Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
FOR most Filipinos with some kind of curiosity for history issues, the surname Retana might not ring a bell. However, I consider him to be the founder of Philippine Studies. Some people might question this consideration since other contemporary authors such as José Felipe del Pan, TH Pardo de Tavera or Isabelo de los Reyes may also have claim to such an achievement. But though some of them may have accumulated several merits for such an honor, I believe that this controversial bibliographer from Madrid is the one.
Retana was sent by his family to the Philippines because he fell in love with the daughter of a humble shoemaker — too low for the expectations of the Retana family. Considering himself a romantic fiction writer, he believed — dumbly — that after two years in the Philippines, he would have saved enough money to marry the poor girl. However, he seemed to forget all his promises as soon as he landed in the port of Manila. After a few bureaucratic arrangements, he went to his post as a public servant in Batangas where he stayed during most of his six-year assignment.
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