The national celebrations of a series of centennials from 1996 to 1998 that commemorated events marking the emergence of the Philippines as a nation a hundred years ago should be a catalyst for new researches and writing on the history of towns, provinces and regions of the country. Since the past decade or so, new emphasis has been given by top Filipino historians to local history. Books, journal articles and essays on various as pects of local history have been published by academic institutions and in mass media alike. This new emphasis on research and writing of local history may be traced to at least four factors.