Reliving Philippine History at Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library
I remember my history classes in Highschool and College, which what we were tasked to do is to memorize dates, the chronological order of presidents of the Philippines...We were given the 'general' information on Philippine History, and how we came to be this democratic republican country.
Growing up with the given information from school textbooks, and the rampant corruption and loss of faith in our government, I kinda had a distorted view of our country. I never realized it until I got married, and my husband who is a history buff encouraged me to do my own research. And that is how I knew of many other information about the Philippine History, and how I realized that everything the schools teach is really just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
I'm pretty lucky that I got to relive the other side of Philippine History, when I took a trip to San Pedro the other day. Me and a few friends went to this museum housed in a lush garden that really sparked patriotism in my heart, and gave me hope for the future...
The Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library is found in Laurel Gardens, San Pedro. It's literally 5-10 minutes drive from the SLEX exit. This place is made to honour the memory of Salvador 'Doy' H. Laurel. Don't know who he is? Well, according to my research, he is the one who ignited the fight for the Marcos oppression, fought for our democracy and is considered as a Martial Law Era Icon.
He's also the vice president of Cory Aquino. After seeing how he fought for democracy, and inspired the people to do what is right instead of what is easy, I can't imagine the heartbreak and sacrifice that he gave when he retracted his C.O.C., and stepped aside to give way for Ms. Cory Aquino's presidential candidacy... There's a bit of mystery here, by the way, as it was shown in the museum's mini show about Doy Laurel that initially, after the death of Noy, Cory did not even want the position of president, as asked by Doy himself. You'll have to check it out for yourselves though, to see my point of view here.
Fun Fact on Doy Laurel: He's a Chocoholic. ;)
He continued to stand for selfless love of country until he passed away from cancer in 2004.
The Garden itself is Doy's own tranquil home, placed on a hill where he used to meditate in nature a lot. He stayed here more when he was diagnosed with cancer though...
What blew me away here, aside from the lush 'Baguio' feels first impression is the replica of Doy's office, which as Ms. Celia (Doy's loving wife) said "we even had the floorboards numbered, while we were transferring his office in Mandalyuong to here in San Pedro."
Doy Laurel is quoted by many as the best president we never had, well, aside from Senator Miriam Santiago, that is. There is also a possibility that the country could be better off now if fate had taken a different turn.
The mission of the museum is to inspire the youth with his passion for learning & love for country. And his memory definitely will not fade, as long as these memorabilia that celebrates the life of a man that fights for freedom, is shown to the next generations to come.
As for our mission as parents? All I can see is that we need to instill to our children the importance of research and critical thinking. That we should not rely too much on the school, and we need to supplement what they learn there with information that they can't gather from their own textbooks.
Because if we ourselves (or my generation for example) doesn't even know the other side of the story in our history, how can we move forward and not repeat the same mistakes that we did in the past?
Book your appointment to visit the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library now! Here is the contact person:
Joe Lad Santos at 09185949052
Salvador H. Laurel Museum Facebook Page
There's more to the Philippine History than what our schoolbooks say. And I'll end this post with a disclaimer: All of what I've written is entirely based on 3 things: My own research, own experience, and my opinions.
Growing up with the given information from school textbooks, and the rampant corruption and loss of faith in our government, I kinda had a distorted view of our country. I never realized it until I got married, and my husband who is a history buff encouraged me to do my own research. And that is how I knew of many other information about the Philippine History, and how I realized that everything the schools teach is really just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
I'm pretty lucky that I got to relive the other side of Philippine History, when I took a trip to San Pedro the other day. Me and a few friends went to this museum housed in a lush garden that really sparked patriotism in my heart, and gave me hope for the future...
The Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library is found in Laurel Gardens, San Pedro. It's literally 5-10 minutes drive from the SLEX exit. This place is made to honour the memory of Salvador 'Doy' H. Laurel. Don't know who he is? Well, according to my research, he is the one who ignited the fight for the Marcos oppression, fought for our democracy and is considered as a Martial Law Era Icon.
He's also the vice president of Cory Aquino. After seeing how he fought for democracy, and inspired the people to do what is right instead of what is easy, I can't imagine the heartbreak and sacrifice that he gave when he retracted his C.O.C., and stepped aside to give way for Ms. Cory Aquino's presidential candidacy... There's a bit of mystery here, by the way, as it was shown in the museum's mini show about Doy Laurel that initially, after the death of Noy, Cory did not even want the position of president, as asked by Doy himself. You'll have to check it out for yourselves though, to see my point of view here.
Fun Fact on Doy Laurel: He's a Chocoholic. ;)
He continued to stand for selfless love of country until he passed away from cancer in 2004.
The Garden itself is Doy's own tranquil home, placed on a hill where he used to meditate in nature a lot. He stayed here more when he was diagnosed with cancer though...
What blew me away here, aside from the lush 'Baguio' feels first impression is the replica of Doy's office, which as Ms. Celia (Doy's loving wife) said "we even had the floorboards numbered, while we were transferring his office in Mandalyuong to here in San Pedro."
Doy Laurel is quoted by many as the best president we never had, well, aside from Senator Miriam Santiago, that is. There is also a possibility that the country could be better off now if fate had taken a different turn.
The mission of the museum is to inspire the youth with his passion for learning & love for country. And his memory definitely will not fade, as long as these memorabilia that celebrates the life of a man that fights for freedom, is shown to the next generations to come.
As for our mission as parents? All I can see is that we need to instill to our children the importance of research and critical thinking. That we should not rely too much on the school, and we need to supplement what they learn there with information that they can't gather from their own textbooks.
Because if we ourselves (or my generation for example) doesn't even know the other side of the story in our history, how can we move forward and not repeat the same mistakes that we did in the past?
Book your appointment to visit the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library now! Here is the contact person:
Joe Lad Santos at 09185949052
Salvador H. Laurel Museum Facebook Page
There's more to the Philippine History than what our schoolbooks say. And I'll end this post with a disclaimer: All of what I've written is entirely based on 3 things: My own research, own experience, and my opinions.
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Just to add, though:
ReplyDeleteAdmirably, Doy Laurel's father was Jose Laurel Sr., the Philippine president during the Japanese occupation (1943-1945) and founder of LPU (Lyceum of the Philippines University). :)
I should definitely visit. I am one of those people who don't know much about history. It seemed like you had a lot of fun in gaining knowledge about the Philippines! Thanks for sharing your experience. Xx
ReplyDeleteWow, Doy's garden is gorgeous! I never studied much outside of my Art History and US History courses in college, but I do wish I would have had more of an interest in learning history at a younger age. It really is an interesting subject. I had one professor who did such a wonderful job teaching history like it was a soap opera, we couldn't wait to hear what was going to happen next. I agree with what your husband says, to do your own research when learning history. It's crazy in early education how many of the things we learned about US history was flawed, like Native American history.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I thank you! I was supposed to add that as well but I guess in the midst of information overload I kinda forgot to include that hahaha! Well, I can't blame myself really, I was so worked up writing this, (took me up to 1 am last night) that I even accidentally put in 'fighted' instead of 'fought'. XD And afterwards I was wondering why it was underlined in red by my spell checker. so yeah, again, thanks! :) #sabawAngUtak hehehe
ReplyDeleteit's a great way to understand more about our history and culture. I say great because you won't have to memorize anything, all you have to do is to soak all the information up. And the discussions you'll get after the experience is very enlightening and will challenge the way you think. :)
ReplyDeleteGood to learn about some new things! It's always interesting to do your own research... nicely explained and cited! May be I'll revisit some of my known facts soon too!
ReplyDeleteHistory, particularly Philippine History and Western Civilization, is a favorite. It just amazes me how History lets me know people and heroes of yesterday. Visiting museums is also a passion I hope my boys would learn to love. And ow, just learned now that VP Doy was a chocolate lover.
ReplyDeleteI am not fully informed by the Philippines History (shame on me, being a filipino). But believe or not, I have been trying to visit museums like this to enhance my knowledge. Haha. I should visit Salvador Laurel Museum. :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit the Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library. He sounds like an amazing person to fight for democracy. And anyone who loves chocolate is all right by me! There's so much interesting history to learn about in the world and I think travel's the best way to learn it!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I never heard about all these names and people , but it is very interesting to raed about your history . I love seeing real books :) in the days of technology , kindle & Co. How funny , only yesterday we had a discussion about our childhood and how much we loved reading books and writing our diaries etc. Such a shame that this all seems to vanish , how good to have these museums and libraries . Your photos are excellent , the size of the trees is very impressive . Wonderful post !
ReplyDeleteit's a museum and a library in one? that's interesting, i could spend a whole day there for sure to learn about the history of your country and to see the many artifacts they have on display too. love the homey feel of the whole place, it feels like time travelling back to the day with the great way they upkeep the place.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there is a Salvador H Laurel museum, I'd love to go there. I do know some things about Laurel because I went to Lyceum of the Philippines and there is a subject there called JPL (Jose P Laurel) 101. That's when I found out some things about the Laurel family.
ReplyDeleteMy history prof told us before the history really is biased based on who writes it because it is his-story. There are many different angles to a story and that is very much applicable to our own history. It is great that you had a chance to do your research and look at Doy Laurel. He is a good inspiration and is a great leader. Maybe we will have a different today if he became president or maybe not, I guess we will never know but it will be best to look in the now and not in the past.
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