UST Hosts Lecture on British Occupation of Manila

“The deeper you go into the sources in any period of history, the more the mainstream narrative of history is challenged.”

This is what Carlos Madrid Álvarez-Piñer the director of the Instituto Cervantes de Manila said in his lecture on the The British Occupation of Manila, 1762-1764, a part of the continuing series of lectures, of the UST History Society, under the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas, delivered a riveting talk on Saturday about this obscure moment in Philippine History. Held at the Medicine Auditorium of the San Martin de Porres Building The KaSAYSAYan Lectures Part 3: highlighted a short and often overlooked moment in the country’s colonial history.

Image source: PIA

The lecture highlighted this often forgotten foreign occupation of the country’s capital that happened during the height of the Seven Years War (1756 to 1763), what Álvarez-Piñer describes as World War “Zero” or as the first conflict of European powers that had worldwide implications.

He described how historic realities that are confirmed by various independent sources are often blurred and lost to common misconceptions. He cites that the Crown of Spain during its occupation of the Philippines took at a great premium and considered the inhabitants of the archipelago as valued tax payers.

“I call history as journalism that is out of date” Álvarez-Piñer said. Citing the need of historians to constantly uncover new sources, new materials and new insights into the study, notably those to the more obscure moments that have been overlooked.