Bañada, Cherry Lou V. Moreno, Deane Loise B.

Micua, Frankie Ann M. Trinidad, Alliah D.

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

1. PURPLISH AMALGAMATE
Colors reveal meaningful ethereal moments in our daily life. This artistic effect becomes
fundamental to our development as social human beings. However, we cannot overlook
the fact that every individual has their fair share of troublesome burdens. Their lives are
suddenly thrust to the constant inconsistency of bleak and dull reality until it becomes
nothing more than a purplish amalgamate.

In actuality, we do not have a lot of memorable memories and history. We only happen to
be a group of lonely individuals with painful family backgrounds. This mere fact alone is
what sets us apart from everybody. And may we so boldly admit that this is the only
exciting and serendipitous moment so far. The stories that we have exchanged and
confessed became our solid ground to understand one another in just a tiny and
seemingly insignificant period.

With what has transpired among us, we came to realize one thing. Our stories made us
a lot stronger; the mistakes of our elders were our basis to strive hard and create an
ideal healthy family of our own. The future generation of our bloodlines will not
experience similar melancholic childhood. We owe it to them to make their lives a lot
more meaningful, colorful to be exact. Hence, this is only the start of our journey to
become the kind matriarchs of our future legacy.

2. HIS “STORY”
The primary sources used are our experiences, ours alone. We became that significant
piece of our history. What we have felt, thought, and confronted are all real and cannot
be fabricated.

We are the main protagonists of such stories that will soon be passed down to many
generations later. This fact alone makes us the best storytellers of our time, family, and
history, positive or not. Our existence as proof of these historical events will undoubtedly
one day end. And so, we see to it that our achievements will live on and tell our tales.

Such is our goal; to be the original unedited etymology, the matriarchs of our legacy.
3. THE TRUTH UNTOLD
Theories in history will always play an essential role in the making of past events. Such
statements originate from the fact that the truth remains unreachable, untouchable even.

We dare say that many events, thoughts, and actions are unsaid. It becomes the privacy
that we held dear in fear of exposure. We cannot record every single little thing. The idea
of detailed descriptions of what has occurred is realistically impossible even for our
esteemed heroes and heroines, the Bayani. And if these influential figures cannot
perform such simple recording tasks, then what else can we, ordinary citizens, do and
offer?

This realization reinforces our belief that theories hold a significant part in historiography.
Historians need to understand what caused an event, and by doing so, they empathize
with the historical figures’ perspectives. Moreover, such outlooks cannot constantly be
unearthed through written or existing evidence only. This is why theories are only
portions of what is perceived as a stimulus or motivation of a historical occurrence. In
addition, theories are considered constructive criticism, especially since historiography
intends to seek and uncover what is discerned as the truth. Those conjectures have
more or less influenced the social development of the current society. Nonetheless,
theories are still unclear and will need justification, otherwise, deemed as nothing but an
opinionated outlook.

Hence, we conclude that history and historiography are undeniably intertwined with
constant speculations.

4. PEOPLE, NOT OBJECTS OF THE PAST

The thematic approach allows us, not only historians, to view and understand different
events with the same theme or background. We get to formulate an idea of what
happened while simultaneously comprehending that people caused these events.

An example of this would be the reason for our answer to the first question. Discussions
about the history of our families began when one of us dared to share painful
experiences in her family. One confession led to another. We slowly found the courage
to share our dismal ordeals. We have a thematic approach that is pieced together solely
based on one theme: broken and sad origins, regardless of the chronological order. We
may not have elaborated much about the sole origin of our family, but with that one
subject, we discover different conundrums. In addition, interconnecting recent events
may help in learning the reasons behind some theories and past events.

Remember, we are all interconnected. What a person does affects us at some point in
our lives. Listing the effects chronologically only diffuses the ability of readers and
viewers to understand history. Ancestors of great revolutions will then become a subject
of prominence and hagiography. We tend to view them as mere figures or objects that
have contributed to our modern independence. By doing so, we forget that they are
actually people like us. They naturally experience various dilemmas that are often not
recorded in the history of their existence. They have stories and feelings that are
intentionally left untold for reasons unknown to us. Yes, arranging the events and
timelines are way systematic and helpful. However, we fail to sympathize with their
manner of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

We have reached the last portion of this essay alongside the formulation of our
conclusion. Thematic analysis of historical events is far more critical than just listing it as
a set of organized inventory.