ANGELES CITY—The vast Filipiniana collection of historian and columnist Ambeth Ocampo, who writes and presents Philippine history in an exceptionally clear, interesting way, can be found in four locations.
The fourth and latest site is on the third floor of Holy Angel University’s (HAU) Center for Kapampangan Studies (CKS) in Angeles City.
“HAU has about 4,000 volumes, mostly Filipiniana I decided I won’t be reading in the next 20 years, like Philippine literature and aspects of Philippine history outside my 19th century comfort zone,” Ocampo told the Inquirer in an e-mail.
For more accessibility, the library will be moved to a larger venue in the main building, said Robby Tantingco, CKS executive director.
“The books presently in HAU-CKS were once preserved in the National Library and when there was a change in management, I decided to move these to Angeles because I realized that the collection would be more relevant to an institution outside Metro Manila,” Ocampo said.
Great work
He chose HAU not only because he is Kapampangan but more so because of the “great work being done by CKS,” he said.
Established 14 years ago, the center promotes and preserves Kapampangan history, culture and arts via research and documentation, publications, conferences, arts production, musical concerts and community activities.
Ocampo built the collection at the advice of one of his mentors, the late historian Teodoro Agoncillo.
Another mentor, the late editor E. Aguilar Cruz, gave him a break to write a column. Cruz gave it the title “Looking Back.”
Books, Ocampo said, were the “lifeblood of a historian and I have been collecting reference materials since the early 1980s. In time, the library grew and when I had to move from my parents’ home into a condo, I realized I could not take everything.”
Two other locations are his home in Makati City, which has all his reference materials, autographed copies and some rare books printed before 1950, and his office in the Department of History at Ateneo de Manila University.
The third is in Japan, specifically in the Special Collections of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies in Kyoto University. This holds several of his rare books, mostly 19th-century works on the Philippines in Spanish and French.
“My Kapampangan father was very upset when these books went to Japan. He said it was unpatriotic of me to export them,” Ocampo said.
In entrusting his books to HAU, Ocampo said he expected the university to care for these. “They have free use of the materials but these are for room use only and cannot be loaned out of the premises,” he said.
He added: “I retain ownership of the collection in my lifetime. Now if the collection is not withdrawn in my lifetime and if none of my heirs are willing to take care of the entire library (they cannot sell it), then all the books presently in HAU as well as the rest of the books in my home (to be determined by the administrator of my estate) will become the property of HAU.”
“I’m glad that my collection is in a university where it can provide ready reference for students and researchers, who need not go to Manila if the materials are in Angeles. The collection also beefs up the library resources of HAU, which is good for their accreditation. I am happy to contribute to the intellectual life of HAU through the use of the collection.”