The Untold Story of the Catalans in Philippine History
When will the Catalan’s contribution to Philippine history be published?
With the recent December 13, 2011 launching of Jose R. Rodriguez and Dr. Lino Dizon’s “Cruceiro-Spanish Galicia At Some Crossroads in Philippine History and Culture 1521-1898,” (see http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=756845&publicationSubCategoryId=64 and http://e-dyario.com/actualidad/2011/12/15/cruceiro-de-lino-l-dizon-y-jose-r-rodriguez-un-estudio-de-lo-que-la-region-espanola-de-galicia-ha-aportado-a-filipinas/), the Galicians finally found their voice in Philippine history. Congratulations to the Center for Kapampangan Studies of the Holy Angel University (http://www.hau.edu.ph/kapampangan_center/index.php) and the Centro Gallego de Filipinas for this pioneering work. Note: Aside from the Philippines, many Galicians immigrated to Argentina, see Centro Gallego de Buenos Aires (https://sites.google.com/site/ancesgal/acercadeloslibros).
The authors during the book launching: Image Source: e-dyario.com
A few years ago, Marciano R. de Borja’s (2005) “Basques in the Philippines” told the stories of the Basques families who immigrated to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. Plentiful online materials regarding Basques in the Philippines can be found like “Basque Men in the Philippines,” (http://hedatuz.euskomedia.org/2978/1/07535538.pdf) “Basque Street Names in Manila,” (http://www.euskomedia.org/PDFAnlt/congresos/07/07551552.pdf), and the “Philippine Villages or Towns with Basque Names,” (http://www.euskomedia.org/PDFAnlt/congresos/07/07549550.pdf).
The re-appreciation of the role of immigrants from the autonomous regions of Spain in the history of the Philippines will not be complete if the stories of the Catalans remain untold. Are you a descendant of a Catalan? Are you aware of any published materials regarding the Catalans in the Philippines? Would you be interested in sharing your family’s Catalan history in the Philippines? When will the Catalan’s stories be heard and appreciated?
From a descendant of Jose Mills y Barral, from Baga, Barcelona, Spain (a story in writing, waiting to be told, and inked).
Image: Jose Mills y Barral.
Additional Resources:
For those interested in learning more about Catalan history and culture, please visit “Institut d’Estudis Catalans“(http://www.iec.cat/activitats/entrada.asp). Note: Activate google translate function to convert Catalan into English.
[...] publications on immigrants to the Philippines from the Basque and Galician regions of Spain (see http://curatormuseo.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/the-untold-story-of-the-catalans-in-philippine-history/). As an example, in his book, Basques in the Philippines, Marciano R. de Borja, listed some of the [...]