PODKAS

A discussion on the quintessential character of Filipino politics would be remiss if it did not start with the true populist original, Manuel Luis Quezon. He was so legendary a politician that he has a city and a province named after him, among others. Who is Quezon, and how do we characterize his politics? Where did he stand in arguably the most critical issue of his time: independence from the U...

We enter the 20th century in this season as we talk about McKinley's Benevolent Assimilation proclamation and the underside of the US "civilizing mission" in the Philippines. What reasons did the United States use to rationalize its continued presence in the islands? Was the new colonial order "benevolent?" Let's find out. For more PODKAS, visit www.podkas.org .

Happy independence day! What better way to spend this day by interrogating one of the most enduring controversies in our history: Rizal's retraction. An issue that involves scant eyewitness accounts, allegations of forgery, masonic affiliations, the Catholic church, and many other aspects that needs to be unpacked, especially in light of recently found evidence. Did Rizal retract? And if he did, d...

While the Philippine Revolution remains a centerpiece of our national narrative, some aspects are shrouded in mystery. Some factual information, like the exact date and place of the Cry of Rebellion, could easily be dismissed as inconsequential because we all know that it happened anyway; we just can't tell exactly when. But History demands details. In this episode, we look at the multiple and var...

We look back on the events of May 2021: the Israel-Palestine conflict, Duterte’s debate challenge and the West Philippine Sea, the continuing (mis)management of the pandemic in the country, and flexible learning. We are joined by our friend, Prof. Enrico “Mico” Gloria of the Department of Political Science, U.P. Diliman. Visit our website, www.podkas.org , for content related to the show.

In 2022, we will commemorate the sesquicentennial of the GOMBURZA's execution, a watershed event that had a direct and deep impact on the Filipinos who will influence and lead the Philippine Revolution years later. But the martyrdom of the three priests could only be understood by discussing the event that led to their execution, and that is the Cavite Mutiny in 1872. What really happened in this...

One of the most enduring and perhaps, heated debates in Philippine history is ascertaining the site of the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines, and 2021 marks 500 years since this historical event for Catholic Filipinos. Using our knowledge of history and historiography, let us look at the two traditions claiming to be the sites of the first Mass—Butuan and Limasawa—and try to see what’s the de...

Our newest season is here! We open Contested Philippine Histories with a historical problem that made the news rounds recently: The Battle of Mactan. Was LapuLapu a Tausug from the "Eastern Kingdom of Sulu"? Did he fight off invaders because of freedom? Was he the middle-aged and muscular warrior in the popular imagination? And did he really kill Magellan? That's a lot of questions, but if these a...

A new season of PODKAS is coming very soon! Starting May 15, we will tackle controversies, hoaxes, scandals, and problems in Philippine history in Contested Philippine Histories, PODKAS Season 3!   Follow us on our social media pages: Facebook , Twitter , Instagram . Subscribe to our Youtube channel , and visit our website www.podkas.org for more content and resources.

We can't let April go by just like that. Let's talk about #PatayNaBa, the continuing saga of the West Philippine Sea, the bright spot that is the community pantries mushrooming all over the country, and the 500 years of the Battle of Mactan commemoration hijacked by political interests through wild historical claims. To help us unpack a month bursting at the seams, we are joined by queer politics...

At the turn of the twenty-first century, neoliberalism facilitated the expansion of an economy that made the rich richer and worsened inequality, resulting to the masses suffering unemployment and lack of job security, privatization of social services, and abject poverty. Against this backdrop rose Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada, a movie-star turned leader that was loved by the people but was remo...

After the historic and momentous event that was EDSA People Power Revolution, the Philippines was on everyone's lips, especially Western democracies that saw the peaceful revolution as an opportunity to highlight the triumph of democracy over authoritarianism. President Corazon Aquino was invited to deliver a speech at a joint session of the United States Congress. The post-martial law government,...

Before Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, he had already identified what reasons he would use to rationalize such declaration. He detailed these reasons in Proclamation No. 1081, or the Declaration of Martial Law, a document that reveals, among other things, the many issues, most Marcos created himself, that necessitated authoritarian rule. We discuss all these and more in this episode. For more...

March flew past us by yet felt unnecessarily long. For our Women's Month episode, we tackled the biggest issues of the month, and boy, was that jampacked: Anti-Asian hate in the United States, Bloody Sunday the continuing anti-communist campaign in the Philippines, Evergiven and the Suez Canal obstruction, the growing tensions in the West Philippine Sea, and the continuing COVID-19 saga in the cou...

The Philippine postwar years are often overlooked in history classrooms, but understanding this period is crucial to contextualize how we do politics today. In this episode, we discuss one of the most prominent Philippine presidents of this period: Ramon Magsaysay, and the increasingly complex dynamics of US-Philippine relations with the Cold War as a backdrop. Whose guy really is Magsaysay? Let's...

In 1943, almost two years after Japan launched a surprise attack, the Philippines was "granted" independence under Japan. A new republic was inaugurated, the Second Philippine Republic, led by President Jose P. Laurel. How did this republic come to be, and how were politics under the auspices of Japan? Filipinos have indeed longed for independence, but is this the envisioned independence? We'll an...

In this episode, we explore the dynamics of US hegemony in the Philippines as they occupied the country at the turn of the twentieth century by reading the Commission on Independence's petition letter, Filipino grievances against Governor Wood . Of particular interest in this period are the quest for independence through political negotiations and the clash between the Filipino political elite and...

What does it mean to be free? In this episode, we demystify some of the issues surrounding Philippine independence—its symbolisms, silences, and misconceptions—by reading the Declaration of Philippine Independence, authored by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista. Visit www.podkas.org for more resources and information about the show, and like, follow, and subscribe to our socials for updates.

For the February edition of our monthly WRAP UP , we talk about five news breakers: Myanmar coup, the lumad school raids, the continuing vaccine politics in the Philippines, the MGCQ recommendation in NCR, and the PDEA-PNP misencounter. We explore these news with our special guest, Prof. Jio Guiang of #ThrowbackKasaysayan. Want more? Visit our website, www.podkas.org for more episodes, resources,...

The answer to this episode's question is not as straightforward as some people think, and there needs to be some contextualization on specific events that led to the execution of Bonifacio, particularly, the politics between Magdalo and Magdiwang, the two influential factions of the Katipunan in Cavite. We shed light on one of Philippine history's most contentious controversies by reading Emilio A...

Aside from writing the Kartilya ng Katipunan , Emilio Jacinto also wrote Liwanag at Dilim, which detailed the political philosophy of the Katipunan as a movement and an organization, and served as proof why Jacinto has been known to be the "brains of the revolution." We talk about this and more in this episode of PODKAS. Visit our website, www.podkas.org for more information and resources on Phili...

In this episode, we zone in on the propaganda movement and arguably the wittiest of its firebrands, Marcelo H. Del Pilar. His work, Dasalan at Tocsohan , parodied Catholic prayers and surely agitated the target of the propaganda movement's criticisms, the friars. Join us as we analyze this primary source and the circumstances surrounding the burgeoning agitation for reform that will lead to revolu...

What's so special about the nineteenth century? Why do scholars call it "the long century," when all centuries are... a hundred years? Why will our great revolutionary heroes appear in this period? And why so many questions? We'll answer all these by reading an outsider's perspective of the Philippines in this century: John Foreman's The Philippine Islands, first published in 1890. Visit our websi...

Today's news is tomorrow's history. In this episode, we discuss some of the issues and events that rocked January 2021, lest we forget. We also welcome the newest member of the PODKAS team, Joselito "Bro" Ebro Jr.! Want more? Visit our website, www.podkas.org for more episodes, resources, and other good stuff.

As soon as a return route from the Philippines to the Americas was established, Spain launched its major scheme to maximize the profits they can get by having a colony in the "far east:" the Galleon Trade. In Manila, galleon ships were loaded mostly with Chinese goods, and traveled to Acapulco, Mexico, crossing the vast Pacific Ocean. Join us as we learn about this trade that lasted for more than...