A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

The New York Times recently opened up most of its previously for-pay archives to the public. A quick search of the Philippines in the search bar revealed that the Philippines was first mentioned by the Gray Lady in September 26, 1851. Of course it was mentioned in the context of Spain and her empire.

For the next 41 years, the NYT reported on the Philippines as a Spanish outpost and the occasional subject of ’scientific gossip’ (the discovery of “Alpi, the highest mountain in the Philippines is 10,824 feet high.” in February 11, 1883) or of volcanic disasters and plague (”Four thousand natives have died of Asiatic cholera in a single Philippine Province, but
the epidemic is now decreasing. There have been only six fatal cases among European residents.” - August 27, 1882)

There’s a ton of interesting stuff in the archive, especially beginning in 1892 (”Worst Governed People; They Are The Inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. Priest Rule of the Dark Ages Ramp — Dominicans Claim the Site of Kalomba — Soldiers Burn the Town and Send the Citizens to a Penal Colony” — July 18, 1892). It tracked the Philippine Revolution from ‘insurrection’ to ‘revolt’ (1896) to ‘rebellion’ to ‘war’ (1897). It’s also surprising to note (to me at least) Japan reportedly sent troops to the Philippines during the Revolution (Dec, 1896) and that it was looking at the Philippines with keen interest. There was even fears in the US that Japan and Spain would form an alliance against them (July, 1897).

But what truly caught my eye was the report of Jose Rizal’s widow arriving in Philadelphia in September 1897 to “Avenge Her Husband” as the headline dramatically announced. She said that she was there in the US to rally support and gather materials for the revolutionaries in the Manila and to seek the support of the Cuban junta, themselves fighting against the Spanish rule.

It was interesting because the woman’s name wasn’t Josephine Bracken, who was popularly believed to be Rizal’s wife. The woman in Philadelphia was called Marina Comenol Orbi Hozae Rizal. (Yeah first time I’ve heard of the name too.) She seemed to have passed on information about Rizal’s final hours — from how they met and fell in love to his final hours where he refused to barter his freedom in exchange for betraying the revolution. They supposedly met in the university where she was a student and where Rizal was the President of Manila University. I’ve read about scammers pretending to be Rizal’s widow but I have never encountered this name before. One thing for sure, Rizal was never a president of a university in Manila.

Go and explore the New York Times archive. Make sure have a pdf reader installed with your browser. And if it asks for a login username, just pick one from bugmenot.com. I wish Philippine newspapers would archive their stories properly and offer it to the public. It’s a great source of information especially for students and enthusiasts of history.