Chairman Regalado Trota Jose Jr. of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) urged Filipinos to relearn Spanish, saying the country’s history and heritage cannot be fully understood without the language in which much of its historical record was written.
Speaking to the Varsitarian ahead of the June 30 observance of Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day, Jose lamented that even history programs in higher education would struggle to produce meaningful scholarship unless they overcame what he described as a “fear” of Spanish.
“Karamihan sa mga historical sources tungkol sa pamumuhay sa Pilipinas ay nakasulat sa Kastila, not only by the Spanish people, but also by Filipinos like Jose Rizal, who wrote in Spanish,” Jose said. “So a lot of the documents on administration, management, economics, recipes, and accounts were written in Spanish.”
The lack of proficiency in Spanish has become more apparent every June, when the country commemorates both Independence Day on June 12 and Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day on June 30, occasions that highlight the nation’s shared history with Spain.
The former UST archivist said even scholars often possess only limited knowledge of Spanish.
“Walang common group of students who can speak in Spanish, except those who are really taking up foreign languages or special courses in history,” he said. “Kulang-kulang ang pagtuturo, pagbasa at pagsasalita sa Kastila.”
“In the Philippine context, we have to learn Spanish,” Jose said. “How to read the Spanish documents, to find out how we became this way. There are so many stories of the provinces, towns, and how a church was constructed. Nobody will ever dig them up if you do not develop the interest to transcend your fear of Spanish.”
Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day commemorates the longstanding diplomatic and cultural ties between the Philippines and Spain. It traces its origins to an 1899 decree issued by President Emilio Aguinaldo recognizing the Spanish soldiers who survived the Siege of Baler as friends and guaranteeing their safe return to Spain.
Jose said tracing the country’s cultural roots through the Spanish language enables Filipinos to gain a deeper understanding of their history and heritage. Despite the enduring influence of Spain on Philippine culture, however, interest in learning Spanish has steadily declined.
He also acknowledged that technological advances, particularly artificial intelligence, have transformed language learning and translation, but stressed that AI cannot replace the historian’s role in interpreting historical sources.
“There are many ways of studying Spanish and even the old languages,” Jose said. “Sa tulong ng AI, puwede mag-decipher ng mga differences, but it is always better for human knowledge to work on the document itself.”
As an example, Jose distinguished between handwritten and printed historical documents, noting that handwriting styles evolved across centuries and require historical expertise and contextual knowledge to interpret accurately.
He likewise underscored the importance of digitization in preserving historical archives, citing the UST Heritage Library’s conservation technologies, including a leaf-casting machine used to restore fragile documents. He added, however, that UST’s greatest contribution to the Spanish cultural history of the Philippines was the propagation of knowledge through the Spanish language, which served as a medium for educating generations of Filipinos.
Jose urged Filipinos to revisit the Philippines’ historic and cultural ties with Spain through the study of Spanish, saying it offers a deeper understanding of the nation’s history, heritage, and cultural identity.
To mark the 24th Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day, the NHCP will hold a series of commemorative activities throughout June, with additional events scheduled in September and October. Kirsten Therese C. Barrameda with reports from John Kobe S. Balod
