National Historical Institute (Philippines)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of
Philippine history Earliest hominin activity in the Philippine archipelago is dated back to at least 709,000 years ago. ''Homo luzonensis'', a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known anatomically ...
and
cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
through research,
dissemination To disseminate (from lat. ''disseminare'' "scattering seeds"), in the field of communication, is to broadcast a message to the public without direct feedback from the audience. Meaning Dissemination takes on the theory of the traditional view ...
, conservation, sites management and heraldry works." As such, it "aims to inculcate awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and ideals of our heroes and other illustrious Filipinos, to instill pride in the
Filipino people Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...
and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through the lessons of history."


History

The present day NHCP was established in 1972 as part of the reorganization of government after President
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
' declaration of martial law, but the roots of the institute can be traced back to 1933, when the American colonial
Insular Government The Insular Government of the Philippine IslandsThis form of the name appeared in the titles of U.S. Supreme Court cases, but was otherwise rarely used. See Costas v. Insular Government of the Philippine Islands, 221 U.S. 623, 1911. The Admini ...
first established the Philippine Historical Research and Markers Committee (PHRMC).


Philippine Historical Research and Markers Committee (1933)

The Philippine Historical Research and Markers Committee was created by U.S. Governor General
Frank Murphy William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving ...
, by Executive Order 451, to identify and
mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...
"historic antiquities" in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
as a first step towards their preservation.
Church of San Agustin Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
,
Fort Santiago Fort Santiago ( es, Fuerte de Santiago; fil, Kutà ng Santiago), built in 1571, is a citadel built by Spanish navigator and governor Miguel López de Legazpi for the newly established city of Manila in the Philippines. The defense fortress is lo ...
, Plaza McKinley, Roman Catholic Cathedral of Manila, San Sebastian Church, Concordia College,
Manila Railroad Company The Manila Railroad Company (MRR) was a Filipino state-owned enterprise responsible for the management and operation of rail transport in the island of Luzon. It was originally established by an Englishman named Edmund Sykes as the private Manil ...
, Dr. Lorenzo Negrao, and
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...
(Intramuros site) were among the first structures to be granted markers. The installation of markers were first limited to identify antiquities in Manila; however, the commission's mandate was later expanded to cover the whole of the Philippines. Many markers were destroyed or lost due to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, along with the structures they represent, and many have been replaced by post-war markers. This first committee was composed of American journalist Walter Robb who served as chair; American Anthropologist
H. Otley Beyer Henry Otley Beyer (July 13, 1883 – December 31, 1966) was an American anthropologist, who spent most of his adult life in the Philippines teaching Philippine indigenous culture. A.V.H. Hartendorp called Beyer the "Dean of Philippine ethnolo ...
who would later be known as the father of Philippine Anthropology; Spanish Jesuit Fr. Miguel Selga, SJ; dean Edward Hyde from the
University of the Philippines College of Engineering The College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines Diliman is the largest degree-granting unit in the U.P. System in terms of student population. The college is also known formally as UP COE, COE, and informally as Eng'g (pronounced ...
; and Filipinos
Jaime C. de Veyra Jaime Carlos Diaz de Veyra (November 4, 1873 – March 7, 1963) was a Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Philippine Islands from 1917 to 1923 and the 1st Governor of Leyte from 1906 to 1907. Early life He was ...
,
Conrado Benitez Conrado Benitez (November 26, 1889 – January 4, 1971) is a Filipino statesman, writer, and educator. He founded the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement and was one of the drafters of the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines. Flavier, Juan M. ...
, and Eulogio Balan Rodriguez.


Philippines Historical Committee (1935)

With the establishment of the
Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...
in 1935, the PHRMC was replaced by the Philippines Historical Committee (PHC), which took over the functions as its predecessor, as well as the tasks of repairing government-owned antiquities and acquiring antiquities owned by private individuals. While there are extant historical markers issued in 1941 (e.g.
Magellan's Cross Magellan's Cross Pavilion is a stone kiosk in Cebu City, Philippines. The structure is situated on Plaza Sugbo beside the Basilica del Santo Niño It houses a Christian cross that was planted by explorers of the Spanish expedition of the first ...
,
Basilica del Santo Niño The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú (Minor Basilica of the Holy Child of Cebú), commonly known as Santo Niño Basilica, is a basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in 1565 by Fray Andrés de Urdaneta and Fray Diego de ...
, First shot of the Philippine-American War,
Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...
, & Malacañan Palace), there are no known records of the activities of the committee during the
Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Japones sa Filipinas''; ja, 日本のフィリピン占領, Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the ...
during World War II, as the Committee closed in protest. In the postwar reconstruction years the PHC was busy as there was a government interest in "the reconstruction of the past as a means to form nationhood." Reconstituted six months after
Philippine independence The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
in 1946, the committee was first placed under the Office of the President, and then transferred to the Department of Education. During this time, it installed over 400 historical markers all over the archipelago; named and renamed various streets, plazas, towns and other public places; and acquired places and relics of heroes. As the nation rebuilt itself, a number of other historical commissions were also created by law to commemorate the birth centennials of various Philippine heroes of the late 19th century. All of these commissions were eventually merged into one National Heroes Commission created in 1963.


National Historical Commission (1965)

In July 1965, Congress passed Republic Act No. 4368 that created the National Historical Commission (NHC) and effectively abolished the Philippine Historical Committee and the National Heroes Commission whose functions were delegated to the NHC. Among the functions of the NHC are the following: to publish or cause to have written or published the works of our national heroes and other great and good Filipinos; to compile from various sources here and abroad data on Philippine history and prepare and publish there from source books on Philippine history; to identify, designate and approximately mark historic places in the Philippines and to cause the construction or reconstruction and to maintain and care for national monuments, shrines and historic markers that have been erected; to take charge of all historical activities or projects not otherwise undertaken by any entity of the government; to gather data on historical dates, personages, events, and documents presented for evaluation, and to acquire through purchase, donation, exchange or otherwise, important historical documents and materials; and to encourage researches in Philippine history and the writing and publication of textbooks on the subject, the research and writing of biographies of heroes, accounts of historical events, translations of important scholarly works of Filipinos and foreigners by providing appropriate or adequate incentives.


National Historical Institute (1972)

In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law resulted in a reorganization of government and the renaming of the NHC as the National Historical Institute.


National Historical Commission of the Philippines (2010)

On May 12, 2010, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 10086, or the law reverting the National Historical Institute into its original form as the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.


Current activities

The NHCP still undertakes all the functions of the previous commissions, most notably those of preserving historical sites and structures and serving as lead agency for the commemorations of Independence Day and
Rizal Day Rizal Day (, ; ) is a Philippine national holiday commemorating life and works of José Rizal, a national hero of the Philippines. It is celebrated every December 30, the anniversary of Rizal's 1896 execution at Bagumbayan (present-day Rizal P ...
. Rizal's_execution_site_historical_marker_at_Rizal_Park,_Manila.jpg, Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery historical marker.jpg, Church of the Immaculate Conception of Tamontaka Seal.JPG, Inauguration of the First Philippine Assembly.jpg, BaguioTeacher'sCamp HistoricalMarker BaguioCity Benguet.jpg, TagaytayRidge HistoricalMarker TagaytayCity.jpg,


List of chairpersons

*Walter J. Robb (October 23, 1933 – ) *Eulogio Balan Rodriguez (January 20, 1947 – April 3,1949) * Encarnacion Alzona (September 1966 – July 1967) * Carmen Guerrero Nakpil (July 1967 – 1971) *Esteban A. de Ocampo (1971 – January 1981) *Serafin D. Quiazon (January 1981 – 1997) *Samuel K. Tan (1997–1999) *Pablo S. Trillana III (1999 – April 2002) *
Ambeth R. Ocampo Ambeth R. Ocampo (born 1961 in Manila) is a Filipino public historian, academic, cultural administrator, journalist, author, and independent curator. He is best known for his definitive writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal and o ...
(April 2002 – April 7, 2011) * Maria Serena I. Diokno (April 7, 2011 – November 29, 2016) *Rene R. Escalante (November 29, 2016 – present)


List of executive directors

*Danilo S. Manalang (1997 – December 2002) * Ludovico D. Badoy (December 2002 – February 2020) *Restituto L. Aguilar (February 2020 – present)


See also

*
List of historical markers of the Philippines A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Philippine Historical Association The Philippine Historical Association (''Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas'' in Tagalog) is a professional association of historians in the Philippines and is considered one of the oldest organizations of historians in the country. It was fo ...


Further reading

*Rakkan, S. (2018). ''Prawattisāt niphon Filippin kap chatā kam khō̜ng chāt'' hilippine Historiography and the Searching for the Destiny of the Nation Bangkok: Illuminations Editions. (in Thai)


References


External links

*
NHCP's Interactive Registry of Government Seals
{{Authority control
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
Government agencies established in 1933