Philippine E-Journals

The Filipino Point of View In Historical Interpretation As Articulated By Teodoro A. Agoncillo

Antonio C. Hila

 

Abstract:

Historical interpretation is not done in a vacuum. A point of view is necessarily adopted by the historian who writes to re-live the past. Precisely because history can never be objective as Agoncillo has firmly asserted, interpretation varies according to the varied persuasions of the historians. This is clearly seen in the writing of the history of a nation like the Philippines which has undergone successive waves of colonization. Philippine historians have assumed different ways of interpreting its past indicated by two opposing viewpoints - one that reflects the perspective of the colonizer, and that of the colonized.