Chapter 6: Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas Flashcards
(100 cards)
1
Q
Rizal’s annotation is now considered as __________ source.
A
Secondary source
2
Q
Like Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo, the Rizal edition of Morga was banned in the Philippines in the _______________ century.
A
late nineteenth
2
Q
Rizal began the task of writing the first Philippine history from the viewpoint of a
___________
A
Filipino
2
Q
Therefore, copies confiscated by Spanish customs in Manila and other ports of entry were destroyed. Due to the burning of one particularly large shipment of the Morga, the book attained “rare” and “out of print” status within a year of its publication. It did not have a second printing, and the few
copies in circulation were left hidden and unread by frightened ownersTherefore, copies confiscated by Spanish customs in Manila and other ports of entry were destroyed. Due to the burning of one particularly large shipment of the Morga, the book attained “rare” and “out of
print” status within a year of its publication. It did not have a second printing, and the few copies in circulation were left hidden and unread by frightened owners
A
READ
2
Q
Rizal is often credited with “____________________.” The notion of “Philippine history” is ambiguous to begin with. It can mean either the history of the place or the history of the people of the place.
A
rewriting Philippine history
2
Q
If Philippine history is taken to mean the history of the _________ , then Rizal was indeed rewriting history.
A
place
2
Q
If we mean the history of the _________, then, being the first history and having nothing
to rewrite, Rizal was writing Philippine history.
A
Filipinos
3
Q
The historiographical importance of this little-read scholarly work by Rizal is that it
was the first historical work on the Philippines by a Filipino.
A
RIZAL’S ANNOTATION OF SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS
4
Q
Rizal admitted his inadequacy in a letter to the Austrian ethnographer, _______________, asking him to write a history of the Philippines.
A
Ferdinand Blumentritt
4
Q
- Rizal seems to have been reflecting on his country’s history shortly after completing
Noli me tangere, in late February 1887, and obviously drawing on the popular Tagalog
proverb, ____________________
A
“ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan hindi makararating sa
pinaroroonan.”
5
Q
In the middle of August 1888, resigned that _____________could not be persuaded to write
a history of the Philippines, Rizal set his literary labors aside and began to work on his country’s history.
A
Blumentritt
5
Q
Armed with a letter of introduction from the Director of the India Office Library,
____________ , he applied for and was granted a reader’s pass to the British Museum, where he began to consult early printed materials on the Philippines.
A
Reinhold Rost
5
Q
Close to 18 August 1888, Rizal was copying out and annotating the entire first edition
of Morga’s Sucesos de las islas Filipinas, confident that ___________ would publish the work when completed.
A
Antonio Regidor
5
Q
He stated in a letter to Blumentritt that his aim was simply to “present a new edition to
the public, above all the Filipino public … I do this solely for my country, because this
work will bring me neither honor nor money”
A
READ
6
Q
Regidor unexpectedly backed out of the venture without the courtesy of an explanation. One of Rizal’s friends hinted at _________ , as Regidor was of Spanish extraction.
A
racism
7
Q
Rizal decided to publish the Morga himself. By the end of September 1889, he had
brought the manuscript to _________ and sent a letter to Blumentritt requesting him to write an introduction to the book
A
Paris
8
Q
The concrete result of four months of intense historical research in Bloomsbury was Rizal’s second book with a typically long Spanish title, Sucesos de las islas Filipinas
por el Doctor Antonio de Morga. Obra publicada en mejico en el año de 1609,
nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal, y precedida de un prologo del prof.
Fernando Blumentritt (Events in the Philippine Islands by Dr. Antonio de Morga. A work published in Mexico in the year 1609, reprinted and annotated by Jose Rizal and
preceded by an introduction by professor Ferdinand Blumentritt).
A
READ
9
Q
Full Spanish and English title of Annotation of Rizal of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
A
Sucesos de las islas Filipinas
por el Doctor Antonio de Morga. Obra publicada en mejico en el año de 1609,
nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal, y precedida de un prologo del prof.
Fernando Blumentritt (Events in the Philippine Islands by Dr. Antonio de Morga. A work published in Mexico in the year 1609, reprinted and annotated by Jose Rizal and
preceded by an introduction by professor Ferdinand Blumentritt).
10
Q
Morga’s fame (or infamy) came in 1600 when he was put in charge of the Spanish fleet against a Dutch invasion under Olivier van Noort. Morga’s reputation in the colony
sank, like his flagship, and in 1603 he was transferred to Mexico.
A
READ
11
Q
Antonio de Morga was born in 1559 in Seville. He graduated from the ________________ in 1574 and in 1578 attained a doctorate in Canon Law. He taught briefly in Osuna, later returning to Salamanca to study Civil Law. In 1580 he joined the
government service and was appointed in 1593 to Manila as Lieutenant Governor. In
1598 he resigned this post to assume the office of oidor or judge in the Audiencia.
A
University of Salamanca
12
Q
A particularly malicious biographical note on Morga is provided by ___________ in his
three-volume Aparato Bibliografico de la Historia General de Filipinas (Bibliographical
Apparatus for a General History of the Philippines) published in 1906.
A
W.E. Retana
13
Q
Retana cites a domestic scandal to comment on Morga’s character involving ___________,
Morga’s eldest daughter.
A
Juliana
14
Q
- From Mexico, Morga was moved to ___________in 1615 where he was president of the Audiencia and in 1625 was investigated for corruption and eventually found guilty.
- However, he escaped humiliation, and the gallows, by dying in 1636, before the case
was wound up.
A
Quito
15
Q
Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
The work consists of eight chapters;
1. Of the first discoveries of the Eastern islands.
2. Of the government of Dr. Francisco de Sande
3. Of the government of Don Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa
4. Of the government of Dr. Santiago de Vera.
5. Of the government of Gomes Perez Dasmariñas.
6. Of the government of Don Francisco Tello
7. Of the government of Don Pedro de Acuña
8. An account of the Philippine Islands.
A
READ
16
The first seven chapters mainly concern the ____________ that occurred in the colony during the terms of the first _______ governor generals in the Philippines, beginning with _______________ in 1565 to _____________who died in June 1606.
political events
eleven
Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
Pedro de Acuña
17
In his preface to the Morga, Rizal states that he did not change a single word in the text, save those that required respelling in modern Spanish orthography or corrected punctuation.
Born and raised in the ignorance of our past, like most of you, without voice or authority to speak about what we did not see nor study, I considered it necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who governed the destiny of the Philippines at the beginning of her new era and witnessed the last moments of our ancient nationality. Therefore, it is the shadow of the civilization of our ancestors that the author now evokes before you. The high office, the nationality, and merits of Morga, together with the data and testimonies of his contemporaries,
mostly Spanish, recommend the work for your thoughtful consideration (Rizal 1890, preface).
READ
17
For present-day Filipinos, chapter __________ is the most interesting, because it describes the preHispanic Filipinos, or rather the Indios, at the Spanish contact. This same chapter was indispensable for Rizal, not only for its ethnographic value but more to help him reconstruct the pre-Hispanic Philippines which Rizal wanted to present to his countrymen.
eight
18
Why did Rizal choose Morga over other Spanish chronicles? Why does he recommend Morga to his countrymen?
Rizal's choice of reprinting Morga rather than other contemporary historical accounts of the Philippines was due to the following reasons:
* The original book was rare;
* Morga was a layman, not a religious chronicler;
* Rizal felt Morga to be more "objective" than the religious writers whose accounts
included many miracle stories;
* Morga, compared to religious chroniclers, was more sympathetic to the Indios; and
* Morga was not only an eyewitness but a major actor in the events he narrates.
READ
19
Rizal’s First Consideration:
Rarity of Morga
20
Morga's Sucesos was originally published in ___________ in 1609 and was therefore rare. In his introduction, Blumentritt notes that the book is “so rare that the few libraries that have a copy guard it with the same care as they would an Inca treasure”
Mexico
21
* In 1971, when___________________ of University College London translated, edited, and annotated the latest edition of Morga for the Hakluyt Society, he listed just _____________ extant copies of the Morga in libraries and other research institutions.
J.S. Cummins
twenty-five
22
Morga was disseminated 259 years after its original publication in a widely read English
translation by H.E.J. Stanley, published in London by the Hakluyt Society in 1868 under
the title The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan, and China at the
close of the Sixteenth Century, which is misleading, since the book is basically on Spain in the Philippines, and describes, mainly, how the colony was used as a foothold in Asia, from which other Spanish expeditions were launched.
READ
23
* The original Spanish text of 1609 had never been reprinted in full until the annotated
Rizal edition came off the press of _____________ in Paris in 1889
Gamier Hermanos
24
After the Rizal edition, there was a magnificent edition by ____________________, which saw print in 1909.
* What makes Retana's edition invaluable is the primary source material, by Morga
himself and other contemporaries, drawn from the Archivo General de Indias in Seville,
which amplifies and enriches the main text. Its only drawback is that it is inaccessible
to those who cannot read Spanish.
Wenceslao Emilio Retana
25
* In the Philippines, Rizal's Morga was reissued in photo-offset reproduction only in
1958, by which time few Filipinos knew or cared for books in Spanish. An English
translation of Rizal's Morga was commissioned and published by the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission in 1961 but has proven unsatisfactory compared with the most popular English edition of Morga at present - that by J.S. Cummins published by the Hakluyt Society in 1971.
* These bibliographical notes not only stress the rarity of the original but also reveal that
Rizal was not satisfied with the Stanley edition, which he thought contained errors of fact and interpretation that required correction. The eighth chapter, for example, is a titillating description of the sexual habits of the pre-Hispanic Indios.
* Although he was doing his research in London, it is strange that Rizal did not contact or correspond with Stanley regarding the Morga. Rizal felt, like Blumentritt who wrote the introduction, that the annotations to Morga should be made not by a foreigner but by an Indio.
READ
26
Rizal’s Second Consideration:
Provided a Civil Account of the Philippines during the Colonial Period
27
Rizal's second consideration for the choice of Morga was that it was the only civil, as opposed to religious or ecclesiastical, history of the Philippines written during the colonial period. Chronicles by Spanish colonial officials (or non-religious) were rare, making ___________ , for over two centuries, the only secular general history of the Philippines in print. The main complaint against religious historians was that they dealt more with church history than the history of the
Philippines and its people.
Morga
28
* A general history of the Philippines was an ambitious undertaking considering the rarity
of secular and, more importantly, Indio historians. Until Rizal's edition of Morga, there was no history of the Philippines written by an Indio or one written from the viewpoint of the Indio.
READ
29
In 1925, the American historian ___________ pointed out that as the Philippines had been a colony of Spain, the histories of the Philippines written during the colonial period were nothing but chapters in the larger history of Spain. In short, what was available was not a history of the
Philippines, but a history of Spain in the Philippines. This idea was acted upon by Teodoro A. Agoncillo in the 1960/s, who, like Rizal, espoused the writing of Philippine history from the Filipino point of view as opposed to that of the foreigner.
Austin Craig
30
The third consideration for the choice of Morga was Rizal's opinion that this secular account was more ___________, more trustworthy, than those written by the religious missionaries which were liberally sprinkled with tales of miracles and apparitions:
All the histories written by the religious before and after Morga, up to our days, abound with stories of devils, miracles, apparitions, etc. These form the bulk of the voluminous histories of the Philippines.
objective
30
Rizal’s Third Consideration:
Morga is Objective
31
Rizal's annotations fall into two categories:
1. First are the ____________ historical annotations, where Rizal amplifies or corrects the original.
2. Second are the annotations which, though historically based, reflect his strong
__________ . Rizal branded religious interpretations of events as "pious lies"
straightforward
anticlerical bias
32
Rizal emphasized that Morga's Sucesos was devoid of the characteristic Deus ex Machina.
* Their aim was not to record history as is, but to document the achievements of their
religious orders and, more importantly, to edify their readers.
Friar chronicles cannot be described as history in the modern sense but as a narrative with a moral lesson.
READ
32
Rizal's anticlericalism should be seen in the context of his education in the politically unstable, liberal Madrid of the late nineteenth century, where the Republicans blamed most social ills on priests and religion. In addition, there were Rizal's experiences of oppression in the colonial
Philippines. That he was particularly sharp on the Dominicans can be explained by the agrarian disputes his family faced in Calamba which was a Dominican hacienda.
READ
33
Rizal utilized Morga to discredit the work of the Dominican chronicler ______________,
whose Historia de la provincia del Soneto Rosario de la orden de Predicadores en Philippinas (History of the Province of the Holy Rosary of the Order of Preachers in the Philippines) was published in Manila in 1640 and was considered so authoritative it was often cited or repeated by later historians.
Diego de Aduarte
34
However, Rizal had a soft spot for the _____________, who, incidentally are not friars, under whose tutelage he received his early education.
The Jesuits, unlike the other religious orders, were spared arrest and abuse by the Filipino
forces during the second phase of the Philippine Revolution that began in 1898. Despite his soft spot for the Jesuits, however, Rizal also includes the jibe in his later annotations that the Society of Jesus was fifty years behind enlightened secular opinion and science in Europe.
Jesuits
35
Moreover, the Jesuits maintained a good reputation regarding their vows of poverty and chastity simply because the Order was suppressed by the Pope in the eighteenth century. The Spanish King ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits and the confiscation of their property in all Spanish dominions; therefore, the Jesuits were absent from the Philippines from 1768 until they were allowed to return in 1859. Upon their return, the other religious orders that had taken
over their property refused to yield both physical and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Thus, the Jesuits were sent to establish missions in the southern, predominantly Muslim, island of Mindanao. A twist of history made them lose an opportunity to become a wealthy landowning religious corporation despised by Indios.
READ
36
Rizal’s Fourth Consideration:
Sympathy towards Indios
37
The fourth consideration in Rizal's choice of the Morga was that it appeared more _____________, at least in parts, to the Indios, in contrast to the friar accounts, many of which were biased or downright racist in tone and interpretation.
sympathetic
38
Rizal’s Fifth Consideration:
Morga was an Eyewitness and a Primary Source
39
* The fifth and last consideration was that Morga was an eyewitness, and therefore a
primary source, on the Philippines and its people at the point of first contact with Spain.
* Rizal spoke highly of Morga's integrity as a colonial official, which may have been true
of his term of office in Manila, but, according to more recent editions, by Retana (1909)
and Cummins (1971), his scruples seem to have deteriorated as he advanced in age and
career
READ
40
Rizal argued that the pre-Hispanic
Filipinos had their own culture before ________ , and thus were not saved from barbarism, and did not require "civilization" or a new religion from Spain. Rizal insists that the flourishing preHispanic Philippine civilization, obliterated by Spain and the friars, could have developed on its own into something great. Rizal emphasizes that the pre-Hispanic civilization had ________________ , a ship-building industry, trade contacts with China, and even a system of writing
and accompanying literature, all ruined by Spanish colonization. Rizal comments that the Philippines of his time was no better than the pre-Hispanic Philippines. If Spain had not come or had left the Philippines to its own devices, everyone would be better off.
1521
metallurgy
41
Rizal’s historical interpretations are seen as both beneficial and detrimental to Philippine
nationalism.
Most of Rizal’s historical claims have been validated by modern research, but there are flaws in his reconstruction of pre-Hispanic Philippine civilization.
42
Historical Claims: Filipino schoolchildren have been taught three main things about their preHispanic ancestors:
* They had a writing system and literature, which Spanish missionaries destroyed.
* They had advanced knowledge of metalworking, exemplified by ____________, who made fine cannons.
* They had a shipbuilding industry, which the Spanish ruined.
Modern Reconsideration: Modern historians and researchers are now re-examining Rizal’s claims using current archaeological and anthropological evidence.
Panday Pira
43
In Morga’s _________ chapter, he mentions an Indio (native Filipino) from Pampanga named Panday Pira
fourth
44
* Panday Pira ran a ___________ during the term of Governor Santiago de Vera.
* The foundry was responsible for making artillery (like cannons) to defend a stone
fortress called “Our Lady of the Way” in Manila.
* The term “panday” means “metalworker” or “ironsmith” in Java and Borneo.
foundry
44
Rizal highlighted that Panday Pira was already skilled in making cannons before the Spaniards arrived. This supports Rizal’s claim that Filipinos had advanced metalworking skills before Spanish colonization.
* Governor General Gomez Perez Dasmariñas established a new foundry in Manila for making cannons. Due to a lack of skilled workers, only a few large cannons were made. Rizal noted that the foundry run by local craftsman Panday Pira disappeared after the Spanish took over Manila.
44
* _____________, the “cannon-founder” is celebrated as a hero in Filipino textbooks today.
Panday Pira
45
Retana challenges Rizal’s claims, arguing that the skills and industry were introduced by the Spaniards rather than indigenous Filipinos. A letter from Governor Santiago de Vera on June 26, 1587, mentions difficulties in finding experts to make cannons, requesting higher authorities in __________ to send cannon makers which contradicts Rizal’s narrative of a thriving pre-Hispanic metallurgy industry.
Mexico
45
Preservation of Pre-Hispanic Writing by Friars in Early Philippine Literature
* First book printed in the Philippines in 1593 was the ________________
"Doctrina Cristiana en lengua
tagala" (Christian Doctrine in Tagalog).
45
Retana criticizes Rizal and other Filipino historians for overstating the extent of pre-Hispanic
cannon-making as an indigenous industry. He argues that historical documents show otherwise.
* Retana cites Blumentritt, who revealed that the foundry in Manila was run by a
Portuguese cannon maker.
* Blumentritt noted that the Portuguese taught the Tagalogs cannon-making.
* Cannons were brought to the Philippines by Portuguese adventurers and deserters.
READ
45
Retana’s Criticism of Rizal is Supported by Recent Archaeological Research
* _________________, chief of the Archaeology Division at the National Museum of the
Philippines, studied pre-Hispanic metal implements.
* Indios used metal but didn’t have the advanced skills Rizal claimed.
* Dr. Dizon noted that the Indios might have made small cannons, or lantakas, used for
decorations or ornaments in Mindanao.
* Couldn’t make the heavy European-style cannons.
Dr. Eusebio Dizon
46
Rizal’s Views on Filipino Boat-Making and Spanish Influence
Morga described big Filipino boats with many rowers and soldiers, but Rizal made it sound like a tragedy that these skills were lost. He said Filipinos used to be good at navigating but got worse because of European influence. Rizal also complained that Spanish shipbuilding hurt the
environment by cutting down too many trees, causing some plants and animals to disappear.
Before the Spanish came, Filipino people were good at sailing and built fast and light boats fortrading.
Recent archaeological digs in Butuan, Mindanao, found large boat remains similar to what Morga described, but none as huge as the 2000-ton boats Rizal claimed. Spanish rule led to the loss of the ancient Filipino writing system, and today, only a few signatures in their script remain on old Spanish documents.
READ
46
* It translated Roman Catholic teachings into Spanish and Tagalog, using both the
pre-Hispanic syllabary and the Roman alphabet for Tagalog.
"Doctrina Cristiana en lengua
tagala" (Christian Doctrine in Tagalog).
46
* Its inscription does not match the ancient Philippine script or local languages, leading
to speculation that it may have been imported from another Southeast Asian region.
* Morga observed that in pre-Hispanic Philippines, both men and women were
proficient in reading and writing their native language (290-92).
* Rizal cited Jesuit Pedro Chirino, who also noted universal literacy in the late 16thcentury Philippines.
* These historical accounts support Rizal's view on literacy in the late 19th-century
Philippines.
* Rizal believed that pre-Hispanic Philippines had a rich written literature based on
accounts by Morga, Chirino, and others.
* No pre-Hispanic written texts survive today, not even fragments.
* ________________ mentioned burning a condemned “book,” suggesting it is a “work of evil”
Chirino
46
Controversy Surrounding the Laguna Copper Plate
* 1991 conference in ___________ , Antoon Postma discussed a copper plate found in
Laguna, Philippines, dating to 900 A.D.
* Postma suggested this discovery expanded Philippine history, but it has been largely
disregarded due to uncertainty about the plate's origin.
* The plate was acquired by the _______________ from an antique dealer without verifying its original site of discovery.
AMSTERDAM
National Museum
46
* Another catechism in the pre-Hispanic script was printed in 1621 and translated into Ilocano.
* These works, alongside studies like "Arte y reglas de la Lengua Tagala" by ________________ (1610) and "Arte de la lengua Iloca" by ________________ (1617), suggest that friars, as argued by Retana (1895; 1906), documented and preserved pre-Hispanic writing rather than destroying it.
Fr. Blancas de San Jose
Fr. Francisco Lopez
47
Debate Over the Calatagan Pot: Writing or Decoration?
* The National Museum of the Philippines considers an earthenware pot found in
_________________ , a “National Treasure.”
* It has incised characters around the rim, seen as evidence of pre-Hispanic writing.
* Only one such artifact has been found, and the characters resembling Tagalog syllabary
don’t make sense as words.
* The National Museum hasn’t released expert translations of the pot’s text.
* This pot raises questions about whether the markings are actual writing or just
decorations.
Calatagan, Batangas
47
Rizal’s Annotations
The importance of Rizal's annotations to Morga was that he tried to use history and historical revision, not just to express his personal views on the historiography, but to create a sense of national consciousness or identity. Historical revision is always met with varying degrees of opposition, and Rizal's first attempt at writing Philippine history was no exception. That the
Spaniards would object was inevitable, and Rizal was prepared for this. When the Morga was officially banned in the Philippines, Rizal was not surprised.
READ
47
However, the first criticism of Rizal's historical work was not by a Spaniard or by one of Rizal's enemies, but by Blumentritt in the introduction to the book itself. Often overlooked, this introduction contains observations that are hidden under a mountain of praise. Blumentritt noted, for example, that Rizal's “observations on the conduct of the European conquerors and civilizers are in general not new to the historian. The Germans specially discussed this theme.” Nevertheless, Blumentritt continued with:
READ
48
Hindsight and anticlericalism are fatal defects in a purely scholarly work but, as mentioned earlier, Rizal used history as a propa-ganda weapon against the abuses of the colonial
Spaniards. Rizal's Morga should be seen and excused in this context. The problem with Rizal is his constant ambiguity. Is he trying to be a scholar or a propagandist? Hence the Morga was deemed too historical, too schol-arly for propagandists, while historians and scholars found the work too biased, too much a work of propaganda to be taken seriously.
READ
49
Writing from Paris on 19 November 1889, Rizal thanked Blumentritt for writing the
introduction to his edition of Morga. He liked. it very much, and praised it for being written “both with head and heart.” Be that as it may, Rizal reacted strongly against Blumentritt's mention of “__________” (pseudonym of Pablo Feced, brother of ex-governor Jose Feced y Temprado, a prolific journalist who wrote racist, anti-Indio articles). Rizal told Blumentritt that
Quiopquiap may be highly regarded in Spanish circles in Manila, but he was not worthy of attention. Rizal declared that he did not want “to soil the pages of my book” with this name. “I do not write for the Spaniards in Manila, I write for my countrymen and we all de- test Quiopquiap.”
Quiopquiap
49
While Blumentritt's critique was undeniably tempered by his friendship with Rizal, one must remember that Rizal solicited the introduction. What finally saw print was a version approved and slightly edited by Rizal. Unfortunately, this draft introduction is not extant, but we can extrapolate from the Rizal-Blumentritt correspond- ence to see what Rizal found objectionable and what he·wanted de-leted from the introduction.
READ
50
Three days later, on 22 November 1889, Rizal returned the draft of Blumentritt's introduction together with his “corrections.” Even if Blumentritt had earlier authorized Rizal to edit it however he wished, Rizal sought Blumentritt's final approval out of courtesy. Apart from the deletion of the name Quiopquiap, Rizal cut out the text relating to fraternidad (fraternity)
between Indios and Spaniards. Rizal told Blumentritt that, despite his good intentions, his notion of fraternal love between Spaniards and Indios was liable to give the wrong impression.
READ
51
Rizal’s Scholarship
Rizal did not take the criticism well. He remained cordial with Blumentritt's criticism,
especially from racist Spaniards like Vicente Barrantes. He was hostile to a fellow patriot
Isabelo de los Reyes in which their conversation with each other can be seen in La Solidaridad titled “A Reply to Mr. Isabelo de los Reyes”.
READ
52
_______________ (1864-1938) was a journalist, businessman, labor leader,
politician, and prominent member of the schismatic Iglesia Filipina Independiente
(Philippine Independent Church). He was interested in aspects of Philippine history and culture especially that which concerned his home province Ilocos. De los Reyes had
been corresponding with European scholars with research interests in the Philippines
long before Rizal came into contact with Blumentritt.
Isabelo de los Reyes
53
In his ____________ , __________ upsets Rizal. He said that Rizal was blinded by his
excessive patriotism (regarding his annotations in Morga).
Historia de llocos
Isabelo de los Reyes
54
Rizal was so irritated that he responded by attacking de los Reyes in the 31 October 1890 issue of La Solidaridad, using the sarcasm he normally reserved for racist Spaniards and friars.
Rizal’s Reply to de los Reyes' Comment:
I do not know how discreet it is to raise oneself as a judge of others [when]
neither one or the other was an eyewitness or more or less an influential actor.
But this, which in anyone else could be censured as vain presumption, ceases
to be so in Mr. Isabelo de los Reyes who knows very well how to interpret the
historians of the Philippines.
READ
55
As de los Reyes was fond of using Philippine terms in his work, especially words in his mother tongue, Ilocano, Rizal took him to task for (mis)translating Morga's "principales" into its Ilocano equivalent, ____________.
I have read Morga about seven times and I do not remember that he had ever
mentioned agturay. I do not know if Mr. de los Reyes in his laudable desire to
Ilocanize the Philippines thinks it convenient to make Morga speak Ilocano. It is true that this author, in describing the customs of the Tagalogs, said that they were generally current in all the islands; but this does not mean that Ilocano customs are the ones that prevail.
agturay
56
Rizal flaunts his familiarity with the primary sources in Philippine history, finding fault with de los Reyes for using "unreliable" sources. But Reyes reiterated that he read hundreds of historical/non-historical sources just to double-check or fact-check his writings. Notwithstanding this, Rizal cited Pigafetta, Chirino, Morga, Argensola, Colin, San Agustin, and Aduarte, pronouncing and bragging about his familiarity with primary sources. But Rizal said that it is not about scholarship but about patriotism. Rizal was not seeking to be a scholar or historian; he was merely using history as a weapon for the propaganda movement.
57
Reading their banter in a “Reply to Mr. Isabelo de los Reyes” in La Solidaridad, Juan Luna Warned Rizal that public disagreements between the propagandists were counter-productive as it was giving the Spaniards "a great laugh" Luna said to de los Reyes that he was wrong refuting Rizal by saying that he was blinded by his excessive patriotism, but he also said that Rizal's patriotism made him over-sensitive or even intolerant of criticism. It can be said that the difference in their opinion is that de los Reyes has an “objective scholarship” and Rizal's “committed scholarship.” But the Indios preferred Rizal more than de los Reyes because his
attempt at objectivity, or at least a measure of fairness, in his research and writing was suspect in the eyes of his more zealous countrymen.
READ
58
Both Rizal and del los Reyes expressed an interpretation of Philippine history for Filipinos and patriotism was the fulcrum which determined the degree of objectivity and propaganda in their work. Rizal's view of Philippine historiography is expressed in his annotations to Morga's Sucesos, in his essay Filipinas dentro de cien años (The Philippines Within a Country), and most clearly in an outline periodization of Philippine history which he prepared for the
International Association of Philippinologists, hoping it could convene a conference of
European Philippinologists in Paris during the International Exposition of 1889.
READ
58
_____________ , in Biblioteca Filipina, describes de los Reyes's work as “full of
curious observations and can even be faulted for superficiality at times, [but] it cannot be said that de los Reyes falsified history or more or less propagated falsehood and absurdities in an attempt to glorify the ancient [i.e., pre-Hispanic] civilization of the Filipinos.”
Pardo de Tavera
59
III. Incorporation of the Philippines into the Spanish nation up to the Cavite Mutiny
(1808-1872) Government, Representation in the Spanish Cortes, Loss of her character as a Spanish province and the declaration of her status as a colony, Reforms, Criticism, Influence of the Monastic Orders on the material progress of the Islands, the Philippines compared with other colonies, etc.
59
II. Arrival of the Spaniards to the loss of Philippine autonomy and her incorporation
into the Spanish nation. (1521-1808) nfluence of Spanish civilization on the social life of the Philippines. Conversion into
Catholicism, Encomiendas, Wars and Invasions, Immigration, Government,
Commerce, Religious troubles, etc.
59
IV. Linguistics
Classification of languages spoken in the Philippines Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano,
l'espagnol de kusina [Kitchen Spanish or the pidgin Spanish spoken in Cavite), studies
on modern literature of the Tagalogs, modern literature of the Philippines, religious books, etc. (Epistolario 1938, 383-89).
60
An Indio Viewpoint
In the outline Rizal's linear conception of history, and how he uses the arrival of Spain as the turning point is clear. It is the break in Philippine History that stunted the pre-Hispanic Philippine civilization.
60
V. Races and Independent Regions which includes all Muslim sultanates,
independent tribes, Negritos, etc.
The fifth part, on Race and Independent Regions, was an afterthought, as seen in the
correspondence between Rizal and Blumentritt. It was not in the original outline,
suggesting that Rizal saw the Muslims of the Southern Island of Mindanao, as well as
the non-Christian, non-Hispanized Indios of the mountains, differently from the
lowland Christian Indios of which he was part. Note too Rizal did not refer to nonChristian Filipinos collectively as “Filipinos,” in the way that he referred to the
Hispanized Indios of Luzon and the Visayas.
60
* Rizal's Survey and Study of Philippine Past
showed that all the chronicles on his country and people were written by Spaniards, and
thus reflected their biases.
61
* ____________
led to the loss of both Philippine autonomy and its distinct chapter according to Rizal's
view of history.
Colonization
61
* Neighboring countries (___________)
were compared to the Philippines had an abundance of ancient, pre-colonial written
texts, the Philippines has nothing but Spanish chronicles.
* Rizal attempted to write on the pre-Hispanic Philippines before the arrival of
archaeology and was left with no choice but to use Spanish written sources.
* In the course of his research, he had to decide which sources to use for his history of The Philippines, but his patriotism largely determined his choice.
* While Rizal was reading through these works, he was continually irritated by the racist viewpoints of Spanish historians who often highlighted the "primitive" or "uncivilized" nature of Indios, with "civilized" Spaniards.
java, Burma, and Vietnam
62
* ____________
brought both the Roman Catholic faith and Hispanization to the archipelago.
* Rizal gave himself the difficult task of rebutting the biased chronicles which brought an Indio viewpoint on Philippine history into existence.
Civilized Spaniards
63
* _____________
recreated the pre-Hispanic Philippine past.
He wanted to present to his sleeping countrymen to awaken in them a sense of pride in
their race.
Rizal's Morga
64
* The Publication of Rizal's Morga in late 1889 divided Rizal's writings into _______ distinct components. If the Noli me Tangere dealt with the present, and El Filibusterismo was to deal with the future, then Rizal decided to suspend work on El Filibusterismo to dwell on the
past. (Rizal 1890, preface)
three
64
* In his essay, _____________ (The Philippines within a century) was published in the installments of the propaganda paper La Solidaridad from the end of September 1889 to the beginning of February 1890.
Filipinas dentro cien años
65
66
67
68
69
