For almost 50 years since its existence, Silliman University’s Master of Arts in History program has produced a plethora of graduates. It started in 1969 together with the other MA degree programs like Education, English, Nursing, and Sociology-Anthropology.
Before the MA History program began, there were theses that were already done which were particularly germane to historical research; these were not MA History theses, but MA in Education theses. Bhadra Dulyachinda, from Thailand, wrote the first one about the history of Chulalankarana University: 1902-1941. Others followed like, Caridad Rodriguez’ A Critical Analysis of Textbook in World History with a View to Proposed Revision and Agaton Pal’s A Proposed Unit about Communism to be incorporated in the course Philippine History and Government.
Both Agaton Pal and Caridad Rodriguez, it must be noted, were professors at Silliman University. Dr. Pal later on became dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and eventually specialized in Sociology, while Professor Rodriguez became a notable local historian and faculty of the History & Political Science department. She also has written a four-volume book on Negros Oriental’s history.
The first graduate of the MA History program of Silliman was Manuel Tawagon. His thesis, perhaps befitting as the first MA History thesis produced in Silliman, was a historical narrative with a national scope titled The Governor General in Spanish Philippines: An Administrative History.
The study looked into the administrative role or function of the governor general in the Philippines and his influence to the way the Philippines was governed. It must be noted that the scope of the study was for the whole three hundred thirty-three years that the Spaniards have colonized us, and much emphasis was given to, according to Tawagon, the “unexplored knowledge scattered in different sources pertaining to the subject.” His adviser was Dr. Leslie Bauzon, a Silliman BA History alumnus who later on became a prominent historian and dean of the UP Diliman’s College of Social Sciences & Philosophy from 1983 to 1989.
In 1980, after almost a decade, Prof. Carlos Magtolis Jr., who was a history professor and later on dean of the SU College of Arts & Sciences in, pioneered the writing of local history in the MA History program of Silliman University. His work, titled Protestantism in Guihulngan: 1901-1959, focused on the United Church of Christ in the Philippines – its early beginnings and challenges, “the nature of the church organizations as rural community… and the role of American Presbyterian Missionaries… in the establishment of a strong protestant enclave in Negros Oriental.”
His thesis was the first work of local history in the MA History program of Silliman University, but it was not the last; matter-of-factly, it became the impetus for the MA History program’s approach towards local history.
Many eager graduate students in history continued with what Prof. Magtolis started – thus, came in a cavalcade of local history write-ups that can be categorized into four themes: a) Political History b) Biography [Political/Cultural] c) Institutional History, and d) Socio-cultural History.
At present, the MA History program of Silliman is known for its predilection for political history [as discussed in my previous column]. Graduate school professors for the MA History program have invariably encouraged their students to pursue their theses in this particular field. As a result, the bulk of the MA History theses consists mainly of political histories – i.e., political histories of cities and towns inside and outside Negros Oriental, and political biographies.
In 1993, Dr. Earl Jude Paul Cleope pioneered the writing of the political history of cities and towns after he wrote his thesis on A Political History of the Municipality of Siaton, Negros Oriental from 1948-1992.
His framework looked into the achievements and contributions of Siaton’s municipal mayors from 1948 to 1992. The achievements are measured by indicators that Dr. Cleope made and they include: infrastructure projects, educational services, municipal income, and peace and order. Aside from enumerating the achievements, Dr. Cleope also synthesized and compared each mayor’s achievement in the said municipality.
After his pioneering work, the rest simply followed suit; the others, however, had a few modifications adding achievement indicators of mayors in terms of tourism, public services, agriculture and fisheries, and income generated.
At the end of the day, it must be pointed out that most of these political histories simply follow and top-down approach in writing history, as the focus is more on the achievements or accomplishments of mayors. This is contrary to the bottom-up approach – or history from below, which was popularized by historian Reynaldo Ileto, who was inspired by another great historian, Teodoro Agoncillo, in Philippine History. That approach or framework has not yet been used by MA History graduate students of Silliman University, let alone Negros Oriental State University.
From political histories of towns and cities, we now go to political biographies. The pioneer to this approach was the late Prof. Victor Emmanuel Enario, who used to teach at the History-Political Science Department of Silliman University.
His biographical study was titled The Political Career of Jose Pro Teves: 1947-1978. Here, Professor Enario traced back Mayor Jo Pro’s early years and the factors that led him to enter politics. Furthermore, he also looked into the contributions, achievements, and challenges that Mayor Jo Pro faced during his nineteen years of public service. He used four achievement indicators – mostly derived from Dr. Cleope’s previous model – which includes education, healthcare, infrastructure, and peace and order.
After Enario, many other political biographies followed suit like that on Cong. Ramon M. Durano of Danao City, Sultan Omar Kiram, and my thesis on Governor Mariano F. Perdices. As mentioned in my previous column, however, there is still much to be done apropos of the writing of political biographies especially here in Negros Oriental since, as far as I know, the only written political biographies are that of Mayor Jo Pro Teves and Governor Mariano Perdices.
Suffice it to say, the foundation of writing local history has undoubtedly been initiated by the History-Political Science Department of Silliman University.
Meanwhile, Negros Oriental State University, with its own Social Science Department and undergraduate and graduate History programs, is following Silliman’s lead with a few theses written on social and institutional histories. It is hoped that in the near future, more students will enroll in these programs to help produce more local histories in the future. For the writing of local history, albeit sometimes given less attention by some historians due to its “simplistic approach”, will be an important area of study that will undergird national history.
Local history undoubtedly adds to the historical consciousness of Filipinos and, as historian Resil Mojares averred, “it is not something realized overnight or mandated from above but worked out of experience of the people themselves, in the various localities that make up the nation.”
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Author’s email: [email protected]
