Ghost stories are popular fare for a younger generation of Filipino readers, who presumably were weaned on the horror and sci-fi genre of novelists Stephen King, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman rather than their grandmother’s tales of the aswang and engkanto. These fantasy stories have gained, so to speak, their special niche in the writer’s craft as speculative fiction.
(Editor’s Note: The author is a shrine curator at the historic sites and education division of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.) Revolutions these days take on a myriad of colors to symbolize a variety of causes. Green and blue are for environmentalists opposing ecological threats. LGBTs (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) prefer the [...]
(Editor’s Note: The author is the shrine curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.) MANILA, Philippines – MANY Filipino heroes, like Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini, assiduously collected and read books and pamphlets. But Jose Rizal stands out as the foremost bibliophile, his interests ranging from the literary to the scientific. Even as [...]
(Editor’s Note: The author is the shrine curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.) National hero Jose Rizal was eager to leave his tedious studies in Madrid for the sophisticated charms of Paris in 1883: “I’m already getting so bored of Madrid that if I succeed to graduate this year, I’ll go to [...]
(Editor’s Note: The author is the shrine curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.) Human Rights activists say that incarceration in Philippine jails, no matter how brief, is in itself a death sentence, with convicts—the impoverished ones, that is—forced to live in misery and squalor. Recent statistics of the Bureau of Jail Management [...]
(Editor’s Note: June 19 is the 150th birth anniversary of National Hero Jose Rizal. The author is the shrine curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.) MANILA, Philippines—The story that Jose Rizal was once accused of espionage would raise eyebrows today. Though mischievous gossip about him spices up classroom discussions, the idea that [...]
