Manila’s liberation tackled in History conference

Manila’s liberation from Japanese Occupation will be commemorated at the 24th annual conference of the Manila Studies Association (MSA), to be held on Aug. 27 to 28 at The Cinema, School of Design and Arts, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Malate, Manila.

The conference is cosponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ Committee on Historical Research and the Philippine National Historical Society, and will present papers highlighting various aspects of Manila’s history and culture, as well as studies on national history that interface in Manila’s historical development.

Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office will deliver the keynote address titled “The Institutional Memory: The Messages of the Project.”

The papers will discuss the Liberation of Manila on March 4, 1945, and the end of World War II with Japan’s formal surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, as well as the consequences of the war and the ensuing reconstruction and rehabilitation: “My Story of Bataan Days: An Unpublished Memoir of a Military Doctor’s Miraculous Escape from the Death March” by Martin R. Gaerlan; “War and Liberation in Lipa: A Backdrop to the Postwar Apparition Story,” Ma. Bernadette L. Abrera; “The Rise of Tagalog on Radio During and After World War II,” Elizabeth L. Enriquez; “Settling the Score: An Overview of Some of the Court Trials of the Filipino Informers and Paramilitary Collaborators,” Ma. Felisa Syjuco Tan; and “Bones, Bombs and Broken Pieces: The Salvage Archaeology at the Former Department of Tourism Building,” Timothy James Vitales, Amelia Alhambra and Mary Jane Louise Bolunia.

There will be other presentations at the Photography Hall, 11th Floor, School of Design and Arts: “Eiga: Cinema in the Philippines During World War II,” a film and lecture by Nick Deocampo; “Manila 1945: The Rest of the Story,” a film produced by Peter Parsons and Lucky Guillermo; and a photo exhibit, “Manila 1945 and Beyond,” with Jose Antonio A. Custodio and Leo Angelo V. Santos as curators.

Additional papers will also be presented: “The Eternal Modernity of the Church: Art in the Sugar Mill and the University in the Philippines” by Patrick D. Flores; “Art Deco, Art Moderne, and Streamline Moderne Architecture—Manila, Post World War II,” Demetrio C. Alcaraz Jr.; “Locating Manila Archaeology in a Connected Histories Perspective,” Ellen Hsieh; “Houses of Ka-Angkan: A Socio-Historical Archaeology of the Marikina Household,” Ferdinand Isidro dela Paz; “The Indian Governor in the Handbook for Confessors of the Synod of Manila of 1582,” Paul A. Dumol; “Native Resistance and Collaboration in the Transformation of Post-Conquest 16th Century Manila,” Danilo M. Gerona; “The Heritage Houses in Barangay 874 in the Historic District of Santa Ana de Sapa,” Tobias Bonaobra; “British Naval Actions in the Philippines 1805-1807: The Unknown Theatre of the Napoleonic War,” Thomas B. Colvin; “Structural Iconography: Analysis of the Structural Design of the Folk Arts Theater in Relation to Iconography,” Katherine Anne G. Correa; and “The Kalayaan Islands and the American Asia-Pacific Order under Challenge: Retrospective and Prospects,” Jay L. Batongbacal.

Two publications will be launched at the conference: “MANILA—Selected Papers of the 2014 Manila Studies Conference” edited by Bernardita Reyes Churchill, and “Ferdinand Magellan, The Armada de Maluco and the European Discovery of the Philippines” by Danilo M. Gerona.

For inquiries, contact: Bernardita R. Churchill, MSA president and conference convener, at 9214575, 9261347, or [email protected]; Lorelei DC de Viana, conference co-convener, at [email protected] or 0915-640-1675; Larry Angelo A. Carandang, conference coconvener, at [email protected], 5367852 loc. 135 to 138, 0917-8948732, or 0939-9082601.