To complete the series on “The Battle of Lepanto”, I have to include this beautiful poem by G.K. Chesterton which provides a series of poetic visions of the major characters in the battle, particularly the leader of the Christian forces, Don Juan of Austria. It closes with verses linking Miguel de Cervantes, who fought … More The Battle of Lepanto – Part 4
Continuing on the blog from last week, I hope you are not getting a nightmare looking at these photos. If you do, I apologize. Who is Apo Anno? Apo Anno, a tribal leader in the Benguet province, was a descendant of a 12th century Kankanaey hunter who lived to a ripe old age … More Apo Anno – A Philippine National Treasure
Kabayan is one of the oldest towns in Benguet, situated in a wide valley surrounded by mountains in Northern Luzon. It was recognized as the center of Ibaloi culture. Out of several tribes in this area, the Ibaloi tribe was the only people to practice mummification as a way of preserving their dead … More Kabayan and its Centuries-old Mummies
The landmark discovery announced in Nature on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 makes Luzon the third Southeast Asian island in the last 15 years to bear signs of ancient human activity. Homo luzonensis, a newly discovered human specie unknown to science, was found in Callao Cave in Peñablanca, Cagayan in northern Philippines. The specie is … More A New Specie of Ancient Human Discovered in the Philippines
Before there was Philippines, there was already Butuan, a formal settlement along the banks of Agusan River which maybe the site of the oldest human settlement in the Philippines. Being an archipelago, the Philippines from the beginning is a seafaring nation. Because of Butuan’s location, the Butuanos were skilled boat builders and expert seafarers. Being … More Butuan, the oldest Philippine settlement and the Balangays
Photo Credit – google.com What is Wallace’s Line? The Wallace Line runs up the Lombok Strait between Indonesian Islands Bali and Lombok. It continues north through the Makassar Strait that separates Borneo(Kalimantan) and Celebes (Sulawesi), turns east into the Pacific and then back north again to encompass the Philippines. The so-called Wallace’s line refers to … More Plant and Animal Beginnings in the Philippines
Archeological evidence suggests that the Negritos, a broad term for indigenous people of dark complexions, reached the Philippines over 30,000 years ago by a land bridge from the Asian mainland following the migration of animals. Excavation at Palawan’s Tabon cave yielded a human skull carbon-dated to 22,000 B.C. About 10,000 years ago, the ice … More The Philippines and Its People
The Philippines was once a part of mainland Asia. The first sign of man in the Philippines dates back to at least 35,000 years ago. Since prehistoric times, the islands have been populated by peoples of the Malay race. Most of them lived simply in scattered villages at river mouths. Their houses were made of … More Philippines’ Early History – Human Migration
About two million years ago, the land was already formed. One large land area reached out into the Pacific Ocean from the Asian continent. Only the South China, Sulu and Celebes basins remained as seas. But events were taking shape in the earth’s polar region, causing three successive ice ages which lowered sea levels … More The Ice Age – Part 1
The Philippines is a country full of legends. Filipinos love legends and myths and they believe in superstitions. The legend of the sea and the sky (posted on Sept 2, 2017) is one of them. In truth, there were only the huge body of water, the mighty ocean which would later be called the Pacific … More How the Philippine Islands were formed
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