The Essence of History

"Never forget the importance of history. To know nothing of what happened before you took your place on earth, is to remain a child for ever and ever."                      

                       - Unknown

Since I was a kid, I am always fascinated with things that happened in the past especially those that happened before I was born.  I always loved to hear stories from my late Tatay Fred (my maternal grandpa) on how he fought the Japanese when he was still a member of the guerrilla army during the Second World War, how all pretty women in his barrio were mesmerized by his dancing skills, the story about his treasured “Kris” (a symmetrical Muslim dagger or sword) which according to him, claimed many lives during the heights of war in Mindanao and how he courted Nanay Cande (my grandma) and got the latter’s sweet “YES” when they were still young.

Years passed, until I reached my adolescence, lot of things triggered my interest.  Especially those things I usually see around me, like the historical markers that we usually see in streets and some old structures that have relevance in our country’s past. But what are they? What's the relevance of these old houses in our history? I said to myself, if I will be given a chance to bring back the time and personally see and know the people and events written in history, I'll see to it that lot of questions will be asked to discover the real and actual truth behind the stories.

Having watched several documentaries of GMA News and Public Affairs that deals with Philippine history, most of it showed a picture of lack of interest in many Filipinos when it comes to topic about history.  The subject seems to fade out and will soon come to pass. Try to ask the people around us and you will realize how history is being neglected and totally ignored.  Few have given time to explore the subject as they are more proned and addicted to technologies giving most of their time to social interactions such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Apparently, Filipinos are suffering from national amnesia.  We already lived in time of rapid change, a time of progress and modern society has slowly turned its back on the past.  I grinned while watching GMA 7's 24 ORAS, where people were asked about the people behind those street signs.  Bystanders were asked who Pedro Gil was, why Rizal became a hero, so on and so forth.  Sadly, no one knows, but on showbiz matters they could give you a 100% reply, worrisome.

We all know the phrase "Past is past", and it is true that we can't change everything that already happened.  We could not give back the lives lost nor use the names of Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Ninoy Aquino and others as references when we apply for a job.  If we do use those names in our resumes, we would definitely not get hired. So what's the use of history in our lives?

History is important.  It is evident that ancient cultures devoted much time and effort to teaching their children family history.  We were taught that the past helps a child understand who he is.  When you know history, you can understand what it really means to be in someone else' shoes. We can take action or we can remain passive.  When you read history, you can understand the pain, the joy and sacrifices of the important people long ago.  You can understand what it means to have no food, or what it means to be rich and be loved. Through history, we will discover why this country is still suffering poverty in spite of its rich natural resources.

Learning history is an important step to love our country and be proud of ourselves as Filipinos. Teaching Philippine history subject is a must and must be strengthened especially by the academe, so that we can produce a new breed of Filipinos who can have a strong sense of nationalism in their hearts, minds and souls.  As a result, whatever the mistakes in the past are, the next generation may not repeat them and the future generation would be freed from the bondage of tyranny and slavery.