PLANS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 1998 AND 1999

During the Local History Seminar-Workshop,
the founding members drew up the following plans for 1998 and the future:

The LSHS members agreed to conduct
research on the evolution of the different
towns and to identify unknown or lesser-
known historical sites in the region.

They also agreed to participate in the
process of resolving certain historical controversies such as the site of the First
Mass in the Philippines (Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte or Masao, Butuan) and the conflicting reports about the American casualties during the Balangiga Massacre in Samar in 1901.

The members approved of the proposal for
the LSHS to co-sponsor with the Leyte
Normal University (LNU) the national
conference of the Philippine National
Historical Society (PNHS) in October 1998.
The theme of this conference is "The
Unknown and Unsung Heroes of the
Philippine Revolution: A Centennial Tribute."

The members also agreed to organize an
annual regional conference of the LSHS.

The LSHS sought to take advocacy position
on historical issues, particularly those
affecting the Leyte-Samar region.

In its fledgling stage, the LSHS was to be provided secretariat support by the workshop
sponsor, the Leyte-Samar Heritage Center of the UPVTC.

The various local government units (LGUs)
all over the region were enjoined to provide material and moral support to the LSHS for projects, programs and activities in their respective localities.

A quarterly newsletter that would serve as forum for exchange of ideas and information related to the activities and pursuits of the LSHS was proposed during the First Regional Conference on Leyte-Samar History in Aug. 1998.

The LSHS enjoined its members to take
active roles and participation in the different Philippine Centennial activities, which will culminate in 1998.

The LSHS made a lot of headway in 1998. Its major accomplishments are itemized below, following the outline for the plans:

It would take some time to achieve momentum for this type of activity. For a start, an LSHS member created A Homepage of Naval, a website of a town in Biliran Province showing an example of how to achieve this objective.

The National Historical Institute (NHI) resolved the controversy of the recorded First Mass in the Philippines in favor of Limasawa in a decision handed down in early 1998.

The conflicting reports about the American casualties of the Balangiga Massacre has been finally clarified, thanks to documents provided by Ms. Jean Wall from the personal archives of Pvt. Adolph Gamlin, her father who was an American survivor in Balangiga.

In a paper presented at the NCCA Media Cultural Workshop for the Leyte-Samar Region at Hotel Alejandro on Oct. 16-17, 1998, Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga refuted some fiction that were passed off as facts and had become part of the conventional history of the Leyte-Samar region.

Because of its "unregistered" status, the LSHS could not be considered an official co-sponsor of the 19th National Conference on Local and National History of the PSHS on Oct. 21-23, 1998. But the LSHS was more than adequately represented. Prof. Pablo Amascual III was the overall coordinator of the conference. And three other LSHS members -- Prof. Glenda Lynna Anne Tibe-Bonifacio, Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga, and Prof. Daniel Talde -- were the only invited paper presentors for the region in the same conference.

The First Regional Conference on Leyte-Samar History was held at U.P. Tacloban College on Aug. 22-23, 1998. It was attended by about 30 participants. The conference theme was "Leyte and Samar: The Last 100 Years."

The Second Regional Conference on Leyte-
Samar History was held at Ritz Tower de Leyte in Tacloban City on Dec. 16-17, 1999. The theme was "Twentieth Century Historical Developments in Leyte and Samar." The conference was subsidized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Throughout 1999, an LSHS member created several linked websites with articles that take advocacy positions about aspects of Leyte-
Samar history. The initially available sites are:

Balangiga Massacre and Leyte Landing,
Leyte-Samar Shadows,
A Homepage of Naval,
Biliran Culture,
Sunset in Biliran, and
Official Biliran,

The LSHS seeks the return of the church bell of Balangiga to the Philippines and the re-examination of the Leyte Landing commemoration.

The Center (LSHC) pulled out its support to the Society (LSHS) in September 1998, just before the Balangiga Historical Tour. With a new director for the Center, we hope the original agreement could still be worked out.

The LGU support for LSHS projects has yet to materialize.

The LSHS newsletter was agreed upon to come out with its maiden issue during the first quarter of 1999. However, the plan had to be deferred in favor of efforts to first legitimize the existence of the Society as an organization.

LSHS officers and members were the main organizers and implementors of the Balangiga Historical Tour, identified by the University of the Philippines System as a major component of the 1998 U.P. Centennial Celebrations.

Prof. Glenda Lynna Anne Tibe-Bonifacio and Prof. Rolando O. Borrinaga were assigned overall co-coordinators of the tour. Seven other faculty and staff of U.P. Tacloban College, mostly members of LSHS, assisted them in the planning and conduct of the tour, which included the following activities:

1. The Balangiga Photo Exhibit at the Multi-Purpose Building of the U.P. Tacloban College on Sept. 26, 1998.

2. The U.P. National Symposium on the Balangiga Attack of 1901 in the same venue on Sept. 26, 1998.

3. The tour proper through the Balangiga Freedom Trail on Sept. 27-28, 1999.

The details of the study tour, which was later dubbed as the "heart" of all study tours of the 1998 U.P. Centennial Celebrations, are found in the Balangiga Massacre and Leyte Landing website.