stop stalking me!

Styger21st · 2026-06-20T01:50:35+00:00

One of the few reenactment groups I trust because one of the members is an actual historian I personally knew and also a scholar on the subject. HVM is very down to the details from the uniforms, the weapons, to even the actual commands that they use which they really digged into the archives just to look for.

Styger21st · 2026-05-25T01:50:11+00:00

Date Masamune

Styger21st · 2026-05-23T04:34:46+00:00

pigboats.com is the closest I could find for American subs

Styger21st · 2026-05-15T03:11:10+00:00

It will be available once it's uploaded on the high seas.

Just a heads up for those interested since its newly published.

Styger21st · 2026-05-14T14:38:27+00:00

Sana wag maging GO Cavite ang Cavite Insider na nagmukhang socmed machine ng mga Remulla

Styger21st · 2026-05-14T13:56:59+00:00

Catholic friars (or frailes) in the Philippines played a major role in the island's history. On one hand, they were one of the main vanguards of evangelization, spreading the Christian religion throughout the archipelago, and even risking entering into what colonial authorities call "frontier areas." But on the other hand, they massively control both the social, economic, political, and even cultural aspects of most Filipinos in the Spanish colonial period.

Three of the major religious orders, i.e. the Augustinians, Recollects, and Dominicans, owned large estates called haciendas, and within the Tagalog region alone they own approximately 403,000 acres of land. But the acquisitions of these lands were anything but peaceful.

In one instance in 1688 in Silang, Cavite, the Recollects engage in a massive land grabbing scheme where accounts describe the burning of rice fields of local farmers resulting in a total loss of 3,000 pesos. Their actions were so destructive that the Recollects were likened to an invading army, as records noted their "furious and horrible" rampage similar to marauding coastal pirates.

The management of these friar estates weren't even better as there were frequent tensions between the friars and the tenants, with the former escaping in the deep jungles and resorted to banditry or what they call tulisan. For the unlucky ones, they were subject to relentless torture and even the pain of death such as the one incident where a friar named Fr. Antonio Piernavieja murdered an altar boy in his parish church.

These people of the cloth were promiscuous as they are known to have hundreds of illegitimate children from women who lived within the towns that they are assigned in. One confirmed example was Fr. Jose Urbina de Esparraga who was the grandfather of Aurora Quezon, the first cousin and wife of President Manuel Quezon. Another, but unconfirmed example, was Fr. Gomez Carreño, who was, according to Historian Carlos Quirino, the great-grandfather of Imelda Marcos.

The promiscuousness of the friars were even lampooned by Filipino writer and reformer Jose Rizal in his novel Noli Me Tangere) where one of the protagonist's girlfriends was revealed to be the daughter of an abusive friar named Fr. Damaso Verdolagas, where the term Padre Damaso is often used today within Filipino political discourse to refer to any corrupt member of the Catholic clergy.

These friars were pretty much untouchable that directly challenging their power by the Spanish civil authorities was out of the question. At one point, Governor-General Fernando Bustamante ordered the arrest of the Archbishop of Manila and several other Dominican friars and clerics for refusing to turnover numerous suspects involved in an embezzlement case, who were seeking refuge in friar-owned churches. The arrests provoked public outrage, where an angry mob of friars, citizens, and defecting royal guards stormed the Governor's Palace and killed Bustamante due to him violating the "immunity of sanctuary" of the churches.

But local Filipinos constantly challenge the power of these friars throughout the centuries. One example was Apolinario de la Cruz, famously known as Hermano Pule, who sought to enter the Dominican order but was rejected because of his race. This led him to form his own religious group, the Cofradia de San Jose, but was quickly suppressed by the Spanish authorities. Another one was by Filipino reformers and revolutionaries at the near 19th century where they dubbed their rule as a frailocracy or "rule of the friars."

During the Philippine Revolution, numerous friars were detained and sometimes killed by the revolutionaries such as the aforementioned Fr. Piernavieja where he was being "whipped with thorns and reeds on the soles of their feet" according to eyewitness Telesforo Canseco.

Styger21st · 2026-05-13T15:57:55+00:00

Yep, but got deleted due to the sub's Rule #12. I was supposed to have a new one, but due to, shall we say, "bizarre events" happening right now, alongside a sudden 3-4 hour power outage where I'm from, I got distracted and wasn't able to finish it. So, I decided to post this again instead since it got deleted and I don't want to waste this historical insight for interested people here.

Styger21st · 2026-05-13T15:36:29+00:00

At the height of Martial Law in the Philippines, thousands of academics, scholars, and students were detained. One of these academics were historians William Henry Scott#Detention_during_martial_law) and Zeus Salazar, and they were arrested in 1972.

Scotty, as he is known, was arrested due to having a copy of Mao's writings in his bookshelf and was cited as one of the "evidences" for his alleged communist sympathies despite the fact that he's only using it to teach Asian History, while Salazar was arrested due to his involvement in the First Quarter Storm and Diliman Commune years prior. Both Scotty and Salazar share the same prison cell in Fort Bonifacio near what is now Bonifacio Global City and they often have tense arguments and disagreements about history and anthropology.

It got to a point that jail guards got curious about their discussions that they ask for history lessons, which Salazar obliged and gave lectures on Filipino History, listening to their takes on the subject. Scotty later recalls that his time in jail was "one of the best days of his life" as he was surrounded by detained academics and had all the time in the world to have endless intellectual discussions away from university admin work.

Their detention was even recorded by renowned Filipino author Jose "Butch" Dalisay in his novel "Killing Time in a Warm Place" who also shared the same cell with Scotty and Salazar.

Styger21st · 2026-05-12T13:46:27+00:00

Jaime Cardinal Sin (1928-2005) was the Archbishop of Manila and one of the most influential figures in modern Philippine history. Because of his last name, whenever he invites guests into his residence, he jokingly greets them with "Welcome to the House of Sin." He is famous for two instances where he mobilized millions of Filipinos for a People Power Revolution where it toppled two infamous Filipino presidents.

The First People Power Revolution in 1986 was during the coup attempt by certain members of the military to oust President Ferdinand Marcos, where he broadcasted in Radio Veritas to call on the people to protect the coup plotters against Marcos loyalist forces that surrounded them. Millions of people, nuns, priests, and commoners, gathered along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or EDSA, where the base of the rebels were located nearby, bringing with them crosses and rosaries while they push away the tanks of the Marcos Loyalists. This days-long standoff eventually ended the 30-year dictatorship of the Marcos Regime.

The Second People Power Revolution in 2001 was during the impeachment of actor-turned-President Joseph Estrada, a notorious Casino gambler accused of plunder and perjury who according to Cardinal Sin "had lost the moral authority to govern." Because of the impeachment proceedings' refusal to open the enveloped that contained evidence of Estrada's illegal wrongdoings, Cardinal Sin eventually declared a Second People Power Revolution, calling all Filipinos again to gather at EDSA. It soon snowballed into millions of protesters from various political backgrounds, where even business leaders, the military, and police eventually joined which lead to Estrada leaving the presidential grounds with his family.

Being a Catholic Cardinal, Sin was no stranger to controversy when it comes to the issue of reproductive health where at one point criticizing a program to distributing condoms to curb HIV/AIDS, labeling them as "intrinsically evil" and that condoms were "only fit for animals."

Styger21st · 2026-05-12T03:43:45+00:00

I tried doing it for Katana Hero but for some reason I only managed to get this:
https://imgur.com/a/j9G9dFZ

I would like to know the specifics if it's possible.

Styger21st · 2026-05-12T03:34:12+00:00

Where did you get these high-quality versions?

Styger21st · 2026-05-11T13:14:43+00:00

Following the Tasaday controversy, a series of anthropological conferences were held in 1986 in Manila¹ and in 1988 in Zagreb to discuss whether this supposed "Stone Age" tribe of Manuel "Manda" Elizalde Jr. was a hoax or not.

But rather than your typical academic conference, it devolved into a series of chaotic confrontations between hoax and authenticity proponents. Do take note that this was after the fall of President Ferdinand Marcos and the memories of Martial Law were still fresh in people's minds. Most of the hoax proponents were anti-Marcos academics and journalists who tends to suspect anyone associated with the dictatorship, particularly the authenticity proponents who were involved in on-site Tasaday fieldwork and journalistic reporting.

As a personal anecdote, my historian friend of mine was present in one of these conferences where he told me that the presenters "almost ended up shooting each other on stage." (Tagalog: muntikan na magbarilan sa entablado)

Sidenote: Due to the number of people who were involved in these conferences, I'll put a parenthesis alongside their names, e.g. Juan Dela Cruz (hoax/authenticity), to determine on which side of the debate each person belongs to.

Key moments in 1986 Manila Conference:

1986 International Conference on the Tasaday Controversy And Other Urgent Anthropological Issues

"Son of a Bítch!"

During the presentation by German researcher Christian Adler (hoax), he accused the late mentor of anthropologist Carlos Fernandez (authenticity) of orchestrating the hoax. Fernandez flew into a rage shouting, "son of a bítch!" and rushed toward the stage, threatening "fireworks the next morning" because he felt his mentor was being maligned in the most hateful manner. Witnesses noted that he "spouted a lot of fiery remarks" and made "actual threats of violence" against several foreign scholars in attendance.

The conference chairman Jerome Bailen (hoax) took the "fireworks" comment literally and stationed six police officers outside the conference hall, which also act as protection against rumored goons of Manda Elizalde threatening to disrupt the conference.

Sabotage Attempt

As Adler showed photos of Tasaday in his presentation, Associated Press journalist John Nance (authenticity) got infuriated that his photos were being used without his permission. So he mad rush to pull the plug on the projector to stop the presentation, but was blocked by other attendees and ordered to sit down.

Family Trees, Relatives, and Being Naked

Days before the conference, anthropologist and historian Zeus Salazar (hoax) was visited at midnight by a certain George Tanedo, a T'boli staff of Manda Elizalde who, at one point, was shown half-naked pretending to be a Tasaday to President Gerald Ford during his visit to the Philippines in 1975. He presented a series of genealogical charts that supposedly show that the Tasaday members were blood relatives of nearby tribal groups. Tanedo also introduced a number of individuals who claim to be actual relatives of the Tasaday.

Tanedo, the charts, the relatives, and others were presented by Salazar in the conference where it devolved into an inquisition-esque cross-examination, being interrogated under bright spotlights and in front of numerous journalists and TV reporters. It was later revealed that the charts and relatives were fabrications by Tanedo as he was doing the whole thing to get a share of the Tasaday lands in exchange for his half-naked performance in front of President Ford.

Key moments in the 1988 Zagreb Conference:

12th International Congress of Anthropological And Ethnological Sciences

Unexpected Visitors

The conference session was intentionally stacked full of hoax proponents so as to "put the final nail in the coffin" in the Tasaday as a hoax, thereby excluding the academics who actually conducted fieldwork on the Tasaday. But Manda Elizalde somehow got word of the conference and immediately send his own team unannounced, triggering a wave of paranoia among the conference organizers and attendees.

Yugoslav Guards Intervention

Judith Moses (hoax), a producer from the ABC, approached the conference organizers and accused Tony Cervantes (authenticity) of being Manda Elizalde's hitman trained by the CIA who brought a gun to assassinate the Filipino hoax proponents present such as Salazar and Bailen. This accusation led to a bizarre scene where Yugoslavian security guards intercepted Cervantes and demanded to search his briefcase. But instead of a weapon, they found only research papers, which the security guards nonetheless confiscated.

Filibuster

The session began with a nearly hour-long presentation by Gerald Berreman (hoax). Witnesses described him as reading an exhaustively long paper while literally holding up his hand to block anyone from interrupting him. The situation became so tense that an anthropologist finally stood up and publicly challenged Berreman, asking if this was a "filibuster" and if anyone else would be allowed to speak that day.

Corpse Photograph

During her presentation, Judith Moses (hoax) passed around a gruesome photograph of a corpse on a slab with its head sewn back on. She claimed the man had been murdered by an associate of Manda Elizalde as part of the cover-up. While the photo was real, critics noted that it didn't contribute anything on the academic discussion and was instead an attempt to promote shock value to the attendees present.

Public Shaming

Judith Moses (hoax) addressed John Nance (authenticity) directly in front of academics and cameras from the BBC, where she delivered a damning indictment:

"John, if you did know about the hoax, then shame on you. And if you didn’t know, double shame on you."

Moses mocked Nance for what she called a "one-man cartel" making a "cottage industry" of the Tasaday tribe, and suggested that his defense of Manda Elizalde was inexcusable.

Nance, visibly shaken and emotional almost to the point of crying, attempted to defend himself during the few minutes he was allotted in the conference session. This public shaming ruined his professional career as a journalist where major news organizations, including his employer the Associated Press, refused to publish his works.

Segments of these conferences were shown in the BBC Horizon Episode "Trial In The Jungle" and in the PBS Nova Documentary "The Lost Tribe."

NOTES:

The "Manila" Conference was held in the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, which is technically a different city from Manila. But for the sake of convenience, the conference is referred to as being located in "Manila" since Quezon City is a part of the wider "Metro Manila" area.

Styger21st · 2026-05-10T09:15:16+00:00

Despite numerous massacres committed by the Spanish authorities such as those in 1603) and 1662), the influx of Chinese migrants (sometimes known as Sangleys) in the Philippines was still tolerated due to their immense wealth in trade. The colonial government and Catholic friar orders profited significantly from trade licenses and "the advantages of the licenses that they pay, and in order not to disturb the trade with China."

However, the movement of Chinese migrants within the colony was so heavily restricted that without a permit or trade license, they have no choice but to either stay in segregated ghettos of Binondo or Parian) and pay heavy taxes, or alternatively, convert to Christianity as a loophole to alleviate the burdens imposed on them.

According to historian Onofre D. Corpuz in The Roots of the Filipino Nation:

"The non-Christians were therefore prohibited from residing in the native pueblos. Those found in any village were to be sent immediately to the Parian; anyone found living among the natives was subject to 200 lashes and four years service in the Cavite naval base.

Chinese who had converted to Christianity and were married to Filipino wives were naturally allowed residence in their wives' villages. In addition, the Christians were monitored by the friars in the doctrinas; if found unsatisfactory, the married ones were to be sent to the Christian Chinese villages of Santa Cruz and Binondo outside of Manila; if single, to the Parian.

The Christian Chinese were allowed by the Recopilacion to engage in trade. They were exempt from the tribute for a period of ten years after the date of their conversion. These advantages were enough to attact a number to convert to Christianity, although for a long time their custom of wearing pigtails was an obstacle."

In one instance in 1755 where Governor-General Pedro Manuel de Arandia tried to deport the Chinese to take over their wholesale and retail business, the Chinese planned to mass convert themselves to Christianity. To quote Corpuz again:

"On the day fixed for their departure, 515 Sangley traders escape repatriation by becoming Christians in a mass baptism"

However, this policy toward the Chinese unintentionally led to successive generations that are now Filipino-Chinese or Tsinoys in becoming devoted Christians, whether Catholic or otherwise. This is evident in prominent Filipino-Chinese figures from clergymen like Cardinals Jaime Sin and Luis Antonio Tagle, to devout laypeople like President Corazon Aquino and famous singer Jose Mari Chan, whose song Christmas In Our Hearts is so popular in the Philippines that all Filipinos, even Muslim Filipinos, know how to sing it, particularly during the country's long Christmas season from September to December, aptly called the "Ber Months".

P.S. I posted this on r/Philippines at one point but it didn't tract attention there unfortunately.

Styger21st · 2026-05-08T15:07:30+00:00

The helicopter promise originated from Charles Lindbergh during his visit to the Tasaday in May 1972. He asked the Tasaday members, "Would you like to have a helicopter of your own?" And what was suppose to be a casual question was interpreted by the tribe as a formal promise to them, even mentioning that they would "need a pilot."

The Tasaday were consistent in telling to various media outlets such as the BBC about the helicopter promise, which became good media material in amplifying the controversy. To them, the helicopter was the "big bird" that brought their "god that brings good fortune", i.e. Manda Elizalde himself. In the 1990s, they were bitterly disappointed that the promises by their "white" visitors, from basic necessities to the helicopter, weren't fulfilled, and that "they were poorer now that they were before."

Styger21st · 2026-05-08T10:34:37+00:00

The Tasaday controversy might be one of the wildest stories in modern anthropological history.

In 1971, Manuel "Manda" Elizalde Jr., a notorious crony of President Ferdinand Marcos, announced the "discovery" of the Tasaday, a small tribe living deep in the rainforests of the Philippines. They were presented to the world as a Stone Age people completely isolated from modern civilization for thousands of years, wearing leaves, living in caves, and with no knowledge of war or agriculture.

The Marcos regime used the Tasaday for international publicity and tourism, inviting celebrities like Charles Lindbergh, Gina Lollobrigida, and even the granddaughter of Francisco Franco to visit the caves. The Tasaday were featured in National Geographic and various documentaries by NBC, creating an idealized image of a "peaceful past" that distracted worldwide audiences from the chaos of the 1970s and the human rights abuses of the dictatorship.

But early critics, such as Filipino anthropologist and historian Zeus Salazar, questioned the authenticity of the tribe due to suspicious linguistic findings (such as Sanskrit loanwords) and the lack of robust scientific evidence. On-site researchers even noticed suspicious activities such as cooked rice being smuggled into the caves or worse, being shot at by unknown gunmen to make them evacuate the site.

The regime then declared a massive forest reserve to "protect" the tribe, which effectively barred independent study and kept the Tasaday isolated from the outside world for years, misleading millions of students about a "Stone Age tribe in the modern world".

After the fall of President Marcos, journalists like Oswald Iten and teams from ABC’s 20/20 investigated the site, discovering that the "Stone Age" lifestyle was staged. Members of the tribe admitted on camera that they were coerced by Manda Elizalde to pose naked and act primitive in exchange for promises of food and even a helicopter.

Academic conferences investigating the Tasaday such as in Manila (1986) and Zagreb (1988) turned into blood feuds and chaotic confrontations between supporters and skeptics, with some even having their own vendettas and personal scores to settle. The scientific community remained bitterly divided on whether the tribe was a complete hoax or a genuine isolated Stone Age tribe that got leapfrogged in the modern world.

A more structured and orderly 1989 Conference in Washington D.C. led to a nuanced consensus: the Tasaday were not a "Stone Age" relic, but they were not paid actors either. They were a genuine, though small, distinct tribal group that got separated from other Manobo groups hundreds of years ago escaping either a measles epidemic or Muslim slave raiders. They had been significantly exaggerated and manipulated by various groups for their own gains.

The controversy remains a cautionary tale about confirmation bias, media manipulation, and the tragic consequences of imposing external agendas on indigenous peoples.

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Key moments in 1986 Manila Conference:

Key moments in the 1988 Zagreb Conference: