Thread by @mlq3

Jojo Abinales slams the Quadricentennial, pointing to how, at the time, Spanish intrusions were insignificant compared to networks and influences holding sway in the region. rappler.com/voices/thought…

He's always been at his best shaking things up and some articles that show the different angles he's pursued. 1. Most related to above, how the local trumps illusions of claims to a national: opinion.inquirer.net/47971/its-bord…

2. His take on how local-to-national can be based every bit on illiusions as the narratives being challenged or displaced: rappler.com/voices/thought…

3. His exploration of what we assume to be the foundation story of national identity is much newer than admitted: philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/2000/07/30/re-…

4. As with other movements, the narratives of movements, and those opposing them, too, can be challenged: philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/ins…

In the end, if you have soem cash to spare and time to read, you only need one general history of the country to expand your horizons and perspectives, the one Abinales wrote with his late wife. ateneo.edu/ateneopress/pr…

As for myself, projects like this Sabah timeline are a reminder that complexity is preferable to simplicity, in that the story in our mind can be richer the deeper we dive in, and some realizations might startle you. quezon.ph/2013/03/01/nor…

The ancient and the modern in uneasy coexistence: the periphery and the metropolis in coexistence and confrontation, modernity and traditional notions in direct competition: borderless cultures and narratives confined in colonial-derived boundaries; all still playing out.

My personal take is, the Spanish and Portuguese competed in a region where China had withdrawn, and where Spanish colonialism would compete with Islamic colonialism; where, in turn, Spanish colonialism would compete with British and Dutch colonialism. quezon.ph/2017/06/12/spo…

After 300 years of all these confrontations, you have Spanish rule in the lowlands (pink), nominal rule over the highlands (yellow), and a kind of North-South Korea
standoff in Mindanao which suggests all forces exhausted (green, pink, yellow). commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blum…

What I do think many commenting on the Quadricentennial miss is the overall public indifference to it, and that the effort that matters in terms of public participation (except a brief outpouring to be expected on anniv. of Mactan) is that of the Catholic Church, where...

not even Covid could impose limits on the Cult of the Black Nazarene, where peace agreements are still met with images of the Virgin being paraded in public plazas as people prepare for war, where only Cebu and Vallodild have the privilege of dancing inside the church, and...

Viva la Virgen and Viva Senor are still shouted with fervor and pride; where the intrusions of visiting delegations from beyond our shores are met with feigned hospitality and interest by local bigwigs making meaningless speeches, etc. before they return to business as usual.

An earlier thread, to close this one:

https://twitter.com/mlq3/status/1372099630125621250?s=20