By Jenny Ortuoste
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts aired live today (Monday, April 12) on their official Facebook page (facebook.com/NCCAOfficial/) “The 21st Countdown to 500 Online Lecture” on the history of Italian explorer and scholar Antonio Pigafetta, and the art made in his honor.
The lecture is part of the “Countdown to 500” special program created by the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) and the Office of the President of the Philippines that commemorates the 500th anniversary of various historical events, as marked by the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines (2021 QCP).
“Countdown to 500” is a series of online lectures developed through the collaboration of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) that aims to sustain Filipinos’ interest in the 2021 QCP.
The 21st Countdown to 500 Online Lecture is entitled “Antonio Pigafetta in Philippine History & Art.” It featured as guests historian Dr. Danilo M. Gerona of Partido State University, Camarines Sur, and sculptor Juan Sajid Imao, the son of National Artist Abdulmari Imao, who created the Antonio Pigafetta monument in Fort San Pedro, Cebu City.
With them were Alessandro Milani, general manager of the Philippine-Italian Association, and Rommel Aquino of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines-Materials Research and Conservation Division.
This Countdown to 500 lecture was made possible through the efforts of the Philippine-Italian Association and the Cebu City Cultural and Historical Affairs Office with the support of the PCOO, NHCP, Radio-Television Malacañang, the Philippine Information Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Education.
What are the quincentennial commemorations?
According to the NQC (https://nqc.gov.ph/en), the country will commemorate this year two major historical events and other related events, collectively known as the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines (2021 QCP).
This is in line with the national government’s aim to commemorate these events from a Filipino-centric perspective.
These two major events are:
- The 500th anniversary of the Victory at Mactan: this commemorates the victory of Lapulapu in the Battle of Mactan.
- The 500th anniversary of the Philippine part in the first circumnavigation of the world: this commemorates the stopover of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation in the Philippines. The NQC advises against referring to the event as the “arrival of Magellan” in the Philippines or as the “discovery” of the Philippines, which are Western-oriented characterizations.
Another major historical event coinciding with these is the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines, where the Spanish arrival made Christianity the dominant faith in the country. The celebration for this event is led by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
