"Pag kayo, naupo sa gobyerno, baguhin niyo, a?"

Yan ang parating sinasabi ng History I teacher ko sa amin every time we have a class. The Continuing Past. That's the title of our book. It just says that yung mga tae na nangyari dati, nangyayari parin ngayon. That's why she wants us to be politicians and change that image. Well, I am quite sure that I'll never be a politician, but I shall do my best to convince you, dear reader, to take it in consideration. She never misses a class, and if she does, it's only by 10 minutes. I thought that I wouldn't enjoy my history class since, heller, it's History. Who enjoys history? I certainly don't. But the way she tells the stories, the way she analyzes things, you can feel the anger talaga. In our lessons, we're talking about how the Spaniards treated us like dogs... No, scratch that. Worse than dogs. They treated us like we were machines, who didn't have feelings, who did all that was needed to earn gold gold gold, FOR THEM PA, hindi para satin. Sino ang naghihirap mag harvest ng tobacco? Tayo, diba? O ba't sakanila napupunta yung pera? Tas nandadaya pa. Screw that. When she tells the stories, you can really tell and imagine how hard it was for the Pinoys back then. Pati nga ako, nagagalit na kase sobrang naiimagine ko ang mga pinag-daanan ng mga namuhay nung panahon ng Espanya. Kawawa talaga. I've also learned a lot (and by a lot, I mean a LOT) from her stories and discussions. Sa una lang nga, medyo suplada siya. I thought that she'd be our terror teacher. Well, yes, she is quite terrorsome (kase pag di kami sasagot, sasabihin niya bigla "Oh ayaw kong mababagal mag-isip. Gusto ko lumabas ang pagiging analytical niyo. Make your analytical minds work!!!") But the terrorsome-ness is worth it, because what she teaches makes you realize how hard it was for the Filipinos back then (o ito, FYI. Hindi tayo originally called Filipinos. We were the indios. Ung mga Filipinos dati, yun yung mga anak ng Spanish at indios. O ano, sayo mo?) What she teaches makes you so proud to be Filipino, because ang rami na talaga nating pinagdaanan. Tas ang astig parin natin noon hanggang ngayon. Oh how I love History.