Philippine Historical Association

A board of governors directs the annual activities of the PHA. It consists of eleven (11) regular members in good standing who are elected in the Annual General Assembly which is held on the last Sunday of January. The board of governors serves as the governing body of the association and manages its affairs and business. Upon their election, the board of governors elect among themselves the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and auditor. Also elected are other officers such as the press relations officer, the editor-in-chief of the Historical Bulletin and the chairs of the committees on membership, curriculum, and research.

The post of executive director was added to the board in 1975. The first executive director was Jorge Revilla. In the following year, Gloria Santos assumed the post. She has held this office till the present time, making her the longest running and continuously serving executive director.

Senior members of the association, the immediate past president and the chairmen of the National Historical Institute and the Philippine History Foundation constitute the Board of Consultants.

A meeting held by the association's founders on October 2, 1955 resulted in the election of the first board of governors.

The first president of the association was Gabriel Fabella who occupied the post for three years. He was succeeded by a host of prominent scholars, among them, Dalmacio Martin, Ricardo Arcilla, Sixto Orosa, Celedonio Resurreccion, Diosdado Capino, Bonifacio Salamanca, Romeo Cruz, Oscar Evangelista, Napoleon Casambre, Epitacio Palispis, Cesar Pobre, Ambeth Ocampo, Celestina Boncan, and Evelyn Songco.

One accomplishment of the 1980 Board of Governors was the creation of the Philippine Historical Foundation. As it was envisioned by its creators, the foundation was to be a non-stock, non-profit, non-denominational private organization for scholarly, educational, and cultural purposes.

In particular, the aims and objectives of the foundation are the following: 1) to foster, encourage and support scholarly research on any area of Philippine history; 2) to initiate, create, maintain and support a Philippine History Library and Museum to be administered by the Philippine Historical Association; 3) to provide financial support to worthwhile historical publications and projects; 4) to establish, assist and support professorial and research chairs in Philippine history; and 5) to collaborate with the Philippine Historical Association in achieving its purposes, aims and objectives and in implementing its program of activities and projects.

A Board of Trustees consisting of eleven members serves as the governing body of the foundation. The Board is presided over by a chairman who is joined by a vice chairman, secretary, treasurer, executive director, legal counsel and public relations officer. The other six members seat in the Board as trustees. There are four sectoral committees --- academe, business, international and professional—which are in charge of getting pledges of commitment.

Pursuant to the nature of its organization, the Philippine History Foundation will raise funds, accept donations, grants, bequests and legacies in cash or in kind which it shall hold in trust.

Past presidents, namely, Celedonio Resurreccion and Minerva Gonzalez, assisted the members of the incumbent board of governors in framing the constitution and by-laws of the foundation. Governor Antonio Avecilla was the first chairman of the foundation.

The association promotes historical research and scholarship among its members through the publication of their works. The association has an official journal which is published every year. The journal first came out in 1957 and was called Buletin ng Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas. The Bulletin was renamed Historical Bulletin[1] in 1959.

The association has come up with special issues of the Historical Bulletin. One such type of special issue is in honor of Filipino heroes and statesmen. Vol. XXII (1978) is devoted to Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon (Quezon: In Retrospect), edited by Mauro Garcia and Juan F. Rivera. Volume IV (June 1960), edited by Sixto Y. Orosa, and Vol. V (1961), edited by Carlos Quirino, are on Jose Rizal, the national hero. Volume IV (March 1960), edited by Teodoro A. Agoncillo, is on Claro M. Recto. Volume III (1959) is on Emilio Aguinaldo.

Another type of special issue is on significant events in Philippine history. Vol. XII (1968) is on the Japanese Occupation featuring the operations of the United States Army Forces in the Philippines, North Luzon.

There have also been special issues of the Historical Bulletin that dealt on themes in Philippine history. Volume XVII (1973) is on the study, teaching and writing of history.

The association maintains a newsletter called the PHA Balita. It was created in 1980 during the association's Silver Jubilee Year. The newsletter keeps the members informed of the activities of the association. It comes out twice a year.

The main annual activity of the association is the holding of an annual conference whose theme deals with timely and relevant issues of national concern. The themes of the PHA Annual Conference in the last five years include Historical Development of Philippine Political Parties (2006), Kababaihan at Kabayanihan (2005), In Search of Good Governance: Retrospect and Prospects (2004), Terrorism: Historical Perspective and Implications (2003), and RP-US Relations: A Historical Perspective (2002).

• Carballo, Maria Lourdes. Historical Bulletin, Volume 5. Quezon City: Philippine Historical Association, December 1961. Print
• Onorato, Michael Paul. A Brief Review of American Interest in Philippine Development And Other Essays. Berkeley, California: McCuthchan, 1968. Print
• Philippine Historical Association. Philippine Presidents: 100 Years. Quezon City: New Day Publisher, 1999. Print. ISBN 9789711010263

In 1975, the association decided to advance the celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary. The board of governors then felt that the association need not wait until its silver jubilee. In the words of the association's president, Celedonio Resurreccion, “age is fast overtaking many of the founders of the association and we want them to enjoy the ultimate satisfaction that their labors and contributions to the history profession are appreciated and recognized.”

It was for this reason that the association held a Recognition Day Ceremony on January 18, 1975 to confer a plaque of recognition with the highest distinction to thirteen members. The recipients of the awards were Encarnacion Alzona, Gabriel Fabella, Esteban de Ocampo, Mauro Garcia, Gloria Santos, Celedonio Ancheta, Carlos Quirino, Gregorio Zaide, Nicolas Zafra, Teodoro Agoncillo, Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Sixto Orosa, and Digno Alba (posthumous).

Five years later, in 1980, the association nevertheless kept its date with destiny. A Silver Jubilee Committee was created to draw up plans for the celebration. The committee was made up of past presidents of the association. The incumbent president, Bonifacio Salamanca, was unanimously designated as committee chairman.

The association launched its Silver Jubilee Year on June 12, 1980 with an exhibit on the past twenty-five years of the association which was set up on the second floor of the National Library on T.M. Kalaw St. in Ermita, Manila. Renowned historian and one of the founders of the association, Encarnacion Alzona, cut the ribbon to open the exhibit. In the evening, a dinner-lecture forum was held at the Club Filipino in cooperation with the Mabuhay ang Pilipino Movement. The guest speaker was Hon. Paco Albano, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, who spoke on the topic “History and Liberty: The Philippine Experience.”

The association held two seminars during the year. The first, on the topic “Towards the Effective Teaching of History,” was held at the Divine Word College in Legazpi City, Albay on September 12–13, 1980. The second, the annual seminar, was held on December 4–5, 1980 on the topic “Kasaysayan: Lingap sa Nakaraan, Gabay ng Kaunlaran” (History: Custodian of the Past, Guardian of the Future).

At the 2005 Annual General Assembly a resolution was passed to retain the 2004 Board of Governors as the 50th Anniversary Board to enable it to formulate a calendar of activities to mark the golden jubilee of the association. It was also decided to make the golden jubilee a year-long celebration.

A concert entitled “An Evening of Philippine Music Featuring the UST Singers” launched the anniversary activities. This was held on December 18, 2004 at the Philam Life Theater at United Nations Avenue, Manila.

Two conferences were held in Manila. The first was the Bonifacio Salamanca Commemorative Program which had as its theme “Philippine-American Relations Revisited.” It was held at the College of Arts & Sciences, University of the Philippines Manila on July 7, 2005. The second was the 2005 Annual Conference which coincided with the celebration of Linggo ng Kasaysayan whose theme this year was “Kasaysayan: Kandungan ng Kagitingan.” It was held at the National Library Auditorium on September 16–17, 2005.

The Palawan Regional Conference was held at the Palawan State University in Puerto Princesa City on March 4–5, 2005. The conference theme was “America’s Legacy in Palawan with a focus on Culion Leper Colony and Iwahig Penal Colony.”

The PHA organized together with the National Historical Institute a conference as part of the commemoration of the 109th Death Anniversary and Martyrdom of Jose Rizal. The conference was held on December 2–3, 2005 at the Rizal Shrine in Dapitan City on the theme “Teaching Rizal in the Classroom: Making the Rizal Course Relevant in our Time.”

Members of the PHA Board toured selected historical sites during the summer break. These were Banaue on April 15–17, 2005, Corregidor on May 20, 2005 and San Miguel (Bulacan) on June 12, 2005.

Vols. 34 and 35 of the Historical Bulletin were launched on September 17, 2005 at the National Library during the 2005 Annual Conference.