By Philip M. Lustre Jr.
(Nota Bene: I wrote and posted this essay sometime in September last year. At that time, the nation's political scene was starting to brew. Many things had happened since then. The country now has a new president. Sherwin Gatchalian has been elected senator ; his younger brother, Rex, has been reelected mayor. Unfortunately, Sherwin faces graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman, but that's another story.)
On one balmy Sunday morning (Sept. 12), we had a field trip to the adjacent City of Valenzuela, one of Metro Manila's constituent cities. The field trips for Monday Club members came as a brief but welcome respite from the drudgery of our daily grind. It was meant for our education and not entertainment in any way.
Our trip, organized by the Public Information Office of the City of Valenzuela, took the first stop at the Valenzuela City Museum located at the ground floor of the City Hall in Barangay Malinta Government.
Our tour guide, Roberto Tumala, briefed us to enable us to catch a glimpse of its historic past and appreciate its role in history. The Museum showcases some relics, dioramas, and big pictures of its history and evolution to become a major industrial and residential center in Metro Manila.
While I moved around to see those pictures and relics, I mused somewhat if it would make sense to require local government units, particularly the more than 100 cities nationwide, to construct their respective museums to enable the people to see and appreciate our past. Congress could enact a law requiring those LGUs to build their own museums to showcase their history and legacy.
Several pieces encased obsidian rocks and tektites of greeted us at the start of our museum tour. They are at least 750,000 years old, according to the information, and they fell straight from the skies. Then, the exhibit immediately shifted to the Spanish colonial rule, as big diagrams and photographs showed the historical events during the Spanish colonial era. No, Valenzuela was not called by that name during the Spanish era. It was Polo, which literally means island. As narrated by the tour guide, it got its name because it is a land mass surrounded by water.
Polo was a settlement founded by Franciscan friars, who proselytized the natives to join the Roman Catholic Church. Then I saw an old photograph of the Yglesia de Polo, the first Church in the settlement. It still exists today, Mr. Roberto told us, although it has undergone alterations. The Polo settlement had big hacienda lands owned by the friars. This was amply expressed in some old photographs and illustrations.
This settlement grew to become a major center during the Spanish colonial rule. It had huge farmlands and rice fields. When the British occupied Manila in 1762, Polo was among the settlements, which helped the Spanish rulers to relocate the government from Manila to San Fernando town in Pampanga. The tour guide also told us the Franciscan friars sang the Hymn of San Diego in 1623 to symbolize the Polo settlement. Its feast day is November 12.
This city is named after Dr. Pio Valenzuela, who with two others - and Gen. Delfin Vellilla Tiburcio de Leon, organized the Katipunan. In fact, the museum showed dioramas of the three leaders, who convened a secret meeting of the Supreme Council of the KKK on Feb. 1, 1896.
Dr. Valenzuela was also the emissary who met the exiled Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero, now in Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Sur. Mr. Roberto took time to show us the list of City's 22 Heroes who fought the Spanish colonial rule at the turn of the 20th century. It also showcased the letters written by Dr. Valenzuela to different parties, including Rizal. They are mostly in Spanish.
The museum contains a huge photographs of the Philippine-American War, where Polo and other adjacent barrios to form the modern-day City Valenzuela played a pivotal role. The Battle of Malinta took place in this city on March 26, 1899 with no less than the mercurial Gen. Antonio Luna commanding the Filipino forces, which meet the advancing American forces led by Col. Henry Clay Eglent.
At that time, the government of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo had retreated to the now Malolos City in Bulacan. The First Philippine Republic was proclaimed and organized there. The Luna-led Filipino soldiers fought the advancing American forces to protect the Aguinaldo-led government forces, which had to advance northward to the now Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. The tour guide explained the extent of the battle; it was a major turning point in point in the Philippine-American War.
Unbeknownst to many people, the Battle of Malinta featured evolving military strategies that were tested in the country. The trench warfare, in particular, was employed by Gen. Luna to slow down the more superior American military forces. Gen. Luna probably learned this trench warfare in Europe, but he brought it here and used it quite effectively. Filipino regular soldiers shoveled earth to form long trenches stretching for several kilometers in Malinta area.
The trenches became virtual obstacle courses for the American soldiers; they contained sharpened bamboo poles, barbed wires, and other entrapment that slowed down their movement. In many instances, Filipino soldiers waited in those trenches only to appear when enemy forces arrived. When the Americans came near those trenches, they attacked them with sharpened bamboo poles, maiming and killing a number of them in many instances.
The trench warfare used by Gen. Luna in the Battle of Malinta was further refined and improved by European military strategists, it was later used in the Crimean War in 1904. When World War I broke out in 1914, contending Allied and Central Powers used it quite effectively, causing a prolonged stalemate in the first global war. This is a matter which has been appropriately credited to the genius of Gen. Luna.
The end of the Philippine-American War ushered the American colonial rule, which led to some major developments, according to our guide. For instance, the construction of the McArthur Highway that sliced through the heart of Bulacan province started in 1928 and ended in 1938 to usher in economic development for the province.
The town of Valenzuela remained a basically agricultural area in those days. The Second World War led to the Japanese occupation of the country, but Valenzuela figured prominently towards the end of the war, when American forces fought with the Japanese forces in the BBB area now in Valenzuela City. The museum has several big photographs of the battle and the BBB.
When the war ended, Valenzuela displayed unparalleled economic dynamism to start its climb to become an industrial and residential center. Industrial firms have started to relocate their plants there, triggering migration that gave way to the development of several housing subdivisions in the area.
In 1959, President Carlos Garcia signed the executive order merging Polo and Valenzuela to become the modern-day Valenzuela. In 1975, dictator Ferdinand Marcos Valenzuela included as one of the component cities of Metro Manila.
Our next stop was the Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science (ValMaSci), where no less than Dr. Jameson Tan, the school headmaster, welcomed us. This school is the center of excellence in the teaching of mathematics, science and technology, and research for high school students. Its curriculum enables students of Valenzuela City to obtain the best training in those fields of knowledge.
Dr. Tan toured us in the new P280 million, four-storey building that houses more than 50 classrooms and laboratories. It has state of the art laboratories for biology and general science, chemistry, physics and robotics, speech, computer and mathematics. It has modern facilities that enable students to get access to interactive smart boards, tablet online learning, and WiFi hotspots.
"This building has been built at a price of P21,000 per square meter," Dr. Tan thundered before Thursday Club members, who could not help but marvel at the modern facilities and equipment of the school. "Do you mean to say this school was built and one-third of the amount used to built the Makati Science High School?" I told Dr. Tan, who refused to elaborate except to insist that its construction is much lower compared to other public schools.
Dr. Tan told us that admission to the school is quite competitive. Candidates for admission must belong to the upper ten percent of the graduating class Grade Six. Their grades that should not be lowered 85. The grades in their science, mathematics and English classes should not be lower than 85. Only those who completed their elementary education as valedictorians and salutatorians are to be admitted automatically. Only residents of Valenzuela City are admitted.
Our last stop was the house of Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Valenzuela, who welcomed us with open arms. We took our lunch at his house after which we had a dialogue with the mayor and Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, who later joined us. We discussed many burning national and local issues with the Gatchalian brothers. The two political leaders impressed me as quite knowledgeable about the many issues confronting the nation.
Sherwin, 40, has plans to run for senator in 2016. Rex, 36, will most likely run for reelection. They could be regarded as a pair of millennials, who represent a generational shift in Philippine politics. They would obviously typify the millennials, who are beginning to exert their enormous influence in Philippine society.
Rex VALMaSci confirmed the building has been constructed at a price of P21,000 per square meter. In fact, all state building projects have been built at a cost of P18,000 to P21,000 per square meter, he said. Rex however refused to comment any further about the corruption issues against Binay, but he nevertheless confirmed that he and his elder brother were joining the camp of Poe.
In their view, Grace represents a fresh wind of change. Besides, she seems to have a better chance of winning than Binay. But that is another story.
On one balmy Sunday morning (Sept. 12), we had a field trip to the adjacent City of Valenzuela, one of Metro Manila's constituent cities. The field trips for Monday Club members came as a brief but welcome respite from the drudgery of our daily grind. It was meant for our education and not entertainment in any way.
Our trip, organized by the Public Information Office of the City of Valenzuela, took the first stop at the Valenzuela City Museum located at the ground floor of the City Hall in Barangay Malinta Government.
Our tour guide, Roberto Tumala, briefed us to enable us to catch a glimpse of its historic past and appreciate its role in history. The Museum showcases some relics, dioramas, and big pictures of its history and evolution to become a major industrial and residential center in Metro Manila.
While I moved around to see those pictures and relics, I mused somewhat if it would make sense to require local government units, particularly the more than 100 cities nationwide, to construct their respective museums to enable the people to see and appreciate our past. Congress could enact a law requiring those LGUs to build their own museums to showcase their history and legacy.
Several pieces encased obsidian rocks and tektites of greeted us at the start of our museum tour. They are at least 750,000 years old, according to the information, and they fell straight from the skies. Then, the exhibit immediately shifted to the Spanish colonial rule, as big diagrams and photographs showed the historical events during the Spanish colonial era. No, Valenzuela was not called by that name during the Spanish era. It was Polo, which literally means island. As narrated by the tour guide, it got its name because it is a land mass surrounded by water.
Polo was a settlement founded by Franciscan friars, who proselytized the natives to join the Roman Catholic Church. Then I saw an old photograph of the Yglesia de Polo, the first Church in the settlement. It still exists today, Mr. Roberto told us, although it has undergone alterations. The Polo settlement had big hacienda lands owned by the friars. This was amply expressed in some old photographs and illustrations.
This settlement grew to become a major center during the Spanish colonial rule. It had huge farmlands and rice fields. When the British occupied Manila in 1762, Polo was among the settlements, which helped the Spanish rulers to relocate the government from Manila to San Fernando town in Pampanga. The tour guide also told us the Franciscan friars sang the Hymn of San Diego in 1623 to symbolize the Polo settlement. Its feast day is November 12.
This city is named after Dr. Pio Valenzuela, who with two others - and Gen. Delfin Vellilla Tiburcio de Leon, organized the Katipunan. In fact, the museum showed dioramas of the three leaders, who convened a secret meeting of the Supreme Council of the KKK on Feb. 1, 1896.
Dr. Valenzuela was also the emissary who met the exiled Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero, now in Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Sur. Mr. Roberto took time to show us the list of City's 22 Heroes who fought the Spanish colonial rule at the turn of the 20th century. It also showcased the letters written by Dr. Valenzuela to different parties, including Rizal. They are mostly in Spanish.
The museum contains a huge photographs of the Philippine-American War, where Polo and other adjacent barrios to form the modern-day City Valenzuela played a pivotal role. The Battle of Malinta took place in this city on March 26, 1899 with no less than the mercurial Gen. Antonio Luna commanding the Filipino forces, which meet the advancing American forces led by Col. Henry Clay Eglent.
At that time, the government of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo had retreated to the now Malolos City in Bulacan. The First Philippine Republic was proclaimed and organized there. The Luna-led Filipino soldiers fought the advancing American forces to protect the Aguinaldo-led government forces, which had to advance northward to the now Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. The tour guide explained the extent of the battle; it was a major turning point in point in the Philippine-American War.
Unbeknownst to many people, the Battle of Malinta featured evolving military strategies that were tested in the country. The trench warfare, in particular, was employed by Gen. Luna to slow down the more superior American military forces. Gen. Luna probably learned this trench warfare in Europe, but he brought it here and used it quite effectively. Filipino regular soldiers shoveled earth to form long trenches stretching for several kilometers in Malinta area.
The trenches became virtual obstacle courses for the American soldiers; they contained sharpened bamboo poles, barbed wires, and other entrapment that slowed down their movement. In many instances, Filipino soldiers waited in those trenches only to appear when enemy forces arrived. When the Americans came near those trenches, they attacked them with sharpened bamboo poles, maiming and killing a number of them in many instances.
The trench warfare used by Gen. Luna in the Battle of Malinta was further refined and improved by European military strategists, it was later used in the Crimean War in 1904. When World War I broke out in 1914, contending Allied and Central Powers used it quite effectively, causing a prolonged stalemate in the first global war. This is a matter which has been appropriately credited to the genius of Gen. Luna.
The end of the Philippine-American War ushered the American colonial rule, which led to some major developments, according to our guide. For instance, the construction of the McArthur Highway that sliced through the heart of Bulacan province started in 1928 and ended in 1938 to usher in economic development for the province.
The town of Valenzuela remained a basically agricultural area in those days. The Second World War led to the Japanese occupation of the country, but Valenzuela figured prominently towards the end of the war, when American forces fought with the Japanese forces in the BBB area now in Valenzuela City. The museum has several big photographs of the battle and the BBB.
When the war ended, Valenzuela displayed unparalleled economic dynamism to start its climb to become an industrial and residential center. Industrial firms have started to relocate their plants there, triggering migration that gave way to the development of several housing subdivisions in the area.
In 1959, President Carlos Garcia signed the executive order merging Polo and Valenzuela to become the modern-day Valenzuela. In 1975, dictator Ferdinand Marcos Valenzuela included as one of the component cities of Metro Manila.
Our next stop was the Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science (ValMaSci), where no less than Dr. Jameson Tan, the school headmaster, welcomed us. This school is the center of excellence in the teaching of mathematics, science and technology, and research for high school students. Its curriculum enables students of Valenzuela City to obtain the best training in those fields of knowledge.
Dr. Tan toured us in the new P280 million, four-storey building that houses more than 50 classrooms and laboratories. It has state of the art laboratories for biology and general science, chemistry, physics and robotics, speech, computer and mathematics. It has modern facilities that enable students to get access to interactive smart boards, tablet online learning, and WiFi hotspots.
"This building has been built at a price of P21,000 per square meter," Dr. Tan thundered before Thursday Club members, who could not help but marvel at the modern facilities and equipment of the school. "Do you mean to say this school was built and one-third of the amount used to built the Makati Science High School?" I told Dr. Tan, who refused to elaborate except to insist that its construction is much lower compared to other public schools.
Dr. Tan told us that admission to the school is quite competitive. Candidates for admission must belong to the upper ten percent of the graduating class Grade Six. Their grades that should not be lowered 85. The grades in their science, mathematics and English classes should not be lower than 85. Only those who completed their elementary education as valedictorians and salutatorians are to be admitted automatically. Only residents of Valenzuela City are admitted.
Our last stop was the house of Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Valenzuela, who welcomed us with open arms. We took our lunch at his house after which we had a dialogue with the mayor and Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, who later joined us. We discussed many burning national and local issues with the Gatchalian brothers. The two political leaders impressed me as quite knowledgeable about the many issues confronting the nation.
Sherwin, 40, has plans to run for senator in 2016. Rex, 36, will most likely run for reelection. They could be regarded as a pair of millennials, who represent a generational shift in Philippine politics. They would obviously typify the millennials, who are beginning to exert their enormous influence in Philippine society.
Rex VALMaSci confirmed the building has been constructed at a price of P21,000 per square meter. In fact, all state building projects have been built at a cost of P18,000 to P21,000 per square meter, he said. Rex however refused to comment any further about the corruption issues against Binay, but he nevertheless confirmed that he and his elder brother were joining the camp of Poe.
In their view, Grace represents a fresh wind of change. Besides, she seems to have a better chance of winning than Binay. But that is another story.
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