Among the most visited post in this blog is the article “Past Governors of Bicol“. Some even dropped comments one of which goes:
O wait, but there isn’t any initiative to learn more about Bicol’s past leaders, is there?
According to former UP President Dodong Nemenzo: The problem with our contemporary history is that it still dates back during the Spanish period.
In simple terms, our historians fell asleep and thought they still live in the years immediately preceding the Spanish era. Or they time-travelled and accidentally hit the wrong button and went back to the past instead of going “back to the future”?
May mga leyes kita na nagtatao ki mandato sa mga lokal na gobyerno para i-organisar an mga “local cultural and historical commissions”. Pero arog kan mga esfuerzos na ningas cogon, gabos lang ini nag-aabot sa estado kan pag-organisar. Makalihis an pirang aldaw, bigla na lang ining nawawara na garo bulan na minatago sa likod kan panganuron. An maraot ta minsan, kasabay an budgetary allocation na itinao kan local na gobyerno.
Another comment from our visitor: When will we ever have a healthy sense of history?
The reply to this is still uncertain. One, this can be because of the Filipino colonial mentality. Kadaklan na Pinoy, mas gusto pa an maging Kano o Puti dahil an mga ini hinihiling ninda na maurag, mayaman, biniyayaan kan Diyos. Mala ta kan 70’s asin 80’s nauso an termino na an mga Pinoy “little brown Americans” asin ini gustong-gusto kan mga tawo kaidto na garo baga musika sa talinga. O siguro, maski apudon mo an mga Pinoy na “American monkeys” matugot sinda basta may “American”.
Second, it could also be that Filipinos hate to be associated with their leaders — corrupt, inefficient, ineffective, parties to scandals, etc., etc. Mala ta dahil sa mga iskandalo na nalaogan kan administrasyon ni Gloria, 3 sa kada 4 na Pilipino gusto ng humale sa Pilipinas kung may pagkakataon bako lang dahil wara digding trabaho kundi halos wara ng pag-asa pa na mabago an nasyon.
In a sense, it’s sort of a culture or mentality being reinforced by those running the system. Kaya ngani sa mga World History subjects poon sa elementarya hanggang sa college, halos wara kitang mahiling na partisipasyon kan Pilipinas na garo baga an mga Pilipino ngonyan lang nabuhay na mga panahon. But to note, it is not Ferdinand Magellan who circumnavigated the globe but his slave, allegedly from the Visayas region. And Magellan? He died at Mactan before completing his travel. In addition, it was the Filipinos (or indios) who helped boost sea travel and so on and so forth with the introduction of a hemp popularly known as “abaca”. Imagine hoisting sails with the use of forest vines?
In the post-Spanish period, we have also notable names like Floresca, Lite, and so on and so forth who helped life (and even death) easier. In the Bicol Region we also have the likes of Saturnino Benito who helped put up the LEALDA Electric Company which provided electricity to Legazpi, Albay District and Daraga, all in the Province of Albay. Kaso siriisay lang an mga nakakaaram kaini? Siguro puwede lang bilangon sa muro. And this because of what our visitor says as “our lack of a healthy sense of history”. Maski an mga dapat magtao ki intellectual nutrition, an mga paratukdo, mga historically malnourished man. O sobra lang an atensiyon na tinatao sa mga progresibong nasyon (United States, Great Britain, etc.) kaya dai na natatawan nin panahon an pagdiskutir sa istorya kan Pilipinas asin kan Rehiyon 5?
Pero kung siring, dai talaga kita makaka-gradwar sa pagiging “historically malnourished”. An problema, it is by learning from our past mistakes, from history, that we can begin to move forward.
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