Project Saysay Vlog Features the Philippines and Rizal in Madrid
The first Project Saysay vlog aired live on its official Facebook page on Saturday, 14 April 2018, at 4:00 p.m. It is named Encuentro (Encounter), featuring the historical and cultural connection of Spain to the Philippines, vice versa.
UP History Department professors Ros Costelo and Kerby Alvarez travel to Avenida de Filipinas in Madird to feature the replica there of the Rizal National Monument. Costelo explains that the very avenue named after the Philippines is located in the prime zone of the Spanish capital city. She also provides brief history behind the name. The avenida was formerly named Avenida de las Islas Filipinas but Filipino residents in Madrid petitioned to the Ayuntamiento (local government) of the city in the 1960s to rename it to Filipinas. Costelo notes that the renaming was to remove the colonial connotation of "Islas Filipinas." It was during the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935 when the names "Islas Filipinas" and "Philippine Islands" were discouraged to be used and promoted the usage of "Philippines" instead. Costelo adds that the metro station running through Avenida de Filipinas remains Islas Filipinas due to financial complexities of the renaming to the metro system.
Alvarez also notes that Avenida de Filipinas is home to one of Spain's historic sport centers.
The replica of the Rizal National Monument in Madrid was sculpted in Manila by sculptor Florentino Caedo. It was inaugurated in 1996, during the centenary of Rizal's martyrdom. The two UP history professors laud the unsanitized text of the Spanish marker installed on the base of the monument. The marker explicitly explains to the Spaniards that Jose Rizal died in the hands of the Spanish authorities and was instrumental in the overthrow of the Spanish regime out of Asia, paving the way to the birth of the Filipino nation.
Towards the end of the vlog, Costelo interviews a local tourist who happens taking photographs of the monument. The tourist explains that he saw the same monument in Manila
The maiden vlog of Project Saysay in Spain runs for almost thirty minutes. It is a new project of Project Saysay under Vinta Program which aims to maximize the potential of social media in the furtherance of historical education.
