CHAPTER V

CRITICAL EVALUATION AND PROMOTION OF LOCAL AND ORAL HISTORY,

MUSEUMS, HISTORICAL SHRINES, CULTURAL PERFORMANCES, INDIGENOUS
PRACTICES, RELIGIOUS RITES, AND RITUALS, ETC.

Learning Objectives:
1. Document the local histories, cultural shrines, and festivities as well as
local culture and traditions.
2. Show concern through promoting and preserving the historical and
cultural heritage.

It is unfortunate that a vast number of Filipino laymen lack interest or

understanding of Philippine history. This may have been brought about by an
inadequate background in history and a general tendency on the part of the people
to be less conscious of the value of the past to their present life. Or, maybe, such
ignorance or apathy may have resulted from the dearth of materials, especially on
local history which is closer to the hearts and minds of the people (Funtecha, The
News online: Iloilo News and Panay News, 2002-2006).
The critical importance of local history in the understanding and the writing of
a truly national history cannot just be ignored. The rationale behind the need to come
up with local history is the realization of the unrepresentative and limited nature of
Philippine history. What is generally considered to be the history of the Filipino
people is essentially the history of Central Luzon, most especially the Tagalogs.
Before there was national history, there was local history. National histories
sprouted from contributions from local history Local history should follow a common
or a national pattern.
A. LOCAL HISTORY
✓ The study of history of a particular community or a smaller unit of geography.
✓ It has broad and dynamic field of inquiry that aims to have an in-depth
understanding of a certain locale.
✓ It covers recent studies on local institutions like churches, local economies,
local heroes, and local events.
✓ Serves as a balancer of these tendencies by showing the peculiarities in certain
locales in a particular nation, region, or continent.
✓ History is defined as an organized record of a meaningful past. It is a reservoir
of local data and memories of events, realties, and things that provide the
essences of local life.
✓ From this inexhaustible reservoir people can draw patriotic strength in times of
crisis, inspiration in moments of despair and directions in times of ambiguity
and dilemma.
✓ Facilitates a historical narrative emanating from the people.
✓ Studying local history shall provide new provisions and perspectives on the
already established national history.
Local history is history in the local context
✓ The study of local history provides the foundation and the substance of true
national history
✓ It is more than the study of towns, provinces and regions of the Philippines and
the people who live there
✓ It provides us with the documentation and analysis of the broad processes
which are important to the life of the people
✓ Local history enriches our understanding of our national history
Local histories are basic to autonomy
✓ Autonomy implies an exercise of freedom with limited control or influence
from the national government
✓ It provides more room for local initiatives to develop and for local potentials to
progress
 ✓ More importantly it encourages creative and innovative responses to
development with people with special talents and potentials
Local history provides the vital task of putting the meaningful essence of
community in space and time
✓ Here we can see community life in the context of social perspective
✓ The Philippines has a strong and varied source of local history because it has
16 regions, 78 provinces, 1,537 municipalities, 69 cities, 41,925 barangays and
over a hundred ethno linguistic groups
Local Histories are fundamental to National Interests
✓ By their very nature both help unite the nation as an example of unity in
diversity
✓ National history seeks to bring together all diverse groups
✓ National interest by reason of national purpose and will should represent the
various localities, sectors, and ethnic groups from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi,
regardless of creed, origin, race, and gender.
✓ Local history is expectedly closest to the people's heart and consciousness
because it reflects their own identity, experiences, and aspirations. It is the
interpretative recreation of the past of their locality, embracing its political,
social, economic, and cultural life. This includes the development of the
institutions in the geographical unit and the successes and failures of its
people. Thus, to understand and, consequently, appreciate Philippine history,
one should first know the history of his own locality and its contributions to
regional development and over-all nation-building. One may never achieve a
fuller understanding of the Filipinos and the Philippines if he failed to study the
history of his/her town, city, province, or region.
B. ORAL HISTORY
Oral history is important during scarcity in written sources, historical
documents, and other material evidence. This method uses oral accounts of historical
subjects, witnesses, members of the community and the like. Oral history primarily
relies on memory. The informant will recount his experiences to the researcher as he
remembers it. In other instances, the informant will relay what he had learned from his
ancestors or older members of the community to the researcher.
Moreover, one cannot discount the importance of oral history in writing the
history of the underprivileged sectors and communities like urban poor and
indigenous groups where records are undocumented. The only alternative for an
historian to capture this information particularly the experiences and the collective
past of the communities is through utilizing oral history.
Hence, local, and oral history are important endeavors in the development and
enrichment in the discipline of history. Furthermore, these efforts will fill the gaps in
the discipline by highlighting alternative areas of study and methodology toward a
more holistic, inclusive, and progressive study of the past.
Nota bene:
✓ Doing local history is not an easy task; historian often faced challenges in
locating sources for local and specific objects of the study.
✓ One important historical methodology to local history is oral history.
✓ Local and oral history are important endeavors in the development and
enrichment in the discipline of history.
C. INTERACTING WITH HISTORY THROUGH HISTORICAL SHRINES AND
MUSEUMS
In studying history, research is a valuable tool to learn more about the
experiences of the nation. There exist venues where we can experience history, and
these are through historical shrines and museums. These venue for living history
provide us certain level of authority and trustworthiness that could impact the way we
view the past. Through interacting with artifacts such as World War II rifle or clothes of
a Filipino hero, we can better imagine the past beyond the mere letter and words we
read and painstakingly memorized. These tangible objects are reconstructions of the
past; experiencing these artifacts directly is the next best thing to being there when a
particular event happened or when a historical personality lived (Candelaria, 2018).
Historical shrines or landmarks and museums serves as portals to the past.
These are important places to visit for the researcher or students in enhancing their
understanding on local histories, nevertheless, visiting these places entails
preparations. Historical shrines and landmarks will further enrich your understanding
about the past. Landmarks are structures built by our ancestors embodying the past
that enriches our lives and enhances our understanding of history while creating for
us a sense of continuity. In addition, museums are institutions created in public
interest wherein visitors foster deeper understanding and promote the enjoyment
and sharing authentic cultural and natural heritage. According to Senator Loren
Legarda, “Museums are vessels in such a way that they house our historical, scientific,
artistic, and cultural artifacts and treasures everyone to appreciate, study, and
understand. They are repositories of the people’s skills, talents and knowledge, and
ways of life in the past that we need to preserve and pass on the future generation.”
Shrines and museums are more interactive now, aided by available
technologies. Hence, visiting shrines/landmarks and museums is a great chance to
analyze the artifacts since artifacts are also texts that are open for reading,
interpretation, criticism, and evaluation.
D. CULTURAL PERFORMANCE
An important subject and observable unit in the study of culture and society.
This includes events that occur in everyday life in which a culture’s values are
displayed for their perpetuation: such as rituals, parades, religious ceremonies, and
community festivals.
E. INDIGENOUS PRACTICES; RELIGIOUS RITES AND RITUALS
These are the practices of the remote communities that continued to thrive in
their relatively remote yet self-sufficient communities in which they can uphold their
traditions as reflected in their music, dances, rituals, folklore, arts, agricultural and
forestry practices.