National history conference goes to Iligan

With a spotlight on Mindanao histories, the 45th staging of the National Conference on Local and National History will be at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City from 24 to 26 October.

This annual event of the Philippine National Historical Society (PNHS) is supported by the Committee on Historical Research of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Philippine Social Science Council, and the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

This year’s event, with the theme “People’s Stories,” “encourages inclusive presentations that deal with accounts or stories of persons and their communities in relation to various historical conditions of the Philippines.” It “particularly encouraged presentations on issues related to Mindanao, such as the Moro Wars, the environment, new prospects, and issues bridging the Philippines to larger Asian contexts, such as relations with its neighbors in Southeast Asian and mainland Asia.”

A total of 31 papers are to be presented, making it one of the biggest, if not the biggest PNHS conference in terms of the number of paper presentations.

Mindanao papers include “Miyakowa so Singanin na Miyada so Antap Vis-à-Vis Fashioning Mindanao History” by Manuel Tawagon of MSU-IIT; “Prospects and Challenges: Writing the People’s History of Mindanao” by Jamail Kamlian (MSU-IIT); “Federalism in the Philippines: My Story, My Advocacy” by Sukarno Tanggol (MSU-IIT); “From Sufi Silsila to Tarsila of the Sultanates of Magindanao and Sulu: Studies in Historical Conjectures and Conjunctions” by Datu Michael Mastura of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARM); and “The Sulu Sultanate and Its Interactions with Islamic Countries in Southeast Asia” by Calbi Asain of the Mindanao State University-Sulu.

Also to be presented are “Re-examining the Spanish-Moro Wars: The Strategic Importance of the Ranaw Region on the Spanish Conquest of Mindanao (1636-1895)” by Ruhollah Al-Husseini Alonto (BARMM); “Seventeenth Century Mindanao through the Eyes of Fr. Francisco Combés, S.J.” by Juan Mesquida of the University of Asia and the Pacific; “The Tausug-Malay Trade in the 20th Century” by Munap Hairulla (MSU-IIT); “The Matigsalug Manobo Story” by Rudy Buhay Rodil and Datu Cosme Lambayon (MSU-IIT); “The Spanish Navy in Lake Lanao” by Rey Luis Montesclaros (MSU-IIT); “Trade, Entrepreneurship, and Community: The Chinese Experience in Iligan in the 20th Century” by Michael Anthony Ngo (MSU-IIT); “A Glimpse of Peacetime in The Bangsamoro: Marawi City in the Early Part of the 20th Century” Jane Ruby Asperin of MSU-Marawi; “From Colorum to Agila: A Preliminary Historical Overview and Analysis of the Prevalence of Social Movements in Caraga (1924-2023)” by Adrian Auditor of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños; “Understanding Current Rice Crises: The Case of Farmers in North Central Mindanao During the Turn of the Twentieth Century and Beyond” by Faina Abaya-Ulindang of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan; “The Abaca Auction System in American Colonial Davao: The Agency of the Governed on the Edge of Empire” by Patricia Dacudao of the Ateneo de Manila University; “Ang Pag-Uswag sa Kasaysayang Dabawenyo: A Review of Davao Historiography” by Rhys Lloyd D. Lacia of Holy Cross College, “Curating Southern Philippines Artifacts: Approaches to Mindanao Collection at The National Archaeological Repository” by Rodolfo Dela Cruz and Mary Jane Louise Bolunia of the National Museum of the Philippines; and “Diverging Approaches of Diplomacy: Spain and Britain in the Sulu Sea (1770-1775)” by Eberhard Crailsheim of the Institute of History, Center for Human and Social Sciences Spanish National Research Council (CSIC, Madrid).

Papers from the Visayas include “The Sugar Industry in Bais City” by Cris Ann Amatiaga of Negros Oriental State University (NOSU); “Unnoticed Yet Abused: Japanese Wartime Atrocities in Siquijor Island during World War II” by Justin Jose Bulado (NOSU); “A History of Suluan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar” by Kinna Kwan and Rolando Borrinaga (PNHS); “Friars After the Revolution (Fr. Lucinio Ruiz)” by Earl Jude Cleope of Silliman University; and “Culinary Environs at the Onset of Spain’s Second Colonial Century Featuring Observations on Flora by Ignacio Francisco Alcina, SJ” by independent researcher Felice Prudente Sta. Maria.

On Luzon, the papers are “Santa Cruz de Gumpat: The 17th Century Dominican Mission in the Matalag and Calafug River Basins of Southwestern Cagayan” by Aldous Tracy Rubio of the University of the Philippines Baguio (UP Baguio); “A Look into Interstitial Space and Identities Between Ituy Missions and Pangasinan (1600-1800)” by João Paulo Doblon Reginaldo (UP Baguio); and “A Will of Fortune: Catalina Sangnilay of Baliuag and her 1652 Will” by EA Sembrano (PNHS).

Other papers include “The Invention of the Sangley in the Philippines under Early Spanish Rule” by Christina Lee of Princeton University; “Exploring Object Agency from Afar — Unexhibited Philippine Artifacts from the Pitt Rivers Museum” by Christian Rosales and Cherubim Quizon of UPLB and Seton Hall University, New Jersey, respectively; “The Concept and Praxis of Nearby History” by Neil Martial Santillan of UP Diliman; “Mapping the Periphery: The Bourbon Reforms and the Malaspina and the Cuellar Scientific Expeditions in Islas Filipinas” by Trizer Dale Mansueto of UP Cebu; and “Kuta and its Evolution as a Construction Technique in the Philippines” by Rona Catherine Repancol by University of Santo Tomas and UP School of Archaeology.

Apart from the onsite conference, the event will also be available online for a fee.

The latest issue of the Journal of History will be launched during the second day of the event, which will culminate with the Lakbay Aral of Marawi City in Lanao del Sur and Iligan, sponsored by the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. The tour will include Marawi’s Ground Zero, MSU-Marawi Campus, Tugaya Antique Products of Marawi City, Saguiaran Bakeshops, Maria Cristina Falls/National Power Corporation, Macaraeg-Macapagal Ancestral House, Mimbalut Falls, Iligan City Hall, Saint Michael’s Cathedral of Iligan, and Cheding’s Peanut factory.

For more information, access drive.google.com/file/d/1v66jZncVASZSypx63CvTTejZRR_JhEV8/view?usp=sharing.