Reading in Philippine History
The human
History: Its Meaning, Importance and Relevance
 The word history is derived from the Greek term
“historia”- inquiry or research, knowledge acquired
through inquiry or investigation. Historia became
known as the account of the past of a person or of a
group of people though written documents and
historical evidences.
 “History is a systematic account of a set of natural
phenomena which are arranged in their
chronological order”-Aristotle
 “History as a never-ending dialogue of events
between the past and the present” E.H Carr
Importance of History
 It helps every person to draw conclusion from the
past events helping the person to understand
himself by being acquainted with other people.
 Helps the person or the government avoid the
pitfalls of the present by knowing the rise and fall of
the rulers, government and empires.
 Makes a person’s life richer and fuller by giving
meaning to the books he reads (specially history
books)
 Broaden the person’s outlook in life by learning and
understanding the various races, cultures,
idiosyncrasies, habits, rituals, ceremonies of the
making of contemporary society out of the diverse
forces of the past.
 Enable a person to grasp his relationship with the
past, such as to who ordered the killing of Ninoy
Aquino or why China insists on occupying territories
claimed by the Philippines.
 Helps social and political scientists or researchers
engaged in research as for example a political
researcher is doing a research on federal form of
government has to draw his data from the materials
of history.
 History preserves the cultural values of a nation
because it guides society in confronting various
crisis. As Allen Nerins puts it, history is like a bridge
that connects the past with the present and
“pointing the road to the future’.
Relevance of Studying Philippine History
 “History is inescapable” Penelope J. Carfield.
 All human beings are living histories.
species speak languages that are inherited from the
past.
 All human beings live in the here and now, but it
took a long and unfolding history to get enough to
NOW.
Distinction between Primary and Secondary Sources
 Primary sources are those sources produced at the
same time as the event, period or subject being
studied. They are artifacts closest to the topic
investigation.
 Secondary sources- are produced by an author who
used the primary sources to produce the materials.
They are often describe or explain primary sources.
Secondary sources not only analyze primary
sources, but also used them to argue or persuade
the reader to hold a certain opinion. Secondary
sources are not evidence, but a commentary and
discussion of evidence.
External and Internal Criticism
 External Criticism- the practice of verifying the
authenticity of evidence by examining its physical
characteristic of the time it was introduced; and the
material used for the evidence
Example:
-quality of the paper
-types of ink
-language and words used in the materials
 Internal Criticism- the examination of the
truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by
looking at the author of the source, its context, the
agenda behind its creation.
Example:
-Bibliographies
-commentaries and criticisms
-journal and magazines articles
Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected Primary
Sources in Philippine History
 Antonio Pigafetta’s First Voyage around the World
 Emilio Jacinto’s Kartilya ng Katipunan
 1898 Declaration of Philippine Independence
Antonio Pigafetta’s First Voyage around the World
This book was taken from the chronicles odf
contemporary voyagers and navigators of the 16 th
century.
Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian nobleman who
accompanied Ferdinand Magellan.
The document reveals several insights of the Philippines
during the pre-colonial period.
The First Voyage around the World by Magellan was
published after the Pigafetta returned to Italy.
Analysis of Pigafetta’s Chronicle
 One of the most cited documents by historians who
wished to study the precolonial Philippines.
 Purest writing in the precolonial period.
 Pigafetta was a chronicler commissioned by the king
of Spain to accompany and document a voyage
intended to expand the Spanish empire.
 Regarded the indigenous belief systems and way of
life as inferior to that of Christianity and of the
Europeans
 Remark on the nakedness of the natives- stand
point of a European) - Pigafetta’s perspective is too
narrow to realize that such attire was only
appropriate to the tropical climate of the island.
 Pigafetta’s context was dominated by the Holy
Roman Empire, whose loyalty and purpose was the
domination of the Catholic Church all over the
world. Hence, any other belief systems different
from that of Christianity were perceived to be
blasphemous and barbaric.
 16th century economy was Mercantilist-measure the
wealth of kingdoms based on their accumulation of
bullions or precious metals like gold and silver.
KKK and the Kartilya ng Katipunan
 Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangan Katipunan ny mga
anak ng Bayan or Katipunan.
 The only organization that envisioned a united
Filipino nation that would revolt against the
Spaniards for the total independence of the country
from Spain
 Complex structure and a define values system that
would guide the organization as a collective aspiring
for a single goal.
 Manga Aral Nang Katipunan ng mga A.N.B. or
Lessons of the Organization of the Sons of Country
 Written by Emilio Jacinto 1896
Kartilya ng Katipunan
 The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and
reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade, if not
a poisonous weed.
 To do good for personal gain and not for its own
sake is not virtue.
 It is rational to be charitable and love one’s fellow
creature and to adjust one’s conduct, acts and
words to what is in itself reasonable.
 Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born
equal: superiority in knowledge, wealth, and beauty
are too understood but not superiority by nature.
 The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain
the scoundrel, gain to honor
 To the honorable man, his word is sacred.
 Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but
not time lost.
 Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor
before the law or in the field.
Controversies and Conflicting Philippine History
The need for Studying Controversies and conflicting
Views
• NFO Trends Survey
37% of the 1470 respondents aged 7-21 were
able to sing the Philippine National Athem
28% could recite the old version of Panatang
Makabayan.
Of many Filipino heroes, they could only name
up to 2 heroes.
The need for Studying Controversies and conflicting
Views
• Henceforth, that the Filipino youth, in general,
had a “very shallow knowledge and
appreciation” of the country’s History and
cultural heritage.
• As a student in Philippine history should
therefore be able to know, understand and
critically analyze various controversies and
conflicting views because these may affect their
lives as Filipinos and citizens of contemporary
society.
Multiperspectivity
• This can be defined as a way of looking at
historical events, personalities, developments,
cultures, and societies from different
perspectives.
• This means that there is a multitude of ways by
which we can view the world, and each could
be equally valid, and at the same time equally
partial.
• Multiperspectivity as an approach in history, we
must understand that historical interpretations
contains discrepancies, contradictions,
ambiguities, and are often of the dissent.
Number of Islands and Islets in the Philippines
• Molina – 7083 islands
• Agoncillo and Alfonso – 7000
• Alip – 7100
• Zaide - 7083
• Ariola - 7100
Site of the first Mass
• Local historians in Butuan believed that the first
site of the Catholic mass took place in Mazawa,
a place in Butuan now called Masao, not in
Limasawa Island in Leyte as stated in history
books.
• On March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday, Friar Pedro
Valderama celebrated mass together with the
Portuguese explorer Magellan. With them were
the ruler of Mazawa, Rajah Siaias and his
brother Rajah Colambu, the ruler of Butuan.
Afterwards, they planted a cross in the highest
hill and stayed in the area for seven days and
helped in the rice harvest for two days.
• Fr. Joesilo Conalla, curator of Butuan Diocesan
Liturgical Museum- Limasawa Island was not an
agriculture area, therefore there is nothing to
harvest there.
• Joelito Monzon Ramirez Jr. a local historian and
writer
• There was no island named Limasawa in 1521.
on that event, Pigafetta recorded today’s
Limasawa as Gatighan Island, between Bohol
and Panaon south of Leyte. Magellan never
landed in Gatighan. The name Limasawa
appeared only in 1667, Historia de Mindanao,
by Combes. Pigafetta saw these Islands ON
THEIR WAY OUT FROM MAZAUA.
• They went to Mazaua from Suluan by sailing, as
recorded downward
• Upon their departure, they sailed northwards
for Cebu. Had they been in Limasawa, that
direction would hace landed them in Ormoc of
Leyte.
The Cry of Balintawak
• The Cry of Balintawak or The cry of Pugadlawin
has been the subject of many controversies.
The main focus of the controversies is the date
and place of the Bonifacio Cry. There were five
dates for the cry- August 20, 23, 24, 25, and 26
and five different venues for the first Cry:
Balintawak, Pugadlawin, Kangkong, Bahay-Toro,
and Pasong Tamo.
• It has been widely accepted and believed that
the first cry of the revolution took place in
Balintawak, Caloocan in August 23, 1896.
• The first cry was in August 23 1896 but the
exact place is not in Balintawak but Pugadlawin.
• The cry occurred towards the end of August
1896 and that all the places mentioned above
are all in Caloocan which in those times was a
district of Balintawak
• The Cry of Balintawak
• August 25, 1896- Guardia civil Lt. Olegario
identified the CRY to have happened in
Balintawak.
• Teodoro Kalaw, Filipino historian, marks the
place to be in Kangkong Balintawak, on the last
week of August 1896
• August 24, 1896- Santiago Alvarez, a Katipunero
and son of Mariano Alvarez, leader of the
Magdiwang faction in Cavite put the Cry in
Bahay Toro in Quezon City.
• August 23, 1896-Pio Valenzuela, known
Katipunero and privy to many events
 concerning the Katipunan stated that the Cry
happened in Pugad Lawin.

• August 26, 1896- historian Gregorio Zaide

identified the Cry to have happened in
Balintawak.

Rizal’s Retraction Controversy

• Father Manuel Garcia discovered the retraction

letter of Rizal in 1935.

• The retraction letter dated December 29, 1896

• “I declare myself a Catholic and in this religion

in which I was born and educated. I wish to live
and die. I retract with all my heart whatever in
my words, writings, publications, and conduct
has been contrary to my character as son of the
Catholic Church.”

Believers of Rizal’s Retraction

• The retraction document is authentic having

judged by a foremost handwriting expert,
Teodoro Kalaw.

• Eleven witnesses saw Rizal wrote his own

retraction signed a Catholic prayer book and
recited Catholic prayers and kissed the crucifix
before his execution.

• Rizal’s confessions were certified by 5

eyewitnesses

Non-believers of Rizal’s Retraction

• There is no certificate of Rizal’s catholic

marriage to Josephine Bracken.

• There an allegation that the retraction letter

was a forgery.

• The retraction letter is not in keeping with

Rizal’s character and mature beliefs.