John Dominic B.

Sambo November 22,2018

BSIT 1-2 Reading in Philippine History

Summary
Philippine Historiography: Issues and Trends
Raul Roland R. Sebastian

This article provides critical perspective about the development of the Philippine
historiography. The author discussed the conception of the Western/European conception
of history and compares it to the Filipino conception of kasaysayan. The author supports
the idea that the history far from being objective is political. The researcher discussed the
development of Philippine historiography, showcased the effort of the Filipino Historians
that gives privileges to the perspective of the Filipinos, distinguished Filipino and foreign
historians who contributed to the development of the Philippine Historiography and how
the history is written. History is a continuous process thus it can be use as a good vehicle
in directing the future of a country. For Keith Jenkins, history can never be and will never
for one’s self. It is always for one person. The subjects that will be privileged and will be
muted is based on the kind of discourse that the historians are using, discourse is the
organizing and sequencing based on individual outlook and perspective. Many Filipino
Historians contributed to the development of the Philippine historiography that made our
history more understandable. The colonial discourse made the Filipino historians to write
the history of the Philippines using a discourse that will privilege the Filipinos. For
Samuel Tan, history is the achievement of different people in a particular time and not
just the work of a particular group of people in a particular place. After the EDSA
Revolution, the Filipino historians become more aggressive in their efforts to present a
Filipino perspective in writing history. Zeus Salazar and the advocated of the pantayang
pananaw used the Filipinos as a medium of instruction making the definition of the study
of the Philippine history to what the people believe to be important to them. Not only the
Filipino historians contributed to the Philippine historiography but also the foreign
historians. Although most of the writings of the foreign historians are biased and limited,
their writings is indispensable in the understanding of Philippine past as they record their
observations on the life of the early Filipinos and their biased information the provided
can be used by the Filipino Historians to correct the mistakes committed by the foreign
historians.