History Comes Alive! w/ Prof. Ambeth Ocampo: FAKE NEWS
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the complexities of discerning truth from 'fake news' and historical revisionism, using the Philippines' national hero Jose Rizal as a focal point. It challenges the authenticity of widely accepted historical anecdotes and quotes, highlighting the ease with which misinformation can permeate society. The speaker urges a critical examination of history and the media, advocating for a relentless pursuit of truth to inform our understanding of the past and guide our future.
Takeaways
- 📚 Rizal's famous quote about history is often misattributed, but the correct quote is 'Con el recuerdo del pasado, entro en el porvenir', emphasizing the importance of remembering the past for the future.
- 🌐 The modern information overload from social media and the internet makes discerning truth from 'fake news' a challenge, similar to how historical facts were once verified by research and institutions.
- 🕵️♂️ Fake news or history should be evaluated based on its intention, whether it's for fun, ignorance, or deliberate misinformation.
- 🖼️ Misleading images, like a photoshopped picture of a famous person, can spread misinformation, especially when they appear to be from credible sources like the U.S. Library of Congress.
- 🎨 The story of Rizal losing his slipper is a moral tale, illustrating that not all stories about historical figures are factual but can still carry important lessons.
- 🍫 The origin of 'champorado' attributed to Rizal is likely a fiction, showing how myths can be created and perpetuated even in educational materials.
- 📜 The authenticity of Rizal's works, such as 'Sa'akhinka Babata', is questionable due to lack of original manuscripts and inconsistencies with known facts about his life.
- 🤔 The study of history should encourage critical thinking, questioning even well-known 'facts' to separate truth from falsehood.
- 🎭 Urban legends about figures like Rizal persist, including false claims about him being related to Adolf Hitler, showing how easily misinformation can blend with historical narratives.
- 👥 Personal biases and political motivations can distort historical records, as seen with the false stories created to discredit Apolinario Mabini.
- 📝 The importance of accurate historical records is highlighted by the inconsistencies in Ferdinand Marcos's accounts of his own life and the events surrounding Martial Law.
Q & A
What is the often-quoted line from Rizal that the speaker mentions is actually not by Rizal?
-The line 'He who does not know where he came from, will not reach his destination' is often attributed to Rizal, but the speaker clarifies that it isn't actually by Rizal.
What is the correct quote from Rizal that the speaker mentions?
-The correct quote from Rizal mentioned by the speaker is 'Con el recuerdo del pasado, entro en el porvenir' which translates to 'I enter the future with a memory of the past'.
Why is it important to carry a memory of the past into the future according to the speaker?
-It is important to carry a memory of the past into the future because it helps us evaluate what we now call 'fake news' and discern the truth from misinformation.
What does the speaker suggest is the intention behind fake news or fake history?
-The intention behind fake news or fake history can vary; it can be for fun, due to ignorance, or as a deliberate act of misinformation.
Why is the photograph of Rizal in masonic garb considered to be incorrect?
-The photograph of Rizal in masonic garb is considered incorrect because it is actually the head of Manny Pacquiao photoshopped onto Abraham Lincoln's body, as confirmed by the speaker.
What is the moral lesson behind the story of Rizal losing his slippers?
-The story of Rizal losing his slippers is a made-up tale meant to teach children the moral lesson of altruism and thinking of others' needs.
What is the origin of the meal 'Champorado' as mentioned in the script?
-The origin of 'Champorado' is actually Mexican, not Filipino, despite the story in the script suggesting that Rizal invented it by mixing chocolate and rice.
What is the significance of the poem 'Sa'akhinka, Babata' in the context of the script?
-The poem 'Sa'akhinka, Babata' is significant because it is often quoted as Rizal's work, but the speaker questions its authenticity due to the lack of an original manuscript and inconsistencies with Rizal's known history and writings.
Why does the speaker believe that history should teach us more than just memorization of facts?
-History should teach us to be critical and question even the things we think are real, helping us to separate truth from falsehood and fact from opinion.
What urban legend is mentioned in the script about Rizal being the father of Adolf Hitler?
-The urban legend that Rizal is the father of Adolf Hitler is based on a faint connection that Rizal was in Vienna around the time Hitler's mother worked at the same hotel, but the speaker debunks this by pointing out the timeline and Rizal's actual location.
How does the speaker describe the impact of fake news on historical figures like Rizal and Mabini?
-The speaker describes the impact of fake news as distorting the truth and creating false narratives around historical figures, which can lead to misconceptions and urban legends that are difficult to correct.
Outlines
📚 The Importance of Historical Memory and Fact-Checking
This paragraph discusses the significance of remembering history and the challenge of discerning truth in the era of social media and information overload. It highlights the issue of fake news and its impact on truth, contrasting it with the role of institutions like the press and academia in correcting misinformation. The speaker uses examples such as a manipulated image of a historical figure and a fabricated story about Rizal to illustrate the persistence of false narratives and the importance of critical thinking in evaluating information.
🗺️ Debunking Myths and Legends About National Heroes
The speaker delves into the myths and legends surrounding national heroes, particularly focusing on Jose Rizal. They address the inaccuracies in commonly believed stories, such as Rizal's supposed invention of champorado and the dubious authenticity of his first poem 'Sa'akay Kababata'. The paragraph emphasizes the need for critical examination of historical narratives and the importance of distinguishing fact from opinion, especially when it comes to the stories that shape national identity and patriotism.
🎭 The Fabrication of History and Its Consequences
This paragraph explores the concept of 'fake history' and its creation for various reasons, including political motivations and the desire to fill gaps in historical knowledge. The speaker introduces Jose E. Marco, a notorious fabricator of historical documents, and discusses the impact of his creations on Philippine historiography. The paragraph also touches on the urban legends associated with Rizal, such as being the father of Adolf Hitler or a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders, highlighting the absurdity and the need for skepticism when encountering extraordinary claims.
🦠 The Political Manipulation of Historical Figures
The speaker examines how politics can distort historical narratives, using the example of Apolinario Mabini's misrepresented condition due to polio being falsely attributed to syphilis. The paragraph discusses the role of political adversaries in spreading misinformation to discredit public figures and the lasting impact of such falsehoods on public perception. It underscores the importance of questioning and verifying the stories that are passed down through generations.
🏛️ The Impact of Political Propaganda on History
This paragraph discusses the influence of political propaganda on historical accounts, particularly focusing on the case of Elpidio Quirino and the myth of the golden orinola. The speaker reflects on how political campaigns can create and perpetuate false narratives for strategic purposes, and how these narratives can become ingrained in the public consciousness, even when they are later debunked.
📜 The Complexity of Historical Truth and Revisionism
The final paragraph addresses the complexities of historical truth and the practice of historical revisionism. The speaker uses the example of Ferdinand Marcos's inconsistent accounts of his own life and the declaration of martial law to illustrate the challenges in discerning the truth from personal narratives. The paragraph concludes with a call for a relentless pursuit of truth in history and a caution against allowing fake news to become enshrined as historical fact.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fake News
💡Jose Rizal
💡Urban Legends
💡Historical Revisionism
💡Misinformation
💡Critical Thinking
💡Patriotism
💡Authenticity
💡Ferdinand Marcos
💡Misinterpretation
💡Truth
Highlights
Misquotation of Rizal's words emphasizes the importance of accurate historical knowledge.
Rizal's actual quote 'Con el recuerdo del pasado entro en el porvenir' stresses the value of learning from the past.
The modern challenge of discerning truth amidst an overload of information from social media and the internet.
The enduring issue of 'fake news' and its historical context, showing it is not a new phenomenon.
The role of intention in the creation of fake news or fake history and its implications.
Misleading images of Jose Rizal found online, illustrating the problem of misinformation.
The humorous Photoshopped image of Manny Pacquiao mistaken for Rizal, demonstrating the gullibility of some.
The fabricated story of Rizal's lost slipper, used as a moral lesson despite its inaccuracy.
Debunking the myth of Rizal inventing 'champorado', highlighting the mix of fact and fiction in historical narratives.
The lack of evidence supporting the authenticity of Rizal's poem 'Sa'akhinka, Babata'.
The critical importance of questioning and verifying historical facts to separate truth from falsehood.
The controversy surrounding the authenticity of the photograph of Rizal's execution.
Urban legends about Rizal, including the false claim that he is Adolf Hitler's father.
The debunking of the urban legend linking Rizal to Jack the Ripper murders based on his presence in London.
The impact of politics on historical revisionism and the distortion of figures like Apolinario Mabini.
The story of how political enemies discredited Mabini by falsely attributing his paralysis to syphilis.
The role of fake news in shaping public opinion and its potential to distort historical truth.
The example of Elpidio Quirino's impeachment and the myth of the golden 'orinola'.
The persistence of myths about Juan Ponce Enrile's immortality and their reflection in social media.
The conflicting narratives surrounding the justification for Marcos's declaration of martial law.
Ferdinand Marcos's manipulation of his own historical narrative, including his birth date.
The necessity of historical revisionism based on truth and the search for accuracy in history and news.
Transcripts
[Applause]
[Music]
he who does not know where he came from
will not reach his destination
this is an often quoted line from rizal
which isn't by resale at all
and if we are to really look for
something that he said about history the
nicest thing he wrote is con el recuerdo
del pasado entro en el por venir in
english it's i enter the future with a
memory of the past
this
is a quote that we should remember in
the days when social media the internet
and google has flooded us with so much
information that we cannot possibly
humanly
digest
all of it
so we have to learn
to move into the future carrying a
memory of the past because it is that
that will help us
in looking at and evaluating what we now
call fake news
fake news is not new
we've had it a long time
but in the past fake news was easily
or
regularly corrected by research
or
by institutions like the press or the
academe
what we are seeing today is an assault
on truth
fake news or fake history has to be seen
always in terms of its intention
is it made for fun
is it made because of ignorance or is it
deliberate misinformation
if you google jose result today and
check
the
images part you will get a whole range
of results
picture results mug shot and it usually
comes from a photograph his favorite
photograph taken in 1890 however
there is a photograph of result in
masonic garb and because it came from
the u.s library of congress people
believe it to be true but all you have
to do is to look at the photograph of
this man in masonic attire and compare
it with result to see that these are two
different people so something is wrong
somewhere
many years ago
i received a query
asking me to confirm whether this long
lost photograph of result
was actually results and when i looked
at it it was actually the head of mani
pacquiao photoshopped on abraham
lincoln's body
this was a
made-up picture that made the rounds and
it was made for fun but some people
want to believe what they want to
believe want to see what they want to
see and actually believe that this
photoshop picture of pacquiao is
actually resolved
[Music]
when i was a boy i learned that rizal
had lost one of his slippers while he
was playing near a river
[Music]
and when he went home barefoot of course
his parents asked him what happened to
your slippers and risale is supposed to
have said i lost one slipper and since
this is useless to me i threw in the
other one because there might be a
little boy downstream who will find the
pair and it will be useful to him if i'm
the little boy downstream and i'm
playing
and i see one slipper float by i won't
pick it up and wait for the next slipper
to come right it is a story that is made
up because it is meant to teach us
a moral story it is meant as a lesson
for children to learn
so it is not exactly true but its
intention is good with result we have a
mixture of fact
fancy and what caroline how
the literary scholar calls necessary
fictions
in a 1950
public school textbook i saw a story
that claimed that result was the
inventor of champurrado rizal was eating
one
morning and he accidentally tipped over
a cup of chocolate that spilled over his
plate with rice and so one of his
sisters said you know you're a clumsy
little boy why did you do that and
result is supposed to have said no i did
that on purpose because if you mix
chocolate and rice you get champorado if
you actually look at the origin of
champorado champurade is not a
philippine meal it's actually a mexican
meal so we have a meal that sounds the
same but it's not like the real mexican
champorado and we have our national hero
inventing something which he did not
so this is the type of thing that we get
that we have a result we're supposed to
teach us
nationalism patriotism and all the good
things which we are not
of the two quotes that i
have found
one is the quote about history and the
second is the quote about language which
we hear every year in august during
buanawika and this is the most quoted
line from jose sal it says
it came from a poem called sa'akhinka
babata which was supposedly written when
resal was eight years old i found out
that unlike most of the things that i
know about resal sa'akan kababata does
not have
or is not supported by an original
manuscript it was published posthumously
in a book on florente laura by a man
named hermine hildo cruz it's in an
appendix
and it just says this is results first
poem it was given to one of his
childhood playmates and i checked the
name of the childhood playmate it does
not match up with any of the
documentation that i know of result
wrote mostly in spanish
and there are only two poems of rissal
in tagalog both of them are questionable
when you look at in kababata you ask
yourself
how could an eight-year-old boy in
calamba
compare tagalog with latin
in spanish and greek
how can an eight-year-old boy
in calamba talk about freedom
which he uses
twice in the poem the word kalayaan
when i checked
true results correspondence i found out
that the first time rizal had ever heard
the word kalayaan freedom was in 1882 he
was already 21 years old in a poem that
marcelo del pilar
was translating
results also mentions in his writings
that
when he was translating william tell
from german into tagalog he was stumped
by the word fry height which in german
means freedom
this was 1886 and rizal could not find
the tagalog equivalent of fry height
and so how can result forget a word that
he used twice in an 1869
poem
so what we
is know
result did not write sakin kabata
when we talk history when we study
about jose rizal and our heroes we are
taught to remember to memorize facts to
remember
who what when where
how
but more importantly history should
teach us that it is more than
memorization it is more than data
history teaches us to be critical
to question even the things that we
think to be real and that helps us to
separate the truth from the false
and fact from opinion we have a
photograph of jose results execution in
the lunetta
on december 30 1896
and it is a photograph where result is
standing shortly before he shot
that is the only picture we have
although over the years some other
pictures have come out including one
that actually shows the valley of fire
and result falling dead
because of this people have started to
doubt even the authentic picture so what
happens here is we don't know what to
believe and we end up believing what we
want to believe
so with result for example we have other
things there are urban legends that
persist
one of them and the most popular
is that rizal is supposed to be the
father of adolf hitler
[Music]
in 1913 results friend maximoviola wrote
a memoir called miss viajes connell dr
rizal for my travels with dr rizal
in may of 1887 viola and rizal were in
vienna
and they stayed in the hotel metropol we
actually have a photograph of the
receipt of the hotel that gives us the
room numbers they stayed in
hitler's mother clara polz is supposed
to have worked in the hotel metropole in
vienna and it is this very
faint connection that is the root of the
urban legend that rizal is the father of
adolf hitler
all you have to do is to look up
hitler's birthday which is april 20 1889
and you will actually find out that
rizal was nowhere near austria or vienna
in 1889 he was actually in london
in the british library doing his
research on the pre-spanish philippines
this was also quite funny because when i
dug it up i didn't realize that adolf
hitler's real name was alloy
schickelgruber
a name that sounds very funny to us and
it gives you the
sense of how powerful a name can be
because you cannot shout heil shekel
gruber doesn't sound very nice but adolf
hitler has a very strong ring to it
oserisal was in london
so he's not adolf hitler's
father
but this led to another urban legend
jose rizal actually moved to paris in
1889
in order to print
the successors de las eslas filipinas
now
at the time that result was in london
doing research in the british library
chuck the ripper birders occurred
and as we know jack the ripper was never
caught
but he killed with a sharp instrument
that suggested that a he had medical
training that's result or b he killed
with the scalpel that's result again
now
the important part to remember here is
that rizal is in london at the time the
murders occur and when he moves to paris
the murders stop
now if you open the jack the ripper
website it has a long list of suspects
and you will be surprised to find that
jose rizal is one of the suspects in the
jack the ripper murders
and i remember one of my undergraduate
students once told me when i said this
in class he said you know sir
everyone else has missed out on the
biggest clue of all and i said what's
the biggest clue and he says
jr
jack the ripper and jose rizal shared
the same initials
normally i would laugh but i'd like to
think that this is a student who's
thinking he's just trying to be funny
but in many ways i learned a lot more
from my students that they learn from me
and i'd like to think that even when
they're making fun their mind is working
their mind is
thinking their mind is thinking
critically which is what we are all
talking about today
jose rizal
is one of the people that has inspired
many urban legends but there is another
jose who we have to remember
his name is jose e marco he was a man
who peddled historical manuscripts and
from 1918 till the day that he died for
almost half a century mr marco was able
to sell or donate to the national
library of the philippines and many
scholars things that he had created and
two of his greatest creations were the
code of kalanchao which is believed to
be the earliest pre-spanish law
and the other one is a novel called la
loba negra supposedly by father burgos
jose marco
is somebody that historians hate but i
long wanted to study him and probably to
write a monograph about him
because here was a man who was writing
history from the top of his head he
messed up philippine historiography but
this is a man
who i don't know what his real motives
are
but i'd like to think that maybe if we
had asked him why he did this aside from
making money he would probably say you
know before the war you wanted
proof of pre-spanish filipino
civilization you had none so i created
the code of kalanchow for you in the
1950s you wanted a hero who might be
better than jose rizal so i
gave you father burgos and he created
over 50 fake works of burgos so in a
sense this is a man
who can probably look me in the eye and
say
you wanted things that you could not
find in your history so i created it for
you and so if you want to be filipino
and you want to be nationalistic then
you believe
what i'm telling you to believe
fake history also gets
into the picture because of politics
and a good example would be apolinario
mabini
who is best remembered under the title
the sublime paralytic i know what a
paralytic is but i don't quite know how
it matches with sublime
and although i knew this phrase
growing up it was only years later when
i was
attending meetings with a friend at the
historical commission
and the two senior members of the
commission
aguilar cruz who was our ambassador to
unesco and the historian teodoro
agoncillio during a break went out and
looked at the statue of mabini in front
of the national library and someone said
it's the sublime
paralytic and the other one said from
the sublime to the cephelite and they
both started laughing
after they laughed i asked them why why
did you say this and they sort of
whispered conspiratorially and said do
you know that mabini's paralysis was
caused by syphilis
and i kept this in the back of my mind
to use at some future time except that
in 1980 i found out that mabini's
remains were exhumed
his
his bones were arranged like a jigsaw
puzzle and they were studied x-rayed
measured and the conclusion by an
orthopedic surgeon was that mabini's
paralysis was actually caused by polio
there was no syphilis involved
now
i
mentioned this one day to
national artist f chonil jose
who wrote
part of his rosales trilogy or his
book on
generations one of the volumes is called
porn and in that volume mabini is
referenced and mabini lost the use of
his legs because of syphilis and so i
told frankie jose you know the syphilis
story
is not true because we have the the
latest medical opinion that says it was
polio but i didn't stop there i started
to trace where the story came from and i
found out
that apolinario mabini was emilio
aguinaldo's closest advisor
he was the person for whom all papers
to the president and out would pass so
he was powerful and yet he was hated and
so people who hated him especially in
the malolos congress created the
syphilis story in order to discredit him
and probably to force him to resign
so when you think about it it sounds
very contemporary the whole idea of
creating fake news so that you can get
someone out of the way or tarnish
someone's reputation this has happened
to none other than the polinario mabini
people talk freely throughout the length
and wealth of this library republic
against public divisions
against government institutions
against anybody
on any subject
politics has a way of distorting not
only the present but also our history
i saw a very small article in the
chicago tribune that talked about the
impeachment of el pidio querino
quirino was the first president to
undergo an impeachment hearing
and in this time kirino was
charged with all sorts of things
the most serious of which
in the public opinion was that he was
extravagant and he wasted people's money
much of it in the renovation of
malacanang
and he is supposed to have bought a 5
000 peso bed an amount that seems
nothing to us today but was a great deal
in those times and we actually have a
photograph of kerino bringing the press
inside his bedroom to show people the
bed that supposedly cost 5 000 pesos to
cut the long story short the impeachment
did not
flourish
and kirino was acquitted
but in 1953 when he ran for re-election
the charges from the impeachment hearing
came out again and they created
a new bit of news and it was that kirino
spent a lot to have a golden orinola or
a piss pot under his bed which is quite
funny because they had modern plumbing
in the toilet why would he need
a gold orinola but in that election
that golden arenola became a symbol of
everything that was corrupt and wrong
about the kirin administration and even
if it was not true
kirino
was remembered at that time for a golden
orinola that did not exist
on social media you will find many memes
about juan ponce and riley and how
immortal he is on my facebook feed once
i saw
advertised a one ponce andrea
immortality seminar and really has been
with us for a long time even when i was
a boy he was already part of marcos and
martial law
and you go back to history and you see
that one of the justifications for
martial law was that they shot up or
they ambushed and relay in wa
in september of 1972
when marcos heard about the ambush and
really
survived he said that this made the
proclamation of martial law a necessity
as of the 21st
of this month
i signed
proclamation number 1081 placing entire
philippines under martial law
in ferdinand marcos's diary we actually
see marcos writing about the
the assassination attempt and this being
one of the reasons why he was forced to
declare martial law now
in 1986 after marcos was
exiled to the united states juan ponce
enrique
is supposed to have said that the
assassination attempt was staged the
ambush was the states
i said but i did not say who is stage it
i did not say that i stayed so the
correct word was staged yes
and it was staged so that they would
have an excuse to declare martial law
that became part of our history from 86
but many years later when andrea
published his memoirs he recounted his
1986 statement and said
marcelo's already going on
why should i take my ambush
to justify myself when it was already on
a irreversible day so when you look at
it this is one historical figure telling
us two different versions of the same
event so our question is which side do
we want to believe and why
marcos is
one president who had a fine sense of
history or his place in history and i
have been working for a number of years
on
putting together the handwritten diary
that he wrote over many years in order
for us to understand the events but when
i looked at the diary and sometimes i
look at his speeches some things don't
quite match
in
1972 he actually gave a speech
to the philippine historical association
and some of the members of this
association were his professors in the
university of the philippines and in
this speech he actually declared i will
tell you about the particulars of the
declaration of martial law
in our history books the declaration of
martial law is always given as september
21 1972
but everyone knows that the martial
decree was actually implemented on the
23rd
the document
was dated september 21 simply because
marcos was superstitious about numbers
and he liked things that had a number
seven or in multiples of seven so he
told the philippine historical
association that
i actually had two copies of the martial
law declaration made and one copy i
signed on september 17 but i dated it
september 21 so you have a 17 and you
have a 21 and he kept this document
according to him i kept the document
because i was waiting for a sign from
god to tell me whether i should proceed
or not so in this speech marcos says and
it is actually
typed out and transcribed and he says
that even before the ambush of secretary
ponce and riley i had already ordered
the enforcement of the proclamation
long before that i had decided to
proclaim
martial law so when you see it we have a
historical document we have marcos
saying different things
marcos because of his sense of history
even corrected his birthday he was
supposed to have been born on september
11 1917
so in 2017 the 100th anniversary of
marcus's death
there was a philippine postage stamp
that commemorated his 100th birthday but
then a document came out from the civil
registrar of sarat his birthplace where
according to the records he was actually
born in 1916
uh and not 1917. and i have asked
demarco says to confirm or deny this
document and there has been no record
but it shows you that if a man is
willing to
fake or alter even his own birthday
maybe he is somebody that we cannot
trust and it is a history that he has
written that might be
more problematic than truth
dealing with fake news is like dealing
with history
you have to look at the past you have to
validate it you have to check it and
make sure that it is accurate or even if
it's accurate to see that our
interpretation or our the values that we
put into it the colors we put into it
are accurate and true
fake news
becomes history after a while and i'd
like to think that fake news should not
move into history which becomes
permanent
today we talk about historical
revisionism especially in terms of the
marcos period when we talk about resale
or mabini or people 100 years ago it
does not really
change things it's just a matter of
giving truth or using truth in order to
validate something in the past
but what complicates our life today with
fake news is that even the term that we
use historical revisionism it is
historical revisionism to paint the
marcos period as the greatest happiest
most economically sound part of
philippine history and yet they call it
historical revisionism historical
revisionism should be based on truth
historical revisionism means that you
correct something that is wrong you
correct something that is false and you
cannot revise something
to make it false
and so history and fake news teaches us
to always search for truth because it is
only in truth that we will find
ourselves and we will find our future
[Music]
you
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