Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 146

Was PH colonized by the wrong country?

My Inquirer column today on a question I am often asked during discussions on Magellan, Legazpi, the quincentennial and the Spanish colonial period. I'm afraid I have no answers but give something for readers to chew on.


Filipinos who remember their textbook history know that the Philippines was under: Spain (1565-1898) and the United States (1898-1946), with a short interlude under Japan (1942-1945). If the teacher

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If the signature on her checks are as complicated as this, it’s almost impossible to forge. What’s more she uses scented ink of ...

If the signature on her checks are as complicated as this, it’s almost impossible to forge. What’s more she uses scented ink of a rare hue and finishes off with a wax seal. That’s the creative spirit behind Sonya’s [not so secret] Garden in Tagaytay. I hope to revisit and be refreshed from pandemic stress when quarantine restrictions ease up. #ambethocampo #thefilipinohistorian #AskAmbeth #lookingback #tagaytay #secretgarden



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Cures past and present

Sorry for the late posting.
If you believe in Ivermectin don't click nor reading any further :)


While I have written off 2020 and much of 2021 from my daily calendar, one of the silver linings of the pandemic lockdown for me has been the many hours I have spent (aside from Netflix) surfing

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Belated happy 100th birthday to Maria Zeneida “Nini” Quezon Avancena who marked her centennial few days ago. I first met her du...

Belated happy 100th birthday to Maria Zeneida “Nini” Quezon Avancena who marked her centennial few days ago.
I first met her during an anti-Marcos march in the 1980s that ended with us seated together in the Supreme Court public gallery. Whatever awe I had being face to face with Manuel Quezon’s daughter was quickly dispelled by her warmth, wit, and wicked sense of humour. It was the closest to MLQ you could get and if not for pandemic restrictions I would have made the long promised visit to c...

Happy 79th birthday BenCab!Posing with Juan Luna (left), Guillermo Tolentino (upper right), and posing as Japinoys in Kyoto man...

Happy 79th birthday BenCab!
Posing with Juan Luna (left), Guillermo Tolentino (upper right), and posing as Japinoys in Kyoto many many moons ago.
#ambethocampo #thefilipinohistorian #lookingback #AskAmbeth #birthday #birthdayboy #BenCab #nationalartist

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A COVID-19 scare

My Inquirer column today is on a recent Covid scare. Unlike last year when Covid was just a statistic and we shrugged it off as happening to "other people" these days it strikes closer to home, and we now know people who have died or tested positive. When disease has a face, we take better care of ourselves.


Lockdown extended another week? Nobody seems surprised. Some even think this will last till the end of the month, speculating that Malacañang is merely delaying the inevitable to keep peop...

KATIALIS, a cure all ointment for itchy skin diseases and more, was a regular advertiser in the 1946 Philippines Free Press. Eac...

KATIALIS, a cure all ointment for itchy skin diseases and more, was a regular advertiser in the 1946 Philippines Free Press. Each ad focused on a particular ailment, but this one puts all in one and gives the various ailments in English in the text. Listed clockwise from the lower right, and illustrated are: Pigsa, Anan, Bungang-araw, Sugat, Kagat ng Lamok, Galis, Ahas, Alipunga. Butlig at Pamaga, Antrz, Anghit, Buni, Balakubak, Masamang Butlig and Tagiyawat.
#ambethocampo #AskAmbeth #thefilipin...

"Judge Releases Siamese Twin to Avoid Jailing his Brother" is a curious article from the New York Times, 10 October 1929. Lucio...

"Judge Releases Siamese Twin to Avoid Jailing his Brother" is a curious article from the New York Times, 10 October 1929.
Lucio and Simplicio Godino were also known as "The Yangco Twins" as wards of the Filipino philantrophist Teodoro Yangco. Lucio was arrested for a traffic violation and brought to jail with his conjoined twin Simplicio. Brought before Judge William M. Northrup, they were ordered released because while Lucio was at fault Simplicio could not be punished for a violation he did n...

Happy Easter! Christ re-presented in Philippine religious imagery often sports three rays on his head called “potencias,” disti...

Happy Easter!
Christ re-presented in Philippine religious imagery often sports three rays on his head called “potencias,” distinct from the halo that crowns the saints. The Virgin is adorned by the more elaborate “rostrillo” that radiates from her face. I tried one on at a garage sale and would have bargained for it had it come complete with the heart pieced by seven knives that represents what we are all going through these days.
#ambethocampo #thefilipinohistorian #AskAmbeth #lookingback #ga...

Imagine entering this baroque Jesuit church in the dark for the Easter Vigil, when the Gloria is intoned and all the lights are ...

Imagine entering this baroque Jesuit church in the dark for the Easter Vigil, when the Gloria is intoned and all the lights are switched on, you will be blinded by all the gilding and the intricate carving. This fabulous Mexican church must have provided a vision of Heaven.
#ambethocampo #thefilipinohistorian #lookingback #AskAmbeth #mexico



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