Andres Bonifacio on Stamps

-
Andres Bonifacio was born into a poor family and was orphaned at age fourteen. He had to discontinue his education to work at odd jobs to support his younger brothers and sisters. He continued his education by reading books. Victor Hugo's Les Miserables was one of his favorites and Rizal's novels inspired his ideals for a free Philippines. Bonifacio founded the secret society, the Katipunan on July 7, 1892.

Philippine historiography at the turn of the 20th century tended to neglect Bonifacio's seminal leadership of the Philippine Revolution. Under the auspices of the American colonial educators, a systematic attempt was made to cast aside Bonifacio and insist on Rizal as the prototypical national hero. For example in 1912, an important decision was made by the Americans in connection with the inauguration of the Rizal Monument in what was then Luneta Park, and the subsequent national commemoration of his death anniversary.

Esteban A. de Ocampo of the National Historical Institute recounted the events leading to the decision of Governor William Taft in choosing Rizal as the Philippines' national hero. Taft said: "'And now, gentlemen, you must have a national hero.' These were supposed to be the words addressed by Governor Taft to Messrs. Trinidad Pardo De Tavera, Benito Legarda Jr., and Luzurriaga, Filipino members of the Philippine Commission of which Taft was the chairman. It was further reported that 'in the subsequent discussion in which the rival merits of the revolutionary heroes (Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Rizal, General Antonio N. Luna, Emilio Jacinto, and Bonifacio) were considered, the final choice - now universally acclaimed a wise one - was Rizal. And so history was made.'"

Since then, the debate of Rizal versus Bonifacio has remained unabated, mercilessly pitting the qualities of one against the other: the ilustrado class versus the proletariat, the sophisticated European education versus the self-schooled one, the priviledged situation of one versus the plebeian beginnings of the other, Rizal's mastery of Spanish versus Bonifacio's Tagalog background, and the list goes on. As a result, a prejudiced view of Bonifacio persisted in almost all Philippine history books.

In 1956, the publication of a landmark book in Philippine historiography changed the historical and intellectual treatment of Bonifacio. Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of the Masses advanced the view that Bonifacio's accomplishments were worthy of the accolades given to a national hero, and that the Philippine revolution was primarily driven by the masses. These theses were encapsulated in a classic Marxist dialectic, beginning the rise of a distinctly nationalist historiography, aimed at reappropriating the signs and symbols of the nation.

A new line of Philippine history books based on the nationalist discourse of Agoncillo followed, culminating with Reynaldo Ileto's Pasyon and Revolution in 1979. Ileto's book started the trend of studying history using unofficial documents, textual references in plays, oral tradition, and other similar sources. History from below, as it came to be known, focuses on the story, achievements, and contributions of sectors of society that were either neglected or cast aside for various reasons.

This nationalist trend would eventually be challenged by other historians. On April 7, 1995, American scholar Glenn Anthony May of the University of Oregon delivered a paper entitled, "Andres Bonifacio: Inventing a Hero" at a meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Washington, D.C. In this paper and the subsequent book, Inventing a Hero: The Posthumous Re-Creation of Andres Bonifacio, May revealed in very strong words that the Bonifacio story was "a story of a fabrication of a national hero -- a history of deception, dissimulation, and distortion....all that can be reliably known is the illusion itself, the product of doctored, spurious, or undocumented sources and the collective imagination of several generations of historians."

Various scholars, academicians, and historians attacked May's thesis that Bonifacio's accomplishments and certain portions of his life were mere fabrication of some Filipino nationalist historians. Malcolm Churchill contended that May was not savaging and degrading the honor and memory of Bonifacio but was making a name and building a reputation of being a revisionist historian in the Philippine and American academic community.

The stamp was issued on November 30, 1963.

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

-
Image
Rodolfo S. Cornejo is the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree from a government recognized music school in the United States . He is also remarkable for his pianistic and compositional know-how by improvising a piano composition at the spur of the moment.   He was born on 15 May 1909 in Singalong , Manila . At the age of six, he had his formal piano lessons. After 2 years, he played fourteen pieces and six encores for his recital. In that same year, he became the organist of the Pasay Catholic Church when they moved in. When he was ten, he composed a piano piece entitled, " Glissando Waltz ". He became so keen and inspired about music by his mother's genuine support.    At 13, he composed the "Salute", a military march that was also published. He also composed the Philippine Suite: Paalam sa Pagakadalaga , Okaka Variations , Paalam na Sinta , Oriental Fantasy , Nocturne in G, Piano Concerto no. 1 , and the Moro Wedding Dance . At 14, tw...
Read more

Kulintang- Philippine Bossed Gong and Subing- Philippine Jaw Harp

-
Image
Instruments that produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself (wood or metal) are classified as idiophones . They are further divided into those that are struck, scraped, plucked, shaken, or rubbed. In the Philippines, there are metal and wooden (principally bamboo) idiophones. Metal idiophones are of two categories: flat gongs and bossed gongs,. Flat gongs made of bronze, brass, or iron are found principally in the north among the Isneg , Tingguian , Kalinga , Bontok , Ibaloi , Gaddang , Ifugao , and Ilonggot . They are commonly referred to as gangsa . The gongs vary in size, the average are struck with wooden sticks, padded wooden sticks, or slapped with the palm of the hand. Gong playing among the Cordillera highlanders is an integral part of peace pact gatherings, marriages, prestige ceremonies, feasts or rituals. In Southern Philippines, gongs have a central profusion or knot, hence the term bossed gongs . They are of three types: 1) sets of graduated gongs ...
Read more

The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

-
Image
The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as...
Read more

The Great Filipino Series- Antonio J. Molina on Stamp

-
Image
Antonio J. Molina was called the "Dean of Filipino Composers". He was a prominent violoncellist, conductor and teacher. He wrote 500 compositions in his lifetime.   He was the last of the musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago , who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House . Molina is credited for introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had taught many of the country's leading musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon .   Born into a musically inclined family, he raised his own family as music lovers as well, as three of his children pursued careers in music, ...
Read more

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

-
Image
Vicente F. Fabell a (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant . He was the founder of Jose Rizal College .  He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan , Laguna , the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.    He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin .   In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines . At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.   He was inst...
Read more

Kulintang on Stamps

-
Image
Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture of Southeast Asia , kulintang music ensembles have been playing for many centuries in regions of the Eastern Malay Archipelago — the Southern Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Eastern Malaysia, Brunei and Timor, although this article has a focus on the Philippine Kulintang traditions of the Maranao and Maguindanao peoples in particular. Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sunda . Its importance stems from its association with the indigenous cultures that inhabited these islands prior to the influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or the West, making Kulintang the most developed tradition of Southeast Asian archaic gong-chime ensemble...
Read more

Cebuano Artists Painting Collection- Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr.

-
Image
Bliss (BooNana) , 15" x 20", Pencil Sketch, 2009 Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr . was born on March 7, 1944 in Bindoy , Negros Oriental , Philippines. Graduated from the Cebu Institute of Technology with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Architecture , he then continued and studied painting at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts in New York. He also taught at the University of San Carlos and Cebu Academy of Arts.    His art journey started with hardships together with renowned sculptor, painter, novelist and architect Arsenio "Arsing" Abella . In 2017, both had a reunion exhibit, Art Biography at Manila Art Frames - the first gallery they exhibited in 1969. Later, with ease together with eminent Samboan artist  Benji Goyha , whom he bonded owing to a shared vision for art promotion , tourism and mentoring of young Cebuano artists. Both organized art workshops and excursions in Cebu province especially in Goyha's hometown Samboan .   ...
Read more