How did Rizal view, understand and explain the pre-colonial past of the Philippines?
According to Jose Rizal
Rizal's study of the Philippine past showed that
all the chronicles on his country and people were
written by Spaniards, and thus reflected their
biases. The important is that Rizal's Morga
recreated the Philippine past, which he wanted
to present to his sleeping countrymen in order to
awaken in them a sense of pride in their race. He
wanted to prove, by means of a reputable work,
that the people of the Philippines did possess a
high level of culture and morality before the
arrival of the Spaniards, did have a mastery of a
distinct handicraft art, did develop a flourishing
trade and did maintain a good contact with the
outside world. He also explained that Philippine
had a culture of their own, prior to colonization,
that the Filipinos were not inferior to the white
man and to shatter the myth of the so-called
Indolence of the Filipinos. The knowledge of their
own past should strengthen the self-confidence
of his countrymen and promote their political
and scientific growth.
According to Antonio de Morga
Pre-colonial past of the Philippines according
to Antonio de Morga is based on his personal
experiences and other documentations from
eye-witnesses of the events. It explained
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. He
stated also the conditions of the country
pertaining to the Spanish regime.
What were the strong points of Rizal defending
his position?
Firstly, that the Filipinos possessed an
independent culture before the arrival of the
Spaniards. Secondly, that the Filipinos were
decimated, demoralized, exploited and ruined by
the Spanish civilization and thirdly, the condition
achieved, the importation of Spanish civilization
did not necessarily, and certainly not in all
spheres of interest, bring to the Philippines an
improvement or a higher niveau. There are also
dimensions of Rizal's writings on the Philippines:
First, there is the critique of the colonizers'
knowledge of the Philippines. Second, there are
his ideas on the nature and conditions of colonial
society. Finally, there are Rizal's discussions on
the meaning of and requirements for
emancipation. It is important to use the past as a
tool to understand the present and eventually
confront the future. Rizal's objective in
annotating and republishing this work was to
correct what he understood to be erroneous
reports and slanderous statements that could be
found in most Spanish works on the Philippines.