EFFECT OF RIZAL'S ANNOTATION ON ACHIEVING FREEDOM

 Rizal’s entire annotation can be considered an impressive piece of historiography. In the

introduction, one of the purposes given by Rizal in applying the annotation is to "raise
awareness about the past" of Filipinos. This goal is important in the assumption that in
order to build a national community or identity we need a “national tradition” that
will serve as a “bundle”.
 Another goal is to dismantle the idea of the inferiority of the Filipinos.
Rizal proved through annotations and Sucesos himself the existence of Filipino civilization
before the arrival of the Spaniards. They already have a writing system, type of
government, law, writing, literature, religion, art, science and trade with neighbors.
 In the opinion of Miguel de Unamuno, Rizal wanted the return of a Tagalog civilization.
This desire was driven by a desire towards patriotism and nationalism.
 Jose Baron Fernandez gave a comment regarding the purpose of applying the
annotation to Sucesos. According to the doctor, this work was caused by the impulse of
idealism in Rizal's time and sometimes went beyond true scholarship. However, the work
of most Filipinos was not noticed because it was overshadowed by the popularity of his
two works Noli and El Fili.
 It can be said that another reason why it did not become popular was the existence of
censorship at that time. The Spanish government confiscated and burned copies of Sucesos,
because in this case the book could be said to be seldom found or otherwise there was really
nothing to buy in the archipelago.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF F/filipino IN ANNOTATION

 Through the annotation itself, tens of histories it discusses and use of Filipino as a general
term, it can be said that Sucesos has become the main instrument desired identity
formation.
 It can be divided into what Rizal's use of the term F/filipino means.
 First, it was as an inspiration to his contemporaries and even to the colonizers. For
the compatriots, Rizal clearly wants to say that there was a Filipino civilization
even before the arrival of the Spaniards, and no one should be thankful for
them.
 Entering the second is the destruction of the effect of Divide et Impera. Despite
Rizal’s knowledge of the existence of various ethnolinguistic groups in the
archipelago, Filipino is more often used as a general term for its inhabitants. The
social validity of Rizal's edition of Sucesos is in its annotation.
 Clearly, although his fellow Ilustrado has been 'ignored' since the popularity of his
first novel, his edition of Sucesos is an attempt to build a Filipino identity, more
than just propaganda to answer the allegations of the Spaniards. .
IMPORTANCE OF RIZAL’S ANNOTATIONS TO THE PRESENT GENERATION
To awaken in the Filipinos the consciousness of our past To devote ourselves to studying the
future To first lay bare the past, in order to better judge the present and to survey the road
trodden during three centuries

To prove Filipinos had a culture of their own, prior to colonization, that the Filipinos were NOT
inferior to the white man To shatter the myth of the so-called “Indolence of the Filipinos” To
reduce those Filipinos who denied their native tongue into rotten fish

To seriously study Tagalog and produce a comprehensive Tagalog dictionary To embrace the
generic term “Indio”, or in today’s case, Filipino, with all its negative connotations, and turn it
into one of dignity and nobility

"THE FIRST PHILIPPINE HISTORY BOOK"

 If the book (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas) succeeds to awaken your conciousness of our
past, already effaced from your memory, and to rectify what has been falsified and
slandered, then I have not worked in vain, and with this as a basis, however small it may
be, we shall be able to study the future. -- Dr. Jose Rizal

 When Rizal published his annotation of Antonio de Morga's Sucesos in 1890, he had
already travelled in parts of Spain, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria,
Switzerland, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and England. He could
converse in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and English. He was only 29-
years-old!
 In his travels he familiarized himself with each country's history, customs, ways of life
and language. He held the common sense belief that learning a people's language "will
open ... the treasures of a country, that is, the knowledge, the learning" and "its own
way of thinking."
 Although he was interested in the social and scientific progress he witnessed abroad and
understood the factors that lead to such advancement, he was even more fascinated by the
collage of cultural symbols that become embraced by a people as their own national
identity. A consummate student of ancient and modern history, Rizal was convinced that
the enduring and unifying strength of all great societies lies in their collective sense of
tradition -- a tradition that is carried forth and becomes that people's cultural history.
By publishing his annotated version of de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events of the
Philippine Islands, originally published in 1609),
 Rizal's intent was not only to provide the Filipino people their early history, a pre-
Spanish history, but to present to them their own authentic culture and identity. Aware of
most of the books written about the Philippines, he selected the Sucesos because
he "considered it necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrous Spaniard who
governed the destinies of the Philippines in the beginning of her new era and
witnessed the last moments of our ancient nationality."
 His annotations included clarifications and amplifications of details, refutations of
statements where necessary, and confirmations when checked against other sources.
Rizal offered the annotated Sucesos to the Filipinos with the wise counsel that "to foretell the
destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open the books that tell of her past."

https://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/rizal/hall03.htm