANG
ESPINOSA, ZYRA JUSTALERO
ESPIRITU, MARCELA LEAN MONTES
ESPIRITU, MARIA ANA CORAZON ALCALA
ESTAL, MARVELOUS BETERO
ESTILLORE, REGINE CECILIA PAREDES
FAMORCAN, LEONA LYNN FALLARCUNA
FELICIANO, MARY JO RAMOS
FERNANDEZ, EARLE NESTOR PANG-ETAN
FERNANDEZ, JERWYN GUTIERREZ
FERNANDEZ, NELLIA MABALE
FERNANDEZ, VERONICA ZOSA
FESALBON, SHERLY JANE VILLANUEVA
FLORA, LYJHEY VIDAL
FLORES, KARLA MAE CASTILLO
FLORES, SHEILA EURHANE LUCZON
FORONDA, KENNETH LUCZON
FRANCISCO, MILA NELLE BLONES
FRIAS, JASMIN MENDOZA
GA, MARY ROSE GUINOO
GACIAS, ALMA TELAN
GALANO, ARSELEE LLANES
GALINDO, MA JESSICA CARINO
GALLEGO, BUDELIA RUTH SEDIGO
GALORIO, JARIEN GALVEZ
GAMLANGA, JOHN VINCENT ARDONIA
GAN, IVY CAMILLE MANGABAT
GANADEN, MARGARET GALAGAR
GARCIA, EDGAR LUBI
GASAPO, JULIE GALVE
GATLABAYAN, HARVEY FRANZ MAGDAONG
GAVIOLA, ZUCELLE BAYLOSIS
GERONIMO, ELEIN HEMBRA
GERSABALINO, ANALYN JARANILLA
GERVACIO, JOY AQUINO
GO, MYRA MACEDA
GONOWON, AYRA AMOROSO
GOTANGGOGAN, RUEL SEVILLA
GRAZA, FRETZY MAE ELIOT
GREGORIO, JANA CAMILLE BOLISAY
GREGORIO, MARIPIL TARROZA
GUELAS, PRESCIOUS GERNALE
GUINDO, ROMAIDA ANTALO
GUIOD, JULIE ANN ALODOS
GUIOD, MARICEL ATONEN
HADJI UNOS, NAFISAH BARA
HERNANDEZ, REBECCA MARASIGAN
HINGCO, JUSTIN HAROLD ARAGON
HUSMILLO, THERESA CANDY LIM
IMPERIAL, JEZYL VILLASEÑOR
ISIDORO, LIZIEL TANIONGON
IYOG, LEA FE RAMA
JABAL, RELINA OPLENARIA
JACA, ATHENA JABONGA
JACELA, JAYMEE GRACE LONDRES
JACOB, CLARITA MAGNO
JASMIN, CHARMAIN FAJARDO
JOSE, MIGUEL CORREA
JUANSON, VIVIAN SARAH CARIAGA
KANGLEON, EBONY REYES
LACSON, KEITH ANNE DOMINGO
LAGARDE, AGNES MAGSANO
LAGARE, JOAN BUSTILLO
LAGMAN, KATHLEEN SINGIAN
LAGO, MA VICTORIA MONILLA
LAGORAS, CLARISSA DIMAPILIS
LAMBON, IRENE FAMPULME
LAPUERTA, FRANCIS BATE
LARA, JAMIE LYNNE SILAN
LAROYA, BENNETH ESTEBAN
LASALITA, ANGELYN ENRIQUEZ
LATIGAY, EMMALYN ASARES
LATUMBO, JENNYLEN NOVA JAIN
LAÑO, VANESSA GAMPIC
LEGASPI, CHARLOTTE COLEEN DE LEON
LIBAO, SONIA BALSICAS
LIBREDO, MARIBEL BICOY
LIM, SHARISSE RAE TUPAZ
LIQUIGAN, NELLY CABUSI
LOCION, HELEN BACULI
LOPEZ, KING LAWRENCE BERMUDEZ
LOQUINARIO, RHOGA LINGGANAY
LORENZO, MARDELIZA SUBILLAGA
LORETO, DENNIS BACUS
LOWE, FRANCES ELAINE LIRIO
LUAÑA, AILYN CRUZ
LUTERIA, RAMIL ESTRELLA
MACALALAG, MARGIELYN SAPEDA
MADJOS, TERESITA ALMORADO
MADRANGCA, MARY JEAN LIBATOG
MADRID, FLORIEZEL BARBASA
MADRIÑAN, AARON PAUL LAURENTE
MAGAYANO, LOVELY JOY RIBUCAN
MAGCALAS, MELODY SANTOS
MAGHANOY, JENNIFER GENESOLANGO
MAGPANTAY, MARIFE QUIATCHON
MAGRO, CATLYN MORTEL
MAMBURAM, REGINE ESTRADA
MANAOG, ROWENA RASONABLE
MANATA, NIKKI YVANNI SUMILANG
MANLUSOC, KAYE PARANAS
MARFE, ROSIE MILLAN
MARITAN, ROWENA BARRIOS
MARRERO, FAUSTINA GARCIA
MARTINEZ, ANALIZA CALLEJO
MASANGCAY, MELODY MURILLO
MAYAM-O, MARY JANE BATAN
MELGAZO, PAOLA HERBOLINGO
MENDOZA, LOUISE KAYE GUDMALIN
MERCADO, FERAYROS PAGUIA
MERLAS, MA GERALDINE MORALA
MIAQUE, MICHELLE JOY LOPEZ
MICABANI, MITCHELIN LOQUIAS
MIGRIÑO, RAUL JR VILLANUEVA
MILARPES, MARGIE REDONCILLO
MIMAY, TETCHIE MURILLO
MIRAMAR, CRESCENCIANA TRAPA
MIRANDA, HAZEL LOCITANIO
MIRASOL, JANICE SEMILLA
MISLANG, ERICSON TIANGSON
MONEDA, SARAH PIOLINO
MORALES, MYRA ALPORES
MORATILLO, CHERYL LOMIBAO
MOYO, ANA LIZA TRACY YAP
MUGA, KAREN CUNANAN
NACIONALES, RUBY ANA GUTIERREZ
NACPIL, NESLIE REYES
NARAG, MERLIE MACABABBAD
NAVARRETE, CHIARA MAYE METRA
NAVARRO, KATHERINE MANDAP
NISPEROS, DECY MAE NUÑEZ
NOBLEZA, JESSIELYN ENVERGA
OGUERA, JENNY LOREN
OLIVARES, CONCHITA TERESA MARQUEZ
OMBOY, MARIVIC MONTECILLO
ONGNGOG, RACHAEL CHADYA-AS
OPINALDO, ELSIE INOSANTO
ORTIZ, KRISHA AMICAN
PADILLA, JANINE SANTOS
PADUA, ROSE ANN DIAGO
PAGARIGAN, PYLE MALAYA DOMINGO
PALABRICA, FYE CASILES
PALER, NELYN CALISO
PASCUA, REYIE BUERON
PATTA, CHRISTY BARICUA
PAYA, MARICEL CAPARROS
PERALTA, KRYSTALLE ROME MAÑAGO
PERALTA, NORIBELL VIERNES
PILAR, JUANITA PILIEN
PLANDANO, MAY THERESE TINGA
POLINTAN, ROMNICK PAULINO
POLOG, ASHMIRAH BORANSING
QUITO, ERVIN AGBUYA
RAMOS, JOY DEE ACOSTA
REPIL, MARY JOY NARISMA
RESURRECCION, JESSICA EUNICE VILLENA
REY, KRISTEL IRISH MAE CAÑANES
REYES, EDUARDO JR ADOVE
RIVADULLA, CZARINA KRYSTAL TAN
RIVAS, MEICHELLE ANN JENINE SOSA
RODRIGUEZ, JEROME LABONGRAY
ROSANI, MARYLOU TANEO
SAB-IT, CHRISTOPHER EGME
SABAWAY, DANNY FACHERAN
SABIO, MARIA FELINDA LANSADERAS
SABLAWON, JAY MIRA
SALCEDO, ZAIRA JOIE AUSTRIA
SALINAS, KARIS DAWN MANALO
SAMPEROY, MA CONCEPCION PILLADO
SAN AGUSTIN, KAYE LIANE VENTURA
SANOPAO, CHARESSA MAE SOLIMAN
SANORIA, MARICEL SENO
SANTIAGO, RENZ LAUREN GATDULA
SANTOS, AJEZA MACARANAS
SANTOS, ENGRACIA SEÑGA
SANTOS, MARK ANTHONY ANDRESIO
SANTOS, REBECCA SULIT
SARMIENTO, FAYE LEGASPI
SATO, THERESA MABANO
SEDENTARIO, RAQUEL CABARAL
SELLOTE, MAY ANNE RECEBAS
SETERA, AILLANIE BUENAVISTA
SIMBULAN, CATALINA ROQUE
SIMON, IRISH MAY RAFIL
SISON, EUNICE ABADINES
SOLIJON, MILDRED ANINO
SOLMIRANO, EMMANUEL URIEL GATON
SON, JOSEPH BAUTISTA
SUMAYLO, DAISY RASONADO
SUMAYLO, JOSALYN TEREZ
SUSADA, IRMALYN LIRASAN
TABOGOC, KRISTINE JOY LABONITE
TALAMOR, VIRGIE ANN TIMBAS
TALLEDO, APPLE GENE JOSON
TAMBOONG, JADINE SANTILLAN
TARUC, CHERRY MENDOZA
TEMPLANZA, MARIEL RICOHERMOSO
TIBIG, LUCILLE BACULIO
TICZON, FLORDELIZA NATIVIDAD
TIPAN, SHARON ROSE PECOLADOS
TORINO, DIANNE BURLAOS
TORIO, ANGELICA GOMEZ
TORRES, MONALYN SANTOS
TUAZON, EMELINA CANDIDO
TUBIGAN, INOCENCIA MATE
UMLI, ANN GRACE DELA PEÑA
UNABIA, GENE PAUL SANTOS
VALENTE, MHIENOVY GRACE DAET
VARGAS, MARITE PIOSCA
VARGAS, RAYMUND MANTAC
VARQUEZ, KIMBERLY KAYE ARENILLA
VENANCIO, SHELA FAJA
VENTURINA, DAISY TUA
VERGARA, LYKA MARIE ELEDA
VILLACORTA, PAMELA DE SILVA
VILLANUEVA, JENNIFER MACABUHAY
VILLANUEVA, LOREVEL ALIM
VILLANUEVA, LYKA MARIÑAS
VILLANUEVA, MARILOU CENA
VILLANUEVA, WHELMA CASTILLO
VILLAR, ILETH CANONO
VILLAR, ROCHEL ALO
VILLARANTE, LORAN CAMILLE SANTOS
VIVERO, GENEVIEVE LOSEGRO
WAHING, GEMMA LHEN LABAO
YABES, MILDRED SUMATRA
YOCTE, EMELITA BERTUMEN
ZABALA, JOHN LOUIE TOBIO

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Teodoro A. Agoncillo, 1912-2012

Today is the centennial of the birth of Teodoro Agoncillo. He was, in my opinion, the most influential Filipino historian of the twentieth century. And it is only appropriate that historians like Ambeth Ocampo, Renato Perdon, and Michael Xiao Chua have paid tribute to him as a historian. But before Agoncillo became recognized for the history books he wrote in English, he was in fact better known as a literary critic and poet... in Tagalog. Other lesser-known details about him include the fact that despite the perception that he was anti-Catholic, he counted Horacio de la Costa, a Jesuit priest, among his closest friends, and sent his children to Catholic schools. Also, while he never earned a PhD degree, he did receive an honorary doctorate (see photo above).

The brief biography below, which reveals a few more details that are not widely known, is a slightly revised version of several paragraphs from “History of the Filipino History Book,” my dissertation, in which Agoncillo figures prominently. I have removed the footnotes to make it more readable.


Born in the province of Batangas in 1912, Teodoro Agoncillo grew up surrounded by relatives and friends who survived the wars against the Spanish and the Americans. His father, in particular, fought alongside one of the last Filipino generals to surrender to the Americans in 1902. His grand-uncle was one of the first Filipino diplomats who sought to gain international recognition for the first Philippine republic, and his wife was one of the three women who sewed the very first Philippine flag. He was also a distant relative of Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines, who married an Agoncillo after his first wife died in 1921.

He learned Spanish in kindergarten, and attended the public schools established by the Americans, where he became fluent in English, but affirmed his Filipino identity by reading Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) as early as the seventh grade. By the time he graduated from high school, Agoncillo had already begun writing poems, most of which were penned in Tagalog. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that he entered the University of the Philippines in 1930 with the intention of majoring in English, not history. He credits Leandro Fernandez, author of A Brief History of the Philippines (1919), and who was then UP’s registrar and chair of the history department, for convincing him that a student did not need a degree in English to be a good writer, and persuaded him to switch to history.

Agoncillo’s stint as a campus journalist at the Philippine Collegian, UP’s student newspaper, proves that Fernandez was correct, but it was not until after he began his master’s degree in history in 1934 that his writing began to draw feedback similar to the heated reactions his later articles and books received. Among those early, critical works were “Glaring Errors in a Doctoral Dissertation” (1935), a pamphlet he coauthored that questioned the content of a dissertation and its acceptance by the University of Santo Tomas, and “Ang Banaag at Sikat ni [Glimmer and Radiance by] Lope K. Santos” (1936), which faulted the classic Tagalog novel’s author, who was considered an established pillar of Tagalog literature, for turning his protagonists “into mere sounding boards for Santos’ political slogans.”

But it was the publication of Agoncillo’s review of Ricardo Pascual’s Dr. Jose Rizal Beyond the Grave (1935)—in which he supported the author’s position that Rizal’s so-called retraction document was a fake, and made disparaging remarks about the Catholic Church—that resulted in the suspension of the Collegian’s editor-in-chief, the first recorded instance of censorship in the history of the campus paper. Agoncillo did not, however, consider it his duty to challenge authority whatever the cost.

Not long after he coauthored Ang Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas (with Gregorio Zaide), the first Tagalog history textbook, and got married in 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and were effectively in control of the Philippine Islands within a few weeks. During the Second World War, Agoncillo’s wife refused to let him work for fear that he would be picked up by the Japanese and sent elsewhere, which was not uncommon during that period. Thus, he stayed home and, using his own private library, continued doing research, reading, and writing. He also collected periodicals and other printed materials, and recorded his observations about the war, which eventually ended up in some of his books.

After the war, a friend convinced him to join a government-sponsored, biography-writing contest because of all the data he had accumulated, and his wife again played an important role in his career when she taunted him after learning he had yet to write a single paragraph. He finished typing his manuscript in January 1948, and barely beat the deadline for submission. Agoncillo’s entry was unanimously chosen the winner in July 1948, but it was not until The Revolt of the Masses was actually published in 1956 that he finally gained acclaim as a historian.

The book was supposed to be printed at the government’s expense, but its publication was blocked not once, but twice, by two Presidents of the Philippines: Elpidio Quirino in 1948, and Ramon Magsaysay in 1956. Scholars have alluded to these struggles before, but what is rarely mentioned is that the circumstances surrounding the book’s controversial publication are indicative of the political and social tensions—or struggles in the field of power—that existed during that time.

In 1950, newspaper coverage of the objections made by the Catholic bishops of the Philippines to the distribution of copies of the English translation of Rafael Palma’s Rizal biography, The Pride of the Malay Race (1949), to high school students paled in comparison to the threat posed to the government by the Huk movement, a peasant resistance organization during the Japanese occupation that transformed into a communist insurgent group after independence. By 1956, the Huks were not as potent a threat as they had been six years earlier, but the specter of communism remained, which the authors of an anti-Revolt pamphlet invoked soon after Agoncillo was granted permission to have the book printed himself. Within a month after the pamphlet’s release, debates erupted on the Senate floor over the Rizal Bill, which required students to read Rizal’s novels in class, but this controversy is seldom mentioned in connection with the disputes over the publication of Agoncillo’s Revolt.

Although it was probably the last time that books written by Filipinos were the subject of consecutive, front-page controversies in the same year, the lack of significance attached to this confluence of events is understandable. Scholars who mention the battle over the Rizal Bill usually do so in relation to Rizal’s importance to Filipinos, while those who discuss the publication of Agoncillo’s book often focus on its role in the emergence of Bonifacio as a viable alternative to Rizal as national hero. The two controversies, however, were directly related: Agoncillo was responsible not only for writing Revolt, but also the earliest draft of the Rizal Bill, which sought to promote the teaching of the lives and works of Filipino heroes, not just Rizal.

In 1958, Agoncillo was hired as a full professor at the University of the Philippines, and chaired its Department of History from 1963 to 1969. By the time he retired in 1977, Agoncillo had received numerous awards, as well as an honorary doctorate, and had been promoted to University Professor, the highest academic rank at UP. A few months after his death in 1985, he was posthumously proclaimed a National Scientist. In the year 2000, he was declared one of the Philippines’ “Most Influential 20” in the twentieth century—the only academic in a group that included presidents, movie stars, and business leaders.

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Library vs Internet?

The photo above shows Gino (Daniel Padilla), right, as he asks King Anand (Albert Martinez) for permission to use the latter's library: "...pwede ko ho bang gamitin yung library? Kasi po sa Internet, baka may ma-miss po ko eh." (May I use the library? Because on the Internet, I might miss something.)

Gino's statement is actually debatable when taken out of context, but it's good to see that a character in a teleserye, the most popular form of Philippine culture today, is acknowledging the library as a reliable source of information, which does not often happen in Filipino movies and television shows (where the library is frequently merely a setting for humorous happenings, scary sequences, or erotic encounters).

You can watch this 2 November 2012 episode of "Princess and I" (along with current and previous episodes of other ABS-CBN shows) for free on iwantv (registration required). The quote may be heard in the scene that begins at 7:34. The line is spoken at 8:10.

Thanks to Elvie Lapuz for the heads up =)

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