A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

Well, it's time for another today in history  entry, right? I was trying to set up a WordPress site (which might be experimental at best, for now), and it's in. WordPress is  hard to use for someone like me. Back on topic, I was tagged to a post on the ABS-CBN News Facebook page. It's no surprise that I read people's comments can be very stupid . Some keep talking like, "The 1987 Constitution is the best in the world," or "Change the people. Not the constitution." Please, if that were true why was it that the defective 1973 pseudo-parliamentary government of the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. (and I wrote a rebuttal why it isn't ) had to be replaced with another constitution ? Sadly, the 1987 Constitution was written in such a hurry that it created many mistakes.  The events of EDSA reveal this detail about the late Maria Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. It was that Mrs. Aquino was hiding in a convent in Cebu at that time . In short, Mrs. Aquino herself w...

2020 became the 25th death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion. The "celebrations" came to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was way back in 1995, during the rule of the late former Philippine president, Fidel R. Ramos, when it happened. It did spark a lot of discussion of whether or not Flor was innocent or not. It became a call for national outcry though another case was ongoing at that time namely the Vizconde Massacre case. Poor Hubert Jeffry Pagaspas Webb was falsely accused of a crime he couldn't have committed. Meanwhile, I feel that there was a stark contrast that happened. Why is there a stark contrast? Maybe, it's time to read and find out as we explore another old history topic. This is about Flor's execution in the nation of Singapore.  I remember talking about trying to turn the Philippines into another Singapore. Some people are still too stuck with bad sentiments regarding Singapore because of the execution of Flor. It's not as if Singap...

I remembered writing about the links between Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives  as well as Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan . I'm not a bit surprised about the studies showing the common ancestry of Taiwanese natives and Filipino natives. The brown skin ethnicity is not unique to the Filipino majority. A visit to Taiwan's fabulous Mount Alishan would show a surrounding similar to Banaue Rice Terraces or the Cordillera region.   Above is a video depicting the dance of a song called "高山青 (read in pinyin as Gāo Shān Qīng)". It literally means "High Green Mountain". I guess this is the most-known song. A trivia would be that the song was written for a 1940s Taiwanese film called Happenings in Alishan . If you noticed the dance steps, any Filipino familiar with the native dances of Filipinos might comment, "Wow, the steps are rather similar." These are dances that Taiwanese natives would entertain tourists with.  This is an Ifugao dance called Dinuya. It'...

Required Reading PH Facebook Page As the Constitutional Convention is underway, I'm concerned that some stubborn Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are still spreading misinformation. One of them even blocked me on Facebook after I made some comments to enlighten him. A post from Required Reading PH's page already showed that they believe that the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.'s administration was a parliamentary system . If the bookstore happens to be selling the book From Third World to First --I recommend they read it because it's utterly false to believe that the Marcos Sr. Years were a parliamentary system.  One article I wrote was about boomers who are resistant to change . I do understand that there's a valid concern about charter change because of what Marcos Sr. did in 1973. The late Benigno Simeon A. Aquino Jr. aka Ninoy gave his speech in Boston. I wonder if they bothered to listen to his speech on Boston. Aquino Jr. had highlighted several points a...

It's very easy to say that Isaac Newton introduced the wondrous tool of calculus. Maybe, learning how to implement physics into calculus. However, one can think that the history of mathematics is very long. As far as history permits, we can learn about the mathematics of the Greeks. A lot of ancient structures are a testament to the usage of engineering mathematics in ancient times. From MacTutor , I would like to share this amazing fact about Archimedes of Syracuse with his amazing discovery: Archimedes was the greatest mathematician of his age. His contributions in geometry revolutionised the subject and his methods anticipated the integral calculus. He was a practical man who invented a wide variety of machines including pulleys and the Archimidean screw pumping device. At first, mathematics in the classroom feels dull and lifeless. I think it's because there's hardly any exposure to the applications. I felt that too that it was a dull mental exercise. I found in college...

I remembered one of the stories in Chinese class. Okay, I might be criticizing the way Chinese was taught back then but I'm not going to shy away from remembering life lessons. It's like a Chinese language teacher of mine said, "Was it true I was strict?" and then she followed up by saying, "Did you learn something?" The same was true for another Chinese language teacher who was mad at my quiz scores. Later, the other Chinese language teacher said, "Did you learn something" followed up by, "I'm glad you see Mandarin has its importance." I could only say "Yes." to the two Chinese language teachers. I feel that even wit that old system that I disliked--the two Chinese language teachers imparted special values.  One story was of Li Bai who, like Mencius, wasn't a bright start. Some of the best people today may share their embarrassing pasts. Such a story that I heard was that of Li Bai the scholar. It was said Li Bai didn...

As I'm trying to learn Mandarin, I recall the story of Mencius' mother. I remembered how a Chinese language teacher told me, "I wonder how your mother will react if you told her you don't like school." I revisited the story of Mencius (also known as 孟子, read as Mèng Kē) when he was younger. It was said that Mencius was once a lazy student. The story had it that Mencius became truant about school. What Mencius' mother did to get rid of his lazy behavior was to make him rethink his way of thinking. This was what the Shen Yun Performing Arts  says about the story: Her name was Zhang. She became a widow when Mencius was young, and legend has it she moved homes three times in search for a location suitable for raising her son. When Mencius was a child, he came home early one day, obviously cutting class. He walked in to find his mother weaving at her loom. Surprised to see him back, she asked if school was out early. “I left because I felt like it,” he said. This u...

I was doing some research on Taiwan finding out that the natives are indeed Austronesians . It seems that Indonesians and Malaysians may have also settled in Taiwan aside from the Philippines. A look at Mt. Alishan and Banaue Rice Terraces have a similarity. Taiwan has its famous tea terraces. Banaue has its famous rice terraces. Both are cultural heritages that must be preserved! I soon found an article which Ifugao OFWs in Taiwan. Not surprisingly, these Ifugao OFWs can point out several things that are pretty similar. An article called " A Gotad Picnic With Ifugaos Living in Taiwan " would tell of Armand Camhol, an Ifugao OFW, who met with other Ifugaos in Taiwan. Gotad is a thanksgiving festival for the Ifugaos. The News Lens International Edition What was noted by Armand at the end of the article is: The people of Ifugao value hospitality, and as a symbol of friendship, they shared their holiday with their invited guests, who, in return, sang, joined the dances, and made...

February becomes the time to celebrate the 1986 EDSA Revolution, right? I still believe that EDSA 1986 was an important event. My issue was what happened after EDSA in which the Philippines still maintained (in part) the protectionist policies of Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and Carlos P. Garcia's Filipino First Policy. I did write about why the Marcos Sr. Administration was never a true parliamentary . Even the very words of Marcos Sr. had actually proven that the Philippines was, in fact, never a parliamentary system aside from Benigno Simeon A. Aquino Jr.'s speech in Los Angeles. Here are Marcos' own words from a speech in 1984: The adoption of certain aspects of a parliamentary system in the amended Constitution does not alter its essentially presidential character . Article VII on the Presidency starts with this provision:  ‘the President shall be the Head of State and Chief Executive of the Republic of the Philippines.’  Its last section is an even more emphatic affirmatio...

Back in my student days, I remembered having been a stranger to Chinese culture. One song was called "高山青 (read as Gāo Shān Qīng)" which literally means "High Green Mountain". The dancers wore the costumes used for traditional Ifugao dances. My interest in this topic came back because of a local tea company called Alishan Tea . Before that, other tea shops offered tea from Mt. Alishan. Chatime also promoted tea from Taiwan which was grown from Mt. Alishan. I'm afraid that the cultural revolution of Mao Zedong could've destroyed them if Chiang Kai Shek didn't split Taiwan from China. Hopefully, Taiwan's desire for independence would be granted if China becomes a democratic country.  I remembered being told that a trip to Taiwan's Mt. Alishan might remind one of Baguio or Nueva Ecija. It turns out that the Banaue Rice Terraces, as marvelous as it is, may not be so unique. I love the Banaue Rice Terraces and they should be preserved. Countries with ...

I guess the fascination with the broken justice system can never end, right? After watching Give Up Tomorrow , my entire world was shattered. I never realized that, all along, the act done by the 35 (or more) witnesses for Juan Francisco G. Larrañaga aka Paco. Paco was in Quezon City in Manila during the night of the crime. Manila was 300 kilometers away from Cebu City, where the crime happened. One of my memories in high school was that a film based on the Chiong Sisters was being produced. The film was originally named Butakal meaning "male pig". Later, the film was renamed  Animal in 2004--the same year Paco was wrongfully on death row. There was a sense of urgency in making the film. Fortunately, Paco and his co-accused were spared. The film presented the case of how eight people were wrongfully tagged. Yes, I believe that Davidson V. Rusia was innocent regarding the crime. The documentary did show that Davidson was tortured repeatedly.  What we saw was only what was incl...