Ambeth Ocampo

Ambeth R. Ocampo (born 1961) is a Filipino historian, academic, journalist, cultural administrator and author best known for his writings about Philippines' national hero José Rizal and for Looking Back, his bi-weekly editorial page column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He has served as the Chairman of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (2002-2011) and concurrently Chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in (2005-2007).^[1][2]

Education

Ocampo was educated in the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University from primary, secondary and tertiary levels. He subsequently attained his undergraduate and masteral degrees in Philippine Studies from De La Salle University in 1989 and 1991, respectively. He took graduate courses in the University of the Philippines (Diliman) and later read for a doctorate degree in Southeast Asian History at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).^[3]

He abandoned his London postgraduate studies in 1993, when he entered the Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, where he was christened as Dom. Ignacio Maria, OSB. His monastic vows expired in 1997 and he chose not to renew then but still contemplates returning in the future.^[4]

In 2008, Ocampo was conferred from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines a honorary Doctor of Public Administration in recognition of his work in cultural administration and his contributions to Philippine history.

Career

Writings

Looking Back column

Ocampo began writing for Weekend Magazine, the Sunday supplement of the Philippine Daily Express in 1985 and subsequently joined its editorial staff as its associate editor. His column, Looking Back, first appeared in the Philippine Daily Globe in 1987. The compilation of material from these columns resulted in his two bestselling books namely the Looking Back series presently on its eleventh compilation and Rizal Without the Overcoat which garnered him the National Book Award for Essay in 1990. On the invitation of Letty Jimenez Magsanoc and Eugenia D. Apostol, Ocampo's column transferred to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in 1990 where it appears twice weekly to the present.^[5]

Since 1986, Ocampo has since published over twenty books and publications mostly compilations of his essays and writings on Philippine history, arts and culture. Several of his published works have centered on the Philippine nationalist and martyr, Jose Rizal collated in his magnum opus Rizal Without the Overcoat which has gone into sixth edition since its first publication in 1990. Included in his published works are biographies of prominent Philippine personalities namely, the writer-artist Emilio Aguilar Cruz, musical composer Nicanor Abelardo, historian Teodoro Agoncillo and Teodora Alonso among others. Ocampo has co-authored as well, the history of foreign relations of the Philippines between France and Japan.^[6]

When Ocampo was appointed chair of the National Historical Institute and later elected chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared that she was an ardent reader of his newspaper column, admiring his writings because he "makes history so approachable." Some academics have unfairly criticized Ocampo for his populist approach towards historiography. Imposing the standards of academic journals on his newspaper columns he has been criticized for the lack of footnotes, bibliographic references, and a conceptual framework, he is also faulted for allegedly failing to contribute to conceptual and analytic debate in Philippine historiography. In response, Ocampo has since released two compilations of his public lectures including Meaning and History centered towards Jose Rizal and Bones of Contention centered on Andres Bonifacio both published in 2001 with the required bibliographic references and footnotes. Nevertheless, Ocampo is considered as one of the most prominent Philippine historians following in the footsteps of his mentors, public historians: Teodoro Agoncillo, Emilio Aguilar Cruz and Doreen Fernandez among others.^[7]

Ocampo moderates a growing and trending Facebook page of almost 60,000 followers. Since 2011, he has delivered public lectures on Philippine history at the Ayala Museum known as History Comes Alive to sold-out crowds.

Government service

Cultural administrator

From 1987 until 1992, Ocampo served as a consultant to the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) with a concurrent capacity as member of the National Committee on Libraries and Information (NCLI) and the National Committee on Monuments and Sites (NCOM) under the direction of the Presidential Commission on Culture and the Arts (present-day the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)). In his capacity as consultant, he recovered the unpublished manuscripts of Rizal's unfinished novel Makamisa in 1987 and later worked on the bibliographic cataloging of papers, writings and documents related to Rizal held in the vault of the National Library.^[8][9] He has also completed a detailed bibliographic catalog of the Rizal materials in the Lopez Museum and Library.

In 1996 until 1998, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim appointed Ocampo and his fellow writer and historian Carmen Guerrero Nakpil as co-chairs of the Manila Historical and Heritage Commission, as part of the organizing committee for the bicentennial of the execution of Jose Rizal in 1996 and the centennial of Philippine independence in 1998.^[10]

In 1999, Ocampo was appointed as a board member of the National Historical Institute by President Joseph Estrada and in 2002, he was appointed as its Chairman by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. As NHI Chair, Ocampo served, ex-officio, on the Board of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and he was elected as its chairman in 2005.. As NCCA Chairman, Ocampo held cabinet-rank, he lobbied and oversaw for increased national funding for the arts and provided support for the national cultural agencies the National Library, National Archives, National Museum attached to the NCCA. During his term, Ocampo focused on cultural diplomacy as a main function in bridging diplomatic relations of the Philippines. The President granted Ocampo full powers to negotiate and sign Cultural Agreements with Pakistan, Vietnam, and North Korea as well as executive programs on culture with France, Mexico, and the People's Republic of China.^[11]

During his term as NHI Chairman, Ocampo weathered criticism over attempts to enforce provisions of the existing Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines by reminding artists singing the Philippine national anthem during international boxing bouts of the proper way to sing the anthem, and his controversial decision to paint the Rizal clan house green - to remind Filipinos that the word "rizal" came from "ricial" meaning a green field ready for harvest.^[12]

He successfully worked for the passage of Republic Act 10086 restoring the National Historical Institute into the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Passed in record time, less than a year, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the measure into law in May 2010. Under the new law, the former NHI was reorganized, expanded, its duties and powers clarified and strengthened.^[13]

In academia

Ocampo in 2008.

Ocampo is Associate Professor and former Chairman of the Department of History, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University and Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman. He served on the Board of Regents, Universidad de Manila (formerly City College of Manila) where he served as President and Vice-President for Academic Affairs 1996–1998.

He has held appointments as Visiting Research Fellow in Kyoto University and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and recently was Visiting Professor in Sophia University, Tokyo where he taught courses on Philippine history and culture from 2012 to 2014.

His personal and official papers, notes and correspondences have been deposited in the University of the Philippines Main Library and Archives in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.

A collector of Filipiniana, his extensive library is divided between his home in Makati City; Holy Angel University, Angeles, Pampanga;^[14] and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies Library in Kyoto University.^[15]

Honors, awards, and decorations

Ocampo has won three National Book Awards in these categories: Essay, Literary History, and Bibliography. He also won a Premio Manuel Bernabe awarded by the then Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Espana en Filipinas and a Premio Quijano de Manila from the Instituto Cervantes Manila. He was elected National Fellow for Essay by the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center (1995–1996).

He was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar (2000); Research Fellow, Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies (2003); Senior Fellow, Asian Public Intellectual Program awarded by the Nippon Foundation (2010) and participated in the Asia Leadership Fellow Program of the Japan Foundation and the International House of Japan in Tokyo (2014). His other awards include: TOYM Ten Outstanding Young Men (History) in 1997, Gawad Balagtas lifetime achievement award (Essay) from the Writers Union of the Philippines, 2006 MetroBank Outstanding Teacher Award,^[16] Gatpuno Villegas Award (Patnubay ng Sining), one of the highest awards given by the City of Manila for Culture (2007).^[17] Holy Angel University conferred the Juan D. Nepomuceno Award for Research and Scholarship on him in recognition of his research on Pampanga.^[18]

He holds the rank of Commander in the Order of the Knights of Rizal, and the Encomienda [Commander] de la Orden del Merito Civil conferred by the Kingdom of Spain for his contribution to the success of the State visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in December 2007.

In June 2008, he was conferred the rank of Officier in the Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the Republic of France for his contributions to the arts and letters as: writer, academic, cultural administrator, and for his support of cultural exchanges between the Philippines and France.^[19]

In recognition of his work in cultural administration and his contributions to Philippine history, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines^[20] conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Public Administration, honoris causa, in December 2008.^[21]

In 2010, he was conferred one of the highest civilian awards of the Philippines,^[22] the Order of Lakandula, Rank of Bayani^[23] for his contributions in cultural administration, the popularization of Philippine history, and for having served as Chairman of the National Historical Institute from 2002 to 2010, and concurrently Chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts 2005–2007, without compensation.^[24]

In December 2013, during President Benigno Aquino III visit to Tokyo, Ocampo was conferred on the Presidential Medal of Merit, the citation reads, "for his achievements as scholar, teacher, and in recognition of his writings through which he polarized Philippine history, art and culture thus bringing these aspects of our national identity closer to the people." ^[25]

In September 2016, he was conferred the prestigious Fukuoka (Academic) Prize, Ocampo is only the fifth Filipino to be so honoured, and part of the Award Citation reads: "As an outstanding historian and intellectual, Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo has made a great contribution to academic, cultural and social progress in the Philippines, through his university teaching, his writing for newspapers and magazines, and his service in historic and cultural administration. His clear and accessible explanations of the wider global context in which the country developed during the period of the Spanish and American colonial regimes have helped promote a more open sense of nationalism, and facilitated the advancement of international exchanges both with Asia and with the West." ^[26]

Honours

• 2010: Grand Cross of the Order of Lakandula with Rank of Bayani
• 2013: Presidential Medal of Merit

Foreign honors

•  Spain:

Order of Civil Merit with the Rank of Commander (Encomienda) (2007)

•  France :

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres with the Rank of Officier (2008)

Awards

• 1990: National Book Award (Essay)
• 1992: National Book Award (Literary History)
• 1993: National Book Award (Bibliography)
• 1993: Premio Manuel Bernabe
• 1997: TOYM Ten Outstanding Young Men Award (History)
• 2000: Fulbright Senior Research Scholar
• 2003: Research Fellow, Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies
• 2006: MetroBank Outstanding Teacher Award
• 2007: Gatpuno Villegas Award (Patnubay ng Sining)
• 2015: Gawad Tanglaw Award (Best Newspaper Columnist)
• 2015: Juan D. Nepomuceno Award for Research and Scholarship
• 2016: Gawad Tanglaw Award (Best Newspaper Columnist)
• 2016: Fukuoka Academic Prize

Bibliography

Books

• The Paintings of E. Aguilar Cruz (1986)
• Ang Buhay at Musika ni Maestro Nicanor Abelardo (The Life and Music of Maestro Nicanor Abelardo) (1987)
• Looking Back (1990)
• Rizal Without the Overcoat (1990)
• Makamisa: The Search for Rizal's Third Novel (1993)
• Aguinaldo's Breakfast (1993)
• A Calendar of Rizaliana in the Vault of the Philippine National Library (1993)
• Bonifacio's Bolo (1995)
• Teodora Alonso (1995)
• Talking History: Conversations with Teodoro A. Agoncillo (1995)
• Mabini's Ghost (1995)
• Luna's Moustache (1997)
• The Centennial Countdown (1998)
• Meaning and History: The Rizal Lectures (2001)
• Bones of Contention: The Bonifacio Lectures (2001)
• 60 Years and Bon Vivant: Philippine-French Relations (2008)
• 101 Stories of the Philippine Revolution (2008)
• Looking Back (2010)
• Dirty Dancing: Looking Back 2 (2010)
• Death by Garrote: Looking Back 3 (2010)
• Chulalongkorn's Elephants: The Philippines in Asian History: Looking Back 4 (2011)
• Rizal's Teeth, Bonifacio's Bones: Looking Back 5 (2012)
• Prehistoric Philippines: Looking Back 6 (2012)
• Storm Chasers: Looking Back 7 (2014)
• Virgin of Balintawak: Looking Back 8 (2014)
• Demonyo Tables: History in Artifacts: Looking Back 9 (2015)
• Two Lunas, Two Mabinis: Looking Back 10 (2015)
• History and Heritage of the Kudan: The Official Residence of the Philippine Ambassador of Japan (2015)
• BenCab Portraits (2015)
• Independence X6: Looking Back 11 (2016)
• Quezon's Sukiyaki: Looking Back 12 (2016)

References