Mislang, Ian H.

June 2, 2021

05 eLMS Task 1 Rizal's Life and Works

1. Yes, Rizal was right when he argued that the natives already had their own identity and culture even
before Spaniards came. De Morga's account shows that he was biased towards Spain's motives. Rizal
understood from the point of pre-colonial Filipinos and saw the unique culture that was preexisting in
pre-colonial Filipino society. He was so ferocious in defending the Filipinos in De Morga's account, that
he also attacked the Church and had his annotations banned. I believe he was recognized importance of
diversity and identity in a society, that Spain didn’t consider in their quest to spread Christianity and
conquer other nations.

2. Rizal noted that the Philippines already had its own culture. He saw a culture rich of rituals,
superstitions, and even exhibited hierarchy. Rizal envisioned pre-colonial Filipinos as free and self-
sufficient. He saw the pre-colonial Filipino society as relatively advanced contrary to De Morga's
account. He even cited that Philippines was exploited, demoralized, decimated, an eventually ruined by
Spain resulting in a lack of human flourishing for the conquered indios.