About

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)


The blog

The art of history writing is greatly underappreciated in this country. (Al Raposas)



On January 9, 2017, a new logo was adopted
coinciding with the blog's name change.
The two Baybayin characters stand for F and H.
History is not the most popular discipline in the Philippines, and probably even elsewhere. Today, there are history blogs managed by Filipinos, but back then, there was none like this one. On December 15, 2012, less than a week before the Mayan Calendar supposedly forecast the "end of the world," the Filipino Historian (#FilipinoHistorian) was created by its lone author Al Raposas in hopes of increasing awareness and appreciation of history through online channels. It may not be the first, nor the most popular, but it aims to bring history for all since day zero. To know more about what we have achieved together, listed below are the past State of the Blog Addresses, yet another innovation in the blogosphere uniquely initiated by the Filipino Historian for the admonition of its ever supportive audience. History to the Philippines and the world!

Since December 2017, Feedspot recognized the Filipino Historian
as the only history blog in the Top 100 blogs in the Philippines

As of December 2021, the blog has exceeded 750,000 reads and 44,880,000 social media impressions (quadrupled the 2020 record). Heartened by these developments, the Double Ten goals have been considered achieved long before the target date: reach ten million people (i.e., 10,000,000) and have 10,000 followers in social media by 2022, this website's tenth anniversary. For quite some time, it appeared a long shot, but this single author writing somewhere in the archipelago has disproved bashers, critics, cynics, shamers, and trolls over and over. As the saying goes, the best is yet to come. May this noble cause for history, civics, and culture continue to flourish.

Blurbs for the blog:
Here are some (encouraging) statements on the blog from (supposedly) renowned people.


The author
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3)

Really, who reads egomaniacal, self-serving, chest-beating biographies? Then again, for those who do not believe in writing about themselves, here goes an embarrassing and horrendous one.

Al Raposas is a Filipino Christian historian and writer. Since at least 2014, he has been invited by a number of local, national, and international media outlets (DZUP 1602 , DZRB 738 - Radyo Pilipinas, DWSM 102.7 - Star FM, Bombo Radyo Philippines, UNTV 37, Net 25, PTV 4, IBC 13, GMA 7, TV 5, ABS-CBN 2, ARTE, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, among others) to discuss history and other related disciplines. He has also served as a resource person for various fora, seminars, talks, conferences, and similar venues since 2012. This led to him rapidly being known as the nation's "youngest historian" to be featured by the national media, an unofficial title conferred by a lot of people that has earned both commendation and criticism from the academia, and a situation he particularly did not want to nurture anyway. A historian is also a scholar, and he believes it too prudent to even be called one because of his poor background, yet the public has been mostly accustomed to call students of history as historians, as disciples of Jesus are called Christians for instance. Besides his academic and research work, he enjoys being an occasional runner, a novice photographer, and an amateur cartoonist.

Writing background
Beginning formally in 2010, he has accumulated extensive experience in writing and editing work, a field which he continues engaging as a freelance specialist to this day. As a writer, his work includes, but is not limited to, script writing, ensuring continuity flows, translation, documentation, original story development, article creation, crafting of proposals, plans, and policy recommendations, as well as drafting and editing of books, newspapers, journals, and similar publications. Provided you seek his professional services, you can connect with the author online: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Medium | YouTube | LinkedIn | Google Plus


Leadership and Management
In 2000, he served as a scout in the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, ushering his continuing track record in public service. Throughout his years of service, he exemplified the idea of "leading without license" in the sense that an elected position can be beneficial, but not necessary, to effect positive change for the community and the nation. Indeed, his campaigns and advocacies have attracted admiration from political allies and rivals alike. He keeps his dedication to public service, nurtured during his youth, to this day.

Academic Achievement
Despite being heavily involved in public service, he graduated with first honors (valedictorian) in four different schools from kindergarten to elementary. In high school, he received the Marikina City Mayor's Excellence Award. Thereafter, he took a bachelor's degree in history, finishing as magna cum laude and class salutatorian, at the University of the Philippines. He has also obtained a master's degree in Public Administration at the same university, having the distinction as the sole thesis finisher of their class and earning a general weighted average that could have qualified him in the honor roll (summa cum laude). Unfortunately, the university does not offer Latin honors for graduate degrees. Among his co-advisees were Department of Education Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo and Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas. From the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, meanwhile, he has taken an online course on Systematic Approaches to Policy Design.

Coming from a socioeconomically poor family, he had to obtain scholarships and look for other means along the way to continue his studies and his research work.

He has distinguished himself in a number of history courses, such as Colonial History of the Philippines, Women's History, Social History, European History, Asian History, Philippine Institutions 100 (a.k.a. PI 100, the Rizal course), Military History, History of Filipino Nationalism, and Historiography.

He has also distinguished himself in a number of non-history courses, such as Earth Science, Engineering Science, Physics, Economics, Spanish, Japanese, Philosophy, Fiscal Administration, Theory and Practice of Public Administration, Public Policy and Program Administration, Local Government and Regional Administration, Ethics and Public Accountability, and Research Methods. He garnered the highest grade overall in a university-wide examination on the Saligang Batas (Philippine Constitution).

Besides fluency in Filipino and English, he has displayed basic knowledge in a number of languages, including Spanish (Español), Japanese (Nihongo), Chinese (Mandarin), and Korean (Hangul).

List of works
An incomplete list of Raposas' published and unpublished works.

Short stories: The Cane and The Ring (undated), Still Small Voice (2010), The Worst Love Story Of Our Generation (2013), Kotabahara: The City of God (2020), Muni: Dream Princess (2020)

Novels: Code Antony (2010), Tinyente Tagalog (2011), Changing the Letters (2013), Special Friend X (2016), Run to the Sky (2017), Countdown to Inferno (2020), Revolution: 80 Days (2022)

Poems: Maria (2010), Para Sa Aliyang Nawala (2017), Nasaan Ka Aking Sinta (2017), Unmovable Master (2020)

Songs: Hello, My Love (2011), Larawang Wasak (2011), Distancing (2020)

Games: Monopoll - the Philippine Election Game (2011), The First Philippine Republic - A Choose Your Own Adventure Simulation Game (2021)

Comics: Kapitan (2003), Professor Magnet (2006), Angel (2006), Peasant Academy (2006), Centurion Marcus (2007), Thrombocyte: The Last Platelet (2007), EIA: Earth Invasion Army (2007), Gospel (2008), The Electron Regime (2008), Sepio: Ang Dakilang Magtataho (2009), Archiceres: Fanboy of Archimedes (2009), The Catastrophic Trio (2010), ProMoFun (2010), Lightning God In White Coat (2011), Ken Incident (2012), Codename: Playa Honda (2012), Alrajah (2012), The Cost (2013), Hindi Natutulog Ang Gabi (2013), El Gato Exilado: The Exiled Cat (2014), Mycota the Slasher (2014), Son of God (2016), Corporal 72 (2016), Diplomat: The One Lost In Time (2016), El Tulisan (2017), Buhay Cell (2018), Mosquito Fleet (2019)

Articles (outside this website):


Blurbs for the author:
Here are some (encouraging) statements for the author Al Raposas from (supposedly) renowned people.

  • It'd be a gift to humanity if he just quits. (various people)
  • Could he be the youngest historian in the world? (Jerome B.)
  • I am glad he is trying his best to be a purveyor of true public history. Thank you for being an agent of public history. (M. C. Chua)
  • A far superior historian to a lot of others that get caught up in personalities and politics... He has chosen to focus on something that virtually every other Filipino historian has ignored. (Tommy M.)
  • I've interviewed many from all sides, but his balanced views are a rarity. As a journalist, and as a fellow history major, thank you. (K. David)
  • He sounded so reasonable. I never realized it until he said it. (H. Severino)
  • Glad to see someone being in charge. (P. S. Kim)
  • Thanks to Filipino Historian for giving us the whole truth. You are subject for citation and laudable commendation. (F. Castillo)
  • I like to read his blog. (J. Richardson)
  • Always sees two sides of the coin, unlike other historians who are biased. (J. Seguerra)
  • He writes well. (N. Teodoro)
  • He seems to be in top form. (N. Binay)
  • I thank him for his work. God bless him. (E. Villanueva)
  • Hardworking. (L. Briones)
  • Accurate. (B. Couttie)
  • Unique. (A. Pimentel)
  • Brilliant. (G. Pilapil)
  • Universal! (B. Homan)
  • I believe he is someone special... someone especially abusive. (A. Almazan)
  • Oh stop, here we go again. I know that already, so stop asking. (I. Pasco)
  • He seems like a nice person. (A. Pasco)
  • He is a man of integrity. (A. Buenaagua)
  • A very well educated author. (V. Romero)
  • Bravo to the [Filipino] historian for recognizing the political struggle of women across nations. So often the subject of women and gender is overlooked, ignored, and dismissed in history. (H. C. Nofre)
  • Buhay ka pa? (from the author's friends)
  • Bakit buhay ka pa? (from the author's ex-friends)
  • Ampanget! (from the author's parents)
  • Aking nabatid ang kanyang marubdob na pagmamahal sa kasaysayan! (K. Esquejo)
  • Ang bata niya pa, may legacy na siya! Youngest historian on national TV? (P. Manuel)
  • 'Wag mo ako I-inglesin sa bayan ko! (from a number of "hateful" comments for the author)
  • Pauso 'to. Seryoso? (B. Balaoing)
  • Wala ka naman palang kinikita d'yan! (from the author's churchmates)
  • Grabe advanced mag-isip. (G. Saturno)
  • Social media personality/influencer ka lang. Anong gusto mo mangyari, ha? 'Wag kami! (from the author's "bashers, critics, haters, trolls")
  • Wala talaga akong feelings para sa'yo eh. (C. Miranda)
  • Baka ikaw 'yung mang-iwan na lang sa amin dito ah. (from the author's co-members in the Back Seat Boys, aka BSB)
  • Maganda ang aura na nararamdaman ko sa'yo. (C. Castro)
  • Ang swerte naman ng pagbibigyan mo niyan. Ang haba ng hair. (D. Antonio)
  • Kung ako na lang binigyan mo ng flowers, sasagutin kita agad. (K. Rodriguez)
  • -smiles, moves hair behind the ear, looks away, looks back, repeats the process- (from a random girl the author met in public transport)
  • -leans head on my shoulder, sleeps- (from another random girl the author met in public transport)
  • -ties limbs to chair, grabs arm, presses cotton ball, prepares syringe- (from yet another random girl the author tried his best to avoid)

Translated in 102 languages

"I am indeed relatable because I have become translatable." (Anonymous)

   By installing Google Translate in this history blog, the reader can now readily read the content in 102 other languages. The roster of languages include: Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarussian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Maltese, Maori, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sesotho, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Yiddish, and Zulu. Filipino and Cebuano are also available, while Ilocano and Bicolano are under development. The Translate option can be seen at the sidebar of this blog. Enjoy reading the Filipino Historian.

Disclaimer: It is understandable if any content here or in any other platform where the author may post might offend some people. It must be made clear that there is no intent to defame or revise anything. Whatever content published is at best tentative and subject to change with limited access to sources. Corrections are welcome.

Recent accomplishments

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
(Colossians 3:23)

  • Blogs ng Pinoy: (January 2015 - 3rd, April 2015 - 2nd, August 2018 - 4th)
  • Alexa: (top 0.1% of active websites - November 2021, December 2018; top 0.2% - March 2020, July 2019, June 2019, May 2019, January 2019, November 2018, October 2018, July 2018, May 2018; top 0.3% - April 2021, January 2021, June 2020, November 2019, October 2019, February 2019, August 2018, April 2018)
  • SimilarWeb: (top 0.1% of active websites - July 2022, December 2018, October 2018, December 2017; top 0.2% - May 2022, September 2019, May 2019, February 2019, November 2018, August 2018, July 2018; top 0.3% - October 2019, July 2019, January 2019, September 2018, June 2018, November 2017)
  • Blogtopsites: (September 2016 - 5th in local)
  • Top Blogs Philippines: (May 2017 - 5th, August 2017- 4th)
  • Top 100 Philippines Blogs (December 2017 [72], March 2018 [73], June 2018 [80], November 2018 [87], January 2019 [92], March 2019 [93], June 2019 [95], July 2019 [64], August 2019 [65], October 2019 [69], November 2019 [75], July 2022 [96] - only history blog listed in the rankings)
  • Nominated, Bloggys 2015: The Philippine Blogging Awards (Society and Politics)
  • Nominated, Blogosphere Awards (2018, 2021)
  • Nominated, Open Publishing Awards (2021)
  • Listed, Curated Collection of Archaeology Blogs, University of the Philippines Archaeological Studies Program Library (2021)

Comments

  1. Erjann FernandezOctober 30, 2020 at 12:37 AM

    Hi po! I appreciate your works lalo na po yung about sa student councils. This inspires me to push forward with my passion. Hope we can talk further about how we can achieve #BetterStudentCouncils :) Thanks po and padayon.

    ReplyDelete

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