-Author, columnist, critic, linguist, scholar, professor, and pioneer diplomat.
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NOTES TO READERS:
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LET US NOT KEEP OUR HEADS IN THE SAND
REMINDER: March 3, 2022. The total number of postings to date =568. Use keywords to access.
#primaryposts
CACIQUE DEMOCRACY. DEJA VU.
WE NATIVE FILIPINOS LEFT BEHIND IN ASIA.
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From the time of our Katipunan revolutionaries fought and died against the Spanish rule, and against American interference and colonization then, our society has been administered by a "cacique, " the socio-economic elite in cahoots with foreigners against their fellow native Filipino majority, kept them poor, illiterate, and thus ignorant.
A socioeconomic and political system designed to perpetuate a class-defined society, a class-conscious country, divided and never really becoming a nation.
We are schooled heavily about political democracy but do not know that economic democracy is a prerequisite to fully realizing it. We have been conditioned to believe that mere and regular election makes a democracy; an illusion in reality.
We native Filipinos keep ourselves ignorant of history, of “what’s really going on” in our homeland then and now; and thus, by default, never learn.
We continue to be lost -having failed or refused to look in the mirror- believing in fate rather than about us people causing the cliche “history keeps repeating itself” true and valid.
That is why it's Deja vu every time.
- BMD
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Renato Perdon, a Filipino author based in Australia emailed to say that Pura Santillan-Castrence passed away last Monday evening, January 17, 2006. She was 101 years, 9 months, and 15 days old. Ms. Castrence's death is a great loss to us native Filipinos.
It seems true, unfortunately, that many Filipinos, at home and abroad, are not even aware of her as I was a year ago. That was only in February 2006, when Renato surprisingly asked me to review two books, one written by Mrs. Castrence and another by him.
It was encouraging to me given that I am neither a trained journalist nor a writer. Anyway, I did so enthusiastically as I enjoyed reading the two very informative and insightful books Renato sent me: Mr. Perdon's "Brown Americans of Asia" and Ms. Castrence's "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines."
To introduce these books, please check out my book reviews found in my blog site posted as Brown Americans of Asia I encourage everyone to obtain these two books as there is so much to learn about our history, ourselves as a people, at times entertainingly, from their pages.
Some quotations from her book:
"Many Filipinos are what I call Sunday-religious, that is they go to church every Sunday, take in confession and communion, but the rest of the week they bribe and do corrupt deeds..."
"Certain marks of colonization are still manifested by the people. I have arbitrarily identified these marks as dependence, subservience, and compromise."
"Only the strong, unrelenting efforts of Filipino people can erase the blemishes to our culture and remove the negative label attached to it. Fortunately, there are concerned Filipinos who, with all their might, attack 'these cultural damages' with the pen and with the tongue. They are unrelenting."
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Dr. Pura Santillan-Castrence
Pura Santillan-Castrence passed away, she was 101 years old "Nanay Pura’‘ as she is known among friends and admirers in Australia died in sleep peacefully on Monday evening in the presence of her loving daughters, grandchildren, and close friends.
Santillan-Castrence, who is scheduled to receive a Dangal ng Haraya Lifetime Achievement Award for Cultural Promotions, one of the highest recognitions from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, at the 3rd Gawad Alab ng Haraya awarding ceremony on 23 February 2007 at the NCCA Building in Intramuros, left us a legacy that spanned almost 90 years of promoting Philippine cultural heritage.
She is survived by her four daughters Lina, Leti, Olivia, Sylvia, and sons Jose, Roberto, and Ricardo, and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The forthcoming Dangal ng Haraya award is a tribute to her lasting contributions to Philippine arts and culture. The NCCA has judged Dr.Santillan-Castrence’s commitment and contributions to the field of culture as exemplary.
From her present residence in Melbourne, Australia, two weeks before she died, Dr. Castrence said, “I am very happy and honored to accept the 2006 Dangal and Haraya (Lifetime Achievement) Award for Cultural Promotions from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines. I wish to thank the Bayanihan News of Sydney, Australia, which nominated me for such a prestigious award recognizing my contribution to our country. I am very grateful too, to the Board of Judges for considering me a worthy recipient of this award.”
Santillan-Castrence was a prolific essayist, journalist, columnist, critic, linguist, and translator; she was also a Barbour Scholar, a pioneer Filipino diplomat, and a university professor. She would have been 102nd years old on March 24, 2007, shortly after receiving the prestigious Dangal ng Harayacitation.
Despite her age and blindness, she continued to write regularly for numerous publications such as the Bayanihan News in Australia and The Manila Mail, a weekly Filipino American paper, in Washington, D.C.
Her writing career was highlighted with the recent book released entitled “As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines” - a compilation of essays on subjects ranging from history to nostalgia.
Earlier publications include “Women’s Sense” and “The Women Characters in Rizal’s Novels,” a study on the women who inhabited “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo.” Along with other pioneers, Castrence is credited with helping to develop the Filipino essay in English as a potent medium for social change from the 1920s to the present.
Prof. Randy David notes Pura Santillan-Castrence’s “powerful memory and unerring insight. She writes about the Philippines with the nostalgia of a native who has known a gentler time, and with the wisdom of a seer who has glimpsed the future… (She) has spent a lifetime promoting the Filipino national tradition. We are richer people because of her. I am very happy to know that the NCCA is giving her the Dangal ng Haraya Award for Cultural Promotion. No recognition can be more appropriate and timely.”
Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines says in “As I See It”: “….there can be no better tribute to Pura Santillan-Castrence, pioneering feminist and respected writer, than the publication of her most recent columns, many of which are valuable eyewitness accounts of events and personalities decisive in Philippine history." Dr. Tiongson agreed that the NCCA award is a recognition of the important legacy of the deceased.
Dr. Mina Roces, historian, and scholar at the University of New South Wales in Sydney considers this book “rare and valuable for historians and Filipinos interested in narratives of the past. She deserves this latest recognition awarded by the NCCA.”
For further information about the book, call the Philippine National Historical Institute (5230905) and The Manila Prints, Sydney, Australia(+612-9313 8179.
PS. Acquaintances and friends found it difficult to get them in the USA and even in our own homeland (I do not know why). Go through your friends and relatives, etc. in Australia or online.
It was encouraging to me given that I am neither a trained journalist nor a writer. Anyway, I did so enthusiastically as I enjoyed reading the two very informative and insightful books Renato sent me: Mr. Perdon's "Brown Americans of Asia" and Ms. Castrence's "As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines."
To introduce these books, please check out my book reviews found in my blog site posted as Brown Americans of Asia I encourage everyone to obtain these two books as there is so much to learn about our history, ourselves as a people, at times entertainingly, from their pages.
Some quotations from her book:
"Many Filipinos are what I call Sunday-religious, that is they go to church every Sunday, take in confession and communion, but the rest of the week they bribe and do corrupt deeds..."
"Certain marks of colonization are still manifested by the people. I have arbitrarily identified these marks as dependence, subservience, and compromise."
"Only the strong, unrelenting efforts of Filipino people can erase the blemishes to our culture and remove the negative label attached to it. Fortunately, there are concerned Filipinos who, with all their might, attack 'these cultural damages' with the pen and with the tongue. They are unrelenting."
****************************************************
Dr. Pura Santillan-Castrence
Pura Santillan-Castrence passed away, she was 101 years old "Nanay Pura’‘ as she is known among friends and admirers in Australia died in sleep peacefully on Monday evening in the presence of her loving daughters, grandchildren, and close friends.
Santillan-Castrence, who is scheduled to receive a Dangal ng Haraya Lifetime Achievement Award for Cultural Promotions, one of the highest recognitions from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, at the 3rd Gawad Alab ng Haraya awarding ceremony on 23 February 2007 at the NCCA Building in Intramuros, left us a legacy that spanned almost 90 years of promoting Philippine cultural heritage.
She is survived by her four daughters Lina, Leti, Olivia, Sylvia, and sons Jose, Roberto, and Ricardo, and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The forthcoming Dangal ng Haraya award is a tribute to her lasting contributions to Philippine arts and culture. The NCCA has judged Dr.Santillan-Castrence’s commitment and contributions to the field of culture as exemplary.
From her present residence in Melbourne, Australia, two weeks before she died, Dr. Castrence said, “I am very happy and honored to accept the 2006 Dangal and Haraya (Lifetime Achievement) Award for Cultural Promotions from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines. I wish to thank the Bayanihan News of Sydney, Australia, which nominated me for such a prestigious award recognizing my contribution to our country. I am very grateful too, to the Board of Judges for considering me a worthy recipient of this award.”
Santillan-Castrence was a prolific essayist, journalist, columnist, critic, linguist, and translator; she was also a Barbour Scholar, a pioneer Filipino diplomat, and a university professor. She would have been 102nd years old on March 24, 2007, shortly after receiving the prestigious Dangal ng Harayacitation.
Despite her age and blindness, she continued to write regularly for numerous publications such as the Bayanihan News in Australia and The Manila Mail, a weekly Filipino American paper, in Washington, D.C.
Her writing career was highlighted with the recent book released entitled “As I See It: Filipinos and the Philippines” - a compilation of essays on subjects ranging from history to nostalgia.
Earlier publications include “Women’s Sense” and “The Women Characters in Rizal’s Novels,” a study on the women who inhabited “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo.” Along with other pioneers, Castrence is credited with helping to develop the Filipino essay in English as a potent medium for social change from the 1920s to the present.
Prof. Randy David notes Pura Santillan-Castrence’s “powerful memory and unerring insight. She writes about the Philippines with the nostalgia of a native who has known a gentler time, and with the wisdom of a seer who has glimpsed the future… (She) has spent a lifetime promoting the Filipino national tradition. We are richer people because of her. I am very happy to know that the NCCA is giving her the Dangal ng Haraya Award for Cultural Promotion. No recognition can be more appropriate and timely.”
Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines says in “As I See It”: “….there can be no better tribute to Pura Santillan-Castrence, pioneering feminist and respected writer, than the publication of her most recent columns, many of which are valuable eyewitness accounts of events and personalities decisive in Philippine history." Dr. Tiongson agreed that the NCCA award is a recognition of the important legacy of the deceased.
Dr. Mina Roces, historian, and scholar at the University of New South Wales in Sydney considers this book “rare and valuable for historians and Filipinos interested in narratives of the past. She deserves this latest recognition awarded by the NCCA.”
For further information about the book, call the Philippine National Historical Institute (5230905) and The Manila Prints, Sydney, Australia(+612-9313 8179.
PS. Acquaintances and friends found it difficult to get them in the USA and even in our own homeland (I do not know why). Go through your friends and relatives, etc. in Australia or online.
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