Olivia Habana

BY JAIME D. DAVID

FOR MANY Filipinos, one of the best things about being a kid is listening to the stories of titos and titas during family get-togethers. Many of them recount the past animatedly, keeping those listening gripped on what comes next.

Memories like these are what History Department Chairperson Olivia Habana manages to revive during her history classes—which is not as easy as it seems. For a subject highly-dependent on facts and documents, many teachers fall into the trap of teaching history primarily from this lens. After all, it is easier to make students memorize dates and test them on how well they remember them.

But Habana doesn’t just teach by the book: The way she conducts her classes makes her a storyteller as much as a college professor. Her lectures are both intimate and unforgettable, which is a direct result of over two decades of continually adapting her teaching style to best impact her students.

An unforgettable time

Habana began her career in 1996 and is best known for teaching History (HI) 165: Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation, and HI 166: Philippine History. She has also taught various electives in both graduate and undergraduate levels that tackle topics like Philippine economic history, local and social history, and historiography.

66 Based on the work she has done for Philippine history, Habana’s passion for the subject is clear. However, what makes her stand out as a professor isn’t just her extensive knowledge and experience. The way she narrates on the subject is always so genuine, speaking from her love for the field and expansive memory bank. For instance, in her HI 165 classes, her most memorable classes are stories of her travels to meet the witches of Siquijor, or the awkward encounters with priests at the National Archives. Her lectures are done in the most endearing way—as if Lapu-Lapu and Soliman were subjects of the latest gossip. Even if her classes usually consist of more than 50 students, she still manages to keep everyone interested— which is no easy feat. “[Habana] always made it a point to insert fun facts about history during the lectures, and she’s very [good at telling stories]. That for me is what motivated me to go to her class,” explains Luigi Gamaitan (BS MGT ‘20), who took Habana’s HI 165 class in 2019. For Habana, seeing this fascination from students is one of the best parts of being a professor. “One of my favorite moments in any class is when I see just one face light up in class with recognition, revelation, or enlightenment,” Habana says. “It can be on a monumental realization such as ‘The Katipunan was based on Rizal’s ideas,’ or even something as simple as ‘Prehispanic Filipinos used gold.’”

Outside the lines

Her work also goes beyond the classroom. She has been part of the Ateneo Cultural and Social Laboratory for over a decade, which allows students to do fieldwork in various places in the Philippines such as Palawan, Aklan, Batangas, and Vigan. Habana also helps train Araling Panlipunan and Philippine history teachers from both private and public schools across the country. The sheer amount of engagements that she has outside her work as a teacher can be taxing. But the drive that keeps her going, despite the demanding nature of her profession, is simple. “[I do these for] the young people of the Philippines,” she says. This motivation has also guided Habana in the numerous history textbooks she has co-written for basic education. She made sure that the fact-based knowledge and narratives contained in these textbooks were specifically meaningful to students. “For the majority of Filipinos, the only history books they will ever read are their textbooks,” Habana explains. All of these works show that Habana goes above and beyond her job description. She is not merely a professor or a historian, but rather, a protector of the truth. In an era where historical revisionism runs rampant, she presents our past in a way that is relevant and enticing to young people—making sure that history doesn’t repeat itself. ”There is a tendency to selectively remember, either on a personal or national scale, depending on the agenda of governments or societies,” she says “[This is why] I believe that the stories of how humans and human societies have existed, failed, and triumphed through time are worth serious and systematic study.” Habana