Answer:
Studying history allows us to gain valuable perspectives on the problems of our modern society. Many problems, features, and characteristics of modern Philippine society can be traced back to historical questions on our colonial past, as well as our pre-colonial culture. Our export-oriented economy, for example, can be traced back to the ending of the galleon trade and the subsequent liberalization and tying of the country to the world market, coupled with the lack of industrial advancement in the islands. This and other lessons can be uncovered by digging deep into the country’s past.
This also applies to other countries’ histories, and while studying the past may not actually present a solution to current problems or directly answer questions, they lend new and alternative perspectives to current situations and allow us to further understand current problems.
History as a discipline allows us to see beyond textbooks and see the past through new lenses. There were times in the Spanish colonial period where the clergy and religious orders assigned to the country were the ones causing misery to the Filipinos, while there are times when the Church truly cared for the natives and the government was the one doing the people harm. This is an interesting part of our history that sadly reaches the textbooks in a boring, oversimplified version that says all the Spanish were bad. If we cling to what the textbooks tell us then we will already have a wrong understanding of Philippine history. The study of history allows us to see beyond the standard textbook and to the primary source itself, interpreted into new and alternative viewpoints.
Philippine history is in and of itself very interesting. Philippine history is a unique narrative of colonialism, reaction, and revolution. It is also a culturally diverse country from precolonial times. There’s an emerging trend to study the social history of the country (i.e. more on the day-to-day experience of the Filipinos during certain periods) and uncover more stories beyond the usual stories taught in schools across the country. The country’s experience of colonialism, the rise of nationalistic feelings, and the people’s subsequent reaction may allow us to gain more perspectives on nationalism and revolution
