This Illustrated Book About Dogs in Philippine History Is Coming Soon

The percentage of dog ownership in the Philippines saw a steady rise in the past years, especially over the pandemic when almost everyone was just stuck at home. And each dog, especially those rescued from the pound or illegal puppy mills, has a story to tell. This is why it doesn't come as a surprise that a colorful illustrated book about our local canine friends is coming out soon: Dogs in Philippine History by Ian Christopher B. Alfonso.

"I just simply love dogs," he told SPOT.ph when asked why he wrote the book. It sounds simple, but that's really all it takes to pursue a passion project.

"Notwithstanding my desire to contribute [to] the growing history of animals in the Philippines, I want this book to be part of the income generation program for our advocacy Project Saysay whose aim is to popularize Philippine history through [the] dissemination of free curated poster prints with words of wisdom from great Filipinos to various schools in the country, and generation of online free reading materials. Then during the pandemic, I saw a number of animal shelters struggling to operate. I want to contribute something by donating part of the proceeds to select shelters," he added. The launch of Dogs in Philippine History coincides with the non-government youth organization's 10th anniversary.

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According to Alfonso, Dogs in Philippine History is "full of visuals about dogs, including Philippine artifacts with dogs." It has 28 chapters, each with historical information about Filipinos' encounters with canines, starting with the earliest documented domesticated dog about 4,000 years ago in Cagayan.

The first two chapters, in particular, discussed a socio-cultural commentary about dogs—"The Philippine Aso" (1977) by the late Gilda Cordero-Fernando, vis-a-vis the earliest in-depth description of Philippine dogs by Spanish chronicler Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina, SJ in 1668.

The book also mentions well-known dog personalities, fictional or otherwise. There's Patrasche from the Japanese anime The Dog of Flanders, which was probably every '90s kid's first lesson about death and tragedy as it was aired on local television with a Filipino dub. There's also Kabang, an Aspin or Asong Pinoy, who made the headlines in 2011 after saving two girls from a motorcycle crash and losing her snout in the accident. Other celebrity dogs like Saver and Buboy were also mentioned.

"The way I wrote the book is thematic based on the available historical sources supplanted with archaeological, anthropological, ethnographic, and linguistic analyses and findings," Alfonso explained.

The process took about 10 years with Alfonso collecting photographs digitized artworks and centuries-old illustrations, and other visual materials with dogs in the Philippine setting since 2013. It was his friend—writer and filmmaker Kristian Cordero of Savage Mind: Arts, Books, Cinema—who encouraged him to expand the project from the original idea of pictorial history.

While there are no final plans yet, Alfonso and Project Saysay hope to launch the book with a live event by May. Dogs in Philippine History will also be available online.

Dogs in Philippine History (Philippine Historical Association and Project Saysay, 2023) by Ian Christopher B. Alfonso will be launched in May 2023. For updates, follow Project Saysay on Facebook.

From: SPOT.ph