The Colonial Department

Since 2022, scholar and teacher Carl Lorenz Cervantes has been sharing his thoughts on psychology, folk wisdom, and spirituality through a series of social posts, podcasts, online essays, and even zines. Collectively, he calls this ongoing project “Sikodiwa”, which combines the words for psychology—sikolohiya—and the word for spirit or essence—diwa. His work often frames the concepts of sikolohiyang Pilipino through a very spiritual, very approachable, and very uplifting lens. In 2025, the book version of Sikodiwa was published under North Atlantic Books, based out of Berkley, California. The book is subtitled “Revisiting Filipino Indigenous Wisdom for Personal and Shared Well-being.” But how is wisdom and well-being shaped by history—especially a history characterized by centuries of foreign occupation? That’s what we’re here to talk about with Carl, as we map out that strange place where history and psychology meet.My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected] Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.

The threads that connect the Indian subcontinent to the Philippine archipelago stretch back centuries. Some have been lost to time, survived only by goldwork and the testimonies of Spanish missions. Some survive as actual threads—as textiles that captured the fancy of Philippine residents. Some are remembered as painful history; an invasion engineered by empires, followed by a brutal and fruitless occupation. And some survive to the present day—in the words formed from our throats, and perhaps even the food that passes through our mouths.My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected] Thumbnail: “Knave (Hyder Ali from Mysore).” Metropolitan Museum of Art.References:Rye, Ajit Singh (1981). “The Indian community in the Philippines: A Profile.” Asian Studies, 19, pp. 56-64.Quiason, Serafin (1966). English “Country Trade” with the Philippines: 1644-1765. University of the Philippines Press.Warren, James Francis (2021). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (Fortieth Anniversary Edition). Ateneo de Manila University Press.Coo, Stephanie (2019). Clothing the Colony: Nineteenth Century Philippine Sartorial Culture, 1820-1896. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2025). What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Legarda, Benito Jr. (1999). After the Galleons: Foreign Trade, Economic Change and Entrepreneurship in Nineteenth-Century Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.“Paghinumdom: Retrospection of the Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region. (2022) National Museum of the Philippines. https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/Canta, Marilyn R. (2020) “[Golden Tara of Agusan].” In Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Cultural Center of the Philippines https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/82/2191/Hontiveros, Greg (2017). “Beyond Gold: Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region.” Journal of History, 63(1). https://greghontiveros.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/beyond-gold/La Follette, Cameron; Deur, Douglas; González, Esther (2018). “The Galleon’s Final Journey: Accounts of Ship, Crew, and Passengers in the Colonial Archives.” Oregon Historical Quarterly, 119(2), pp. 210-249.Angara, Edgardo; Madrid, Carlos (2017). The World of the Manila-Acapulco: The Global and Human Context. Vibal Foundation, Inc.“For All the Tea in China: The English East India Company.” (2023) Global History of Capitalism Project, Oxford University. https://globalcapitalism.history.ox.ac.uk/files/case33-englisheastindiacompanypdfKehoe, Marsely (2026). "Gingham." The Dutch Textile Trade Project, edited by Carrie Anderson and Marsely Kehoe. https://dutchtextiletrade.org/textiles/gingham/

As La Union historian Adriel Obar Meimban writes, La Union fits neatly into its geography: bound by rivers on the north and south, by the Cordillera mountain range on the east, and then, on its west side, the pounding surf that has made San Juan one of the country’s most popular tourist spots. But even in its earliest days, the borders of La Union were drawn and redrawn in bureaucratic squabbles. The newly minted province and its neighbors could not decide where one ends and another begins—and caught in the middle of these disputes were ordinary townsfolk whose lives and rhythms would not be dictated by any map.My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected]:Meimban, Adriel Obar (1997). La Union: The Making of a Province, 1850-1921. Rex Printing Company.Newson, Linda A. (2009). Conquest & Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.See, Dexter A. (6 November 2015). “La Union, Ilocos Sur end century-old boundary dispute.” Baguio Herald Express. https://baguioheraldexpressonline.com/la-union-ilocos-sur-end-century-old-boundary-dispute/Fernando, Jeferson B. (17 March 2026). “Privilege Speech — 38th Regular Session of 24th Sangguniang Panlalawigan of La Union.” Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1605457753991907

In 2018, I first encountered The Sulu Zone and Iranun & Balangingi—two important books by James Francis Warren that opened my eyes to the rich, roiling history of the seafaring cultures of the Sulu Sea. His groundbreaking work laid out a way of looking at the past that was neither stoic nor static—a historiography that truly widened horizons.At the launch of his newest book, Valentina Mendoza and the Great Ilocos Flood of 1867, I spoke with Dr. Warren about his long and fruitful career as a scholar. In the thoughtful, hour-long conversation that followed, he dissected for me how the events of his own life shaped his work as a historian. He also went in-depth about his process and his way of thinking about research, whether it was about the polities of the Sulu Sea or the dire climate disasters that hit the Philippines over and over. Along the way, he also told me about many strange and wonderful encounters—among them, a Bajau spirit medium, a soccer-playing military operative, and a terrible flood that stranded him in Manila. Such is the colorful career of a man who made history his lifelong calling.Special thanks to the Ateneo de Manila University Press. My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected] Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.

More than a century ago, the Philippine flag was unfurled for the first time on the biggest sports stage in the world. It was—and is—a matter of great pride to our nation. But it was also an event that was bizarrely marked with mystery and controversy. From disappearing athletes to extra flags, let’s head to Paris in 1924, as we join two sports legends in their journey to the Olympics!The thumbnail image is from the book The First Filipino Olympians, written by Isidra Reyes, Gerard Lico, and Lorenzo Manguiat. Additional audio in this episode is from the Olympics YouTube page.My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected]:Reyes, Isidra; Lico, Gerard; Manguiat, Lorenzo (2025). The First Filipino Olympians: The Untold Story of Dr. Regino Ylanan and David Nepomuceno. Archivo 1984.Gems, Gerald R. (2016). Sport and the American Occupation of the Philippines: Bats, Balls, and Bayonets. Lexington Books.Associated Press (3 July 2024). “American Runners at Olympics Will Not Have to Fight One Another—Paddock Meets Tough Competition.” Spokane Daily Chronicle. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19240703&id=1cBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dfQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5835,617567“Digitalisation.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/ioc/olympic-agenda-reforms/digitalisation“How digital content will shape the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.” (Undated) Reuters Imagen. https://imagen.io/resources/blog/how-digital-content-will-shape-paris-2024-olympic-games“Factsheet: The Games of the II Olympiad, Paris 1900 and the Games of the VIII Olympiad, Paris 1924.” (May 2024) International Olympic CommitteeAnderson, Jess (2024). “How City of Light Changed the Olympics.” BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/extra/fnyzo8vcuz/how-city-of-light-changed-the-olympics#group-section-Medal-haul-Iqe0fKkNCG“Catalon, Fortunato.” (Undated) Philippine Olympians Association. https://www.philippineolympians.org/oly/1956-olympics-melbourne-athletics-catalon-fortunato“Paris 1924 Athletics 200m men Results.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/paris-1924/results/athletics/200m-men“Paris 1924 Athletics 100m men Results.” (Undated) Olympics.com. https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/paris-1924/results/athletics/100m-menHousman, Patty (2 April 2021). “Jack Johnson, the Fight of the Century, and Race in America.” American University, Washington D.C. https://www.american.edu/cas/news/jack-johnson-the-fight-of-the-century-and-race-in-america.cfm

According to historian Linda Newson, Bicol did not bow down easily to the Spanish occupation. For their resistance, they paid a dear price. Population showed Camarines lost almost half of its population from 1591 to 1649. With no major plagues or Moro raids recorded, Newson could only conclude that it must have been because of brutal conflict with the Spaniards. Either the Bicolanos were killed, or they fled so far inland that they escaped the census takers. One of the things the Spaniards were looking for in Camarines were the gold mines of Paracale. By the time of the occupation, this town was already known far and wide for its gold deposits. What riches would it yield in the centuries to come?My book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is now available on Shopee and Lazada for only P395.Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected] image is of Potosí, from Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Historia general (Antwerp: Juan Bautista Verdussen, 1728). John Carter Brown Library at Brown UniversityReferences: Newson, Linda A. (2011). Conquest & Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Soltes, Jonas Cabiles (11 July 2012). “Paracale mining: A way of life, death.” Inquirer Southern Luzon. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/227467/paracale-mining-a-way-of-life-deathSantos, Paz Verdades M. (2024). “Maria Timbang Palo: Pabirik na Kuwento ng Camarines Norte.” Malay, 36(2), pp. 18-25Estrella, Victor (29 November 2016). “Ancient Tagalog Goldworking Technology from Fray San Buenaventura’s Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala: Integrating Archaeological, Linguistic, and Ethnohistoric Data.” Hukay, 20, p. 47-78.Bennett, Anna T. N. (2009). “Gold in early Southeast Asia.” ArcheoSciences, 33, pp. 99-107.Fox, Robert B. (1970). The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan Island, Philippines. National Museum.Habana, Olivia M. (2000). “Gold Mining in Benguet to 1898.” Philippine Studies, 48(4), p. 455-487.Newson, Linda A. (2011). Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Lane, Kris (30 July 2019). “The first global city.” Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/potosi-the-mountain-of-silver-that-was-the-first-global-cityCasa, Louis John (1966). Potosi, Its Mines and Its Indians [masteral thesis]. Loyola University Chicago. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/2116Barr, H.L. (1937) “San Mauricio Mining Company.” The Marsman Magazine, 2(5), pp. 10, 14, 16.https://repository.mainlib.upd.edu.ph/omekas/s/rare-periodicals/media/22641“Gold Market.” (6 January 1937). The Tribune. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/249847758International Labour Organization (2020). Artisanal and small-scale gold mining baseline report: Camarines Norte and South Cotabato.  https://www.ilo.org/publications/artisanal-and-small-scale-gold-mining-baseline-report-camarines-norte-and

Writing in June 1889, the Manila-based correspondent for La Solidaridad listed down the calamities afflicting the archipelago: cholera, fires, earthquakes, and economic ruin. In those days, even the sky seemed to be on fire. Our reporter told his ilustrado readers in faraway Europe that standing in the shade in Manila would give you no comfort, because the temperature was 39 degrees. 39 degrees! How did the way we talk about and think about heat change our culture and our history? For the 100th episode of The Colonial Dept., join us in a journey that takes us from a Roman poem to a Rizal essay, from economics to fashion to plain old discrimination. Bring along your pamaypay or your Jisu fan if you must; history is going to get a little hot!Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected]:Strabo (1917). Geography, Volume I: Books 1-2 (Horace Leonard Jones, trans.). Harvard University Press.Ovid (1964). Metamorphoses (Rolfe Humphries, trans.) Indiana University Press.Belamide, Aidel Paul G. (2020). “Rise and Decline of the Coffee Industry in 19th-Century Batangas: Causes and Consequences.” Philippine Social Sciences Review, 72(2), pp. 1-42. Algue, Rev. Jose (1904). “Bulletin 2: The Climate of the Philippines.” In Census of the Philippine Islands (1903), Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census.Lucero, Todd Sales (1 May 2024). “Heat in Pinoy history.” The Freeman. https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2024/05/01/2351767/heat-pinoy-historySingh, Deepti; Seager, Richard; Cook, Benjamin I.; Cane, Mark; Ting, Mingfang; Cook, Edward;  Davis, Michael (2018). “Climate and the Global Famine of 1876–78.” Journal of Climate, 31(23), pp. 9445–9467.Santiago, Fernando A. Jr. (2015). “Manners of Resistance: Symbolic Defiance of Colonial Authority In Nineteenth Century Philippines.” Philippine Sociological Review, 63, pp. 137-168.Aguilar, Filomeno V. Jr. (2025). José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Coo, Stephanie (2019). Clothing the Colony: Nineteenth-Century Philippine Sartorial Culture, 1820-1896. Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Just the thought of commuting around Manila is enough to set one’s teeth on edge. But do our current-day problems of congestion and overcrowding have their roots in decisions and policies made a century ago?There’s no one better to answer this question than our podcast guest today. For more than ten years, Michael Pante, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, has been researching the history of transportation, mobility, and urbanization in the capital city. He even has a forthcoming book on the topic entitled The Immobile Metropolis: A History of Motorized Transportation in Manila. In this Interview episode, Michael and I talk all about tranvias, bancas, accesorias, carromatas, and more… as well as answer a crucial question affecting the lives of millions: Can anything be done to improve how we get around?Support us: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected] image from the Maryknoll Mission Archives, University of Southern California, via John Tewell.The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.

In the long journeys from Manila to Acapulco, disease was the clingy passenger no one wanted around. But it wandered around the decks, knocked on every cabin, stalked everyone on board—until one day, you woke up, and disease was just everywhere. How could it not be? There was food rotting inside the barrels, slick and moldy woodwork, crew and passengers and officers packed into tight spaces, pests crawling over the meals, the overpowering smell of human waste. And so they came, that grim parade: fever, chills, dysentery, infection, dermatitis, beriberi, the dread scurvy. How did the ships of the Galleon Trade and the trans-Pacific exchange keep up their good health in those arduous sea crossings? Let’s open the medicine chests and find out.Support us: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected]: “Accessions to the Map-Room.” (1869) In the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 39.Arranz, Adolfo; Hernandez, Marco (6 May 2018). “Chapter 3: A journey of dread.” In Adolfo, Hernandez (2018),The China Ship, South China Morning Post. Luque-Talaván, Miguel (2014). “Oceanic deaths aboard the Manila galleons.” In Van Tilburg, H., Tripati, S., Walker Vadillo, V., Fahy, B., and Kimura, J. (eds.), Iberian Global Interactions: the Manila Galleon and the Roteiro, The Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA) Collection.Morris, David Z. (17 May 2016). “Cruel ships of prosperity.” Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/the-manila-galleons-that-oceaneered-for-plague-and-profit“Unguentum Populeon.” The Poisoner’s Apothecary. https://www.thepoisonersapothecary.com/shop/p/unguentum-populeonMatera, Margherita (8 November 2022). “Old Italian Recipes of Medical Ointments in Psalter Manuscript Rahlfs 1759.” Göttinger Septuaginta. https://septuaginta.uni-goettingen.de/blog/old-italian-recipes-of-medical-ointments-in-psalte/Stuart, Godofredo U., Jr., (n.d.).“Sandalino/Connarus semidecandrus Jack.” Philippine Medicinal Plants. https://www.stuartxchange.org/SandalinoViena de Souza, Lais (2018). Missionários Do corpo à alma: Assistência, saberes e práticas de cura nas missões, colégios e hospitais da Companhia de Jesus (Goa e Bahia, 1542-1622) [doctoral dissertation]. Universidade de Évora.Klein, Wouter (16 June 2021). “Plant of the Month: Sarsaparilla.” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/plant-of-the-month-sarsaparilla/ Kroupa, Šebestián. Georg Joseph Kamel (1661–1706): A Jesuit Pharmacist at the Frontiers of Colonial Empires [doctoral dissertation]. Darwin College, University of Cambridge.Hajar, Rachel (2012). “The Air of History (Part II) Medicine in the Middle Ages.” Heart Views, 13(4), pp. 158–162. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3573364/Clarke, Laurie (17 September 2025). “The four 'humours': Our 2,500-year-old mania for personality types.” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250915-the-ancient-origins-of-todays-personality-typesDorner, Zachary (22 September 2020). “How Early Modern Empire Changed Medicine.” The Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/zachary-dorner-how-early-modern-empire-turned-people-patientsJoven, Arnel E. (2012). “Colonial adaptations in tropical Asia: Spanish medicine in the Philippines in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” Asian Cultural Studies, 38, pp. 171–186.Eppenberger, Patrick; Galassi, Francesco; Rühli, Frank (2017). “A brief pictorial and historical introduction to guaiacum – from a putative cure for syphilis to an actual screening method for colorectal cancer.” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 83(9), p. 2118-2119.Voeks, Robert & Greene, Charlotte (2019). “God’s Healing Leaves: The Colonial Quest for Medicinal Plants in the Torrid Zone.” Geographical Review, 108(4), pp. 545-465. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6208447/Wani-Obias, Rhodalyn C. (2025). “Health, History, and the High Seas.” In Wani-Obias (ed.), Galleons and Social Control in the Spanish Empire: Volume V, National Historical Commission of the Philippines.Najera, René F. (9 May 2025). “Isabel Zendal: The First Public Health Nurse.” History of Vaccines. Sales, Ostwald C. (2005). “Las Actividades Medicas en las filipinas durante la Primera Mitad del Siglo XVII.” Perspectivas LatinoAmericanas, 2(168).  http://altmetrics.ceek.jp/article/publisher/Centro%20de%20Estudios%20Latinoamericanos%20Universidad%20Nanzan

The word Bukidnon means “people of the mountains”, but historian Ronald K. Edgerton also gives another name for them: the people of the middle ground. As he writes in his book of the same name, “Many Bukidnons mastered the art of borrowing from the new without losing touch with the old. [...] And over time they developed a capacity to envision themselves [...] as negotiators between worlds, skilled at including both in a new, more accommodating world view.”This middle ground was pushed to the limit during World War II, when Japanese troops invaded the fastness of the mountains and Philippine soldiers splintered into guerrilla groups. Now, in the dark days of wartime, the Bukidnon found themselves caught in the middle of conquerors, resistance fighters, criminals, cults… and even cannibals!Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/thecolonialdeptFollow us on IG: @thecolonialdeptFollow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdeptEmail us: [email protected]:Edgerton, Ronald K. (2008). People of the Middle Ground: A Century of Conflict and Accommodation in Central Mindanao, 1880s-1980s. Ateneo de Manila University Press.Esteban, Rolando (2016). “Cannibalism among Japanese Soldiers in Bukidnon, Philippines, 1945–47.” Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, 52(1).Shiraz, Josie (2025). “Echoes of Defeat: The Horrors of Japanese Stragglers in Post-WWII Bukidnon.” Pacific Atrocities Education. https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/echoes-of-defeat-the-horrors-of-japanese-stragglers-in-post-wwii-bukidnonKyoto National Museum (undated). “Tales of Hungry Ghosts (Gaki zōshi).”  Google Arts and Culture. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/tales-of-hungry-ghosts-gaki-soshi-kyoto-national-museum/ZQVByl-_mamPJQ?hl=en“National Treasure: Tales of Hungry Ghosts (Gaki zōshi).” Kyoto National Museum. https://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/collection/meihin/emaki/item03/