The Philippine postwar years are often overlooked in history classrooms, but understanding this period is crucial to contextualize how we do politics today. In this episode, we discuss one of the most prominent Philippine presidents of this period: Ramon Magsaysay, and the increasingly complex dynamics of US-Philippine relations with the Cold War as a backdrop. Whose guy really is Magsaysay? Let's find out.

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In 1943, almost two years after Japan launched a surprise attack, the Philippines was "granted" independence under Japan. A new republic was inaugurated, the Second Philippine Republic, led by President Jose P. Laurel. How did this republic come to be, and how were politics under the auspices of Japan? Filipinos have indeed longed for independence, but is this the envisioned independence? We'll answer these and more as we look at Philippine independence sponsored by the Japanese Empire during World War II through a speech by Jose P. Laurel, President of the Second Philippine Republic. 

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In this episode, we explore the dynamics of US hegemony in the Philippines as they occupied the country at the turn of the twentieth century by reading the Commission on Independence's petition letter, Filipino grievances against Governor Wood. Of particular interest in this period are the quest for independence through political negotiations and the clash between the Filipino political elite and one very stern American governor-general, Leonard Wood, the petition letter's subject. What were these grievances that Filipinos complained about, enough to call for Wood's removal? Were there different sides to this political scuffle in the 1920s? How did this impact the clamor for independence? And independence, for whom? That's a lot of questions, but trust that we'll unpack all that and more.

What does it mean to be free? In this episode, we demystify some of the issues surrounding Philippine independence—its symbolisms, silences, and misconceptions—by reading the Declaration of Philippine Independence, authored by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista.

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For the February edition of our monthly WRAP UP, we talk about five news breakers: Myanmar coup, the lumad school raids, the continuing vaccine politics in the Philippines, the MGCQ recommendation in NCR, and the PDEA-PNP misencounter. We explore these news with our special guest, Prof. Jio Guiang of #ThrowbackKasaysayan.

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The answer to this episode's question is not as straightforward as some people think, and there needs to be some contextualization on specific events that led to the execution of Bonifacio, particularly, the politics between Magdalo and Magdiwang, the two influential factions of the Katipunan in Cavite. We shed light on one of Philippine history's most contentious controversies by reading Emilio Aguinaldo's Mga Gunita ng Himagsikan.

For more information, episodes, shownotes, and other resources related to Philippine history, politics, and society, head on over to our website, www.podkas.org. 

Aside from writing the Kartilya ng Katipunan, Emilio Jacinto also wrote Liwanag at Dilim, which detailed the political philosophy of the Katipunan as a movement and an organization, and served as proof why Jacinto has been known to be the "brains of the revolution." We talk about this and more in this episode of PODKAS. Visit our website, www.podkas.org for more information and resources on Philippine history, politics, and society.

In this episode, we zone in on the propaganda movement and arguably the wittiest of its firebrands, Marcelo H. Del Pilar. His work, Dasalan at Tocsohan, parodied Catholic prayers and surely agitated the target of the propaganda movement's criticisms, the friars. Join us as we analyze this primary source and the circumstances surrounding the burgeoning agitation for reform that will lead to revolution in the late nineteenth century.

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What's so special about the nineteenth century? Why do scholars call it "the long century," when all centuries are... a hundred years? Why will our great revolutionary heroes appear in this period? And why so many questions? We'll answer all these by reading an outsider's perspective of the Philippines in this century: John Foreman's The Philippine Islands, first published in 1890.

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Today's news is tomorrow's history. In this episode, we discuss some of the issues and events that rocked January 2021, lest we forget. We also welcome the newest member of the PODKAS team, Joselito "Bro" Ebro Jr.!

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