Literary History of the Philippines

Literary History of the Philippines

1. History of the Philippines

1. 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, landed in Samar Island.

1. Archipelago of San Lazaro – the name given to the Philippines by Magellan.
2. Lapu Lapu – his men rebelled and took the life of Magellan.
3. Commander Ruy Lopez de Villalobos – led the fourth expedition from Spain and named the country “Philippines” after Prince Philip (King Philip II).
4. 356 years – the span of time Spain ruled the Philippines.

2. 1565 – Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was named the 1st Governor-General of the Philippines by King Philip.

1. Manila – the chosen capital of the Philippines because of its natural harbour.
2. Catholicism – the major influence of Spain to the Filipinos.
3. 1896 – the execution of Rizal because of his propaganda against Spain.
4. Katipunan – founded by Andres Bonifacio but led by Emilio Aguinaldo who led a victory in Cavite.
5. $ 800, 000 – amnesty given to Aguinaldo in exchange for his exile to Hong Kong.

3. May 1, 1898 – U.S. Navy Admiral George Dewey, together with Emilio Aguinaldo, attacked the Spanish Navy in Manila Bay which ended the Spanish colonization.

1. $ 20 million – payment to Spain in accordance to the “Treaty of Paris.”
2. June 12, 1898 – Philippine Independence led by Emilio Aguinaldo.
3. William Howard Taft – the first U.S. Governor of the Philippines appointed in 1901.
4. 1916 – Jones Law was created establishing an elected Filipino legislature with a House of Representative and Senate.
5. 1934 – the Tydings-Mcduffie Act was passed, established the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and promised Philippines independency by 1946.
6. Manuel L. Quezon – the first President of Commonwealth who won the May 14, 1935 elections.
7. July 4, 1946 – Philippine Independence and Republic of the Philippines was born.

4. December 8, 1941 – Japan invades the Philippines hours after bombing pearl harbour in Hawaii.

1. Washington D.C. – by invitation of Roosevelt, 
2. May 6, 1942 – American and Filipinos surrendered.
3. October 1944 – Pres. Sergio Osmeῆa and Gen. MacArthur returned and liberate the Philippines.

5. The Philippine Republic

1. Manuel  Roxas – the first President of the Republic of the Philippines out of Nationalista Party.
2. Elpidio Quirino – succeeded Roxas.

1. Hukbalahap – a large Anti-Japanese guerrilla organization which became a militant group that discredited the ruling elite.
2. Ramon Magsaysay, Secretary of Defense of Quirino, put down the group.

3. Ramon Magsaysay – defeated  Quirino in the 1953 elections.

1. March 17, 1957 – Magsaysay died in an airplane crash.

4. Carlos Garcia –succeeded Magsaysay as President.
5. Diosdado Macapagal – won the 1961 election and changed the Independence Day to June 12.

1. June 12 – the day Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence from Spain in Cavite in 1898.

6. The Martial Law Regime up to the Present

1. Ferdinand Marcos – won the presidency in 1965 and declared Martial Law in 1972. He was the first to be re-elected for a second term in office.

1. Sen. Benigno Aquino – went on self-exile to the U.S
2. Sen. Jose Diokno – one of the first to be arrested during the Martial Law.

2. 1986 – the 21 year dictatorial rule of Marcos ended and forced them to exile in Hawaii.
3. Corazon Aquino – won a snap election and succeeded the presidency of Marcos.
4. Ramon Magsaysay – endorsed by Aquino and won 1992 elections.

1. MNLF led by Nur Misuari – signed a peace agreement with the government.
2. MILF led by Hashim Salamat – continued to fight for Islamic State.

5. Joseph Ejercito Estrada – won the 1998 elections.

1. October 2000 – Luis “Chavit” Singson accused Estrada of receiving millions of pesos from Jueteng.
2. January 2001 – the Supreme Court declared him unable to rule in view of mass resignations from his government.
3. September 12, 2007 – Estrada was convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan.
4. October 26, 2007 – Arroyo granted pardon to Estrada.

6. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – succeeded Estrada after his fall.

1. May 2004 – Gloria run for re-election and won against FPJ.
2. May 14, 2007 – National elections for Senators, Congressmen, Governors, Mayors, and local officials and regarded as one of the most peaceful elections in the Philippines.

7. Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III – won the May 10, 2010 presidential elections and proclaimed President on June 30, 2010 at Rizal Park in Manila.

2. Literary History of the Philippines

1. Oral Lore from Pre-Colonial Times

1. The first period of the Philippine literary history is the longest; however, we don’t have the whole collection of its literature as most of it were oral and not written in text.

1. Tabon Man – believed to be the first man in the Philippines and was discovered in Palawan in 1962.
2. Native Syllabary (Baybayin) – used before the Spaniards brought over the Roman Alphabet.
3. Subject Matter: Common experience of people in the village like food gathering, creature and objects of nature, work in the home, field, forest or sea, etc. 

2. Means of Literature’s Preservation:

1. Colonial Resistance
2. Territorial Isolation 

2. Riddles (Bugtong or Palaisipan) 

1. Enigmas – problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution.
2. Conundrums – questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.
3. Purpose of Bugtong:

1. To entertain – families would sit around the fire and the elders would quiz the younger generation with riddles.
2. To educate – serves as the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next.
3. To titillate – intended to amuse the men and shock the women
4. To curse without expressly cursing – riddles could be made up against an enemy or rival town.
5. To preserve the culture – riddles communicate the old ways to the younger generation.

4. Riddle Game – a contest of wit and skill in which players take turns asking riddles.

3. Proverbs (Salawikain) – from the Latin proverbium , a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth based on common sense or practical experience of humanity.

1. Maxim – a proverb that describes basic rule of conduct.
2. Aphorism – a proverb with particularly good phrasing.

4. Ambahan – literary product and poetic expression of southern Mangyans of Mindoro.

1. Myths - : a traditional story about heroes or supernatural beings, often attempting to explain the origins of natural phenomena or aspects of human behaviour

1. Mythological Creatures:

Aswang

Dila

Diwata

Agta

Manananggal

Sirena

Mangkukulam

Mambabarang

Siyokoy

Tiyanak

Kapre

Dwende

Multo

Santelmo

Tikbalang

Wakwak

2. 
   
3. Folktales – traditional stories passed on from one generation to another by word of mouth among the common folk.

1. Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole – the most famous work on folktale.

4. Songs – a literary composition that are meant to be sung.

5. Epic – a special story of heroism which usually has its hero endowed with super powers.

1. Biag ni Lam-ang – the greatest epic of the Philippines.

3. Literature Under Spanish Colonialism (1565 – 1897)

1. 1521 – Spaniards came in the Philippines led by Magellan.

1. 1565 – Spain established her first settlement in the Philippines.

2. Distinction among Filipinos:

1. Taga-bayan or Pueblos – Filipinos who settled where they were within easy reach of the power of the Church and State.
2. Taga-bukid or Taga-bundok – Filipinos who kept their distance from colonial administrators and their native agents, staying close to the sources of their livelihood in the mountains.

1. They were mock as Indio who had not learned the ways of the colonial masters and, therefore, among the brutos savages (savage brutes).

3. Filipino vs. Indian in the Spanish Era

1. Filipino – reserved for Spaniards born in the Philippines 
2. Indian – everybody else who had native ancestors

4. Parish Priest – the only Spaniard who had direct contact with Filipinos and the embodiment of Spanish power and culture…
5. Dominicans – the first to set up printing press.

1. Doctrina Christiana (1593) – the first book ever published in the Philippines.
2. Franciscans, Jesuits, and Augustinians put up their respective presses and turns out grammars, dictionaries, and catechisms and confession manuals.
3. “May Bagyo Ma’t May Rilim” - the first printed literary work in Tagalog which appeared in one of the books produced by the friar-lexicographer Francisco Blancas de San Jose. 

1. It uses turbulent nature imagery to affirm Christian heroism.
2. In this poem we have a meeting of two cultures.

6. Spanish Imposition, Filipino responses (18th century).

1. Catechetical School – usually the farthest the Filipino of the time could go in education where reading, writing and arithmetic were taught. 
2. Ladinos (Latinized) – able to read and write in one of the Latin languages.

1. Pedro Bukaneg – the I lokano poet to whom the published version of Biag ni Lam-ang is often attributed.
2. Tomas Pinpin – the printer, author of manual titled Ang Librong Pag-aaralan ng mga Tagalog ng Wikang Castilla, 1610).
3. Fernando Bagongbanta – the poet known for his contribution to San Jose Memorial de la vida Cristiana.

3. Gaspar Aquino de Belen – the first Filipino literary Artist, the first one to come up with a long work that bore the signs of conscious design and careful composition.

1. Ang Mahal Na Passion Ni Jesu Christong Panginoon Natin (1704)- addendum to Aquino’s translation of a Spanish devotional work and was treasured as a Christian narrative poem in his time.
2. Pasyon – a permanent tribute to the 1704 poem, the genre that evolved after Aquino.
3. Sinakulo – a stage play on the passion and death of Christ performed during the Lenten season together with Pasyon.

4. Missionaries – the literary patrons of the day, being the one who owned and ran the printing press.
5. Komedya –traditionally about Christians and Moors,  reached full development as a theatre genre in the second half of 18th century.

1. Awit – its strophe four monoriming dodecasyllabic lines
2. Korido - its strophe four monoriming octosyllabic lines

7. First half of 19th century witnessed the peak of the awit as poetic genre in the masterwork of Baltazar.

1. Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar’s available output now:

1. A short farce (La India Elegante El Negrito)
2. A full length komedya (Orosman at Zafira)
3. A well-known awit (Pinagdaanang Buhay Ni Florante At Laura sa Cahariang Albania)

2. Filipino writers during Balagtas’ time wrote for a listening audience.
3. Florante at Laura – indicative of the pressures that acted upon the Filipino man of letters during the early part of the 19th century.

1. Florante 
2. Laura
3. Adolfo – rival of Florante to Laura’s heart who seeks the death of Florante.
4. Aladin – a Persian, son of the wicked sultan, who rescued Florante at certain death
5. Flerida – a Persian princess in the disguise of a warrior who had been looking for her sweetheart.

4. “Mahiganting Langit” – the well-loved lamentation by Florante which is the first of the celebrated soliloquies that make Florante at Laura arich source of ethical precepts.
5. Orosman at Zafira (1974) – a three-part play about the assassination of Mahamud

1. Three Plots: Abdalap and Orosman are rivals over Zafira’s love

Abdalap and Zelim

Gulnara, a lady in Mahamud’s court

2. Orosman – the son of Boulasem who was torn between the love for a sworn enemy of his father and devotion to a parent fighting a war to hold on to power that had been usurped.
3. Zafira – the daughter of Mahamud who fell in love with Orosman but made a plot against Abdalap.
4. Mahamud – sultan of Marruecos and and father of Zafira
5. Boulasem – grand pasha of Tedenst who take over the throne and father of Abdalap and Orosman
6. Zelim – the pasha of Duquela who thinks he is more worthy of the throne; partner of Zafira against Boulasem.
7. Abdalap – won the support of the army and got himself the new sultan, who was killed by Zelim.

8. Prose did not make its appearance in print until the 19th century.

1. Modesto de Castro – a native priest notable for his Tagalog sermons.

1. Pagsusulatan Ng Dalawang Binibini Na Si Urbana At Feliza – the lasting contribution of Castro.
2. Sa Katungkulan sa Bayan at Sa Piging – excerpts from the book about the social behaviour of Christian Filipinos. 

9. A royal decree in 1863 – provided for a complete educational system consisting of elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels.

1. Pedro Paterno and Jose Rizal – two products of the educational system who employed a changing concept of the “Filipino” which now includes Spanish mestizos, Chinese mestizos, and Hispanized indios.

10. Pedro Paterno

1. Sampaguitas – a book, a collection of his Spanish poems, more notable for what it symbolized than for its value as literature.

1. It marked the beginning of national consciousness among the Filipino Intelligentsia. 

2. Ninay – the first Filipino novel ever written was about Ninay who dies of heartbreak out of her separation from her sweetheart Carlos.

11. Jose Rizal – 4 years younger than Paterno.

1. He was 11 years old when the priest-martyrs Gomez, Burgos, Zamora were executed in 1872.
2. Noli Me Tangere (1887) – marks the first time realism as literary concept entered Philippine writing.

1. Ibarra - have a university education in Europe, comes home full of the zeal and idealism of dedicated reformist.
2. Maria Clara – sweetheart of Ibarra
3. Fray Damaso – obstructor of Ibarra and the father of Maria Clara
4. Fray Salvi – covets the love of Maria Clara and implicates Ibarra as leader of the rebels.
5. Elias – an outlaw who saved Ibarra from death.
6. The chapter “Capitan Tiago” – commentary on the weakness of the native elite that make them prone to exploitation by their foreign masters.

3. El Filibusterismo (1891) – a sequel to Noli Me Tangere about Simoun.
4. Rizal’s poetry:

1. A las Flores de Heidelberg – conversational, only hinting the pain of exile.
2. Ultimo Adios – sonorous and incantory achieving cumulative emotional impact.

12. The Essay as literary form found a congenial time to develop during the campaign for reforms in the last quarter of 19th century and the Propaganda Movement provided the impetus for its development.

1. La Solaridad – a newspaper founded “to fight all forms of reaction…” ; out of its pages, the essay became Philippine Spanish literature’s significant contribution to Philippine literature.

1. Marcelo H. del Pilar, well-versed in the art of poetic jousting called duplo, the editor of the newspaper.

2. Su excelencia, seῆor don Vicente barrantes by Rizal – sardonic and caustic humor is wielded.
3. Asimilacion de Filipinas by Marcelo H. del Pilar– a cooly rational and dispassionate analysis of the issue of Assimilation.

13. Poem

1. “Sagot Ng Espanya Sa Hibik Ng Pilipinas” at “Hibik Ng Pilipinas Sa Inang Espanya” – a portrayal of the sad plight of Philippines under the monastic supremacy of the friars.
2. Dupluhan – a fragment of duplo discourse in which the form of the folk game has been given patriotic content.

14. The Katipunan used as official language the vernacular of Manila and surrounding provinces, Tagalog.

1. Katipunan Supremo Andres Boifacio and Emilo Jacinto used Tagalog to advantage as a tool for organizing the masses.

1. Katapusang Hibik ng Pilipinas by Bonifacio – refers back to “Hibik” and “Sagot.”
2. La Revolucion Filipina (1902) – the major work of Bonifacio that bespeaks his prodigious intelligence and wisdom.

2. “Ang Dapat Mabatid Ng Mga Tagalog”- the Katipunan manifesto is a simple and forthright essay rallying the Filipinos in the struggle against Spain.
3. Liwanag at Dilim – Elilio Jacinto’s short essays intended for Kalayaan.

1.  Kalayaan – Katipunan’s newspaper of which Emilio Jacinto is the editor.

15. Women as literary artists existed prior to the 19th century but not a single poem or essay ever got attributed to a woman when the printing press was introduced.

1. Leona Florentino – the Ilokano poet whose opinions and married life departed from the moral and social expectations of the period.
2. Gregoria de Jesus – Bonifacio’s wife who addresses her deceased husband in her works.
3. One who bears names of nine women, each one an allegorical pen-name.

4. Literary Pieces 

1. May Day Eve by Nick Joaquin

1. Setting: The night of April 30, 1847 before 10 o’clock in the evening
2. Characters:

1. Don Badoy Montiya – a young man who studied in Europe, who was called the Devil.
2. Agueda – one of the dancers who courageously did the rituals/superstition, the witch in the story.
3. Anastacia – the one who told the girls about the mirror.
4. Daughter – the one who listened to Agueda’s story.
5. Grandson – the one who listened to Don Badoy’s story.

3. Some Details in the Story:

1. The ball (party) had been for the honor of the young men who studied in Europe.
2. Don Badoy was over 60 when he related the story to his grandson in 1890.
3. Three plans of Don Badoy: 

• He would go and tell his mother and make her turn the savage girl out of the house
• He would go himself to the room, drag her out of bed and slap her silly face.
• He would maneuver himself into the same boat with her in Antipolo.

4. The recitals in front of mirror:

Mirror, mirror

Show to me 

Him whose woman 

I will be

Mirror, mirror

Show to me 

Her whose lover 

I will be

2. Biag ni Lam-ang (Epic)

1. Setting: Nalbuan (part of La Union)
2. Characters:

1. Don Juan and Namongan – the parents of Lam-ang whose father was killed by the Igorot.
2. Lam-ang – the hero of the story who has a super power or an extraordinary ability.
3. Ines Kannoyan – the woman of Calanutian courted by Lam-ang.
4. Sumarang – another suitor of Ines defeated by Lam-ang.
5. White Rooster – its crow caused a nearby house to fall.
6. Gray Dog – its bark made the fallen house rose up again.
7. Rarang Fish – a traditional fish to be caught by a newly-married man.
8. Berkahan – the monster in the river who killed Lam-ang
9. Marcos – the one who gathered the bones of Lam-ang

3. Some important details:

1. Ambuyan River – where Lam-ang took his bath and its fishes died because of dirt and odor from Lam-ang’s body
2. It took four people to help Namongan give birth.
3. Things Lam-ang did:

• He spoke and asked that he be given the name Lam-ang.
• He chose his godparents.
• He killed all the Igorots after 9 months of waiting.

4. Dowry valued at double their wealth was given to Ines’ parents for marriage.

4. Some reflected culture in the story:

1. Traditional Wedding of the Past
2. Love for Family
3. Respect for Parents

3. My Father Goes to Court by Carlos Bulosan

1. Setting: In a small town in the island of Luzon.
2. Character:

1. 
   
2. The Narrator (Carlos)
3. His Father and Mother
4. His Sisters
5. The Rich Man
6. The Rich Man’s Children.
7. The Policeman from the Presidencia
8. The Judge

3. 
   
4. Some Important Details:

1. Four Years Old – the story happened during this age of the narrator.
2. 1918 – the farm of Carlos’ father was destroyed by flood.
3. Bullfrog – the mysterious thing from the belly of Carlos’ sister.
4. Laughter – the only wealth of the family of Carlos.
5. Description of the rich man’s children:

• Thin and anemic
• Their faces are sad and pale.

6. Description of the poor man’s children:

• Fat and heathy
• Robust and full of life
• Their faces are bright and rosy
• Their arms and legs are like the Molave

7. Stealing the spirit of the wealth and food of the rich man – the complaint filed against the poor man’s family.
8. The tinkle of the coin in the courtroom paid the debt owed to the rich man.
9. Social discrimination was present during the time of the story.

5. Filipino Traits evident form the story:

1. Laughing even at difficult situation
2. Contentment

4. To the Filipino Youth (A la Juventud Filipina) by Jose Rizal

1. Five Fields That May Help Filipino Reach Success:

1. 
   
2. Education (1-4)
3. Poetry (6)
4. Music (7)
5. Sculpture (8)
6. Painting or Drawing (9)

2. 
   
3. Enemies that needed to be faced by the Filipino Youth:

1. Poverty
2. Ignorance

4. Talents are to be:

1. Discover
2. Develop
3. Apply

Unfold, oh timid flower!

Lift up your radiant brow,
This day, Youth of my native strand! 
Your abounding talents show
Resplendently and grand,
Fair hope of my Motherland! 

Soar high, oh genius great,
And with noble thoughts fill their mind;
The honor's glorious seat,
May their virgin mind fly and find
More rapidly than the wind.

Descend with the pleasing light
Of the arts and sciences to the plain,
Oh Youth, and break forthright
The links of the heavy chain
That your poetic genius enchain.

See that in the ardent zone,
The Spaniard, where shadows stand,
Doth offer a shining crown,
With wise and merciful hand
To the son of this Indian land.

You, who heavenward rise
On wings of your rich fantasy,
Seek in the Olympian skies
The tenderest poesy,
More sweet than divine honey;

You of heavenly harmony,
On a calm unperturbed night,
Philomel's match in melody,
That in varied symphony
Dissipate man's sorrow's blight;

You at th' impulse of your mind
The hard rock animate
And your mind with great pow'r consigned
Transformed into immortal state
The pure mem'ry of genius great;

And you, who with magic brush
On canvas plain capture
The varied charm of Phoebus,
Loved by the divine Apelles,
And the mantle of Nature;

Run! For genius' sacred flame
Awaits the artist's crowning
Spreading far and wide the fame
Throughout the sphere proclaiming
With trumpet the mortal's name

Oh, joyful, joyful day,
The Almighty blessed be
Who, with loving eagerness
Sends you luck and happiness.

5. Three kinds of Plot:

1. Man in a hole – the main character is trapped in a hole; wheter or mot he comes out of the hole
2. Man on a road – stories after story
3. Man on a tub – as if no plot and no story but has great lessons and realization in the end.

1. Letter To Pedro,U.S. Citizen, Also Called Pete by Rene Estrella Amper (Poem – A free verse)

1. Important Details:

1. Simeona – the cat who was hit by a truck and buried under Miguel’s mango tree.

1. Symbol: Simeona symbolizes the poor people who can’t fight for their rights.

2. The Farmers life:

1. They come down every Sunday to sell their agony and sweat for a few pesos;
2. Lose in the cockpit;
3. Get drunk on the way home.

3. Tasyo – the old goat who circumcised Pete and his friend.
4. The properties of the Mayor:

1. A big sugar plantation
2. Three new cars
3. A mansion overhung with sampaguita.

5. Konga– a Chinese who symbolizes Chinese businessman and the dependence of Philippines on China.

1. Nails for the coffin – an indication of stagnant poverty that may continue until death.

6. In the church, the men talk, sleep, and the children play.
7. Julia – Pete’s cousin who became a whore because she likes good clothes, good food, and big money. 
8. Seven whores – the number of whores in their place, an indication of extremely great number of whores.
9. Islaw – Pete’s uncle who calls himself Stanley (colonial mentality) after wearing the clothes sent by Pete.
10. Changes in the poem:

1. 
   
2. Economic Change
3. Political Change
4. Morality Change
5. Religious Change

2. 
   
3. Sonia by Francisco B. Icasiano or “Mang Kiko” (Essay)

1. Theme: Pain is beautiful only when one can rise from its depressing power.
2. Sonia – Mang Kiko’s daughter who died at an early age of four.

1. Figurative Description: a fairy tale half told, a lyric half lost in fancy, a delicate melody unsung.
2. Literal Description: deliberate and clearcut in her language, precise in her reasoning, keen in sensing nuances.

3. Important Details:

1. Oscar Wilde – a brilliant, witty Irish conversationalist, poet, dramatist, and essayist convicted for homosexuality
2. Pan – a horned, goat-footed god of woods, flocks, and shepherds.
3. “You shall always remember her as a child.” – the advice of Mang Kiko’s friend.
4. Zeus (Greek)/ Jupiter (Roman) – the chief god of gods and goddesses. 
5. Athena – the goddess of war and wisdom who sprang from the head of Zeus.
6. Barmecide Feast – a make-believe feast.
7. Sonia was the source of Mang Kiko’s confidence and faith. 

4. The Will of the River by Alfredo Gonzales Jr. (Essay)

1. Keys to Bacong’s Success:

1. The source of water is from the lofty mountains.
2. Its faithfulness to fulfil its duty.
3. Its determination to reach the sea.

2. Important Details:

1. Analogy – comparison of one’s similarities to others.
2. Sand and stones – symbolizes the light obstacles or hindrances.
3. Too much heat – symbolizes the heavy obstacles.
4. Intongasan – the name of the rapids and cascades by which the author spend his day. 
5. Foul and Stagnant Marsh or Lake – the fate of the rivers which do not reach the sea.
6. To furnish safe running water for plant, fish, fowl, man, and beast – the duty of the river.
7. Galileo – continued his work despite being blind
8. Beethoven – composed his noblest and sublimest symphonies despite being deaf
9. Stevenson – produced some of his greatest work after he was doomed to die of TB
10. Cecil Rhodes – sent to Africa to die of an incurable disease but was able to carve out an Empire.

5. Scent of Apples by Bienvenido N. Santos ( Essay)

1. Setting: It was October in Kalamazoo.
2. Scent of Apples – whenever Fabia smells it, he is reminded that he is away from home where there are no apples.
3. Important Details:

1. Celestino Fabia – the Filipino farmer whom the author met in one of his speaking engagements.
2. Ruth – Fabia’s wife who is a fat blonde woman, looks no longer young, and her smile was pathetic.
3. Roger – the son of Fabia
4. “Are our Filipino women the same like they were twenty years ago?” – the question of Fabia.

1. The change has been on the outside only, but they were still God-fearing, faithful, modest, and nice.

5. An Old Picture with a Figure of a Woman in Philippine Dress – a picture of her mother, though denied by Fabia, a manifestation that he is still the same Filipino, as seen in his lifestyle and the way he reared his son, who kept a memory of her family even when they had conflict.

6. Blonde and Blue Eyes by Patricia Evangelista (A speech)