On This Day - July 21, 1871 - Praxedes Julia Fernandez, a performer who is considered Queen of Philippine Drama, was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila

 

Today in Philippine History, July 21, 1871, Praxedes Julia Fernandez was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila

On July 21, 1871, Praxedes Julia Fernandez, the so-called singing sweetheart of Manila, a performer who is considered Queen of Philippine Drama, was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila. She was one of the three children of Mariano Fernandez and Josefa Quizon.

(Praxedes Julia Fernandez on her wedding day)

Yeyeng as she was popularly known, was one of the founders of Fersuta company, the name framed from the names of the principal lady players, Fernandez, Suzara,and Tagorona. Her group presented many benefit shows for the widows and orphans of the soldiers of the Spanish army.

On September 30, 1891, in grateful acknowledgement of Miss Fernandez's performances for charity, the Spanish army honored her with a gala affair. As a memento of the occasion, she was presented with a silver crown.

Yeyeng ended her stage career with a farewell presentation of the opera La Viuda Alegre at the Manila Grand Opera House on November 14, 1911.

On August 18, 1892, she was married to Ricardo Penalos Pastor, a professor in the Escuela de Artes y Oficios in Iloilo. Their marriage was not blessed with any children.

She died on August 22, 1919 at the age of 48.

References:

1. Philippine News Agency archives
2. Photo credit: http://dreamcatcherrye.blogspot.com/

On This Day - July 20, 1826 - Margarita Roxas de Ayala, one of the Philippines' greatest businesswomen, was born in San Miguel, Manila

 

Today in Philippine History, July 20, 1826, Margarita Roxas de Ayala was born in San Miguel, Manila

On July 20, 1826, Margarita Roxas de Ayala, one of the Philippines' greatest businesswomen, and founder of La Concordia College, was born in San Miguel, Manila.

(Margarita Roxas de Ayala)

She was the eldest child of Domingo Roxas founder of Casa Roxas, and Maria Saturnina Ubaldo, a Spaniard. During her early life she suffered great indignity and injustice when her father was incarcerated three times. The Spanish colonial authorities suspected that her father was a sympathizer of the Filipino cause.

Don Domingo one of the earliest industrialists of the Philippines, was an advocate for liberal reforms. He died in prison in 1843.

Assuming control of her father's company, Margarita acquired her vast wealth as she diversified into real estate, mining, and alcohol production.

She was married to her father's partner Don Antonio de Ayala, a Spaniard from the Basque region of Alava de Ayala, Spain. Don Antonio de Ayala was one of the first directors of Banco Español-Filipino de Isabel II currently known as Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Margarita Roxas de Ayala became the foremost philanthropist of her time, donating her own summer residence called La Concordia in Santa Ana, Manila in 1868 to the Colegio de la Concordia which survives to this day as La Concordia College.

The school upon her instruction was staffed by a Spanish order of nuns, the Sisters of Charity, and dedicated to educating and giving scholarships to marginalized women.

She died on November 1, 1869 at age 43 leaving Don Antonio to run the company until his death in 1876. They had three daughters. The first daughter Carmen Roxas de Ayala would marry her cousin Don Pedro Pablo Roxas and their daughter Margarita Roxas de Ayala y Roxas would later marry Eduardo Soriano. They would become the parents of San Miguel Corporation industrialist Andres Soriano.

References:
Philippines News Agency
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

On This Day - July 19, 1969 - Ms. Gloria Diaz won Miss Universe pageant, held in Miami Beach, Florida

 

 

President Nixon said:

"The United States conquered the moon but the Philippines has conquered the Universe."

Ms. Gloria Diaz won Miss Universe pageant on July 19, 1969, held in Miami Beach, Florida, the same day the first man, astronaut Neil Armstrong, landed on the moon.

Díaz was 18 when she was crowned Miss Universe after outshining and outsmarting other candidates on the question on how to welcome the first men that had just landed on the moon, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins, as soon as they return to planet Earth.

The final question was:

"If the man from the moon should come down to earth and visit your hometown, what would you do to entertain him?"

Gloria’s winning answer was:

"Why, I guess I would do for him what I always do. Since he has been on the moon for so long, he would want a change."

References:
Philippine News Agency archives

On This Day - July 18, 1886 - The first optometrist in the country, Federico B. Sarabia was born

 

Today in Philippine history, July 18, 1886, Federico B. Sarabia, the first optometrist in the country, was born in Kalibo, Aklan

On July 18, 1886, Federico B. Sarabia was born to Benigno Sarabia and Inocenta Jimenez in Kalibo, Aklan. He was the first optometrist in the country being the holder of Professional Regulatory Commission of Optometry Certificate No. 1 issued in 1905.

(Dr. Federico B. Sarabia)

After graduating in Doctor of Optometry in 1905 from the University of Northern Illinois College of Optometry, he had a brief practice of optometry at Eye Infirmary in New York City. Then he returned to the Philippines and established a clinic in Iloilo. He would later move to Escolta and establish his clinic there, marking the first Sarabia Optical in Manila.

This became the first of his chain of 38 clinics now dotting the different cities in the entire country among them Metro Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Cebu, Dumaguete,Roxas and Iligan.

Sarabia Optical is the biggest and most modern optical firm in the country today.

Among his early prominent clients at the Escolta clinic were Presidents Manuel L. Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas, and Elpidio Quirino and Doña Trinidad Rizal - sister of Dr. Jose Rizal. Doña Trinidad's glasses can be found in Fort Santiago as part of the Rizal Memorabilia, and are labeled "anteojos de Federico Sarabia."

(The Sabaria Opitical in Escolta Manila)

In 1928, President Quezon appointed Dr. Sarabia as Chairman of the Board of Examiners in Optometry. Dr. Sarabia also became the first President of the Philippine College of Optometry.

Aside from Sarabia Optical, Dr. Sarabia also founded Aklan Academy in Kalibo, Aklan and had organized the First National Congress of Coconut Planters in the 1930's.

Today, Sarabia Optical has grown into a trusted and recognized retail clinic operation. Although Dr. Federico Sarabia passed away on September 14, 1954, his legacy lives on. Five of his children have followed his path as eye care professionals. Four of them are optometrists and one is an ophthalmologist.

Source:

1. Dr. Federico B. Sarabia, Atty. Rex S. Salvilla, News Today, July 24, 2006
2. History, About Sabaria Optical, https://www.sarabiaoptical.com.ph
3. Wikipedia (Tagalog)
4. Phto credit: Facebook page of Vivian Sarabia Optical

On This Day - July 17, 1948 - President Quirino signed RA No. 333 making Quezon City the capital of the Philippines

 

Today in Philippine History, July 17, 1948, President Quirino signed RA No. 333 making Quezon City the capital of the Philippines

On July 17, 1948, President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act No. 333 making Quezon City the capital of the Philippines. RA 333 also redefined the Caloocan-Quezon City boundary and specified the city's area to be 156.60 square kilometers.

(President Elpidio Quirino delivers his 2nd State of the Nation Address from his hospital bed in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, January 23, 1950.)

Baesa, Talipapa, San Bartolome, Pasong Tamo, Novaliches Poblacion, Banlat, Kabuyao, Pugad Lawin, Bagbag, Pasong Putik which formerly belonged to Novaliches and had an area of about 8,100 hectares, were taken from Caloocan and ceded to Quezon City.

On June 16, 1950, the Quezon City Charter was revised by Republic Act No. 537, changing the city's boundaries to an area of 153.59 square kilometers.

Exactly six years after on June 16, 1956, more revisions to the city's land area were made by Republic Act No. 1575, which defined its area as 151.06 km2 (58 sq mi).

On November 7, 1975 the promulgation of Presidential Decree No. 824 of President Ferdinand Marcos established Metro Manila. Quezon City became one of Metro Manila's 17 cities and municipalities.

On June 24, 1976, Presidential Decree No. 940 transferred the capital back to Manila.

On February 23, 1998, Republic Act. No. 8535 was signed by President Fidel V. Ramos. The Act provided for the creation of the City of Novaliches comprising the 15 northernmost barangays of Quezon city. However, in the succeeding plebiscite on October 23, 1999, an overwhelming majority of Quezon City residents rejected the secession of Novaliches.

Quezon City is the first local government in the Philippines with a computerized real estate assessment and payment system.

Reference:
Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan

Latest photo from NASA of Carina Nebula (360 Composite) VR 360

 

Carina Nebula (360 Composite)

Cosmic cliffs & a sea of stars. The James Webb Space Telescope reveals baby stars in the Carina Nebula, where ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds shape colossal walls of dust and gas.

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.

Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.

Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA

 

On This Day - July 16, 1844 - Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, a native of Gerona of Biscayan origin, became Governor-general of the Philippines

On July 16, 1844 Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, a native of Gerona of Biscayan origin, became Governor-general. His term was marked with several reforms and accomplishments.

He corrected the calendar of the Philippine in 1844, established military library in February 15, 1846, the first steam war vessels was brought to the Philippines from London in 1848. It was also during his term when the Manila paper La Esperanza ( December 1, 1846) and Diario de Manila (1848) were printed. Claveria also founded a casino called Sociedad de Recreo in October 31, 1844.

Regular clergy were forbidden to alienate property on November 11, 1849. Most notably, surnames were given to native Filipinos on November 21, 1849 (some accounts say November 11, 1849) during his term.

Claveria returned to Spain and was succeeded by Antonio Maria Blanco who served on a temporary capacity.

Reference:
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Volume 1, number 17, Blair, Emma Helen, ed. d.1911.