The Colonial Department
- Episódios
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- quinzenal
- Último episódio
- 31 out 2026
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Lost stories from 🇵🇭 history 🔊 Narrative nonfiction pod 📖 Book version published by @factionpress 📻 Written, produced, engineered by @liomangubat
Episódios 121
INTERVIEW: History and psychology as kapwa (feat. Sikodiwa)
Since 2022, scholar and teacher Carl Lorenz Cervantes has been sharing his thoughts on psychology, folk wisdom, and spirituality through a series of social posts, podcasts, online essays, and even zines …
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Since 2022, scholar and teacher Carl Lorenz Cervantes has been sharing his thoughts on psychology, folk wisdom, and spirituality through a series of social posts, podcasts, online essays, and even zines. Collectively, he calls this ongoing project “Sikodiwa”, which combines the words for psychology—sikolohiya—and the word for spirit or essence—diwa. His work often frames the concepts of sikolohiyang Pilipino through a very spiritual, very approachable, and very uplifting lens. In 2025, the book version of Sikodiwa was published under North Atlantic Books, based out of Berkley, California. The book is subtitled “Revisiting Filipino Indigenous Wisdom for Personal and Shared Well-being.” But how is wisdom and well-being shaped by history—especially a history characterized by centuries of foreign occupation? That’s what we’re here to talk about with Carl, as we map out that strange place where history and psychology meet.
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
S8E13 The Philippines-India Express
The threads that connect the Indian subcontinent to the Philippine archipelago stretch back centuries. Some have been lost to time, survived only by goldwork and the testimonies of Spanish missions. Some …
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The threads that connect the Indian subcontinent to the Philippine archipelago stretch back centuries. Some have been lost to time, survived only by goldwork and the testimonies of Spanish missions. Some survive as actual threads—as textiles that captured the fancy of Philippine residents. Some are remembered as painful history; an invasion engineered by empires, followed by a brutal and fruitless occupation. And some survive to the present day—in the words formed from our throats, and perhaps even the food that passes through our mouths.
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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Image Thumbnail: “Knave (Hyder Ali from Mysore).” Metropolitan Museum of Art.
References:
Rye, Ajit Singh (1981). “The Indian community in the Philippines: A Profile.” Asian Studies, 19, pp. 56-64.
Quiason, Serafin (1966). English “Country Trade” with the Philippines: 1644-1765. University of the Philippines Press.
Warren, James Francis (2021). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (Fortieth Anniversary Edition). Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Coo, Stephanie (2019). Clothing the Colony: Nineteenth Century Philippine Sartorial Culture, 1820-1896. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2025). What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Legarda, Benito Jr. (1999). After the Galleons: Foreign Trade, Economic Change and Entrepreneurship in Nineteenth-Century Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
“Paghinumdom: Retrospection of the Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region. (2022) National Museum of the Philippines. https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/
Canta, Marilyn R. (2020) “[Golden Tara of Agusan].” In Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Cultural Center of the Philippines https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/82/2191/
Hontiveros, Greg (2017). “Beyond Gold: Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region.” Journal of History, 63(1). https://greghontiveros.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/beyond-gold/
La Follette, Cameron; Deur, Douglas; González, Esther (2018). “The Galleon’s Final Journey: Accounts of Ship, Crew, and Passengers in the Colonial Archives.” Oregon Historical Quarterly, 119(2), pp. 210-249.
Angara, Edgardo; Madrid, Carlos (2017). The World of the Manila-Acapulco: The Global and Human Context. Vibal Foundation, Inc.
“For All the Tea in China: The English East India Company.” (2023) Global History of Capitalism Project, Oxford University. https://globalcapitalism.history.ox.ac.uk/files/case33-englisheastindiacompanypdf
Kehoe, Marsely (2026). "Gingham." The Dutch Textile Trade Project, edited by Carrie Anderson and Marsely Kehoe. https://dutchtextiletrade.org/textiles/gingham/
S8E12 Borderline Bureaucrats: An Early History of La Union
As La Union historian Adriel Obar Meimban writes, La Union fits neatly into its geography: bound by rivers on the north and south, by the Cordillera mountain range on the east, and then, on its west side, the …
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As La Union historian Adriel Obar Meimban writes, La Union fits neatly into its geography: bound by rivers on the north and south, by the Cordillera mountain range on the east, and then, on its west side, the pounding surf that has made San Juan one of the country’s most popular tourist spots. But even in its earliest days, the borders of La Union were drawn and redrawn in bureaucratic squabbles. The newly minted province and its neighbors could not decide where one ends and another begins—and caught in the middle of these disputes were ordinary townsfolk whose lives and rhythms would not be dictated by any map.
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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References:
Meimban, Adriel Obar (1997). La Union: The Making of a Province, 1850-1921. Rex Printing Company.
Newson, Linda A. (2009). Conquest & Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
See, Dexter A. (6 November 2015). “La Union, Ilocos Sur end century-old boundary dispute.” Baguio Herald Express. https://baguioheraldexpressonline.com/la-union-ilocos-sur-end-century-old-boundary-dispute/
Fernando, Jeferson B. (17 March 2026). “Privilege Speech — 38th Regular Session of 24th Sangguniang Panlalawigan of La Union.” Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1605457753991907
INTERVIEW: Mapping a life on time—the making of a historian
In 2018, I first encountered The Sulu Zone and Iranun & Balangingi—two important books by James Francis Warren that opened my eyes to the rich, roiling history of the seafaring cultures of the Sulu Sea. His …
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In 2018, I first encountered The Sulu Zone and Iranun & Balangingi—two important books by James Francis Warren that opened my eyes to the rich, roiling history of the seafaring cultures of the Sulu Sea. His groundbreaking work laid out a way of looking at the past that was neither stoic nor static—a historiography that truly widened horizons.
At the launch of his newest book, Valentina Mendoza and the Great Ilocos Flood of 1867, I spoke with Dr. Warren about his long and fruitful career as a scholar. In the thoughtful, hour-long conversation that followed, he dissected for me how the events of his own life shaped his work as a historian. He also went in-depth about his process and his way of thinking about research, whether it was about the polities of the Sulu Sea or the dire climate disasters that hit the Philippines over and over. Along the way, he also told me about many strange and wonderful encounters—among them, a Bajau spirit medium, a soccer-playing military operative, and a terrible flood that stranded him in Manila. Such is the colorful career of a man who made history his lifelong calling.
Special thanks to the Ateneo de Manila University Press.
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept
Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept
Email us: [email protected]
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
S8E11: We're Off to the 1924 Paris Olympics!
More than a century ago, the Philippine flag was unfurled for the first time on the biggest sports stage in the world. It was—and is—a matter of great pride to our nation. But it was also an event that was …
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More than a century ago, the Philippine flag was unfurled for the first time on the biggest sports stage in the world. It was—and is—a matter of great pride to our nation. But it was also an event that was bizarrely marked with mystery and controversy. From disappearing athletes to extra flags, let’s head to Paris in 1924, as we join two sports legends in their journey to the Olympics!
The thumbnail image is from the book The First Filipino Olympians, written by Isidra Reyes, Gerard Lico, and Lorenzo Manguiat. Additional audio in this episode is from the Olympics YouTube page.
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept
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Email us: [email protected]
References:
Reyes, Isidra; Lico, Gerard; Manguiat, Lorenzo (2025). The First Filipino Olympians: The Untold Story of Dr. Regino Ylanan and David Nepomuceno. Archivo 1984.
Gems, Gerald R. (2016). Sport and the American Occupation of the Philippines: Bats, Balls, and Bayonets. Lexington Books.
Associated Press (3 July 2024). “American Runners at Olympics Will Not Have to Fight One Another—Paddock Meets Tough Competition.” Spokane Daily Chronicle. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19240703&id=1cBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dfQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5835,617567
“Digitalisation.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/ioc/olympic-agenda-reforms/digitalisation
“How digital content will shape the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.” (Undated) Reuters Imagen. https://imagen.io/resources/blog/how-digital-content-will-shape-paris-2024-olympic-games
“Factsheet: The Games of the II Olympiad, Paris 1900 and the Games of the VIII Olympiad, Paris 1924.” (May 2024) International Olympic Committee
Anderson, Jess (2024). “How City of Light Changed the Olympics.” BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/extra/fnyzo8vcuz/how-city-of-light-changed-the-olympics#group-section-Medal-haul-Iqe0fKkNCG
“Catalon, Fortunato.” (Undated) Philippine Olympians Association. https://www.philippineolympians.org/oly/1956-olympics-melbourne-athletics-catalon-fortunato
“Paris 1924 Athletics 200m men Results.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/paris-1924/results/athletics/200m-men
“Paris 1924 Athletics 100m men Results.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/paris-1924/results/athletics/100m-men
Housman, Patty (2 April 2021). “Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and Race in America.” American University, Washington D.C. https://www.american.edu/cas/news/jack-johnson-the-fight-of-the-century-and-race-in-america.cfm
S8E10 In Paracale, the Faintest Gleam of Gold
According to historian Linda Newson, Bicol did not bow down easily to the Spanish occupation. For their resistance, they paid a dear price. Population showed Camarines lost almost half of its population from …
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According to historian Linda Newson, Bicol did not bow down easily to the Spanish occupation. For their resistance, they paid a dear price. Population showed Camarines lost almost half of its population from 1591 to 1649. With no major plagues or Moro raids recorded, Newson could only conclude that it must have been because of brutal conflict with the Spaniards. Either the Bicolanos were killed, or they fled so far inland that they escaped the census takers.
One of the things the Spaniards were looking for in Camarines were the gold mines of Paracale. By the time of the occupation, this town was already known far and wide for its gold deposits. What riches would it yield in the centuries to come?
My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept
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Thumbnail image is of Potosí, from Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Historia general (Antwerp: Juan Bautista Verdussen, 1728). John Carter Brown Library at Brown University
References:
Newson, Linda A. (2011). Conquest & Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Soltes, Jonas Cabiles (11 July 2012). “Paracale mining: A way of life, death.” Inquirer Southern Luzon. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/227467/paracale-mining-a-way-of-life-death
Santos, Paz Verdades M. (2024). “Maria Timbang Palo: Pabirik na Kuwento ng Camarines Norte.” Malay, 36(2), pp. 18-25
Estrella, Victor (29 November 2016). “Ancient Tagalog Goldworking Technology from Fray San Buenaventura’s Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala: Integrating Archaeological, Linguistic, and Ethnohistoric Data.” Hukay, 20, p. 47-78.
Bennett, Anna T. N. (2009). “Gold in early Southeast Asia.” ArcheoSciences, 33, pp. 99-107.
Fox, Robert B. (1970). The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan Island, Philippines. National Museum.
Habana, Olivia M. (2000). “Gold Mining in Benguet to 1898.” Philippine Studies, 48(4), p. 455-487.
Newson, Linda A. (2011). Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Lane, Kris (30 July 2019). “The first global city.” Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/potosi-the-mountain-of-silver-that-was-the-first-global-city
Casa, Louis John (1966). Potosi, Its Mines and Its Indians [masteral thesis]. Loyola University Chicago. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/2116
Barr, H.L. (1937) “San Mauricio Mining Company.” The Marsman Magazine, 2(5), pp. 10, 14, 16.
https://repository.mainlib.upd.edu.ph/omekas/s/rare-periodicals/media/22641
“Gold Market.” (6 January 1937). The Tribune. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/249847758
International Labour Organization (2020). Artisanal and small-scale gold mining baseline report: Camarines Norte and South Cotabato. https://www.ilo.org/publications/artisanal-and-small-scale-gold-mining-baseline-report-camarines-norte-and
S8E9 White-Hot Heat: Climate and Culture in the Late 1800s
Writing in June 1889, the Manila-based correspondent for La Solidaridad listed down the calamities afflicting the archipelago: cholera, fires, earthquakes, and economic ruin. In those days, even the sky seemed …
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Writing in June 1889, the Manila-based correspondent for La Solidaridad listed down the calamities afflicting the archipelago: cholera, fires, earthquakes, and economic ruin. In those days, even the sky seemed to be on fire. Our reporter told his ilustrado readers in faraway Europe that standing in the shade in Manila would give you no comfort, because the temperature was 39 degrees. 39 degrees!
How did the way we talk about and think about heat change our culture and our history? For the 100th episode of The Colonial Dept., join us in a journey that takes us from a Roman poem to a Rizal essay, from economics to fashion to plain old discrimination. Bring along your pamaypay or your Jisu fan if you must; history is going to get a little hot!
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References:
Strabo (1917). Geography, Volume I: Books 1-2 (Horace Leonard Jones, trans.). Harvard University Press.
Ovid (1964). Metamorphoses (Rolfe Humphries, trans.) Indiana University Press.
Belamide, Aidel Paul G. (2020). “Rise and Decline of the Coffee Industry in 19th-Century Batangas: Causes and Consequences.” Philippine Social Sciences Review, 72(2), pp. 1-42.
Algue, Rev. Jose (1904). “Bulletin 2: The Climate of the Philippines.” In Census of the Philippine Islands (1903), Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census.
Lucero, Todd Sales (1 May 2024). “Heat in Pinoy history.” The Freeman. https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2024/05/01/2351767/heat-pinoy-history
Singh, Deepti; Seager, Richard; Cook, Benjamin I.; Cane, Mark; Ting, Mingfang; Cook, Edward; Davis, Michael (2018). “Climate and the Global Famine of 1876–78.” Journal of Climate, 31(23), pp. 9445–9467.
Santiago, Fernando A. Jr. (2015). “Manners of Resistance: Symbolic Defiance of Colonial Authority In Nineteenth Century Philippines.” Philippine Sociological Review, 63, pp. 137-168.
Aguilar, Filomeno V. Jr. (2025). José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Coo, Stephanie (2019). Clothing the Colony: Nineteenth-Century Philippine Sartorial Culture, 1820-1896. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
INTERVIEW: What was it like to commute in Manila 100 years ago?
Just the thought of commuting around Manila is enough to set one’s teeth on edge. But do our current-day problems of congestion and overcrowding have their roots in decisions and policies made a century …
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Just the thought of commuting around Manila is enough to set one’s teeth on edge. But do our current-day problems of congestion and overcrowding have their roots in decisions and policies made a century ago?
There’s no one better to answer this question than our podcast guest today. For more than ten years, Michael Pante, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, has been researching the history of transportation, mobility, and urbanization in the capital city. He even has a forthcoming book on the topic entitled The Immobile Metropolis: A History of Motorized Transportation in Manila. In this Interview episode, Michael and I talk all about tranvias, bancas, accesorias, carromatas, and more… as well as answer a crucial question affecting the lives of millions: Can anything be done to improve how we get around?
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Thumbnail image from the Maryknoll Mission Archives, University of Southern California, via John Tewell.
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
S8E8 Pacific Sick Ships: Medicine Aboard the Galleons
In the long journeys from Manila to Acapulco, disease was the clingy passenger no one wanted around. But it wandered around the decks, knocked on every cabin, stalked everyone on board—until one day, you woke …
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In the long journeys from Manila to Acapulco, disease was the clingy passenger no one wanted around. But it wandered around the decks, knocked on every cabin, stalked everyone on board—until one day, you woke up, and disease was just everywhere. How could it not be? There was food rotting inside the barrels, slick and moldy woodwork, crew and passengers and officers packed into tight spaces, pests crawling over the meals, the overpowering smell of human waste. And so they came, that grim parade: fever, chills, dysentery, infection, dermatitis, beriberi, the dread scurvy.
How did the ships of the Galleon Trade and the trans-Pacific exchange keep up their good health in those arduous sea crossings? Let’s open the medicine chests and find out.
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References:
“Accessions to the Map-Room.” (1869) In the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 39.
Arranz, Adolfo; Hernandez, Marco (6 May 2018). “Chapter 3: A journey of dread.” In Adolfo, Hernandez (2018),The China Ship, South China Morning Post.
Luque-Talaván, Miguel (2014). “Oceanic deaths aboard the Manila galleons.” In Van Tilburg, H., Tripati, S., Walker Vadillo, V., Fahy, B., and Kimura, J. (eds.), Iberian Global Interactions: the Manila Galleon and the Roteiro, The Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA) Collection.
Morris, David Z. (17 May 2016). “Cruel ships of prosperity.” Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/the-manila-galleons-that-oceaneered-for-plague-and-profit
“Unguentum Populeon.” The Poisoner’s Apothecary. https://www.thepoisonersapothecary.com/shop/p/unguentum-populeon
Matera, Margherita (8 November 2022). “Old Italian Recipes of Medical Ointments in Psalter Manuscript Rahlfs 1759.” Göttinger Septuaginta. https://septuaginta.uni-goettingen.de/blog/old-italian-recipes-of-medical-ointments-in-psalte/
Stuart, Godofredo U., Jr., (n.d.).“Sandalino/Connarus semidecandrus Jack.” Philippine Medicinal Plants. https://www.stuartxchange.org/Sandalino
Viena de Souza, Lais (2018). Missionários Do corpo à alma: Assistência, saberes e práticas de cura nas missões, colégios e hospitais da Companhia de Jesus (Goa e Bahia, 1542-1622) [doctoral dissertation]. Universidade de Évora.
Klein, Wouter (16 June 2021). “Plant of the Month: Sarsaparilla.” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/plant-of-the-month-sarsaparilla/
Kroupa, Šebestián. Georg Joseph Kamel (1661–1706): A Jesuit Pharmacist at the Frontiers of Colonial Empires [doctoral dissertation]. Darwin College, University of Cambridge.
Hajar, Rachel (2012). “The Air of History (Part II) Medicine in the Middle Ages.” Heart Views, 13(4), pp. 158–162. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3573364/
Clarke, Laurie (17 September 2025). “The four 'humours': Our 2,500-year-old mania for personality types.” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250915-the-ancient-origins-of-todays-personality-types
Dorner, Zachary (22 September 2020). “How Early Modern Empire Changed Medicine.” The Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/zachary-dorner-how-early-modern-empire-turned-people-patients
Joven, Arnel E. (2012). “Colonial adaptations in tropical Asia: Spanish medicine in the Philippines in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” Asian Cultural Studies, 38, pp. 171–186.
Eppenberger, Patrick; Galassi, Francesco; Rühli, Frank (2017). “A brief pictorial and historical introduction to guaiacum – from a putative cure for syphilis to an actual screening method for colorectal cancer.” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 83(9), p. 2118-2119.
Voeks, Robert & Greene, Charlotte (2019). “God’s Healing Leaves: The Colonial Quest for Medicinal Plants in the Torrid Zone.” Geographical Review, 108(4), pp. 545-465. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6208447/
Wani-Obias, Rhodalyn C. (2025). “Health, History, and the High Seas.” In Wani-Obias (ed.), Galleons and Social Control in the Spanish Empire: Volume V, National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
Najera, René F. (9 May 2025). “Isabel Zendal: The First Public Health Nurse.” History of Vaccines.
Sales, Ostwald C. (2005). “Las Actividades Medicas en las filipinas durante la Primera Mitad del Siglo XVII.” Perspectivas LatinoAmericanas, 2(168). http://altmetrics.ceek.jp/article/publisher/Centro%20de%20Estudios%20Latinoamericanos%20Universidad%20Nanzan
S8E7 The Fractured Plateau: Bukidnon in World War II
The word Bukidnon means “people of the mountains”, but historian Ronald K. Edgerton also gives another name for them: the people of the middle ground. As he writes in his book of the same name, “Many Bukidnons …
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The word Bukidnon means “people of the mountains”, but historian Ronald K. Edgerton also gives another name for them: the people of the middle ground. As he writes in his book of the same name, “Many Bukidnons mastered the art of borrowing from the new without losing touch with the old. [...] And over time they developed a capacity to envision themselves [...] as negotiators between worlds, skilled at including both in a new, more accommodating world view.”
This middle ground was pushed to the limit during World War II, when Japanese troops invaded the fastness of the mountains and Philippine soldiers splintered into guerrilla groups. Now, in the dark days of wartime, the Bukidnon found themselves caught in the middle of conquerors, resistance fighters, criminals, cults… and even cannibals!
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References:
Edgerton, Ronald K. (2008). People of the Middle Ground: A Century of Conflict and Accommodation in Central Mindanao, 1880s-1980s. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Esteban, Rolando (2016). “Cannibalism among Japanese Soldiers in Bukidnon, Philippines, 1945–47.” Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 52(1).
Shiraz, Josie (2025). “Echoes of Defeat: The Horrors of Japanese Stragglers in Post-WWII Bukidnon.” Pacific Atrocities Education. https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/echoes-of-defeat-the-horrors-of-japanese-stragglers-in-post-wwii-bukidnon
Kyoto National Museum (undated). “Tales of Hungry Ghosts (Gaki zōshi).” Google Arts and Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/tales-of-hungry-ghosts-gaki-soshi-kyoto-national-museum/ZQVByl-_mamPJQ?hl=en
“National Treasure: Tales of Hungry Ghosts (Gaki zōshi).” Kyoto National Museum. https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/collection/meihin/emaki/item03/
INTERVIEW: Making a Magellan Comedy Manga
In the offbeat manga Ferdie!, Ferdinand Magellan and Antonio Pigafetta are caught up in a storm right before they arrive in the Philippines…and find themselves transported five hundred years into the future …
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In the offbeat manga Ferdie!, Ferdinand Magellan and Antonio Pigafetta are caught up in a storm right before they arrive in the Philippines…and find themselves transported five hundred years into the future into a place that’s beyond anything they could have imagined. So what is an explorer and colonizer to do in 2020s Philippines? Why, become a content creator, of course!
In this Interview episode, I talk to Ferdie! creators Julius Tabios and Jeri Llorca about their comic book. Where did this crazy idea come from? How did their understanding of the historical Magellan craft their own funny and fictional take on the famous explorer? And what does this manga have to say about social media and the modern world?
Ferdie! (P450) is available at Lazada and Shopee.
Disclosure: I am one of the editors of Ferdie!, and I worked closely with Julius and Jeri in developing the story for their comic. It was also published by the company I work for, Summit Books. Summit Books did not sponsor this episode.
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
S8E6: After the Black Ships Departed
The island of Balangingi stands halfway between Borneo and Mindanao. Surrounding Balangingi were sharp reefs and surging cross-currents that would be lethal to any boatman… except for the Balangingi Samal, of …
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The island of Balangingi stands halfway between Borneo and Mindanao. Surrounding Balangingi were sharp reefs and surging cross-currents that would be lethal to any boatman… except for the Balangingi Samal, of course. Surrounding the main landmass were little islets that would wink in and out with the tides. On the coast were thick snarls of mangrove; in the parched interior were swaying groves of coconut.
During the Spanish occupation, the Balangingi Samal—also known as the Banguingui Sama or the Sama Balangingi—visited the Philippines twice a year, raiding coastal villages across the Philippines and capturing many of their inhabitants as slaves. And then the Spanish struck back. This is the story of the rise and fall of a fierce seafaring people.
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References:
Cojuangco, Tingting (1993). Kris of Valor: The Samal Balangingi’s Defiance and Diaspora. Manisan Research and Pub. Inc.
Warren, James Francis (2020). “In Search of Julano Taupan: His Life and His Times.” Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies, 4, pp. 2-31.
Warren, James Francis (2021). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (40th Anniversary Ed.). Ateneo de Manila Press.
Mastura, Datu Michael Ong (2023). The Rulers of Magindanao in Modern History, 1515–1903: Continuity and Change in a Traditional Realm in the Southern Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Nimmo, H. Arlo (1968). “Reflections on Bajau History.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 16(1), pp. 32-58.
Roxas-Lim, Aurora (2017). “Marine-Oriented Sama-Bajao People and Their Search
for Human Rights.” Public Policy, 18, pp. 50-66.
Cojuangco, Margarita delos Reyes (2003). “The Samal People in the Mindanao Sea, Pre-History to 1900s: A Historical Study in Ethnic Origination, Dispersion, and Migration” [doctoral dissertation]. Faculty of the Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas.
Moreno, Frede (2023). “Stateless sea gypsies in Bangsamoro coastlines: Understanding the Sama Bajau ethnic tribe in the Philippines.” MPRA Paper No. 117900, pp. 1-17.
Silvestre, Jojo G. (24 June 2023). “Tingting Cojuangco — Christian Espiritu’s ultimate muse.” Daily Tribune. https://tribune.net.ph/2023/06/23/tingting-cojuangco-christian-espiritus-ultimate-muse
S8E5: Rajio Taisō; Or, How to Get Fit in a Time of War
At seven o’clock on the dot, a high-pitched Japanese voice blared out from speakers and switched-on radios all across the archipelago. The program came on like clockwork, chirping in immediately after every …
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At seven o’clock on the dot, a high-pitched Japanese voice blared out from speakers and switched-on radios all across the archipelago. The program came on like clockwork, chirping in immediately after every station signed on for the day—a cheery signal of a brand-new day under Imperial rule.
In wartime Philippines, Rajio Taisō was everywhere—schools, private companies, government offices, military camps. If you browse through pictures from World War II, you can see many pictures of dozens or even hundreds of citizens stretching and twisting in unison. But how was this radio regimen baked into the lives of ordinary Filipinos from all walks of life?
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References:
Jose, Ricardo Trota (1990). “The Tribune During the Japanese Occupation.” Philippine Studies, 38(1), pp. 45-64.
Griggs, Alyson (2020). There Were Children on the Battleground: Japanese and Filipino Youth in the Second World War [masteral dissertation]. Utah State University.
Yamashita, Samuel (2023). “Understanding Daily Life in Wartime Japan, 1937-1945.” Education About Asia, 28(2). https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/understanding-daily-life-in-wartime-japan-1937-1945/
Bigcas, Deana; Javate, Bianca (undated). "Radio Taiso: The Birth of Community Morning Exercises in the Philippines During the Height of the Japanese Occupation." Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/488287830/Radio-Callisthenics-in-the-Philippines
Frühstück, Sabine (2014). “The spirit to take up a gun: militarising gender in the Imperial Army.” In Gender, Nation and State in Modern Japan (Germer, Andrea; Mackie, Vera; Wöhr, Ulrike, eds.), Routledge.
Cabbell-Manners, Rupert (15 March 2026). “Why Tojo’s men loved him – and Japan’s far-Right still does.” The Telegraph.
Tani, Fumi (20 December 2024). “The Political Rhythm of Rajio Taisō.” Ethnomusicology @ Harvey Mudd College. https://hmcethnomusicology.substack.com/p/the-political-rhythm-of-rajio-taiso
NPO Japan Radio Calisthenics Federation NPO 法人全国ラジオ体操連盟. “History of Radio Calisthenics ラジオ体操の歴史.” https://www.radioexercises.org/taisou/history
Chua, Karl Ian Cheng (2012). “The Stories They Tell: Komiks during the Japanese Occupation, 1942-1944.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 53(1), pp. 59-90
Semans, Himari Radio (3 July 2023). “Taisō: A Nuanced History of a Nearly 100-Year-Old Tradition.” Unseen Japan. https://unseen-japan.com/radio-taiso-japan-history/
INTERVIEW: Restoring historical markers with Project Panandito
You pass by them every day: plaques of metal set onto walls and plinths, heavy with text and history. You may have wondered—how do you maintain these historical markers?A group of students in the University of …
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You pass by them every day: plaques of metal set onto walls and plinths, heavy with text and history. You may have wondered—how do you maintain these historical markers?
A group of students in the University of the Philippines Diliman wondered the same thing. So, for their required NSTP initiative, they formed Project Panandito, a student-led project that, during the sweltering summer months of 2026, went around historical sites in Manila to clean and restore some of these markers. In this interview, I talk to them about the nuts and bolts of cleaning a plaque, what to expect in Manila when you show up to do conservation work on a hot day, how to highlight history in a time that seems determined to forget it… and why restoring a marker can actually be—therapeutic?
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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The Colonial Dept. just celebrated its fifth birthday! To celebrate, I’m giving away discounts for new Patreon members. Subscribe now to any tier and get 50% off your first month. Just use the promo code 5YRS. To know more, go to patreon.com/thecolonialdept/membership.
S8E4: Edison’s Cameras, Manila’s Trenches
Yes, Edison as in Thomas Edison, the light bulb guy. At the turn of his century, the tech wizard of Menlo Park produced thousands of movies as a showcase for his company’s vitascopes. Among those movies are …
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Yes, Edison as in Thomas Edison, the light bulb guy. At the turn of his century, the tech wizard of Menlo Park produced thousands of movies as a showcase for his company’s vitascopes. Among those movies are five films about the Philippine-American War, produced in a flurry all throughout June of 1899.
It turns out that the boom of cinema dovetailed neatly with America’s growing imperial ambitions. But what made this faraway war so compelling for wide-eyed audiences captured by the magic of the silver screen?
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References:
Rafael, Vicente (2016). Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language Amid Wars of Translation. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Palis, Joseph (2009). “The ethnographic spectacle of the ‘other’ Filipinos in early cinema.” GeoJournal, 74, pp. 227-234.
Robbins, Dylon Lamar (13 July 2017). “War, Modernity, and Motion in the Edison Films of 1898.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, 26(3). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569325.2017.1292222#d1e122
Brewer, Susan A. (1 October 2013). “Selling Empire: American Propaganda and War in the Philippines.” Asian Pacific Journal, 11(40). https://apjjf.org/2013/11/40/susan-a-brewer/4002/article
Walker, Malea (6 February 2024). “The Spanish American War and the Yellow Press.” Library of Congress Blogs. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2024/02/the-spanish-american-war-and-the-yellow-press/
“Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan.” Library of Congress
“History of Edison Motion Pictures.” (undated) Library of Congress
Blinkhorn, Martin (1980). “Spain: The ‘Spanish Problem’ and the Imperial Myth.” Journal of Contemporary History, 15(1), pp. 5-25.
Paterson, Thomas G. (1996). “United States Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpretations of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War.” The History Teacher, 29(3), pp. 341-361.
Ocampo, Ambeth (19 March 2013). “Treasure trove in thick books.” Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Ocampo, Ambeth (21 March 2013). “An Igorot in the Philippine-American War.” Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Legarda, Benito J., Jr. (2001). The Hills of Sampaloc: The Opening Actions of the Philippine-American War, February 4-5, 1899. The Bookmark, Inc.
Angeles, Jose Amiel P. (2013). As Our Might Grows Less: The Philippine-American War in Context [Ph.D. dissertation]. Department of History, Graduate School of the History of Oregon.
S8E3: Nobody Expects the Philippine Inquisition!
When you pulled up to the dock, they were there waiting for you, those holy men of God.But beyond inspecting ships that docked in the ports of Manila and Cavite for blasphemers and banned items, the Inquisition …
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When you pulled up to the dock, they were there waiting for you, those holy men of God.
But beyond inspecting ships that docked in the ports of Manila and Cavite for blasphemers and banned items, the Inquisition in the Philippines also investigated Protestants. Jews. Masons. Muslims. Non-Catholic Christian sects, like Armenian Christians or Jansenists. Its investigators monitored cases of heresy, blasphemy, apostasy, bigamy, and contempt. They kept tabs on witches, sorcerers, palm readers, fortune tellers, astrologers, and peddlers of superstition. And they dutifully recorded all their investigations and sent them to their head office in Mexico.
What tales can we uncover from these inquisitorial files? And what do they say about the practice of faith in our archipelago?
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References:
Galleons and Social Control in the Spanish Empire: The Contrabandistas: Defenders of “Free Trade” on the Manila-Acapulco Galleons, Volume IV. (2025) National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
Angeles, F. Delor (1980) "The Philippine Inquisition: A Survey." Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, (28)3, pp. 253-283.
Cunningham, Charles H. (1918). “The Inquisition in the Philippines: The Salcedo Affair.” The Catholic Historical Review, 3(4), pp. 417-445.
Bonilla & Santos Garcia (1583). “Instructions to the Commissary of the Inquisition.” In Blair, Emma Helen, and Robertson, James Alexander (eds.), The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 40), Arthur H. Clark Company, 57.
Mawson, Stephanie Joy (2023). “Folk magic in the Philippines, 1611-39.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 54(2), pp. 1-25.
S8E2: Riding a Tram in 1911 Manila
What kind of city was waiting for Dutch scholar Gerret Pieter Rouffaer when he got to Manila?After more than a decade of occupation, the Americans had given the colonial capital some thorough nips and tucks …
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What kind of city was waiting for Dutch scholar Gerret Pieter Rouffaer when he got to Manila?
After more than a decade of occupation, the Americans had given the colonial capital some thorough nips and tucks. Aside from the glimmering roads and shady plazas, the Americans also laid down more tramways. Trams were already up and running during the latter part of the Spanish occupation, but in 1905, the US rehabilitated the old system. Unlike the old Spanish versions, these new streetcars barrelled along on double-wheeled trucks and could fit fifty people. They also ran on electricity.
When Rouffaer arrived in the Philippines, he took the tranvia everywhere, and wrote down his snarky observations in a diary. Let’s see what he had to say.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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References:
Muijzenberg, Otto Van Den (ed., trans.) (2016). Colonial Manila 1909-1912: Three Dutch Travel Accounts. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Rodell, Paul A. (1974). “Philippine ‘Seditious Plays.’” Asian Studies, 12(1), pp. 88-118.
Pante, Michael D. (2016). “Urban Mobility and a Healthy City Intertwined Transport and Public Health Policies in American-Colonial Manila.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 64(1), pp. 73-101.
Morley, Ian (2016). “Modern Urban Designing in the Philippines, 1898–1916.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 64(1), pp. 3-42.
Gardini, Ashley (8 July 2025). “Daniel Burnham in the Philippines.” JSTOR Daily.
Cubeiro, Didac (2017). “Modernizing the Colony: Ports in Colonial Philippines, 1880-1908.” World History Connected.
RailwaysPh. “Tranvías de Manila y Corregidor: Notable Heritage Tram Systems” (15 November 2020). Renacimiento Manila.
Sison, Norman (21 April 2015). “LRT expansions remind of tranvia days.” Vera Files.
Scott, William Henry (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (revised edition). New Day Publishers.
INTERVIEW: Exploring the food history of the Philippines
“There’s a message to it: It’s our responsibility to keep Filipino food popular!”At the launch for her book What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words, author and historian Felice Prudente …
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“There’s a message to it: It’s our responsibility to keep Filipino food popular!”
At the launch for her book What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words, author and historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria talked to a rapt audience at the Philippine Book Festival about a long career of writing about food. What new things can food tell us about our own history? How did we adapt techniques and ingredients from abroad… while still preserving our own? And how should we nurture this knowledge for future generations?
Joining her in this panel were publisher and editor Karina Bolasco, graphic designer and fellow food scholar Ige Ramos, and printmaker Marz Aglipay. Through their shared history with Felice, they deepened the conversation with their own perspectives on creativity, design, and the space for food in the publishing landscape.
Special thanks to the Ateneo de Manila University Press for inviting me to moderate this panel, and for letting me record this conversation.
Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept
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Email us: [email protected]
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.
S8E1: The Philippine Sour-chipelago
Sourness, according to Doreen Fernandez, “is a favored Philippine flavor.” Just how sour is sour? “Sour enough to savor, to make the lips pucker and the eyes squint slightly, and yet not too sour—just at the …
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Sourness, according to Doreen Fernandez, “is a favored Philippine flavor.” Just how sour is sour? “Sour enough to savor, to make the lips pucker and the eyes squint slightly, and yet not too sour—just at the point of perfection.”
In the spectrum of sensation, sourness can be both sharp and sudden, an acetic shudder down the spine. Asim, the Tagalogs call it. From the earliest written records about the Philippines, it is this taste that has come to define our cooking. “Spanish colonials from the 1500s through the 1800s described indio food as primarily salty and sour,” writes food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria. “Both tastes can induce sweat in hot climates and remind the body to keep hydrated and its electrolytes balanced.” Let us trace the pathways of this taste as it evolved in three key dishes: sinigang, kinilaw, and adobo.
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References:
Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2025). What Recipes Don't Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Fernandez, Doreen G. (1988). “Culture Ingested: Notes on the Indigenization of Philippine Food.” Philippine Studies, 36(2), pp. 219-232.
Fernandez, Doreen G. (1994). Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture. Anvil Publishing.
Frank, Hannah E. R.; Amato, Katie; Trautwein, Michelle; Maia, Paula; Liman, Emily R.; Nichols; Lauren M.; Schwenk, Kurt; Breslin, Paul A. S.; Dunn, Robert R. (2022) “The evolution of sour taste.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1968). https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/289/1968/20211918/79292/The-evolution-of-sour-tasteEvolution-of-Sour-Taste
Shaw, Sterling V. Herrera (30 August 2024). “Adobo is ‘paksiw,’ and other terms in Filipino food history.” Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Ladrido, R.C. (1 July 2022). “Tapayan, Gusi, or Martaban: Tales of Stoneware Jars in the Philippines.” VERA Files.
Newman, Yasmin (11 May 2023). “Kinilaw, the age-old dish of the Philippines (and why it's not ceviche).” SBS Food. https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/kinilaw-the-age-old-dish-of-the-philippines-and-why-its-not-ceviche/4alb6pswa
Trinidad, Bea. (16 August 2025). “Say ‘kilawin’ instead of ‘Filipino ceviche’, okay?” The Philippine Star. https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/2025/08/16/2465728/say-kilawin-instead-filipino-ceviche-okay
Banez, George (31 August 2025). “Sinigang Through Time: The Filipino Sour Soup with Many Faces, One Soul.” Pressenza Philippines
Pigafetta, Antonio (ca. 1525). “Primo viaggio intorno al mondo.” In Blair, Emma Helen, and Robertson, James Alexander (eds.), The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 33), Arthur H. Clark Company.
Wertz, S.K. (2013). “The Elements of Taste: How Many Are There?” The Journal of Aesthetic Education,47(1), pp. 46-57 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jaesteduc.47.1.0046
Ferguson, Priscilla Parkhurst (2011). “The Senses of Taste.” American Historical Review, 116(2), pp. 371-384. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23307701
An important announcement about the future of The Colonial Dept.
Before we start Season 8, I have an important announcement about this little podcast. For more info, check out this Instagram post.
INTERVIEW: Twin timelines, entangled histories
“What does it take for a culture that has caused a lot of pain and suffering to have any chance at redemption… or any sense of justice?”Tom Sykes’ riotous new book—a collision of a neon-powered 1980s Manila and …
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“What does it take for a culture that has caused a lot of pain and suffering to have any chance at redemption… or any sense of justice?”
Tom Sykes’ riotous new book—a collision of a neon-powered 1980s Manila and a disaster-stricken barangay in the 1570s—attempts to answer the question… with many seedy side quests in between. How did he attempt to write his wild, genre-bending vision of the Philippines? And how does Back to the Future figure into it?
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors who are shining a light on our past.
INTERVIEW: Sungka as a wargame?
What a folk game can tell us about how a datu waged war. An interview with Micah Perez of the UP Diliman Department of History. The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and …
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What a folk game can tell us about how a datu waged war. An interview with Micah Perez of the UP Diliman Department of History.
The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past. Know a historian or author I should talk to? Email me at [email protected].
Thumbnail image: Usernameko/Wikimedia Commons
S7E13: The War and the Weatherpriests
Ever since its founding in the 1860s, the Manila Observatory had stood watch against the typhoons and hurricanes that threatened to strike the Philippines. But decades later, they were unprepared for a …
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Ever since its founding in the 1860s, the Manila Observatory had stood watch against the typhoons and hurricanes that threatened to strike the Philippines. But decades later, they were unprepared for a different kind of approaching storm: the Second World War!
Cover photo from the Illustrated London News.
Additional audio from British Pathe.
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References:
Warren, James Francis (2024). Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Hidalgo, Angel (1967). “Miguel Selga, 1879-1956: Priest and Scientist.” Philippine Studies, 15(2), pp. 307-347.
Bocar, Efren Cyril (19 November 2024). “‘Signs of disaster’: How weather lore holds up against typhoons and science.” Rappler.
Biolong, Fr. Raymundus Rede, SVD (1996). “The Ivatan Cultural Adaptation to Typhoons: A Portrait of a Self-Reliant Community from the Indigenous Development Perspective.”
Ribera, Pedro; García-Herrera, Ricardo; Gimeno, Luis (2008). “Historical deadly typhoons in the Philippines.” Weather, 63(7), pp. 194-199.
S7E12: Turbulent Times at Manila Bay
In the late 1500s, sultans, kings, and outlaws alike all wanted a little slice of Manila. And over two turbulent decades, everyone from faraway Spain to neighboring Brunei asserted their claims over the rajahs …
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In the late 1500s, sultans, kings, and outlaws alike all wanted a little slice of Manila. And over two turbulent decades, everyone from faraway Spain to neighboring Brunei asserted their claims over the rajahs and datus that lived there. This is the turbulent origin story of the city that we know today.
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Cover photo from “Ataque de Li-ma-hong a Manila en 1574” by Juan Caro y Mora
References:
Patanne, E.P. (1993-1996). “Old Tondo and the Lakandula Revolt of 1574.”Historic Manila: Commemorative Lectures. Manila Historical Commission.
Majul, Cesar Adib (1999). Muslims in the Philippines (third edition). University of the Philippines Press.
Elsa Clavé, Arlo Griffiths (2022). “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: Tenth-Century Luzon, Java, and the Malay World.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 70(2), pp.167-242.
Postma, Antoon (1992). “The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary.”
Philippine Studies, 40(2), pp. 183–203.
“Paghinumdom: Retrospection of the Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region.” (2022) https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/
Velez, Genesis (2020). “Chinese Merchants in Late Pre-Hispanic Cebu: Context, Issues, and Possibilities.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 48(3/4), pp. 125-155.
Shutz, J. Travis (2019). “Limahong’s Pirates, Ming Mariners, and Early Sino-Spanish Relations: The Pangasinan Campaign of 1575 and Global History From Below.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 67(3/4), pp. 315-342.
S7E11: Paint Me By Your Name
The nineteenth century—steamships, family names, world trade, foreign firms, liberal ideas. Great tides of change are roiling Manila. In the middle of the chaos, a new art trend captures the imagination of …
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The nineteenth century—steamships, family names, world trade, foreign firms, liberal ideas. Great tides of change are roiling Manila. In the middle of the chaos, a new art trend captures the imagination of local elites. How are these letras y figuras holding a mirror to Philippine society?
Cover Photo from the Ayala Corporation Collection.
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References:
Blanco, John D. (2009). Frontier Constitutions: Christianity and Colonial Empire in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines. University of the Philippines Press.
Santiago, Luciano P.R. (December 1991). “Damian Domingo and the First Philippine Art Academy.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 19(4), pp. 264-280.
Flores, Patrick D. (17 November 2011). “Everyday, Elsewhere: Allegory in Philippine Art.” Contemporary Aesthetics, (0)3 (Special Issue).
“Lot 46. Jose Honorato Lozano, c. 1815-1885.” (2021) Salcedo Auctions.
Quirino, Carlos (1961) "Damian Domingo, Filipino Painter." Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 9(1), pp. 78-96.
“Jose Honorato Lozano (c. 1815-c. 1885).” (undated) Christie’s.
Sorilla IV, Franz (8 February 2021). “Letras y Figuras: The 19th Century Philippine Art Form’s Origins and Legacy.” Tatler Asia.
Buenconsejo, Jose S. (2018). “Keyboards in the Nineteenth-Century Philippines.” In Tan, Arwin Q. (ed.), Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, University of the Philippines Press, pp. 234-242.
Navarro, Raul Casantusan. (2018). “Opera in the Philippines, 1860s-1940s.” In Tan, Arwin Q. (ed.), Saysay Himig: A Sourcebook on Philippine Music History, University of the Philippines Press, pp. 234-242.
Mallat, Jean (1846). The Philippines: History, Geography, Customs, Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce of the Spanish Colonies in Oceania (Pura Santillan-Castrence, Trans.) (2021). National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
S7E10: Abaca World War
It was the Great War, the War to End All the Wars… and Philippine abaca merchants were raking in sky-high profits. The world’s most powerful navies relied on this plant—which is native to the Philippines—to …
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It was the Great War, the War to End All the Wars… and Philippine abaca merchants were raking in sky-high profits. The world’s most powerful navies relied on this plant—which is native to the Philippines—to keep their warships in battle-ready shape. But what the First World War giveth, the First World War also taketh away.
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References:
Dacudao, Patricia Irene (2023). Abaca Frontier: The Socioeconomic and Cultural Transformation of Davao, 1898-1941. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Crapo, G.R. (February 1926). “The Philippine Fiber Industry.” Proceedings, 52(2). https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1926/february/philippine-fiber-industry
Layton, J. Kent (undated). “Lusitania 100 years later: never forget.” National Museums Liverpool. https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/lusitania-100-years-later-never-forget
Jose, Ricardo Trota (1988). “The Philippine National Guard in World War I.” Philippine Studies, 36(3), pp. 275-299. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42633097
Nagano, Yoshiko (2012). “The Philippine National Bank and Credit Inflation after World War I.” Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd11-216, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
Ybiernas, Vicente Angel (2012) "Philippine Financial Standing in 1921: The First World War Boom and Bust." Philippine Studies, 55(3), pp. 345-372.
S7E9: Running of the Bulls, Part Two
In the second part of our look at the lost sport of Philippine bullfighting, we go deep into its heyday in the 1800s, with social clubs, provincial arenas, and matadors with nicknames like “Fatiguitas.”Then, we …
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In the second part of our look at the lost sport of Philippine bullfighting, we go deep into its heyday in the 1800s, with social clubs, provincial arenas, and matadors with nicknames like “Fatiguitas.”
Then, we look at how and why bullfighting faded away in our archipelago.
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Email us: [email protected]
References:
Vibal, Gaspar (2022). Bullfighting in the Philippines, 1602-2022. Vibal Books.
Cornwell, Zach (Host). (13 December 2021). “Gore: The Brutal History of Bullfighting” [Audio podcast episode]. In Conflicted, Evergreen Podcast.
Amano, N., Bankoff, G., Findley, D. M., Barretto-Tesoro, G., & Roberts, P. (2020). “Archaeological and historical insights into the ecological impacts of pre-colonial and colonial introductions into the Philippine Archipelago.” The Holocene, 31(2), pp. 313-330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683620941152
Mudar, Karen (1997). “Patterns of Animal Utilization in the Holocene of the Philippines: A Comparison of Faunal Samples from Four Archaeological Sites.” Asian Perspectives, 36(1), pp. 67-105.
Davis, Janet M. (2013) “Cockfight Nationalism: Blood Sport and the Moral Politics of American Empire and Nation Building.” American Quarterly, 65(3), pp. 549-574.
S7E8: Running of the Bulls, Part One
In fiestas in a bygone age, the corrida de toros—the coursing of the bulls—would always be part of the festivities and celebrations in town plazas across the Philippines. Why did this tradition disappear from …
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In fiestas in a bygone age, the corrida de toros—the coursing of the bulls—would always be part of the festivities and celebrations in town plazas across the Philippines. Why did this tradition disappear from our shores?
In this two-part episode, we examine the history of bullfighting in the Philippines. In Part One, join Antonio Luna as he watches his first bullfight… and then travel back in time to the very start of the Spanish occupation, when the fiesta de toros became a fixture in our holidays!
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References:
Vibal, Gaspar (2022). Bullfighting in the Philippines, 1602-2022. Vibal Books.
Hemingway, Ernest (1927). Fiesta; or, The Sun Also Rises. Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Hartwell, Rafael Ernest (2019). “Bad English and Fresh Spaniards: Translation and Authority in Philippine and Cuban Travel Writing.” Unitas, 92(1), pp. 43-74.
Cornwell, Zach (Host). (13 December 2021). “Gore: The Brutal History of Bullfighting” [Audio podcast episode]. In Conflicted, Evergreen Podcast.
S7E7: Extramuros
For centuries, Spain ruled the Philippines from within the closed, claustrophobic walls of Intramuros—the walled city of Manila. But right outside these walls, Manila, too, grew and developed, following the …
Notas do episódio
For centuries, Spain ruled the Philippines from within the closed, claustrophobic walls of Intramuros—the walled city of Manila. But right outside these walls, Manila, too, grew and developed, following the contours of migration, enterprise, and yes, even conflict. Let’s track the evolution of the districts and arrabales outside the walls, or extramuros.
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Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept
Email us: [email protected]
References:
Camagay, Ma. Luisa (1993-1996). “Urban Development of Manila During the 19th Century.” In Victoriano, Enrique L. (ed.), Historic Manila: Commemorative Lectures, Manila Historical Commission.
Wise, Edwin (2019). Manila, City of Islands. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Eng Sin Kueh, Joshua (2014). The Manila Chinese: Community, Trade, and Empire, c. 1570-1770 [doctoral dissertation]. Georgetown University.
Fish, Shirley (2003). When Britain Ruled the Philippines, 1762-1764: The Story of the 18th Century British Invasion of the Philippines During the Seven Years War. FirstBooks Library.
Banyard, Laurence (16 May 2025). “Manila Port City – A Story of Mutual Interdependence and Competing Self-interest.” PortCityFutures. https://www.portcityfutures.nl/news/manila-port-city-a-story-of-mutual-interdependence-and-competing-self-interest
Cubeiro, Didac (2017). “Modernizing the Colony: Ports in Colonial Philippines, 1880-1908.” World History Connected. https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/14.3/forum_cubeiro.html
Enano, Jhesset O. (25 June 2019). “Metro Manila’s green spaces continue to shrink.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1133654/metro-manilas-green-spaces-continue-to-shrink
De Villa, Kathleen (1 May 2025). “21 Manila Bay reclamation projects equal area of 2 cities.” Philippine Daily Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2057082/21-manila-bay-reclamation-projects-equal-area-of-2-cities
S7E6: Shisōsen—A Japanese Propagandist Confronts the Filipino Psyche
Beyond the bullets, the tanks, the planes, the bombs, the Japanese also brought other weapons to bear against the Filipinos: Typewriters. Radio waves. Movie theaters.Here is one story from the frontlines of …
Notas do episódio
Beyond the bullets, the tanks, the planes, the bombs, the Japanese also brought other weapons to bear against the Filipinos: Typewriters. Radio waves. Movie theaters.
Here is one story from the frontlines of shisōsen, or "the thought war."
Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept
Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept
Email us: [email protected]
References:
Campoamor II, Gonzalo (2017). “Re-Examining Japanese Wartime Intellectuals: Kiyoshi Miki during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines.” Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 53(1), pp. 1-38.
Terami-Wada, Motoe (1990). “The Japanese Propaganda Corps in the Philippines.” Philippine Studies, 38(3), pp. 279-300.
Lagmay, Alfred (1977). “Bahala Na!” In Pe-Pua, Rogelio (ed., 2018), Handbuk ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Bolyum I: Perspektibo at Metodolohiya, University of the Philippines Press.
Jose, Ricardo T. (1998). The Japanese Occupation. In Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People. Asia Publishing Company Limited.
Griggs, Alyson (2020). There Were Children on the Battleground: Japanese and Filipino Youth in the Second World War [masteral dissertation]. Utah State University.
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