The Historian’s task in the Philippines

TIMELINE
 1949, Rafael Palma’s biography of Rizal
 A study of Rizal’s writings led to a sharing of Rizal’s convictions on the centrality of historical perspective
for a real understanding of the problems of the present.
 Rizal’s insistence on the need for Filipinos to understand their own past if they were effectively to shape
their future struck a sympathetic note.
 Three centuries of Spanish rule, for all its fault, had not been completely disaster.

1949 - Catholic Bishops opposed the use of government funds to publish Rafael Palmas biography of
Rizal because of the book’s anti-Catholicism.

Rizal - Having acquired an understanding of their past, Filipinos, Rizal hoped, would be able to “judge
the present” so that all together might “dictate to studying the future.”

Ancient history of the Philippines - written by a Spaniard named Antonio de Morga , this book came
from the English Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Browning, who had once paid his uncle a visit.

Here are some of what Filipinos experienced in the Spanish rule:

o Corrupt officialdom- no jobs for the poor
o No equality- law favors Spaniards
o Forced labor- forced if you can’t pay a fee

Recovering the Past

TIMELINE
 The relevant Filipino past is not merely pre-Hispanic period Rizal naturally undertook to illuminate.
 1872, there was no Filipino history
 William Henry Scott, the distinguished investigator into so many facts of the Filipino past, has entitled
one of his works “Cracks in the Parchment Curtain.”
 The chroniclers may have aimed primarily to narrate the exploits, devotion, zeal and hardships of
Spanish missionaries, but they could not help but speak indirectly of the sixteenth- century Filipinos
the missionary succeeded in converting or failed to persuade.
 For the latter often reveal as much of the writers point of views and biases as they do of the people he
professes to describe.

“There was no Filipino history before 1872.”

What really happened in the year 1872 is an attempt of the Spanish Government and Frailocracia to
put fear among Filipinos and the execution of the GOMBURZA which is the three priests.

William Henry Scott - is one of the greatest historians who studies the Philippines has entitled one of
his books "Cracks in the Parchment curtain."

The Parchment meaning - is the paper document of Spanish chroniclers, and the curtain is being
referred to the soviet union’s iron curtain and the Chinas bamboo curtain which means that ang
ruling government has control of the information over the ruled. It is a type of curtain which covers
the truth.

Now why are we being called savages?

- We were called as savages maybe because we are "un Christianize" so the Spanish classified us
as " savages" or savage people.
 - Most of this Spanish documents like the Sucesos de las ilas filipinas were written with a
viewpoint of the Spanish and thus Spanish biases and prejudices.

The Formative Century

TIMELINE
 Where most of Philippine history has been devoted to.
 Some modern historians have pointed to the Negros hacenderos’ embracing American rule as
typical of the elite betrayal of the Revolution.
 Negros was one of the most atypical of Philippine region.

Philippine history - has been more devoted to the revolutionary and the American colonial period.

Most of the Iloilo socioeconomic elites - were close relatives and associates of their counterparts, like
the negros Hacienderos, many of the Iloilo elite soon went over to the Americans.

1901 - The war continued in Panay well into 1901, long after negros was flying the American flag.

Method in History

TIMELINE
 Few historians today would maintain the nineteenth-century viewArriving at the “facts”
demands that the historians should demonstrate in detail how he bridges the gap between the
documentation and the conclusions he draws from it.
 History never delivers ready-made answers. But the historian’s questions may shed new light on
his people’s problems of the present.
 Reynaldo Ileto’s Pasyon and Revolution and other writings have demonstrated that such
“documents” are a fruitful source for the historian.

“Critical historical method” - The historian is required to base assertions or interpretations from the
facts found in documents in verified and genuine sources.

Primary sources
- are the documents may include are not limited to those emanating from government offices or
even memoirs or letters.
- primary sources are more credible as evidence because it is an original document
- diaries, speeches, autobiographies and primary sources provides original documents

Secondary sources
- anything that evaluates, summarize or interpret primary source and is called a secondary
document or source.
- book reviews, encyclopedias, almanacs and any other publications.

history never delivers ready made answers

Reynaldo Ileto - He was born on October 3,1946 and is a filipino historian known for his work which is
Payson and Revolution: Popular movement in the Philippines which first published in 1979. So the
Katipunans job is to bring hope to the people and to fulfill the beliefs that Filipinos will be saved.
Nationalist History

TIMELINE
 Lucubration of Pedro Paterno at the turn of the century on the supposed pre-Hispanic past.
 Paterno distorted genuine documents. But more harmful were the early twentieth-century
forgeries of Jose Marco
 Marco wrote series of suppose works of Fr. Jose Burgos.
 A true people’s history
 What Filipino history should be concentrated on.

Pedro Paterno- had a bizarre and ingenious lucubration on the supposed pre-Hispanic past at the turn
of the century. Of course, contemporary Filipinos like Rizal secretly laugh Paterno's so-called history.

Jose Marco- More harmful were the early 20th century forgeries of Jose Marco on Pre-Hispanic
Philippines, the Povendano and Pavon manuscripts, with the infamous code of Kalantiaw.

The oldest document that Marco allegedly discovered was supposedly written in the year 1137, yet it
mentioned that Kalantiaw had built a fort on Negros in 1433!

A pre-colonial Visayan document, written in 1489, contained the Spanish words viernes (Friday)

and régulo (petty king)” and it mentioned King Charles V who was not born until 1500. It is highly
unlikely that anyone in the Philippines had met a Spaniard by that time, much less learned his language.

A Spanish document said to be written in 1577 mentioned trade relations with Indonesia even though
that name for the archipelago was not coined until 1877.

1968 - found its way into history textbooks for generations until it was exposed in 1968 by William Henry
Scott

Marco was not satisfied with having provided a spurious national past for the Prehespanic period, so he
wrote a series of supposed works of Jose Burgos. Among these were a pseudo-novel, La Loba Negra, an
alleged account of Burgos’s trial, and more than two dozen other pseudohistorical land pseudo-
ethnographic works.

nationalist- The so called “nationalist” historiography, allows only a small one-dimensional

consideration, the Spanish obscurantism and American imperialism.

The goal of historical research and writing should be to undermine the formation of a society that
provides justice and participation to all Filipinos, not just the power elites.

Precolonial State and Society in the Philippines

1. We already had an advanced civilization

2. The literacy rate was high.
3. Several professions already existed.
4. They had the know-how to make advanced weapons.
5. Our forefathers in the pre-colonial Philippines already possessed a working judicial and legislative
system.
6. Women enjoyed equal status with men.
7. Society was more tolerant in pre-colonial Philippines.
8. The people enjoyed a higher form of government.
9. We were self-sufficient.
10. We had smoother foreign relations.

TRANSFORMATIONS IN COMMERCE AND RELIGION

1363
- The first emperor of China’s Ming Dynasty declared a new policy that maritime trade would be a
government monopoly.
- Some southeast Asian polities who have organizational and financial resources took advantage
on this new policy implemented by the first emperor of china’s Ming dynasty.

1405 to 1443
- Admiral Zheng He had seven expeditions from 1405 to 1443 he also had one or two visits to
Sulu.
- Ayutthaya (Thailand), Champa (Southern Vietnam) and Cambodia and in island Southeast Asia,
Brunei, java and Melaka benefited a lot from the Chinese engagement.

ISLAM

13th century
- Islam had first entered southeast Asia through Indian and Arab traders and missionaries who
converted port rulers on the coast of Sumatra and java.

14th century
- The Mongol - are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and to China's Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region ruled Yuan dynasty of china
- A “datu” or Muslim ruler found that Islam helped him to build and centralized political power
which rested into three bases (material reward, coercion and spiritual power).

1349
- Sulu appeared in Chinese records and sent missions during the early Ming dynasty.
- Paduka Batara, was the Sulu ruler who died in china that was given a respectful funeral and
attended by the china’s emperor.

1450
- Rajah Baginda and sayyid Abu Bakr fled to Sumatra after their defeat by non-Muslim Javanese,
Baginda arrived in Sulu with a group of wealthy merchants and married locally.
- Abu Bakr allied with baginda by marrying his daughter and became “sultan Sharif ul-Hashim”
- Abu Bakr spread its religion and authority from the port of Jolo to the interior of Sulu and other
neighboring islands. He also claimed the ownership of land and rights of the people.
- A “panglima” an official rank lower than “datu” was administered in every district who collected
taxes, adjudicated disputes, organized conscripted labor and royal decrees.
- Sulu’s diverse population was incorporated into the authority of the sultanate through the
assignment of panglima posts to lead members of each resident community (Chinese, Tausug
and sama-bajaw)

CHRISTIANITY

711–1492
- Spanish Catholics had ended almost eight hundred years of Muslim political rule over much of
the Iberian Peninsula.

14th century
 - Europe was rebuilding its population and prosperity after the disastrous plague pandemic
happened.

1550 to 1620
- Europe is experiencing a rising demand for exotic Eastern goods.

16th century
- Five Spanish expeditions to the Philippines frequently traded in commodities and slaves with
Muslims.

1499
- They began capturing seaports along the route and destroying their Muslim rivals to monopolize
the trade through superior military power.

1520
- Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailor, sailed from Spain across the Atlantic, around South
America, and over the Pacific.

1521
- Magellan landed in the central Philippines where trade and exchange gifts happened.
- Few weeks of friendly meetings, eating, and drinking, the Spaniards held Easter Mass in
Limasawa.
- In the same year, Magellan’s expedition landed on Cebu Island.
- In the next week, about eight hundred people in Cebu and some surrounding islands were
baptized including Humabon’s queen.
- One village on the neighboring island of Mactan was burned for refusing to convert.
- Lapulapu, took this opportunity to move against Cebu’s rajah.
- Magellan went into battle but was killed and his body was never recovered.
- Humabon tried to recover his position by turning on the Spanish survivors.
- The survivors of the expedition spent several months before sailing back to Spain.

CONQUEST AND DIVISION

1521
- Legazpi conquered Maynilad and surrounding settlements and renamed it Manila with the help
of six hundred Visayan troops.

1571
- Legazpi achieved victory and ordered the construction of the walled city of Intramuros.
- Until almost the end of its three-hundred-year colonization, Mindanao remained beyond Spain’s
control.
- Spanish friars—Augustinian, Franciscan, Jesuit, Dominican, and Augustinian Recollect
missionaries was state assigned to different parts of the archipelago for a spiritual conquest.
- Spanish sent military expeditions against Brunei when Manila was secured.