The Colonial Department

Lio Mangubat

Lost stories from 🇵🇭 history 🔊 Narrative nonfiction pod 📖 Book version published by @factionpress 📻 Written, produced, engineered by @liomangubat

  1. S8E2: Riding a Tram in 1911 Manila

    1 DAY AGO

    S8E2: Riding a Tram in 1911 Manila

    What kind of city was waiting for Dutch scholar Gerret Pieter Rouffaer when he got to Manila? After more than a decade of occupation, the Americans had given the colonial capital some thorough nips and tucks. Aside from the glimmering roads and shady plazas, the Americans also laid down more tramways. Trams were already up and running during the latter part of the Spanish occupation, but in 1905, the US rehabilitated the old system. Unlike the old Spanish versions, these new streetcars barrelled along on double-wheeled trucks and could fit fifty people. They also ran on electricity.  When Rouffaer arrived in the Philippines, he took the tranvia everywhere, and wrote down his snarky observations in a diary. Let’s see what he had to say. Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept Email us: thecolonialdept@gmail.com References: Muijzenberg, Otto Van Den (ed., trans.) (2016). Colonial Manila 1909-1912: Three Dutch Travel Accounts. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Rodell, Paul A. (1974). “Philippine ‘Seditious Plays.’” Asian Studies, 12(1), pp. 88-118. Pante, Michael D. (2016). “Urban Mobility and a Healthy City Intertwined Transport and Public Health Policies in American-Colonial Manila.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 64(1), pp. 73-101. Morley, Ian (2016). “Modern Urban Designing in the Philippines, 1898–1916.” Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 64(1), pp. 3-42. Gardini, Ashley (8 July 2025). “Daniel Burnham in the Philippines.” JSTOR Daily.  Cubeiro, Didac (2017). “Modernizing the Colony: Ports in Colonial Philippines, 1880-1908.” World History Connected. RailwaysPh. “Tranvías de Manila y Corregidor: Notable Heritage Tram Systems” (15 November 2020). Renacimiento Manila. Sison, Norman (21 April 2015). “LRT expansions remind of tranvia days.” Vera Files.  Scott, William Henry (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (revised edition). New Day Publishers.

    18 min
  2. INTERVIEW: Exploring the food history of the Philippines

    4 APR

    INTERVIEW: Exploring the food history of the Philippines

    “There’s a message to it: It’s our responsibility to keep Filipino food popular!” At the launch for her book What Recipes Don’t Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words, author and historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria talked to a rapt audience at the Philippine Book Festival about a long career of writing about food. What new things can food tell us about our own history? How did we adapt techniques and ingredients from abroad… while still preserving our own? And how should we nurture this knowledge for future generations? Joining her in this panel were publisher and editor Karina Bolasco, graphic designer and fellow food scholar Ige Ramos, and printmaker Marz Aglipay. Through their shared history with Felice, they deepened the conversation with their own perspectives on creativity, design, and the space for food in the publishing landscape.  Special thanks to the Ateneo de Manila University Press for inviting me to moderate this panel, and for letting me record this conversation. Support the podcast: patreon.com/thecolonialdept Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept Email us: thecolonialdept@gmail.com The Colonial Dept. Interview is a series where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past.

    38 min
  3. S8E1: The Philippine Sour-chipelago

    21 MAR

    S8E1: The Philippine Sour-chipelago

    Sourness, according to Doreen Fernandez, “is a favored Philippine flavor.” Just how sour is sour? “Sour enough to savor, to make the lips pucker and the eyes squint slightly, and yet not too sour—just at the point of perfection.” In the spectrum of sensation, sourness can be both sharp and sudden, an acetic shudder down the spine. Asim, the Tagalogs call it. From the earliest written records about the Philippines, it is this taste that has come to define our cooking. “Spanish colonials from the 1500s through the 1800s described indio food as primarily salty and sour,” writes food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria. “Both tastes can induce sweat in hot climates and remind the body to keep hydrated and its electrolytes balanced.” Let us trace the pathways of this taste as it evolved in three key dishes: sinigang, kinilaw, and adobo. Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept Email us: thecolonialdept@gmail.com References: Sta. Maria, Felice Prudente (2025). What Recipes Don't Tell: Philippine Food History in Fifty Words. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Fernandez, Doreen G. (1988). “Culture Ingested: Notes on the Indigenization of Philippine Food.” Philippine Studies, 36(2), pp. 219-232. Fernandez, Doreen G. (1994). Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture. Anvil Publishing. Frank, Hannah E. R.; Amato, Katie; Trautwein, Michelle; Maia, Paula; Liman, Emily R.; Nichols; Lauren M.; Schwenk, Kurt; Breslin, Paul A. S.; Dunn, Robert R. (2022)  “The evolution of sour taste.” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1968). https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/289/1968/20211918/79292/The-evolution-of-sour-tasteEvolution-of-Sour-Taste Shaw, Sterling V. Herrera (30 August 2024). “Adobo is ‘paksiw,’ and other terms in Filipino food history.” Philippine Daily Inquirer.  Ladrido, R.C. (1 July 2022). “Tapayan, Gusi, or Martaban: Tales of Stoneware Jars in the Philippines.” VERA Files. Newman, Yasmin (11 May 2023). “Kinilaw, the age-old dish of the Philippines (and why it's not ceviche).” SBS Food. https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/kinilaw-the-age-old-dish-of-the-philippines-and-why-its-not-ceviche/4alb6pswa Trinidad, Bea. (16 August 2025). “Say ‘kilawin’ instead of ‘Filipino ceviche’, okay?” The Philippine Star. https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/2025/08/16/2465728/say-kilawin-instead-filipino-ceviche-okay Banez, George (31 August 2025). “Sinigang Through Time: The Filipino Sour Soup with Many Faces, One Soul.” Pressenza Philippines Pigafetta, Antonio (ca. 1525). “Primo viaggio intorno al mondo.” In Blair, Emma Helen, and Robertson, James Alexander (eds.), The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Vol. 33), Arthur H. Clark Company. Wertz, S.K. (2013). “The Elements of Taste: How Many Are There?” The Journal of Aesthetic Education,47(1), pp. 46-57 https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jaesteduc.47.1.0046 Ferguson, Priscilla Parkhurst (2011). “The Senses of Taste.” American Historical Review, 116(2), pp. 371-384. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23307701

    17 min
  4. An important announcement about the future of The Colonial Dept.

    27 FEB

    An important announcement about the future of The Colonial Dept.

    Before we start Season 8, I have an important announcement about this little podcast. For more info, check out this Instagram post.

    6 min
  5. INTERVIEW: Twin timelines, entangled histories

    7 FEB

    INTERVIEW: Twin timelines, entangled histories

    “What does it take for a culture that has caused a lot of pain and suffering to have any chance at redemption… or any sense of justice?” Tom Sykes’ riotous new book—a collision of a neon-powered 1980s Manila and a disaster-stricken barangay in the 1570s—attempts to answer the question… with many seedy side quests in between. How did he attempt to write his wild, genre-bending vision of the Philippines? And how does Back to the Future figure into it? The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors who are shining a light on our past.

    38 min
  6. INTERVIEW: Sungka as a wargame?

    28 JAN

    INTERVIEW: Sungka as a wargame?

    What a folk game can tell us about how a datu waged war. An interview with Micah Perez of the UP Diliman Department of History. The Colonial Dept. Interview is a bonus show where I talk to researchers and authors shining a light on our past. Know a historian or author I should talk to? Email me at thecolonialdept@gmail.com. Thumbnail image: Usernameko/Wikimedia Commons

    46 min
  7. S7E13: The War and the Weatherpriests

    20/12/2025

    S7E13: The War and the Weatherpriests

    Ever since its founding in the 1860s, the Manila Observatory had stood watch against the typhoons and hurricanes that threatened to strike the Philippines. But decades later, they were unprepared for a different kind of approaching storm: the Second World War! Cover photo from the Illustrated London News. Additional audio from British Pathe. Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept Email us: thecolonialdept@gmail.com References: Warren, James Francis (2024). Typhoons: Climate, Society, and History in the Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press. Hidalgo, Angel (1967). “Miguel Selga, 1879-1956: Priest and Scientist.” Philippine Studies, 15(2), pp. 307-347. Bocar, Efren Cyril (19 November 2024). “‘Signs of disaster’: How weather lore holds up against typhoons and science.” Rappler.  Biolong, Fr. Raymundus Rede, SVD (1996). “The Ivatan Cultural Adaptation to Typhoons: A Portrait of a Self-Reliant Community from the Indigenous Development Perspective.”  Ribera, Pedro; García-Herrera, Ricardo; Gimeno, Luis (2008). “Historical deadly typhoons in the Philippines.” Weather, 63(7), pp. 194-199.

    17 min
  8. S7E12: Turbulent Times at Manila Bay

    29/11/2025

    S7E12: Turbulent Times at Manila Bay

    In the late 1500s, sultans, kings, and outlaws alike all wanted a little slice of Manila. And over two turbulent decades, everyone from faraway Spain to neighboring Brunei asserted their claims over the rajahs and datus that lived there. This is the turbulent origin story of the city that we know today. Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept Email us: thecolonialdept@gmail.com Cover photo from “Ataque de Li-ma-hong a Manila en 1574” by Juan Caro y Mora References: Patanne, E.P. (1993-1996). “Old Tondo and the Lakandula Revolt of 1574.”Historic Manila: Commemorative Lectures. Manila Historical Commission. Majul, Cesar Adib (1999). Muslims in the Philippines (third edition). University of the Philippines Press. Elsa Clavé, Arlo Griffiths (2022). “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: Tenth-Century Luzon, Java, and the Malay World.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 70(2), pp.167-242. Postma, Antoon (1992). “The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary.” Philippine Studies, 40(2), pp. 183–203. “Paghinumdom: Retrospection of the Hindu-Buddhist Cultural Influences Based on Tangible Finds in the Caraga Region.” (2022) https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/09/30/paghinumdom-retrospection-of-the-hindu-buddhist-cultural-influences-based-on-tangible-finds-in-the-caraga-region/ Velez, Genesis (2020). “Chinese Merchants in Late Pre-Hispanic Cebu: Context, Issues, and Possibilities.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 48(3/4), pp. 125-155. Shutz, J. Travis (2019). “Limahong’s Pirates, Ming Mariners, and Early Sino-Spanish Relations: The Pangasinan Campaign of 1575 and Global History From Below.” Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 67(3/4), pp. 315-342.

    16 min
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Lost stories from 🇵🇭 history 🔊 Narrative nonfiction pod 📖 Book version published by @factionpress 📻 Written, produced, engineered by @liomangubat

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