The Ilocos Times

THE  restored Tobacco Monopoly Monument was originally built in 1882 by Don Jose Moreno Lacalle, the Alcalde Mayor at that time, as a gesture of thanksgiving to King Alfonso XII of Spain for abolishing the Tobacco Monopoly after 100 years of oppressing the people. (Photo by Alwin Formantes.)  

The history of the Philippines, especially during the periods of colonization and occupation by various foreign powers, has indeed shaped the country's cultural, social, political, and economic landscape in significant ways. Spanish Occupation The more than 300 years of Spanish colonization deeply influenced Philippine culture and values. The Spanish introduced Christianity, which remains a dominant religion in the country. They also left a lasting impact on language, architecture, and governance systems.   Japanese Occupation The Japanese occupation during World War II was a period of great hardship for Filipinos. The brutality of the Japanese occupation left a scar on the national psyche and resulted in significant loss of life and destruction.   American Colonial Period The American period brought significant changes to the Philippines, including the establishment of a public education system, the introduction of democratic institutions, and the developme...

HISTORICAL MARKER. Representatives of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the National Museum of the Philippines as well as Laoag City officials unveil on Monday (June 17, 2024) a historical marker of the Spanish-era watchtower of Gabu. The watchtower is one of the last remaining watchtowers in the country recognized as a national cultural treasure on December 17, 2020. ( Lei Adriano) By Leilanie Adriano LAOAG CITY – Officials and residents here witnessed the unveiling of a new marker of the Spanish-era watchtower located at Sitio Torre, Brgy. 35, Gabu Sur this city. Laoag Mayor Michael M. Keon said the marker would serve as a reminder to preserve the city’s history for the next generation. “The Gabu Sur watchtower built during the Spanish colonial period and used as an outpost for sentinels tasked to warn residents of pirate attacks now stands tall as a symbol of resilience and strength, overlooking our lands with a silent grace that speaks volumes about our pas...

By Noralyn O. Dudt During these past few weeks, I'm seeing a large number of photos of what the Las Islas de Filipinas (Philippines) looked in the late 1800s and early 1900s  on FB sites of  Pilipinas Retrostalgia, Herencia Filipinas, and several others.  Photos  of old churches/cathedrals that are now in the World Heritage list,  schools, town plazas,  bridges, Filipinos daily life that are archived in libraries and museums in the West. The U.S. Library of Congress, University of Michigan, University of  Wisconsin, private collections in Washington, New York, Germany and the Netherlands are resurfacing, thanks to diligent research. The pictures were taken by American photographers—civilian and military—when the United States took over the Philippines in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. Noteworthy is the interesting fact that even though the United States had these photos, they were not the ones exhibited to the American public during the ...

By Noralyn Dudt The adage “ROME wasn't built in a day” attests to the need for time, and patience   to create great and impressive things. It's a rather unique expression that functions as an injunction or plea for someone to be patient. Magnificent structures and transformative elements require serious thought and great planning. They can't be built overnight. They can be decades and even centuries in the making. As the capital of the great Roman Empire, Rome was renowned for its architectural beauty, parks, gardens and fountains. Historians, poets, essayists    refer to it as "The Grandeur that was Rome."   Rome had scale and opulence that was unprecedented.   Thus, the proverb,   "Rome...."   is a metaphor for excellence of the highest order.   The English playwright, John Heywood's wrote   that "Rome wasn't built in a day....but they were laying bricks every hour"   is a reminder of the fact that it requires time and patience...

Imagine a "pabuniag," ( baptism) a "pakasar," (wedding) or a "pamunpon" (funeral) and several Manongs are missing. "Where's Manong Jose, Manong Pedring, Manong Ben, Manong Damian," everyone asks. Who were the Manongs, what were they, and where did they come from? The term "Manong" comes from the Ilokano word for "elder brother" a term so endearing that denotes respect, yet loaded with familial responsibilities. In the old days, the "manongs and the manangs" of the family carried the responsibility of assisting their parents in providing   the needs of their younger siblings even after they got married and had families of their own. It was quite a responsibility in a place called the Ilocos region where arable land was scant, a narrow strip of land wedged between the mountains and the sea. It's a place unlike Central Luzon and the Visayas where large tracts of land called "hacienda" or plantations...

By Noralyn Dudt BACK in 1790 when Pierre L'Enfant was at work designing what was to become the nation's capital with wide boulevards and common squares,   he probably never envisioned the Washington, DC   that it is today. Although he had helped George Washington's Continental Army in fighting the army of another George (the   King of England) and had an inkling what the new republic would look like, he may not have foreseen nor understood the magnitude of what it would take   to smoothly   run a   democratic republic. That this new nation would require three branches of government to check each other may not have crossed his mind. This was a rather new idea—not since the Athenians   who introduced the concept of democracy around two thousand years earlier. That checks and balances would need a myriad of federal agencies to   efficiently maintain   the functions of government would have been unthinkable at the time: the Supreme Court, the ...

By Noralyn Dudt WASHINGTON DC, the U.S. capital abounds in monuments, memorials, museums, and galleries. When the city was first designed in 1790, the planner whom George   Washington commissioned, Pierre L'Enfant envisioned a grand capital of wide avenues, public squares and inspiring buildings in what was then a district of hills, forests, marshes, and plantations. The centerpiece of L'Enfant's plan was a great "public walk." That's now what we call our National Mall. Stretching for 2 miles, from Capitol Hill to the Potomac River,   this "public walk" is   a wide, straight strands of grass and trees. The Smithsonian museums flank both sides and war memorials are embedded among the famous monuments that memorialize Washington,   Lincoln and Jefferson. With 21 museums including the National Zoological Park, the Smithsonian institution is the world's largest museum, education and research complex.   In one of the most visited museums—the Mus...

  By Noralyn Dudt THE MALL in Washington DC is not a shopping place. It's America's public square. It's a place where massive demonstrations occur and requires an extraordinary amount of planning and preparation that involves the Park Police, Capitol Police, Secret Service, the VDOT and the MDOT ( Virginia and Maryland Department of Transportation), the Red Cross, the RFK Stadium for parking, and the METRO subway system for convenient transportation. Preparation includes making sure that routes to hospitals are not blocked in case the demonstrators get injured.   And the "porta-potty" stalls   are ordered to make sure demonstrators will be able to relieve themselves. The idea of multiple departments moving together in a bureaucratic ballet illustrates one of America's endearing quirks: FEDERAL Employees will work their fingers to the bone ensuring that you have the right to tell them how disappointed you are in the system that employs them. Founded on Ju...

By Noralyn Dudt I'm writing this on board the Viking Jupiter cruise in the South Atlantic. To mitigate the effect of the tons of delicious foods that I am eating, I have been going   to the gym   to run on the treadmill. It has been days and I'm still here. My running at a speed of 5.5 km per hour has not gotten me anywhere. And with the vast ocean around me, there seems to be no "land" in sight. The cleaning crews do their cleaning and scrubbing early in the morning, and do it all over again by midday, and in the late afternoon.   All of these remind me of the term "Sisyphean."   It's never ending, not arriving at any place....a Sisyphean task it's called. Where and how did such an odd-sounding   term originate? Sisyphus in one of the Greek myths was the founder and   king of Ephyra ( now known as Corinth ) who was punished for his trickery by being forced to roll a massive boulder to the top of a steep hill. Every time the boulder neared the t...

  By Noralyn O. Dudt In 279 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus (an ancient state in Greece) defeated the Roman legions in the Battle of Asculum. Although he was the victor, he lost many of his Macedonian troops including his commanders and his friends, a toll so devastating that it was tantamount to defeat.   A "pyrrhic victory"   it was. Pyrrhic victory is a phrase that may not be familiar to many.   The term is used as an analogy in business, politics and sport to describe struggles that end up ruining the victor. It's a victory that comes at a great cost. The losses are so high and heavy   that they outweigh the gain   so as to render the struggle not worth the cost. It's a triumph that negates any true sense of achievement and ultimately   damages long-term progress. The journal, "The Military Engineer" explains that regardless of what happened with the landmark battle,   King Pyrrhus was a brilliant historical example   of hard-won, hard-...

Singapore , a small country in Southeast Asia has been dubbed an economic "miracle."   On what account they call it so, I am not so sure.   I always thought a miracle was something that only a Divine Being could perform when something is deemed hopeless. To the secular, it may be called magic, like when Cinderella's fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into a coach as her ride to the Palace ball. So how did this once   upon a time sandbar   called Singapore become an economic "miracle." Did it suddenly find favor from a god who decided that Singapore needed a better economy? Or did Singapore's government have magical qualities that could just wave a wand and turn this little backwater place into an economic tiger? Let's take a look at what kind of people populate this city-state. It has a diverse population,   the result of considerable past immigration. The Chinese in Singapore are Singapore's largest ethnic group making up three-quarters of the cou...