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Apr 26, 2025

Soothing the blistering heat with music by the Manila Symphony Orchestra

The MSO season begins with the first concert “Music for Peace” on May 24 at the Aliw Theater, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the post-Liberation MSO concerts organized between 1945 and 1946. Violin soloist Emanuel John Villarin, a Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra pioneer member, will play Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 9 — From the New World” and German composer-pianist Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61. Villarin will be coming home from Berlin, where he’s on a scholarship, to do the show with conductor Marlon Chen, MSO’s current music director and principal conductor.

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Soothing the blistering heat with music by the Manila Symphony Orchestra
Mar 20, 2025

Learning about Filipino resistance to the Japanese occupation 80 years ago

Conferences like “War & Memory” are few and far between, insufficient to cover gaps in Filipinos’ history education. It’s worrying that many Filipinos are oblivious to the Philippines’ colonial history, and to the struggles against Spanish, Japanese, and American colonizers. Philippine history is no longer taught as a standalone subject except in “grades 5 and 6 and in a college class called “Readings in Philippine history.”

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Learning about Filipino resistance to the Japanese occupation 80 years ago
Mar 1, 2025

When Duterte embraced China

Authors Marites Dañguilan Vitug and Camille Elemia raise the question: What can be done to make Filipinos believe that Duterte’s embrace of China is plain treachery?

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When Duterte embraced China
Dec 8, 2024

Tarantadong Kalbo and IBON discuss imperialism through 2025 planner

The name Kevin Eric Raymundo doesn’t trigger automatic recognition in the way the alias Tarantadong Kalbo does. The alias is undeniably catchy, and intriguing, especially because tarantado is hardly a mainstay of polite conversation. It makes one wonder if the man, Tarantadong Kalbo, is simply a jerk (albeit a creative one) or a rebel with a cause (he’s the latter). The identification is shored up by his kalbo (bald) style that he wears with aplomb.

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Tarantadong Kalbo and IBON discuss imperialism through 2025 planner
Aug 25, 2024

Jose Abad Santos, the lesser known hero

Reading “Honor” meant reaching an understanding of the man in whose honor my alma mater was - a hero of courage, dignity and altruism who believed that extending help to others without ulterior motives should be the norm and not the exception.

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Jose Abad Santos, the lesser known hero
Aug 4, 2024

Monsters don’t disappear, they just take on different forms

Children start their reading journey with mythical monsters like Medusa, Scylla and Charybdis, and Cerberus in Greek mythology. A Filipino child’s early reading list is completed by the pantheon of Philippine mythological creatures — the aswang, manananggal and tikbalang.

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Monsters don’t disappear, they just take on different forms
Jul 7, 2024

Reconsidering Emilio Aguinaldo through artifacts

In a recent lecture, historian Ambeth Ocampo challenged his audience to look at Emilio Aguinaldo -- “the hero we love to hate,”-- in a different light as he discussed the Philippine flag, the national anthem, and a narra table

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Reconsidering Emilio Aguinaldo through artifacts