History of Philippine Journalism - Timeline

A History of Journalism in the Philippines: Historical Notes (11 of 11)

by Alixander Haban Escote in History, August 28, 2008

Twenty-four important notes necessary in understanding a history of journalism in the Philippines:

Marcelo Del Pilar is also the author of La Soberania Monacal, 1888; and Frailocracia Fililipa, 1889. Hilario was not actually his middle name, but Gatmaytan.

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente was founded by Isabelo delos Reyes and Pascual Poblete, 1902; and was headed by Gregorio Aglipay as its first Pontifex Maximus or Obispo Maximo or Supreme Bishop.

Vigan, before Ciudad Fernandina and later Heritage City of Vigan, is the capital of Ilocos Sur and the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. It is the third city in the Philippines founded by Juan de Salcedo, grandson of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.

Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda wrote Noli Me Tangere, 1887; and El Filibusterismo, 1891. He was executed in Bagumbayan, now Rizal Park, on December 30, 1896.

Ferdinand Blumentritt, the “true brother” and “loyal friend” of Jose Rizal, made several studies about the country. He was born in Praque, Bohemia, now Czechoslovakia.

Andres Bonifacio is the father of Philippine Revolution and Philippine Democracy and the founder of the Kataastaasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan in Tondo, Manila on July 7, 1892.

Emilio Aguinaldo was the President of the First Philippine Republic. He was also elected as President of the Revolutionary Government and President of the Biak-na-Bato Republic. He proclaimed Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.

Rafael Palma was elected Senator of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, 1916; appointed Secretary of the Interior, 1919; and appointed member of the Independence Missions, 1919 and 1922. He was also the fourth president of the University of the Philippines, 1925-1933; a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 1934-1935; and the Chairman of the National Council of Education; 1936-1939.

Gen Douglas McArthur was the youngest Chief of Staff of the US Army. He served as the Military Adviser of the Philippine Commonwealth, 1936-1941; Commanding General of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), 1941; Supreme Allied Commander of the Southwest Pacific, 1942-1945; and Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers for Occupied Japan, 1945-1951.

Sergio Osmeña Sr. was the first Filipino national leader under the American regime as Speaker of the Philippine Assembly and the Second President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, 1944-1946. He was the Vice President of Manuel Quezon when World War II broke out, and assumed the presidency upon the death of the latter in 1944. His secret agreement with US President Harry Truman on May 14, 1945 became the basis of the 1947 RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

US Olympia is the flagship of Admiral George Dewey, the Commanding Officer of the US Asiatic Squadron during the Spanish-American War. For his victory, Dewey rapidly rose from the rank of Commodore to Rear Admiral and Admiral in the US Navy.

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina was the President of the Philippine Senate, 1916-1936, and the First President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, 1935-1944.

Francis Burton Harrison was the American Governor General of the Philippines, 1913-1919, remembered for his Filipinization policy, i. e., replacement of Americans in the Philippine Civil Service with qualified Filipinos. His dying wish that he be buried in the Philippines was granted and that he was buried in Manila North Cemetery.

Carlos Romulo y Peña was the first Filipino president of the United Nations General Assembly, 1949; and a member of the United Nations Security Council, 1958.

The Battle of Bataan started on January 9, 1942 and continued until April 9, 1942.

The University of the Philippines was established in 1908 by virtue of Act No. 1870 written by W Shuster Morgan, Secretary of Public Instruction and member of the Philippine Commission. Formerly located in Padre Faura in Manila, it transferred to Diliman in Quezon City in 1949 although the College of Medicine and Allied Medical Professions remained in Manila.

President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. First elected in 1965, he was easily re-elected in 1969. Facing increasing civil unrest from the Communist Party of the Philippines headed by Jose Maria Sison and the Moro National Liberation Front headed by Hashim Salamat, Marcos suspended the constitution, declared martial law, and seized dictatorial powers in 1972. Accused of massive fraud in the 1986 Snap Elections against Corazon Aquino, Marcos and his family fled to Hawaii. He spent the last three years of his life fighting the lawsuits that tried to reclaim the large fortune he had accumulated improperly while in power.

Malacañang Palace is the official residence of the Spanish and the American governors-general from 1863 to 1935 and of Philippine presidents from 1935 to the present. The name is said to have come from the words “May lakan diyan,” literarily, “there are noblemen residing there.” A violent rally in front of the palace on January 30, 1970 was described as the “Siege of Malacañang.”

Plaza Miranda is the public square in front of the Quaipo Church in Manila. It was named after Jose Sandino y Miranda, Secretary of the Treasury of the Philippines from 1853 to 1854.

The writ of habeas corpus is a written order, issued by a court, directed to the person detaining another, and commanding him to produce the body of a prisoner with the date and the cause of his capture and detention.

Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was the youngest foreign correspondent during the Korean War, the youngest adviser of President Ramon Magsaysay, and the youngest member of the Philippine Senate. His assassination at the Manila International Airport, now Ninoy Aquino International Airport, on August 21, 1983 galvanized popular opposition to the Marcos administration and brought his widow, Corazon Cojuangco, to the forefront, during the 1986 Snap Election.

Martial law is the temporary imposition of a military government over a civil government. It is invoked when civil authority is inadequate to enforce law and to preserve order against rebellion and insurrection. It was also proclaimed in Taiwan, 1949; Thailand, 1958; and South Korea, 1972.

EDSA is an acronym for Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, named after a Filipino historian and provincial governor of Nueva Ecija. Formerly known as Highway 54, which starts from Kalookan City to Pasay City, a stretch of it in Quezon City was the setting of the 1986 Philippine Revolution, hence 1986 EDSA Revolution.

Corazon Aquino is the First Woman and Eighth President of the Republic of the Philippines, 1986-1992. With Salvador Laurel as his running mate, she led the opposition that overthrew President Ferdinand Marcos who went into exile in Hawaii after the 1986 EDSA Revolution. She first established a revolutionary government under a Freedom Constitution, which was replaced by the 1987 Constitution, drafted in 1986 and ratified in 1987.

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