Philippine Consulate visits Philippine Collection

People stand around tables with documents they are examining

Letter to General Tinio, Capitan General Tarlac from Commandancia Gral Ambos Ilocos y Abra, 1899

First map of the Philippines, 1598, by Petrus Bertius & Cornelius Claesz

Woman describes documents on table to onlookers

Second map of the Philippines, 1618, by Petrus Bertius

Closeup of hands turning page of an old book

Prayer book, 1764

Philippine Studies Librarian Elena Clariza (right) explains some of Hamilton Library’ rare Philippine Collection materials to Consul General Arman Talbo (center) and DCG Pamela Durian-Bailon (left)

U.S. Military photo album from Samar Island, 1940s

Woman describes maps on table to onlookers

Closeup of old photo book from 1914, brown cloth cover with gold lettering

Photo book: “Scenes taken in the Philippines Japan and on the Pacific relating to soldiers” by J.D. Givens, 1914

Philippine Revolutionary Papers, 1898-1900

Woman standing in library stacks, talking to group

Group of people standing in library stacks listening to librarian speaking

Elena Clariza shows the Consulate group books about the Philippines in the stacks at Hamilton Library

The group visits the Cartography of Skin and Soil Exhibit, Asia Reading Room

The Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu made an official visit to UH Mānoa Hamilton Library on Jan. 23, 2026, touring the library’s Philippine Collection with Philippine Studies Librarian Elena Clariza and viewing rare historical materials. Led by Philippine Consul General Arman Talbo, the delegation included 17 consulate staff members.

The group explored highlights from the Philippine Rare Collections, including rare maps of the Philippines dating from the 1500s to the 1700s, Philippine Revolutionary Papers from the Spanish colonial period in the 1800s, and a U.S. military photo album documenting Samar Island in the 1940s.

The Samar album is a joint acquisition of the Hamilton Library’s Russian Collection and Philippine Collection. It documents daily life on the island and the history of U.S. naval operations during World War II. The album also reflects Samar’s complex global connections. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the island later became a place of refuge for an estimated 6,000 White Russians—the deposed czar’s supporters who opposed the Red Soviets and fled Russia after WWII.

Talbo described the visit as “calm, inspiring, and quietly powerful,” noting the personal resonance of the materials. He shared that he may have identified a long-lost ancestor while viewing photographs in the Samar album.

The visit highlighted the breadth and international significance of Hamilton Library’s Philippine Collection and its role in preserving and providing access to materials that illuminate Philippine history and its global ties. For more information, see the Philippine Consulate General’s story about the visit.