center for tarlaqueño studies

From Angeles City, we had to drive about another hour to get to Tarlac City, where Tarlac State University (TSU) and the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies are located. I took some pictures along the highway. The second picture is of Mount Arayat, legendary home of diwata (fairy) Maria Sinukuan.

As we were already running late to our second stop, needless to say, we were also late to this, our last place to visit. Luckily, when we were asking where we could find Lino Dizon, Director of the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies and with whom I had an appointment, he happened to be passing by.

He brought us to the Center, which is basically just a room. Here are some books, data, and artifacts on/from Tarlac.

Lino was genuinely quite happy to have me there. He wanted to introduce me to everybody. Here's a picture of me, Lino, and Glen Madriaga, University Vice President for Research, Extension, and Development at the Center. Lino also later took me to meet University President Priscilla Viuya.

Lino, whose current research interest is the Thomasites, or American teachers who came to the Philippines onboard the USS Thomas to establish a public school system, showed me this marker. It is dedicated to Frank Russell White, a Thomasite assigned to Tarlac and who founded the first high school (at the site where TSU is currently located) in the Philippines. Lino, whose latest book is on the Thomasite-established Baguio Teachers' Camp, is doing research on White.

Lino also introduced me to Rodrigo Sicat, Director of the University Testing Center and former director of the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies. Here is a picture of the three of us.

We had snack (in my case, late lunch) together, and Dr. Sicat entertained us with his stories and opinions. If we weren't so tired and if we didn't have a long drive home ahead of us, we might have just sat there and chatted the hours away.

I have to say that though this Center is the smallest (which does not mean it's not prolific in its publications), its directors, both current and former, are the most affable.

center for kapampangan studies

Because of the unplanned merienda break and the Barasoain tour, we were running behind schedule. We still had an hour drive to Angeles City, Pampanga, where we needed to find Holy Angel University and the Center for Kapampangan Studies.

It was past noon by the time we got to the University. A student gave us a tour of the very impressive Center. This is the beautiful sign outside the huge center, which includes a museum, a library, and an archives.

In the exhibits area, they have this gorgeous wooden timeline comparing the history of the world, the Philippines/Southeast Asia, and the Kapampangan people.

The room also has various artifacts, such as weapons, pottery, etc., as well as the death masks of two of its famous sons: slain former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. and actor/presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr.

Upstairs is a pictorial display.

In the lobby area are several notable displays. There are three interactive stations on Kapampangan songs and music, ancient script, and map.

Here are some samples of baybayin, the ancient Filipino script, from various sources/regions.

Nearby is a retablo featuring the patron saints of the various towns in the province of Pampanga.

Also in the lobby are samples of the parols, or Christmas lanterns, for which Pampanga is known. This parol is made of capiz (shell), and it has lightbulbs inside.

This is a regular-size, simpler version of the giant lanterns featured in the annual Giant Lantern Festival.

A drum actually contains the lighting design. When hand-cranked, the appropriate design segments hits the metal plate which then triggers the corresponding lights (something like that, anyway.) Here is what it looks like when it is cranked.

Apparently, the giant ones operate under the same concept. Several barrels control the lighting for each lantern. Here's a video.

To the left of the lobby is the reading room/library. The ground level has study tables; on the mezzanine (pictured) are some monographs.

After the tour of the first level, we were taken to the film room on the second level, where we saw an introductory film about the Kapampangan people and culture. You can watch the video in its entirety here.

Also on the second floor (or maybe it was on the third floor) is the display of the Center's rarer manuscripts and other archival materials.

Here is the preservation area. I can't remember if this is on the second or third floor.

The Center for Kapampangan Studies is really beautiful and very impressive. It looks like it could be in a developed country, instead of a developing one. I wish all the other local studies centers could have the funding so they can have a center like this one!

barasoain church

After our heavy merienda (snacks), we parted ways with Dr. Crisostomo. The researcher remained to accompanied us to Barasoain Church, an historic church where three major events happened: "the convening of the First Philippine Congress (September 15, 1898), the drafting of the Malolos Constitution (September 29, 1898 to January 21, 1899), and the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic (January 23, 1899)." Its likeness appears on the back of the 10-peso bill.

Here is a picture of the church's facade:

Here's what it looks like inside, as well as a close-up of the wooden ceiling:

Inside the church is this picture of (I believe) the First Philippine Congress inside the Church.

The attached convent, which served as the residence of the first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo, is now a museum. Here is Aguinaldo's carriage:

There are exhibits inside, including various representations of Barasoain Church.

This is the view of the plaza from the balcony:

On that day, there seemed to be a class whose assignment was to draw the church. See the students under the tree:

But, of course, you must protect yourself from the noon sun even while drawing.

Who knows? These kids' drawings might one day end up in the museum...

kakanin

After touring the Center for Bulacan Studies and the Bulacan Heroes Park, Dr. Crisostomo and the researcher took me to a local place for a mid-morning snack. The place mostly served kakanin (this term means snacks, but it is often used to refer to specific snacks usually made from glutinous rice and for which Bulacan is known). Here are some pictures of what they sell:

We ate some kakanin, but we also ate lugaw (thick rice soup) with innards (not a fan of the innards) and lumpia. Here's a picture of some of the food:

bahay-saliksikan ng bulacan

On my second day in the Philippines, I went on a road trip to three local studies centers in three different provinces. I knew it was going to be a long day and I was probably going to be jetlagged still, but that was the only way it was going to fit in my schedule.

We left the house around 7am to make it to my 9am appointment at the first stop: Bahay-Saliksikan ng Bulacan (Center for Bulacan Studies), which is located at Bulacan State University (BulSU) in Malolos, Bulacan.

As we had no real directions, we just had to make sure we got to the city and then started asking around where the university was. It was a good thing we left early because, when we got to the gates, the guards had no idea where the Center was. After asking around, he pointed us next door to the Provincial Capitol Compound. We finally stop to asked questions, and it just so happened we were at the Provincial Library. While the first (younger) librarian did not know the answer, the second (older) one did. And so we went back to the University armed with the name of the building.

We finally did find the building, in which the Center was located. Here is the entrance to the Center:

I had an appointment with Dr. Agnes Crisostomo, the Director of the Center (pictured below, center). I also met one of Center's researchers (except I can't remember his name!) They told me about the history of the Center, what it does, and what it contains.

Like the other local studies centers in the country, the Center basically aims to encourage research on the province, its people, and its culture. It serves as a resource to researchers (like the researcher above, left). The library (see below) contains general books about the Philippines, but also specific ones related to the province. In addition, they have vertical files of photocopied materials from the National Archives of the Philippines.

The Center also produces publications such as the ones below:

In addition, the Center is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Bulacan Heroes Park, a park located inside the BulSU campus that honors heroes (primarily from the revolutionary period) who hailed from the province. Here are some pictures:

The researcher was very informed and told me many stories about the Park and the heroes featured in it.

local studies centers

Last summer, when I first started my job, I met with Professor Damon Woods, a lecturer on Southeast Asia at UCLA. His research focus is the Philippines and he mentioned that local studies centers, or centers that focus on the history and culture of a specific locality or region, are becoming a big thing in the Philippines.

This spring, the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies sponsored a talk by Dr. Emmanuel Franco Calairo, Professor of History and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the De La Salle University-Dasmariñas. Entitled "Preserving Local Heritage: A Case Study from Cavite, Philippines," it was about the Cavite Studies Center (CSC), one of the bigger and most active local studies centers in the Philippines. During his talk, Dr. Calairo mentioned that he and the CSC have helped other localities to establish their own local studies centers and that they have even formed an association of local studies centers and have had meetings and training sessions. (I later find out that this organization is called KABANSA, or Kapisanan ng mga Bahay Saliksiking sa Bansa (National Association of Research Centers).)

So, when I was planning this trip, I wanted to include these local studies centers in the itinerary so that 1) I could find out about the this new research trend and 2) to find out about the sorts of materials coming out from these centers. As there are too many of them to visit, I only chose the ones in the more convenient (according to my schedule and funds, that is) locations.

As I was primarily based at my uncle's house in Quezon City, I chose the ones that were do-able in a day trip, as anything further would require overnight accommodations for me and the driver and additional days in the schedule. I decided that on one day I would go north and visit the Center for Bulacan Studies, the Center for Kapampangan Studies, and the Center for Tarlaqueño Studies. On another day, I could go south and visit the Cavite Studies Center and the Santa Rosa Studies Center (I ended up not going here, though, due to scheduling conflicts); I could combine this trip with a visit to the International Rice Research Institute, an internationally well-known institute. I also decided that I would include the Cebuano Studies Center, as Cebu City is the second biggest city in the Philippines and the center is actually the oldest one in the country.

manila international book fair

Next stop was the Manila International Book Fair, which opened that morning and ran through Sunday. The reason I decided to do an acquisitions trip at this time was so I could go to this book fair and, thereby, kill two birds with one stone. I wasn't really sure what to expect since I've never been to a real book fair; I wasn't sure how big a scale it was going to be.

Here is a picture from the entrance. As you can see from that red sign peeking, front and center was the huge booth for National Bookstore, probably the biggest bookstore chain in the country.

It was quite a big affair. There were chain bookstores, smaller independent bookstores, well-known publishers, and not-so-well known ones. Here I am at one of the smaller booths:

I was surprised at the sheer number of booths representing religious publishers. But I was very glad to see that they had an area for books from other ASEAN nations. Most of the vendors for this small section weren't there that day, though; I believe they had some meeting elsewhere.

I wrote down titles of books and got lists from whoever had them. My job was to look them up later in our catalog to see if we already owned them.

After going down all the aisles, it was time for dinner.

library of congress - manila

Next on my agenda was to visit the Library of Congress (LC) office in Manila. Currently, UCLA gets the majority of its materials through the LC Cooperative Acquisition Program for Southeast Asia (CAPSEA), so I wanted to visit LC-Manila and meet its staff and to learn about how and where they acquire materials and what its processes are.

LC-Manila is located in the American Embassy compound, so I thought I only had to go a few blocks from the National Library. That's the American Embassy I know, where people go to get their visas and such. It turns out that there is another compound much further down Roxas Blvd. Good thing that my friend realized that the information I had didn't make sense. And good thing we had a driver!

Because the office is in the American Embassy, I had to give my and my friend's ID information when I first made my appointment. I figured it was so they could give this information to the guards who would then let us in. But,I guess it is so they could fill out this form, which a staff person shows to the guards. Then the staff person escorts us in. The driver's and car info wasn't included, so it had to be added, so they could go inside, too.

It's interesting to see inside the compound. It's like a mini-America on Philippine soil. I was saying to my companions, "See, now it's just like you've been to America." (Technically, of course, they have, since that's American soil.)

The LC office is a small one.It has three staff members--one to acquire books, one to do cataloging, and one to do processing. Here I am with the LC-Manila staff:

Nanette Abas, the one dressed in purple (we're Lakers colors! or maybe we're ube and mango ice cream...), is the Officer in Charge at LC-Manila. She told me about the kinds of books they acquire for LC and what they offer to CAPSEA members. She also talked about where and how they obtain their materials. She gave me an idea of the kinds and formats of materials that are out there.

I definitely learned a lot from this visit. It is one thing to deal with the main CAPSEA office in Jakarta, but it is another thing to know how it works on the ground. It is also nice to have an idea of who the people I'm dealing with are. At the same time, the meeting gave them an opportunity to know me and learn about UCLA's needs.

national library of the philippines

With barely any rest to ward off the effects of jetlag, I was up and at it the next afternoon. I had a full schedule. My first stop was the National Library of the Philippines, where I had an appointment to meet with Director. Unfortunately, she was held up at the Manila International Book Fair, which ironically was one of my stops later that afternoon.

After waiting a while, I met with Yolanda "Yolie" Jacinto, Head of Collection Development instead. She kindly answered all my questions, telling me about the Library's collections and the procedures for obtaining materials.

This is me with Yolie. Look, I'm taller than her!
As my time was rather limited, I did not get a chance to get a tour of the Library.

up, up & away

I left for Southeast Asia on September 14, flying out from LAX to Narita to Manila. Here are some pictures from the flight from LAX to Narita. These are from beginning of the flight. I believe these are of the California coastline.

Cloud pictures from later on in the day:

Nearing touchdown:

The flight from Japan to the Philippines was at night (and I wasn't seated near the window), so no more pictures.