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Ten Turning Points of Philippine HistoryBy Professor Jaime Veneracion

History DepartmentUniversity of the Philippines

Introduction. The purpose of the ten "turning points" is to show us how nationalconsciousness (kamalayang pambayan) was woven from the dawn of time. The turning

points are like the threads, yarns and warps of a tapestry; we can scrutini e the variedtwists, turns and te!tures of these fibers but the tapestry should always be viewed andtaken as a whole if we want to fully understand what we ilipinos are all about. ( upangmabatid natin kung saan nanggaling ang ating pagka#$ilipino).

For easy reference:

1. The first turning point was the Paleolithic period , remains of which werediscovered by archeologists in the Cagayan Valley. The Paleolithic findsdeb n!ed all those "estern theories abo t how waves of migration #o# latedthese otherwise deserted island. The late $r. %tley Beyer had ta ght generations ofarcheologists abo t the three waves of migration, a theory now eloded.

'. The second turning point was the development of the boat (bangka) withoutriggers (katig) and sail (layag) by the Austronesian (s#ea!ing #eo#les whichincl ded those living in this archi#elago. )&isting comm nities e&tended theirseafaring activities to as far as *adagascar and the Pacific, loo!ing for trade andforming #olitical and social alliances.

+. The third turning point occ rred ro ndabo t -- a.d. when Sanskrit wasintroduced into this Austronesian world or ours , enhancing and refining thelocal forms of writing baybayin and/or 0awis .

Those heavily infl enced by 2ans!rit event ally came to be !nown as 3*alay 3 ,a term sed by Jose 4i5al and his contem#oraries6 today7s 2o theast 8sia. 2ans!ritdid not s#read to what we now call %ceania.

. The fourth turning point was the development of the balanghay community in B t an, 9orthern *indanao, circa ;- a.d. They had long wooden boats, swiftand hardy for long(distance voyages across great oceans, #roof that B t an was astr ct red socio#olitical comm nity with an economic system rich in gold aswell as di#lomatic and trade relations with s rro nding !ingdoms.

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ality.

?. The si#th turning point was the entry of $hristianity which with %cross andsword% harnessed these islands into a single political unit . The infl ence ofChristianity was felt more heavily on lowland settlements where it had #rofo ndim#act on the stat s of women, #ro#erty ownershi# and rights, #erforming arts,m sic, c isine, literat re and traditional beliefs and worshi#.

@. Theseventh turning point was the &evolution of ' . *ost of s !now thatit came abo t beca se of a nascent national conscio sness. The term 3Fili#ino3e&cl sive to 2#aniards born in the Ca#itaAia eneral de Fili#inas now incl ded the3indios3 and mesti5os.

. For the eighth turning point , Prof. Veneracion #ointed to the restoration ofpolitical Independence in * , b t which s b0 gated s to a neo(colonialeconomic system by virt e of s ch ne> al treaties li!e the a rel( angly orParity agreement.

;. Perha#s the most controversial, the ninth point was the establishment of the$ommunist party in +" . Prof. Veneracion said the e&istence of the eft in o rsocio(#olitical s#ectr m can be traced to that defining moment.

1-. The tenth is 3People Power of ' 3 which somehow changed o rinternational image, not to mention the manner in which we bring abo t #oliticalchanges.

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