The Spanish community in the Philippines was able to define its own collective memory for decades during the first decades of the 20th century, much like in Latin American counterparts. However, from the beginning of the Commonwealth (1935), the long transitional period to the end of the colonial period, its capacity to transmit and define its collective memory crumbled, triggered by external events. This article attempts to explain the interplay of the memories, identities, and traumas of Spaniards in the milieu of postwar Philippines vis a vis the American, the Philippine, and the Spanish government remembrances.
