Since American historian Robert Batchelor discovered in 2008 the Selden Map at the basement of the Bodleian Library in Oxford University, scholars cannot agree whether it was made in the Wanli era (1573-1620), after the Dutch occupied the Moluccas in 1621, or sometime in between. But they basically agree that the map dates from the […]
The Department of Tourism has set as a target 12 million foreign tourists by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022. The number may be too ambitious, but it is not unreachable if basic problems can be addressed soon. Infrastructure – roads, airport, facilities, communication and transportation – is the No. 1 logistical […]
In 527 AD, the royal court of Northern Wei (北魏 386-534) appointed Cui Kai (崔楷) as the prefectural governor of Yin Zhou (殷州, in today’s Hebei province). Yin Zhou was newly established at the time. Food and weaponry were scarce. Cui Kai requested these items from the court but was not sent provisions. So some people […]
Last I checked, we still have a free press. Foreign media, especially, cannot be expected to keep quiet about and not report bad news. So, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo should stop blaming the press and Vice President Leni Robredo for the difficulties in attracting tourists to our country. She should blame instead bad things happening […]
Thanks to Dr. Santiago Albano Pilar’s coffee table book The Life and Art of Isabelo Tampinco (2004), the most “unheralded” Filipino artist in the late 18th century, “the forgotten master” Isabelo Tampinco, has become known to people like us interested in Philippine culture and history. Tampico was the master in the art of sculpting as […]
The title of today’s column is based on a saying, “If you stand upright, don’t fear that your shadow will be crooked (身正不怕影子歪),” which goes together with another, “A tall tree attracts more wind (樹大招風).” I am sure these two Chinese maxims had been dinned into the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo since he […]
It is really amazing and exciting to uncover that among the eight sculptures of world-famous jurists at the Old Senate Session Hall in Manila was one of Li Si (李斯), famous Chinese legalist and prime minister in the Qin (秦) Dynasty (221-207 BC). The other seven were Pope Leo XIII, the intellectual pope who helped […]
I was invited twice by Sen. Panfilo Lacson to the Senate hearing on “tokhang ransom” cases involving Chinese victims, but I was in Vancouver, Canada at the time due to a family emergency. Despite the difficult situation there, it was a welcome respite from bad news from home. Local Vancouver news reported vehicular accidents due […]
Eugenio Menegon’s book, Ancestors, Virgins and Friars: Christianity as a local religion in late Imperial China (Harvard University Asia Center, 2009), is a history of a 400-year-old community in Fu’an county (福安市) in Fujian province, China. What makes the book really interesting and significant are historical materials and information about the Chinese in the Philippines […]
Things always happen for a reason. In the wake of the devastation wrought by the 6.7-magnitude earthquake that hit Surigao on Feb. 10, seismologists reminded the public that Metro Manila is in for the “Big One” soon. The West Valley Fault caused a major earthquake way back 1658 or 357 years ago. Since that particular […]