My New Year's Reflections
Shifting Major, Shifting World: A Continuing Discourse (1975-2025)
Over the past several years, it has become my personal custom to engage in a fifty-year retrospective before the conclusion of each year. I document my reflections, composing narratives that trace the progression of my life, drawing connections among significant experiences, ultimately culminating in the publication of a retrospective post on social media.
In 2022, for instance, with growing anticipation for our 2023 Golden Anniversary Grand Reunion and Homecoming at our high school alma mater in the Philippines, I reflected upon the remarkable qualities of our 1973 graduating class. Our senior year coincided with the imposition of Martial Law under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.; as we parted ways with our classmates, he was in office. Notably, for our fiftieth reunion, Bongbong Marcos Jr. had just been elected President of the Republic of the Philippines, thus marking a unique historical symmetry for our milestone gathering.
The terms historical symmetry, synchronicity, and serendipity aptly encapsulate my experiences, pursuits, and achievements in 2025. Reflecting on 1975, I recognize that a pivotal change in academic focus contributed to significant global developments.
In 2025, my qualifications as a public historian were instrumental in two major initiatives. The first involved the Shaping Legacy Project of SoMa Pilipinas, which was supported by a grant from the San Francisco Art Commission. The second project entailed collaboration with the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Legacy International Foundation on the Rizal Monument Movement, which aims to honor Dr. Rizal's legacy in America and the global diaspora.
In 1975, during my third year at the University of the Philippines Diliman, I decided to switch my major from BS Mining Engineering to AB History. This decision was influenced by hearing Professor Renato Constantino’s lecture at the FC Conference on Partisan Scholarship, where he emphasized the need for historians to present history from the Filipino people’s perspective.
The year 2025 will mark fifty years since Renato Constantino’s landmark book “A Past Revisited” was first published. Looking back, while I excelled in mathematics and physics throughout high school and faced expectations from family and peers to pursue engineering, my idealism as a youth activist initially led me to mining engineering. At the time, lingering questions occupied my mind: Who would take charge of managing the country’s natural resources once American corporations withdrew after the end of the parity rights agreement with the U.S.? I also believed then that the collective struggle would eventually overcome U.S. imperialism, domestic feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism.
As a high school student, I grew weary of history textbooks by Zaide, Capino, and Gagelonia, feeling that their portrayal lacked true nationalism and instead perpetuated colonial attitudes through subtle and explicit messages about identity, aspirations, and historical awareness. These books often depicted colonizers as benevolent modernizers and upheld Western standards of beauty and achievement.
Outside the classroom, however, I often revisited Renato Constantino’s essays—such as “The Mis-Education of the Filipino,” “Veneration Without Understanding,” “Origin of the Myth,” and “Dissent and Counter-Consciousness”—which I discovered after joining SDK in high school.
Simply put, I felt strongly opposed to U.S. imperialism and the Americanization of Filipino identity. My devotion and sense of duty were summed up in “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa.”
This mindset persisted even when I migrated in 1984, though I left reluctantly. Like many immigrants, I found myself searching for SARILI (self) KAPWA (shared identity), and BAYAN (homeland) in a new country. While longing for the Philippines remained strong, so did my desire to belong in America.
Eventually, I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where I rediscovered my passion for teaching history. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
What I considered high point in my life in 2025 is my venturing in teaching and promoting historical consciousness and critical thinking.
For the Shaping Legacy project of SoMa Pilipinas, I presented and facilitated three story circles.
• August 13, Scripted War, Silenced Victory at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
• October 26, Shaping Legacy Project: The Dewey Monument and US Empire, at SFSU, Ethnic Studies Building
• October 30, From Morro Bay to Manila Bay: A Filipino American History Month Discussion on San Francisco's Monuments at Bayanihan Community Center.
On April 24, 2025, I attended a community meeting organized by SoMa Pilipinas and St. Patrick’s Church, where a proposal was presented to install a six-foot bronze statue of Dr. Jose Rizal in the Filipino Cultural Heritage District. The initiative, led by the Dr. Jose Rizal Legacy International Foundation, was outlined by Atty. Elaine Antonio Bourdeaux, CEO of the Foundation and sculptor of the proposed monument to be unveiled on July 27, 2025, in Colorado Springs.
Following Ms. Bourdeaux’s presentation, I addressed the attendees and emphasized the significance of establishing a Rizal monument in San Francisco, noting that Dr. Jose Rizal arrived in the city on April 28, 1888—137 years prior to the upcoming anniversary on April 28, 2025. This visit marked the beginning of Rizal’s initial journey to the United States, which spanned 21 days across the country.
Subsequently, the Foundation invited me to participate in their inaugural webinar, “Rizal in America,” scheduled for June 19, 2025. During my presentation, I highlighted three milestone events: the birth of Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal on June 19, 1861, in Calamba, Laguna; Juneteenth, observed annually on June 19, commemorating Union General Gordon Granger's announcement of emancipation in Galveston, Texas in 1865; and the webinar itself, serving as the launch of an educational campaign for the Rizal Monument Movement in America.
In 2025, I launched “Monuments and Movements, Markers and Framers” as part of my work with SoMa Pilipinas and the San Francisco Arts Commission’s “Shaping Legacy” project. This effort re-evaluates public monuments around the city—such as the Dewey Tower honoring the Battle of Manila Bay—and highlights how monuments influence shared memory and community identity.
At the kickoff event for the Rizal Legacy Monument in Daly City, which took place at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco on December 29—the 129th anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal's death—I discussed the significance of honoring the Filipino national hero through public art in Daly City. Highlighting its importance, I explained how this project creates an opportunity to weave Filipino heritage into America250 celebrations and the Shaping Legacy program in San Francisco, strengthening the visibility of the Filipino experience within the wider American story.
Looking ahead to 2026 for Filipinos in America:
In 2026, efforts to install a Rizal Monument in Daly City will coincide with both the 130th anniversary of Rizal’s martyrdom and the U.S. Semiquincentennial (America250). The America250 initiative, organized by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission, is designed to facilitate a yearlong national reflection on values, history, and the contributions of diverse communities.
This date also marks the 130th anniversary of the Cry of Pugad-Lawin, which signaled the start of the Philippine Revolution against Spain. While Rizal neither led nor participated directly in the uprising, he served as its intellectual and moral guide; his philosophies inspired the revolutionaries, and his execution energized their cause. Rizal’s vision has continued to inform foundational goals for nationhood, including:
• Establishing a nation through education, dignity, and civic virtue
• Developing a Filipino identity grounded in shared history rather than colonial definitions
• Advocating self-governance based on ethical responsibility
Shifting, Major, Shifting World: A Continuing Discourse (1975-2025)
In 1975, I transitioned my undergraduate focus from engineering to a Bachelor of Arts in History, thereby altering my career trajectory and undergoing a significant adjustment upon relocating to the United States. By 2025, renewed commitment and enthusiasm have propelled me to further pursue my central objectives: promoting historical awareness, fostering critical thinking, and encouraging collective action to address global societal challenges, with particular emphasis on complexities present in both the Philippines and the United States.
This ongoing discourse is rooted in a deep sense of connection and aspiration toward one's homeland. This is what I call LONGING and BELONGING for a Home.