ON
CONFRONTING HISTORY Part II
by Wilhelmina S. Orozco
History is made by individuals and human collectives.
It is impossible to think of history being
dominated by non-entities except Mother Nature who always makes history when
she sends her wrath by raising the levels of rivers to cause flood, increases
the number of days that the rains fall, or even causes the tectonic plates to
move that cause earthquakes. The consequences of her moves could result in
evacuation. injury, and other disasters. Including deaths of human beings.
Hence, our concern is not how Mother Nature
causes or writes history. We have no control over that unless scientists put
their hands into making human beings have a safe environment. So, let us see
History as written by human beings.
Transfer of colonial powers
In our country, the individuals who wrote
history include Rizal of course and the group of Katipuneros who rose against
the Spanish colonization in order for our country to be ruled by the Filipino
people. The Katipuneros were women and men who worked together clandestinely in
order to topple foreign domination.
However, greed is something that afflicts
many rulers and so, our independence was grabbed by the Americans, after they
bought us from the Spanish rulers in the amount of $200 Million dollars in
1898. To create a semblance of being heroes, the Americans had a mock battle
with the Spanish conquistadoeres to
show that they won genuinely over the latter, at Manila Bay. The Spaniards had
known that the Katipuneros were already winning and so not wanting to leave
without a squawk, they agreed on the mock battle even if the result was surely one that would
result in defeat. After all they were going to be paid or had been paid the fee
already.
Historical writings could show the triumph
or the victory of a people, triumph in terms of earning for the country freedom
or wealth or even increase of national boundaries that is when a group launches
a campaign to conquer new or old lands.
But our history does not seem to be replete
with victories save that of People Power. It had been difficult for our heroic
individuals and collectives to win any historical grand result after the
Spanish rule since the latter sold us to the Americans. Then during the
American period the colonial ruler had more superior arms, and a lot of our
kababayan sold out their freedoms becoming accomplices to the “pacification
campaigns” in our country.
Education: greatest attraction
What was the come-on of the new colonizers
but Education which they dangled to the people, learning the English language
and requiring everyone even the young people, (who were products of Spanish
catechism instead of the knowledge necessary to have a career or run a country),
to learn. Research shows that some American soldiers even went out of their way
to capture children and bring them to school upon the orders of the colonial
government.
Hence, during the American period, the
concept of national freedom became blurred as the Americans emphasized that we
are ignorant and need education to govern ourselves. They sought to erase the
revolutionary knowledge handed down to us by Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini and
Andres Bonifacio, such ideas being viable enough for us to be able to stand on
our own.
Under American rule, freedom was mental,
not actual – not in reality. That was the message.
Meanwhile, underneath all that bruhaha
about preparing us for
self-determination, the colonial government sent groups to go around the
country to check what natural resources
especially mines, were available for exploitation and export to the United
States, the statistics for which later on became a deal for them to grant us
independence.
The entry of the Japanese Imperial Forces
who preached Asia for Asians awoke us to the reality of our country being a
part of the continent; it made us realize that we must love our language, our
own products, ourselves and not those of the Americans. They preached to us
that we should rise up and become Asians.
However, the Japanese use of extreme force
in order to impose their rule in our country, became a grave mistake as the
Filipino people fought hard against them hoping that the Americans would
eventually return. A local military group arose, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan or Hukbalahap.
The Hukbalahap took over the vacuum created
by the abandonment of the American forces to fight in Europe, and save that continent
from fascism.
However, despite the nationalistic flavor
of Japanese rule, the Filipino people,
after more than 40 years of American rule were not that ready to embrace the
new colonizers as rulers. In fact, the Hukbalahap was greatly supported by the
Filipino people and were already in a winning streak as the people had turned
to them in their desire to get rid of Japanese imperial soldiers whose
atrocities were abominable. In fact, recent research had revealed that they
even kept “comfort women” to service them regularly.
Unfortunately that aspect of the Hukbalahap
being historically victorious over the Japanese is not much written about
because of their links with the Communist Party of the Philippines.
As fascism was losing ground in Europe,
General MacArthur led a contingent to claim victory over the Asian colonizers
in the Philippines. They even bombed Manila to make it difficult for us to
stand on our own after the war. The rest of the story showed the general
appearing to be the savior of the Philippines from Japanese domination.
Historically, we are shown as just pawns in
the international politics that was occurring: the Americans came and conquered
us but left for Europe. We were not important enough in the eyes of the
American rulers at that time. However, their absence did not make us strong
enough militarily to be able to resist the new colonizers.
Instead, upon the return of the Americans,
our country leaders were sent to work within the political framework of the colonizers,
and said that parliamentary peaceful approach is necessary for us to take over
and rule our government. Again it became the ball game of the Americans. They
had a simple requirement for our independence: parity or equal rights to
explore our natural resources.
Let me jump to the martial law era. Marcos
sought to rewrite our own history according to his thoughts and those of his
advisers, both military intelligence groups and intellectuals who were plucked
from the State academes. Some were really sincere in serving, but had to kowtow
to the dictates of Marcos.
Marcos moves had been to dictate how the
people must think, move and act in the face of one-man rule. History was going
to be written and rewritten by Marcos and Marcos alone.
What kind of history was written by Marcos
– something that glorified his rule, of course as any dictator is wont to do.
No matter how much suppression he ordered and military violence he tolerated in
order to maintain his rule were not written about during his time. In fact, he
even dictated to the press and media how he and his family should look in the
pictures, and how his day-to-day activities of in Malacanang and elsewhere were
to be written about. Media were suppressed, some TV stations expropriated, and
newspapers had to submit their stories before being printed.
All the lessons that the Americans had
taught about self-governance, all the moral virtues of being a civic citizen,
all the democratic principles of freedoms of the press, of speech, of assembly
were thrown out in favor of Marcos campaigns for “peace under one-man
rule.”
So this is the period of fascist history in
our country.
WHAT IS FASCISM? a
political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that
exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a
centralized autocratic
government headed by a dictatorial
leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of
opposition
Marcos acted in a fascist manner in order
to stop all kinds of opposition to his rule from 1872 to 1986. The media were
the hardest hit by his rule so much so that when his imminent days were being numbered,
only a handful were existing to say hosanna to his administration.
People Power: Filipino Self-Created
Movement
The year 1986 showed that the Filipino
people could create a movement, could write history. The whole world saw that
we were ready to have a democratic rule and that fascism, the dictatorial rule
could not be a way of life for all of us.
Because of the peaceful manner of removing
Marcos from office, the People Power as a concept of overturning dictatorships
has been imitated in many parts of the world: in Germany the West and East were united; many Eastern
European countries sought freedom from USSR rule and even Latin America, some
countries also were able to boot out the dictators with the masses behind them
all. Not all had been successful as the Chinese in the Tian An Men Square in
PRC.
But that quest for democratic rule, for the
people to write their own history has shaken the peoples of the world and has
become a solid principle why mass movements should flourish.
Question:
why is there a resurgence of deodorizing Marcos rule in our country?
1. Our
educational system, the books, the curricula were not clear and explicit that
one-man rule nor a dictatorial rule by any group should not be a dictum in
running a country.
2. Cory
who was put up to lead the People Power
Movement was too malleable to the former Marcos people; too lenient to the
Marcoses to the point of allowing the corpse of the dictator to be brought back
to the country. She did not even order him to be buried right away. Not one of
the succeeding presidents, not even his son, was able to move history, to put
emphasis on the historical act of the people to boot out the dictatorship
totally and to respect their decision by putting a closure to the dictatorship.
Somewhere in the northern hinterlands, the Marcos family was allowed to exist
and to refurbish their image so that now, three of them are in government, one
having graduated as senator.
Napakalambot
ng trato, walang matibay at permanenteng pagpuri at pagkampanya sa
pagsasakripisyong partisipasyon ng taumbayan sa pagpapatalsik ng diktadurya.
3.
Ano
ang ginagawa sa paggunita ng kasaysayang yumanig sa buong mundo? Ano ang naging
mga gawain tuwing February 25, na Araw ng Kalayaan laban sa diktadurya? Sayaw
at kantahan. Ang
mga kasaysayang sinusulat tungkol sa ating kasaysayan karamihan ay sa Ingles,
bagama't may ilan-ilang naisulat subali't ang mga ito ay pang-intelektuwal at
mahirap magagap kaagad ng mga galing sa mararalitang tagalungsod at
taga-lalawigan.
Liban sa maimpluwensiya, matibay at permanenteng
pagsusulat ng kasaysayan ng pagpapatalsik kay Marcos, ang mga sumusunod na mga
pangyayari ay nagpapatunay ng malabnaw na pagtanaw sa bagong kalayaan nating
natamo noon 1986:
1. Patuloy na pagpapalabas ng taumbayan
para maghanap ng trabaho sa labas ng bansa. Bakit masama ito? Kasi ang mga
unyon, ang kilusang manggagawa at iba't ibang grupo na nagsusulong ng
mapagpalaya at maprinsipyong paggamit ng kayamanan ng bayan para mapaunlad ang
taumbayan ay nawawalan ng matatalino at maprinsipyong Indibidwal na maaaring
mamuno at maging mabuting kasapi. Samakatuwid, ang kasaysayan ay mahirap
maisulat kung mawawala ang presencia ng mga taong ito sa lipunan at magiging
mapanuring mata ng taumbayan.
www.etsy.com/ca/listing/515761311/vintage-book-clip-art-stack-of-books?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share
![[Blood sugar test]](https://cdn1.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/288/288310/blood-sugar-test.jpg)
A 2014 study suggested shift work may raise the risk of type 2 diabetes.
May the soul of Horacio Castillo, victim of hazing, find eternal peace and love in the arms of the Almighty 
