IAN CHRISTOPHER B. ALFONSO is an Assistant Professor of the Department of History, University of the Philippines Diliman. He is a Board Member of the Philippine Historical Association and a member of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program in the Philippines. He is a candidate for a Doctor of Philosophy in History at UP Diliman (where he also obtained his Master of Arts in History). His areas of interest are Philippine precolonial and early colonial history, the Philippine Revolution, toponymy, and the local history of Manila Bay communities (especially Bulacan and Pampanga).