A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

The News Lens International Edition The names of Taiwanese indigenous tribes can prove the links with Malaysians, Indonesians, and Filipinos. This proves that brown skin isn't unique to the Filipino ethnicity but to a lot of Southeast Asians. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) would give this list of officially Taiwanese indigenous tribes :  The officially recognized Indigenous population of Taiwan numbers 580,758 people, or 2.48% of the total population. Sixteen distinct Indigenous Peoples are officially recognized: the Amis (also Pangcah), Atayal (also Tayal), Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Sakizaya, Sediq, Thao, Truku, Tsou, and Tao (also Yamei). In 2014, the Kanakanavu, and Hla'alua were added. Ten lowland Indigenous Peoples’ groups (Pingpu) are not recognized as such by the government and hence are not extended the same rights as the 16 recognized groups and excluded from the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) policies and programmes...

This would be another good video to watch. I was watching the struggles of indigenous tribes in Taiwan. There's a stereotype of indigenous people not just in the Philippines but also in rest of Asia. Featured in this video is Yukan Hayung--an indigenous student in Taiwan from the Atayal tribe. Here we see Hayung speak in both Atayal and Taiwanese.  I really have a fondness for researching more of Southeast Asia. The indigenous people in Taiwan and the Philippines do share a lot of things in common. The same kind of outfits, dances, and food would really tell you that the Philippines isn't so unique.  This makes me think about what future would indigenous Filipinos have in the protectionist Philippines? Taiwan's democratic, FDI-friendly country has given more chances to get awareness of their aboriginal tribes. Try watching this video and learn more about how Taiwan's FDI-friendly country may have given Taiwanese aborigines a better chance than Filipino aborigines. 

  I did write about how Taiwan's aborigines and the Philippines' aborigines have a common ancestry . I did some Youtube search and found this song. Unlike the songs such as "高山青 (read in pinyin as Gāo Shān Qīng)" which mixes Taiwanese Mandarin with aboriginal language, the song is purely in aborigine language. Words like "hinnayoin hayyohayyan" (and the Chinese hanyu pinyin never matches) can't be found in the Chinese dictionary. It's not surprising that after I did research on similar dances , Taiwanese aborigine songs can be similar to Ifugao songs. Similar costumes, similar dances, and not surprisingly, the songs may sound similar. Here's a song titled "In Maliyah Hi Bale Yu" from the Ifugaos. You may notice the tunes and words may be quite similar. This is an Ifugao love song. Honestly, I wish I understood what was spoken.  Here's an Ami tribe song from Taiwan called, "Milalaliu Gami". I think the word "gami...

  I was looking at the Facebook page  We Are Millennials . It's amazing, really, how these fools have been posting their content. This time, I'd like to blog about their gossip about sim card registration. Mind you,  the comments section where I got the photo from above  there can be  so toxic  so comment and argue with caution. That's why I'm hesitant to allow commenting here because, man, commenting can be  so toxic . It's one thing to comment giving constructive criticism. However, I'm afraid more people today are so into derailing others instead of helping them. It's one thing to say that SIM card registration will totally delete scams. It's another thing to say it will help minimize them. They say that it's useless because of the selling of pre-registered sims . If you know it's too good to be true--it should be considered a scam . The idea of the sim being registered with a valid ID to which can make it easier to trace identity fraud.  If W...

No, the girls below are not the same people above. Granted, I never saw Give Up Tomorrow nor realize that Juan Francisco G. Larrañaga aka Paco was innocent  until 2018. I was shocked to realize, from a friend, that he was with Paco on the night of the crime. From the New Scientist website, it talks about how innocents die without DNA tests . Hubert Jeffry P. Webb's life was wasted because of one foolish judge's decision not to grant a DNA test of the semen sample found in the late Carmela Vizconde's body. Here's a very interesting excerpt that points out the conspiracy theory that either one (or both) of the Chiong sisters may still be alive: Conspiracy theories surround the case. A policeman who worked on the case said last week he thought Larrañaga was innocent. Only one body was found, which was identified as Marijoy’s, but there are serious doubts about whether it is in fact her – even from the original trial judge . What’s more, there are rumours that one or both s...

April 9 (tomorrow) is a holiday but it's a commemoration of a loss during the Second World War. The Second World War brought about a cheerless Christmas than Odette ever did. It's been some time since I studied history and this blog is just a random history blog. I would like to give my reaction to the brutal Bataan Death March. This was when Japan used to be the Empire of Japan, an enemy of the Philippines, all before Modern Japan. The Japanese Empire deserved to crumble after its atrocities. Today, the Philippines is allied with the former AXIS forces of Germany, Japan, and Italy.  I searched on The History Channel to find some information on the Fall of Bataan . The details can be very gruesome. The very description of how the tragedy started isn't very pretty. The surrendered Filipinos and Americans soon were rounded up by the Japanese in April 1942 and forced to march some 65 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The men we...

The Straits Times As April Fool's Day draws near, I intend to write on something the late Lee Kuan Yew said in his book From Third World to First . It was once wrongly said that he said the Philippine presses as masters of intrigue . It was made by a certain Jesus Satorre Jr. who wrongly called Lee Kuan Yew,  president . That alone deserves to be fact-checked . It was even funny how a certain someone called Mahathir Mohamad a president when he criticized former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.  However, there was a quote from the book concerning the Philippines about the Philippine press: Ramos knew well the difficulties of trying to govern with strict American-style separation of powers. The senate had already defeated Mrs. Aquino's proposal to retain the American bases. The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual press reporters could be bought, as could many judges . I'm afraid that it's very easy to quote what Lee said about the...

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...