Five UST Department of History faculty members led by its Chair Assoc. Prof. Archie B. Resos, Ph.D., presented their research findings at the 2019 Philippine Historical Association (PHA) Annual Conference held from September 19 to 21, 2019 at the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (NISMED), University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City. The conference theme was “Facing the Challenges of Historical Distortions and Opening New Directions in History.”
Resos presented his paper titled “Political Culture and the Rise of Partisan Politics: Distortion and Direction of Philippine Democracy (1897-2019)” emphasizing the role of political culture in hampering democracy in the Philippines. Asst. Prof. Janet C. Atutubo, Ph.D., discussed “PEFTOK: An Oral History of the Filipino Soldiers in the Korean War” which pointed out the oral accounts of Filipino expeditionary forces during the Korean War. Asst. Prof. Isabel Annesley S. Abao, Ph.D., presented her paper titled “Historical Awareness of Selected Students of UST: Implications to the Revival of Philippine History in Junior High School,” stressing the significance of restoring the teaching of Philippine History in the High School level.
Assoc. Prof. Arlene D. Calara, Ph.D., presented a paper on the abuses committed by the Americans in its various war undertakings in Asia, while Ms. Irene G. Borras provided the history of Chinese settlement in the Philippines with her research.
The Philippine Historical Association which organizes this annual conference is a professional and honor association of historians, history teachers, and researchers in the Philippines founded in 1955 by Encarnacion Alzona, Gregorio Zaide, Nicolas Zafra, Celeodonio Resurrection, Teodoro Agoncillo, Esteban de Ocampo and Fr. Horacio del a Costa. The primary aim of the conference is to identify the distortions brought by the proliferation of fake news, alternative facts and misrepresentation of reality and face the challenges of the misuse of history.
