Looks like our local educational system is opening its doors to more languages like Korean. Hardcore K-Pop fans were delighted to hear the news! But why prioritize Korean and Mandarin? Why not Spanish? Our old lingua franca? All my siblings had mandatory Spanish. It was removed from standard curriculum when I started tertiary education. With […]
Tag: guillermo gomez rivera
The biopic movie “Heneral Luna” introduced many Filipinos for the first time to Felipe Buencamino. Veteran actor Nonie Buencamino, a descendant of his, played his“contra vida” character. Felipe Buencamino is one of Emilio Aguinaldo’s trusted ministers. He started on the other side of the fence, worked for Manila’s Audencia (courts), became a fiscal and later a judge. […]
We Filipinos complain about the sad state of our film industry. But when a good local film comes out it doesn’t get the support it deserves. Ang Larawan, adapted from Joaquin’s Portrait of an Artist as a Filipino (1952) is as good as it gets. A friend remarked, “sadyang mababaw daw tayong mga Filipino.” I […]
Feeling a bit under the weather I thought of staying home yesterday. But I was informed by the family of the eminent Chemist and historian Pio Andrade Jr. that Wednesday is the last and only day of his internment. He passed away last December 26. They decided to cremate his remains the next day and […]
President Rodrigo Duterte’s paranoia of a CIA plot against him was recently responded to by US Ambassador Sung Kim who flatly denied the allegation. No surprise there. No powerful country that spends millions on their spy agencies would admit to commiting espionage—even when their mandate is to do so. But Duterte’s charge isn’t new. America […]
When the prolific Cebuano writer, Antonio Martinez Abad penned “La Vida Secreta de Daniel Espeña” in 1960 I wonder if he knew it would be the last from his generation. When I heard that the most dedicated advocate of the Spanish language in the country, Guillermo Gomez Rivera, completed his Spanish novel (more than half a century […]
I’ve known Sr. Gomez for 7 years now. But to this day I’m still learning new things from this man. His mind is a gold mine! Two years ago he told me that we’re related. I told him that’d be hard to prove. A few months later he showed me this book with detailed family trees of the […]
Tag: Instituto Cervantantes Manila, Carlos Madrid, Guillermo Gomez Rivera, Chinatown Manila Driving around Binondo on a regular day is a torturous errand. There’s nothing like it. Forget Makati and EDSA, in this part of the country traffic takes on a whole new meaning. But Manila is Manila and if you’re a history nut like me it makes going through the capital’s abyss […]
A few days ago I attended the Asian premier of the doumentary “El Idioma español en Filipinas” at the Instituto Cervantes. The film was directed by Javier Ruescas and was produced by the Asociación Cultural Galeón de Manila and its partners. Local Spanish speakers were interviewed in the film; Gemma Cruz-Araneta, Manoling Morato, Fernando Zialcita, […]
Last night while trying to look for old Hispano-Filipino songs in youtube I stumbled upon clips of CEU’s gradution rites. It was amazing seeing graduating students singing “El Collar de Sampaguita”. I wasn’t expecting to witness that. I thought they’ve already translated it in Tagalog and abandoned the original. I’ve read the history of CEU […]
I spent the whole morning talking with Pio Andrade and GGR about the true state of the Spanish language during the American occupation in the early 1990’s [and some other historical stuff]. Below are some of what they had to say about the topic: PA: The Americans forbided the teaching of Spanish when they came […]
Two months ago, a friend of mine, Sr. Gomez, gave me more than 200 pictures to scan. I volunteered to do it because converting old photos to digital format is something that I enjoy doing – it’s one way of saving them for the future. I usually scavenge antique shops for old photos. When I […]
Just had a great chat and lunch with Sr. Gomez Rivera. This living legend’s historical lectures both disturb and amuse me all at the same time. “Disturb” Because he reveals the ugly lies hidden just beneath the surface of Filipino historiography. His voice speaks the truth of how Filipino history is still being manipulated and […]
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