"I've been called a 'revisionist' because the stories I tell may be somewhat different from common lore or colonialist textbooks. But I've made sure they are truer to the facts than the traditional accounts read by many Filipinos." - Carmen Guerrero Nakpil
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| Front cover of Heroes and Villains featuring Macario Sakay and his men |
The book, Heroes and Villains, authored by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil contains 17 brief true stories of little known facts about Philippine History --- the events, places, and people that are often overlooked and rarely talked about or highlighted. She shares tidbits about Pio del Pilar, the Spanish Residencia, the Chinese treasure fleet, Corruption in Ancient Manila, Macario Sakay, and Antonio Luna among other "intriguing" topics.
These histories were originally published by the Philippine Star's Art and Culture section between May 2008 and February 2009. The articles were collected and compiled into a book by Guerrero Nakpil's daughter and granddaughter, Gemma Cruz Araneta and Carmen Clara Cruz in 2010.
Heroes and Villains: Table of Contents
I was able to buy a copy of her book from Fully Booked Gateway Cubao Branch for 600php. It was a pleasant surprise to find this particular one. I even created a short YouTube video to review about it. The general writing is easy and uncomplicated to read. Ilustrations can also be found in some of its pages.
It's nice to know that Filipina historians are being discovered nowadays and being given importance similar to their male counterparts. Guerrero Nakpil was a celebrated writer, author, and historian who came from a family of writers, artists, medical practitioners, and scientists. Her grandfather was Leon Maria Guerrero, a well-known botanist and pharmacist. Leon's brother was Lorenzo Guerrero who was an 19th century artist and mentored various Filipino artists like Juan Luna. Her brother was diplomat and Rizal enthusiast, Leon Ma. Guerrero III. Carmen Guerrero Nakpil was also in Government Service, she was appointed as National Historical Commissioner during the Marcos period. She was first married to a Rizal family descendant , Ismael Cruz, in 1942 who was killed by the Japanese in 1945. She remarried in 1950 to a scion of the Nakpil clan, Angel E. Nakpil.
Watch here for the book review: https://youtu.be/a-H-sIGORck
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