First, prepare a cup of tablea tsokolate. Kapeng barako will do, but because cacao seeds arrived in the Philippines earlier than coffee through the Galleon Trade, I’ll opt for the former to pair with this book. When the chocolate brew is ready, steep yourself in the richness of both history and drink.
Every essay in this collection discloses an aspect of Philippine history that this reader was oblivious to: Mindanao was once christened “Caesarea,” Spanish maps reveal that “ships could sail in straight from the West Philippine Sea, into Balayan Bay and up a causeway straight into Taal Lake.”
But this book does not contain mere trivia: The essays also confront Manila’s dark chapters. Swastika Manila tells of how the claws of Nazism managed to reach the Philippines, and in Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves, it is exposed how Manila unfortunately became the center of the Transpacific slave trade.
Also, a Broadway show that premiered in 1902 called The Sultan of Sulu?! Written by anti-imperialist, George Ade, whose work has been praised by Mark Twain; at first glance, an unflattering and fictional depiction of a sultan of Sulu, but fundamentally a satire on America’s colonial designs in the region. It went on to have a sold-out run of 192 shows.
And while I’ve been aware of how Filipinos dominate the world of music gigs in cruise ships and clubs nowadays, thanks to Mangubat’s exploration into colonial archives there is a record showing that this is not a recent phenomenon. Over a hundred years ago, a group of talented Filipinos earned a reputation for being “foreign piano devils” when a Spanish bandmaster brought nineteen musicians to the port city of Shanghai in 1881!
The aforementioned are just the tip of the iceberg, however. It’s a book every Filipino should have on their shelf. These long-forgotten stories from Philippine colonial times have a way of making the past come alive beyond the usual facts and dates we’ve been required to memorize in our school years. Mangubat does not merely reiterate the details he uncovers through research but strings the tales captivatingly and transmits his enthusiasm for history to the reader.
As I relish in how readable these essays are, I am reminded of a historian’s line from I, Claudius: “For every word I wrote I must have read many hundreds.” Our generation is fortunate to have a Lio Mangubat in our midst who does the hard work for us and renders history a vital and accessible thing.
This reader is eager for a second cup and a second volume!
The Book-Butterfly 