Bonifacio's bolo

"History repeats itself as historians repeat each other. But not Ocampo. Because he keeps an eye peeled on the 'traces' of history and on the people who made them happen, and why, where, how and when. Which is why Ocampo's history reads like today's headlines. Why his history has a contemporary resonance. Yesterday's news is still news..." Andres Bonifacio preferred his gun to his bolo and the Great Plebian was not the Great Unwashed as myth would have depicted, barefoot and wearing a camisa de chino open at the neck. A Philippine crocodile is displayed at the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. The Pasig was full of crocs in the 19th centruy so people bathed inside bamboo cages." "And did you know about Little Joe, the boxer-turned-guerilla fighter who was the would-be assassin (at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club Hole #7) of Jose P. Laurel?..." "Ocampo's historical outpourings stream from his meticulous, methodical, and, no doubt, delighted traipsing through the dustbin...he has created another scrapbook of history..." From the Foreword by Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc