PHILIPPINE CINEMA – THE OLDEST MOVIE INDUSTRY IN ASIA

Film may be the youngest of the Philippine arts. But believe it or not, it is the oldest movie industry in Asia.

Thanks to the European influences at that time and the innate Filipino fascination with theater, movies were readily accepted and naturally taken to when they came on the scene.

As early as 1897 a Spaniard named Pertierra began to show movies like Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a Hat), Une Scene de Danse Japonaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The Boxers) and La Place de L’Opera (The Place L’Opera) on 60mm Gaumont Chrono-Photograph projector at the Salon Pertierra in Escolta.

By 1897 Antonio Ramos, a Spanish soldier from Alhama de Aragon locally filmed Panorama de Manila (Manila Landscape) and other documentaries about Quiapo, Fuente España and Esceñas Callejeras (street scenes).

By 1900 the first hall exclusively devoted to movie viewing had been put up by a Britisher named Walgrah. (It was called Cine Walgrah.) Film supply was regular and abundant. Moviehouses mushroomed -- even in provinces which had electricity. According to Arsenio "Boots" Bautista, who wrote a treatise on the History of Philippine Cinema, among Asean countries, the Philippines to date has the most number of movie houses from the urban to the remotest rural areas.

In 1909 the first feature film made in the Philippines was produced by Carl Laemmele’s Independent Moving Picture Company – a 760-foot film called "Rose of the Philippines" which was advertised in the Manila Times as "among the first films produced locally – a dramatic story from the days of the Empire".

The first picture with sound came to Manila in 1910, using the Chronophone. Sound for the movies then came from a gramophone, a piano, a quartet or choir. These were what made the Manila Grand Opera House grand.

By 1930 talking pictures were the rave, and Syncopation, the First American sound film played at the Radio Theater in Plaza Sta. Cruz. A Filipino film sans sound, Ang Aswang (The Vampire), was shown in 1932. But by 1933, Jose Nepomuceno had already produced the first Filipino talking film – "Punyal na Guinto" (Golden Dagger) – the "first completely sound movie to all-talking picture" which premiered on March 9, 1933 at the Lyric Theater.

Nepomuceno went on to produce another well-acclaimed film, "Dalagang Bukid" (Country Maiden) based on a popular musical play by Hermogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio.
By 1937, a Filipino film called "Zamboanga", starring Fernando Poe and Rosa del Rosario, was produced and shown. It received praise from no less than Hollywood director Frank Capra who called it "the most exciting and beautiful picture of native life I have ever seen".

By the 50’s, Philippine cinema had reached its first Golden Age. And the rest is (very interesting) history.

Source : National Commission for Culture and the Arts website

 ==

 San de Dios Hospital - 1905

Escolta, 1905

WHO WAS DASMARINAS?

During the early stages of Christianization, corruption had already reared its ugly head in the Capi

tania-General de Filipinas. In the 1570's, King Philip II appointed a certain Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa as Governor-General , which he regretted shortly after. Before leaving for this remote corner of Asia, Ronquillo padded his "asiento" (contract) with unprecedented demands. Not content with a considerable share of the conquest booty , he wanted to be Governor for life with the privilege of designating his successor.

On top of that, the insatiable Ronquillo asked for an encomienda in every principal town and extensive powers to appoint people to key positions in the colonial government. Although he agreed to pay for a six hundred man expedition to Filipinas, Christianization -- the sole justification for conquest-- was farthest from Ronquillo's mind. While the Spanish colonists and soldiers were stealing food from the natives as a matter of survival, Governor-General Ronquillo was using his position to amass wealth through the China trade. .

Ronquillo's corruption was so scandalous he had to be removed, despite the asiento that provided a life-long term. Neither was he allowed to designate his successor, the ineffectual Gov. de Vera. Soon after, Gomez Peres Dasmarinas was appointed by the King upon the recommendation of a Jesuit priest, Fr. Alfonso Sanchez. Happily, Dasmariñas turned out to be the exact opposite of Ronquillo He was incorruptible. Historians say he was a conscientious, energetic and compassionate colonial administrator who restored order by suppressing rebellions and abolished abusive practices instituted during Ronquillo's time.

Governor Dasmariñas surrounded Manila with a fortified wall and reformed military and naval establishments Though he often clashed with the Archbishop of Manila it was not for personal ambitions. As an officer of the Crown, he believed the colonial church was meddling with the justice system (the Audiencia was suppressed), the classification of encomiendas for tax purposes and the appointment of local officials. Under his rule, more provinces were conquered. He was determined to annex the Molucas to Filipinas with a view of controlling the lucrative spice trade but, on his way there, he was assassinated by the Chinese rowers of his flagship.

Dasmariñas' untimely death after only three years (1590 – 1593) of good governance was devastating. So, if you live in a place named after this Spanish Governor-General, don't worry. He was an honest government official.

Philippine history books have been saying that the Philippines was discovered by Ferdinand Magellan. But was he really the one who discovered the Philippines?

Long before Magellan landed in the Philippine archipelago, visitors and c

olonizers from other lands had come to our shores. The earliest evidence of the existence of modern man -- homo sapiens sapiens -- in the archipelago was discovered in 1962 when a National Museum team led by Dr. Robert Fox uncovered the remains of a 22,000-year old man in the Tabon Caves of Palawan. The team determined that the Tabon Caves were about 500,000 years old and had been inhabited for about 50,000 years.

In the late 1990s, Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA and winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, and Peter Bellwood, Professor of Archaeology at the Australian National University, postulated that the Austronesians had their roots in Southern China. Diamond said that they migrated to Taiwan around 3,500 B.C. However, Bellwood believed that the Austronesian expansion started as early as 6,000 B.C. Around 3,000 B.C., the Malayo-Polynesians -- a subfamily of the Austronesians -- began their migration out of Taiwan. The first stop was northern Luzon. Over a span of 2,000 years, the Malayo-Polynesian expansion spread southward to the rest of the Philippine archipelago and crossed the ocean to Celebes, Borneo, Timor, Java, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Vietnam; westward in the Indian Ocean to Madagascar; and eastward in the Pacific Ocean to New Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Marquesas, Cook, Pitcairn, Easter, and Hawaii. Today, the Malayo-Polynesian speaking people have populated a vast area that covers a distance of about 11,000 miles from Madagascar to Hawaii, almost half the circumference of the world.

In 2002, Bellwood and Dr. Eusebio Dizon of the Archaeology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines led a team that conducted an archaeological excavation in the Batanes Islands which lie between Taiwan and Northern Luzon. The three-year archaeological project, financed by National Geographic, was done to prove -- or disprove – the Out of Taiwan’s hypothesis for the Austronesian dispersal. The archaeological evidence that they gathered proved that the migration from Taiwan to Batanes and Luzon started about 4,000 years ago. For the next 500 years after the arrival of the Malayo-Polynesians in Batanes and Northern Luzon, native settlements flourished throughout the archipelago.

The Philippine islands proximity to the Malay archipelago which includes the coveted Mollucas islands -- known as the Spice Islands -- had attracted Arab traders who had virtual monopoly of the Spice Trade until 1511. By the 9th century, Muslim traders from Malacca, Borneo, and Sumatra started coming to Sulu and Mindanao. In 1210 AD, Islam was introduced in Sulu. An Arab known as Tuan Mashaika founded the first Muslim community in Sulu. In 1450 AD, Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, a Jahore-born Arab, arrived in Sulu from Malacca. He married the daughter of the local chieftain and established the Sultanate of Sulu.

In the early 16th century, Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuan, a Muslim preacher from Malacca arrived in Malabang in what is now Lanao del Sur and introduced Islam to the natives. In 1515 he married a local princess and founded the Sultanate of Maguindanao with Cotabato as its capital. By the end of the 18th century, more than 30 sultanates were established and flourished in Mindanao. The Sultanates of Maguindanao and Sulu were the most powerful in the region. Neither of them capitulated to Spanish dominion.

Chinese traders -- who were also involved in the Spice Trade -- started coming to the Philippine archipelago in the 11th century. They went as far as Butuan and Sulu. However, most of their trade activities were in Luzon. In 1405, during the of the Ming Dynasty in China, Emperor Yung Lo claimed the island of Luzon and placed it under his empire. The Chinese called the island of Lusong from the Chinese characters Lui Sung. The biggest settlement of Chinese was in Lingayen in Pangasinan. Lingayen also became the seat of the Chinese colonial government in Luzon. When Yung Lo died in 1424, the new Emperor Hongxi, Yung Lo’s son, lost interest in the colony and the colonial government was dissolved. However, the Chinese settlers in Lingayen -- known as sangleys -- remained and prospered. Our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal descended from the sangleys.

The lucrative Spice Trade attracted the European powers. In 1511 a Portuguese armada led by Alfonso d'Albuquerque attacked Malacca and deposed the sultanate. Malacca’s strategic location made it the hub of the Spice Trade; and whoever controlled Mallacca controlled the Spice Trade. At that time, Malacca had a population of 50,000 and 84 languages were spoken. It is interesting to note that in 1515, Tome Pires -- the apothecary of Portuguese Prince Alfonso and author of Suma Oriental (Eastern Account) -- during his travel to Malacca, wrote: The Luzones are almost one people, and in Malacca, there is no division between them...They were already building many houses and shops. They are a useful people; they are hardworking. .. In Minjam, near Malacca, there must be five hundred Luzoes, some of them important men. It would seem to me that those 500 Luzoes were the first recorded Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

One of the officers under Albuquerque was Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan stayed in Malacca for a few years and spent some time reconnoitering the surrounding areas. He had an idea. He returned to Portugal to convince the Portuguese king to subsidize an expedition to find a westward route to the Spice Islands. The Portuguese king rejected his proposal and he went to Spain to get support from the Spanish king. He succeeded in convincing the Spanish king. In 1519, Magellan sailed westward from Seville in search of the Spice Islands. On March 16, 1521 -- on the Feast of St. Lazarus -- he landed in the Philippine archipelago . He named the archipelago Islas de San Lazaro and claimed it for the King of Spain.

What Magellan found in the Philippines was a peaceful people with all the trappings of a civilized society. When he arrived in Cebu, the Cebuanos welcomed him and his party, and lavished them with hospitality. The Cebuanos were easily converted to Christianity and they pledged allegiance -- without bloodshed -- to the king of Spain. However, Lapu-Lapu, the chief of the neighboring Mactan island refused to pledge allegiance to the Spanish king. On April 27, 1521, irked by Lapu-Lapu’s rejection, Magellan attacked Mactan. Lapu-Lapu and his warriors met them on the shores of Mactan. Magellan was killed in battle; thus, ending his dream of reaching the Spice Islands by way of a westward route. History has been kind by crediting him for the discovery of the Philippines¦ or rather it should it be the re-discovery of the Philippines.

OLD CONGRESS AT PADRE BURGOS STREET  MANILA CITY HALL  AT THE FAR END 

 SULO RESTAURANT 1960

OPMAS OSIP  

MAKATI 1963

NINETEENTH-CENTURY houses, while struggling to survive, remind of Quiapo’s past as the residential quarter for the city elite. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sept. 17, 2007)

HOW OUR FLAG FLEW AGAIN
Article by Jose A. Quirino
Philippines Free Press
June 9, 1956

The flag was prohibited for 12 years. Tears of joy were shed when flag law was repealed

ONE of the saddest events in Philippine history occurred on September 6, 1907, the day the Filipino flag was proscribed. The incidents which led to the first proscription of the Sun and Stars (the public display of the flag was also prohibited during the early part of the Japanese occupation) and the subsequent lifting of such a proscription bear recalling.

By the time the first Philippine republic was proclaimed and by the time the flag was proclaimed as the republic's political symbol on June 12, 1898, almost all Filipinos realized the importance of a national standard in united them in the fight for independence. Even with the establishment of a civil government by the American authorities of the turn of the century, Filipinos still kept their own versions of the national standard. Long before the Flag Act was approved, the public display of the Filipino flag was banned. Any person who used any button, pin, watch chain, or trinket with the colors or design of the Philippine flag could be prosecuted and incarcerated by the Constabulary. The ban was an unwritten one, though according to international customs and usage, the ruling power could formally proscribe the display of the flag. But still, during the military occupation, the display or possession of the flag was considered an act of disloyalty, if not hostility, to
the United States and its constituted government in the islands.

Although the unwritten ban on the public use of the national colors was relaxed after the establishment of a civil government, many Filipinos hid or destroyed their national standard because they did not want to be questioned by the authorities. The bolder ones, however, began publicly displaying the national colors, occasionally even during parades. This resulted in several incidents which, finally, led to the formal proscription of the flag. For example, during the campaign for the election of deputies to the Philippine Assembly on July 30, 1907, political supporters organized parades in which were displayed Filipino flags. In several instances, the local banners were bigger than the American flags and were displayed at the right side of the latter. Then, during a public celebration in Caloocan, Rizal, a group of patriots, shouted: "Down with the Americans! Out with the Americanistas. " This caused an uproar which embarrassed the American community.

Such patriotic and revolutionary outbursts on the part of the Filipinos prompted the newspapers to editorialize on the matter. Members of the American community, on the other hand, held public meetings demanding the formal proscription of the Filipino flag. The Manila Times, then an American newspaper, plugged for tolerance on the part of the Americans. In its editorial of August 12, 1907, it observed: "The Filipino flag and the Filipino anthem may not be to our liking and may cause us a wry face in the swallowing, but Washington apparently thinks they are not improper and it is Washington which is running things in the Philippines: THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE FILIPINOS." El Renacimiento, the fighting periodical, took up the cudgels for the Filipinos and their flag. In its August 21, 1907 editorial, the paper declared: "The prohibition of the flag is an offense to the people, we repeat. The flag is the symbol of our ideal of liberty. To prohibit it, is it not tantamount to an
attempt against the most sacred of our aspirations? "

Governor General James. F. Smith's reaction to all of this was one of understanding when he stated: "I am interested in the welfare of the Filipino people, but I love and am interested in my mother country, the United States. I wish to be tolerant, and when the army authorities told me that such tolerance would be of evil results in the future, I answered that we should not be very exacting because the Filipino flag symbolized an ideal bathed in blood and tears."

On August 23, 1907, members of the American community held a meeting at the Manila Grand Opera House and passed a resolution urging the proscription of the Filipino flag. On September 6, 1907, the Philippine Commission passed Act No. 1696, common known as the Flag Law, entitled: "An act to prohibit the display of flags, banners, emblems, or devices used in the Philippine islands for the purpose of rebellion or insurrection against the authorities of the United States and the display of Katipunan flags, banners, emblems, or devices and for other purposes."
According to the late Major Emmanuel A. Baja, one of our most noted authorities on the Filipino flag, 13 bills and one resolution were drafted from 1908 to 1914 to repeal the Flag Law. Five of these were passed by the Philippine Assembly while the rest were pigeonholed. The Philippine Commission, however, did not act on the five bills passed by the Assembly.

Ban Scrapped

After the creation of a Philippine legislature consisting of an upper and lower house, attempts to abrogate the Flag Law fizzled out. On October 6, 1919, after the first World War, Speaker Sergio Osmeña, then vacationing in Japan, wrote Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and said, among other things: "In view of the fact that circumstances have totally changed, I believe that the occasion has come to submit again to the governor-general the question of our flag, that he may be persuaded this time to withdraw his objection to the repeal of the law which prohibits its use."

Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison, a man who was sympathetic toward the Filipino cause, urged the repeal of the Flag Law in his 17th annual message to the Legislature. That same day, October 16, 1919, Senator Rafael Palma, taking a cue from Harrison's message, sponsored House Senate Bill No. 1 scrapping the ban on the flag. The senators crossed party lines and the bill was passed. The following day, October 17, the bill was sent to the House of Representatives. The fiery solon from Batangas, Rep. Claro Mayo Recto, delivered a speech on the floor in behalf of the Democrats and declared: "The ancient people used to mark with a white or black stone the lucky or unlucky events that came to alter the placidness of their primitive and simple life...This day should certainly be marked with a white stone in the annals of our country, privileged quarry in the world; because on this day, gentlemen, the representatives of the people, in the exercise of their high attributes and
prerogatives, will resolve unanimously that there be hoisted, never again to lower down, very high in space, where it may be kissed by the sun or caressed by the storms, and where it may not be reached by the mud splatter of our journey or the noise of our petty grudges, that immortal banner, blessed among all."

The bill repealing the Flag Law was approved in both houses and became Act No. 2871 on October 22, 1919. On October 24, 1919, Harrison issued Proclamation No. 18 setting aside October 30, 1919 as a public holiday to be known as "Flag Day." (Since then there have been other flag days such as May 28 and June 12. Latest, however, is the observance of Flag Day on June 12 of every year in accordance with a proclamation issued by the late President Quirino.)

Filipinos all over the country rejoiced over the repeal of the Flag Law and expressed their joy by holding parades and programs. Every house "blossomed" with replicas of the national standard. Even the trees were decorated with small flags. Center of the celebration was Manila where people shouted with joy and the children waved the national colors. Jose P. Bautista, Manila Times editor, told this writer that there was one incident which marred the festivities when one American tried to haul down a Filipino flag at the Luneta. The culprit was arrested by the police.

On October 27, 1919, Gen. Aguinaldo, who was then sick and confined in the Philippine General Hospital, wrote Senate President Quezon for the honor of bearing the flag during the main program to be held on the occasion of Flag Day, October 30. But Quezon denied the request of the Grand Old Man of the revolution and was severely criticized by the newspapers for refusing to grant what one paper termed "a very reasonable request and which the old general deserves."

The Cablenews-American, in its issue of November 1, 1919, reported: "The presence of a delegation of marines and sailors (in Cavite) together with a band from the Naval Base contributed much to make the occasion more impressive. The American and Filipino flags were hoisted simultaneously by the Provincial Governor and the Commandant of the Naval Base respectively, while the Marine Band played. The celebration was made still more impressive by the fact that the Filipino Flag which was hoisted was a historic one, it being the second Filipino Flag made, the one used by the battalion of General Trias during the revolution."

It is said that many people shed tears of joy when the Filipino flag was publicly displayed after 12 long years (1907 to 1919) of proscription. Located by Manuel L. Quezon III, 13 March 2002

MAALAALA MO KAYA?   LET'S GO BACK IN TIME - ANG NAKARAAN

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN MAYBE EARLIER

THAN RIZAL'S TIME

CONGRESS  - 1960s

POST OFFICE BLDG - 1970s

QUIAPO CHURCH - 1960s

PUGO & BENTOT

ARANETA COLISEUM 1960 

AYALA AVENUE

Notable landmarks are Intercon Hotel at the far end and Insular Life Bldg.

STUDENT CANTEEN - Wala pa ang EAT BULAGA

Eddie Mercado, Leila Benitez, Matt Monro and Eddie Ilarde

MANILA  CITY  HALL  1960 - 

 25 Beautiful Short Phrases (Thanks to Prof. AL Leonidas)

Amazing_art.wmv (Happy Birthday to Merle Earnshaw)                                  

Pictures of  Blessed Sacrament  (Thanks to Ofel Magturo)