Module 3 – THE SEARCH FOR FILIPINO ORIGINS AND

1 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

This module presents a different perspective of Philippine history prior to the arrival of the Spanish
colonizers. It also accentuates the circumstances that led to Rizal’s change in perspective on the
Spanish rule – from being a propagandist asking for reforms and campaigning for assimilation to
having a more aggressive stance against the corruption of leaders, particularly the friars.

This module was designed and written by: Johannah Lee Lince
This lesson is divided into two lessons, namely:

Lesson 1: The Search for Filipino Origins

Lesson 2: Rizal’s Change in Perspective of the Spanish Rule

Module Learning Outcomes

In this module, you should be able to:
1. recognize the effects of blood compact between early Spanish conquistadors and
community rulers to the development of Filipino nationalism;
2. discuss insights from Rizal’s research and Annotations of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de
las Islas Filipinas;
3. identify the root cause of Filipino indolence;
4. explain the significant changes in Rizal’s ideas of Noli Me Tangere to El Filibusterismo;
and
5. analyze the circumstances that made Rizal reconsider the idea of assimilation and turn to
other means of achieving reformation.

LESSON 1
The Search for Filipino Origins

In this lesson, you are expected to:

• analyze the importance of Pacto de Sangre to Filipino nationalism by criticizing the
masterpiece of Juan Luna;
• discuss the possible reasons why the Philippines was colonized by Spain; and
 Module 3 – THE SEARCH FOR FILIPINO ORIGINS AND
2 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

• compare and contrast Rizal and Morga’s differing views of the Filipinos and Philippine
culture by writing a 200- to 300-word essay.

Instructions: Write TRUE if the statement is true. Otherwise, write FALSE in the space provided.
________1. In 1565, a compact was sealed in blood between the datu of Bohol and the
Spanish Captain General.
________2. The blood compact served as a solemn ritual and agreement between two
equals, constituting a pledge of eternal fraternity and alliance.
________3. The blood compact did not become the reason the Philippines was
conquered.
________4. Jose Rizal stated that the blood compact was a political treaty the
Philippines and Spain engaged in good faith through their representatives.
________5. Pacto de Sangre between Sikatuna and Legazpi was integrated in the
founding of Filipino nationhood.
________6. Between 1889 to 1890, Jose Rizal spent several months in Paris as he tried
to improve his mastery of the English.
________7. Rizal was granted a reader’s pass to the British museum where he
stumbled upon Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
________8. Rizal finished 640 annotations on every nuance in Filipino cultural practices
that Morga wrote about, and even on Morga’s typographical errors.
________9. The 1609 original work of Morga was reprinted in full until the publication
of Rizal’s work in 1889 in Paris.
_______10. In 1909, Wenceslao Retana made a production of the original work of
Morga including the misprints drawn from the Archivo General de Indias in
Seville.
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3 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

Pacto de
Sangre

Rizal's
Annotations
of Morga
The Search for
Filipino Origins

(This map above shows how the Philippines was during the Pre-Spanish Colonization)

Collective Memory Struggle: Redrawing the Philippines

Instructions:
1. From past lessons, recall any knowledge you have on pre-colonial Philippine society and
culture.
2. Based on your recollection, write a descriptive paragraph of your visualization of pre-
colonial Philippines.
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 Module 3 – THE SEARCH FOR FILIPINO ORIGINS AND
4 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

PACTO DE SANGRE: WHY WE WERE CONQUERED

In 1565, a compact was sealed in

blood Pacto de Sangre between the datu
of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna, and that
Spanish Captain General Miguel Lopez
de Legazpi to ensure peace and
friendship between the two nations that
they represented. Each made a small
cut on his arm and let two or three drops
of blood drip onto a cup of wine, and they
both drank from it.
The Blood Compact by Juan Luna
The blood compact between
Legazpi and Sikatuna has often been among the starting points in discussing the history of sapish
colonization in the Philippines. However, minimal interpretations and significance have been
attributed to it. According to Aguilar (2010), the blood compact served as the solemn ritual and
agreement between two equals, constituting a pledge of eternal fraternity and alliance. It is a
symbolic transfusion that wedded Filipinos to Spanish culture and civilization.

Moreover, the blood compact also became the reason the Philippines was conquered. As
an ancient tradition in the Philippine archipelago, it was usually done by parties who were former
enemies and wished to reconcile or those who wanted to avoid being enemies. In the case of
Legazpi and Sikatuna, the blood compact was initiated for the second reason.

In an article that appeared in La Solidaridad on Septemper 30 1889, Marcelo H. Del Pilar

stated that the blood compact was a political treaty the Philippines and Spain engaged in good
faith through their representatives. The treaty, according to del Pilar, was valid but subject to the
fulfillment of its terms, that is, that Spain would annex the Philippines and in return the Philippines
could be assimilated. The Philippines satisfactorily complied with such terms but Spain reduced
the Filipino race to an inherent position of inferiority. It was the same point that Andres Bonifacio
insisted the blood compact was a valid agreement but Sikatuna was misled by the Spaniards in
their promise of enlightenment and prosperity. Bonifacio, in Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog
(1896), emphasized that before the Spaniards came, the Filipinos were living in complete
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5 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

abundance and were able to trade with other countries. However, the Spaniards deceived
Sikatuna and made him believe that they would treat Filipinos as equals. It was recognizing this
deceit that stirred nationalism among the Filipinos towards the end of the Spanish rule in the
Philippines.

Historically, the Pacto de Sangre between Sikatuna and Legazpi was integrated in the
founding of Filipino nationhood. It was also the same Pacto de Sangre that the ilustatrados used
in demanding reforms from the Spanish colonial government, a desire for change fueled by what
has been called nationalism.

PRE-COLONIAL PHILIPPINES: RIZAL’S ANNOTATIONS OF MORGA

Between 1889 to 1890, Dr.

Jose P. Rizal spent several months in
London as he tried to improve his
mastery of the English language. He
stayed as a boarder with the Beckett
Family at 37 Chalcot Crescent,
Primrose Hill, Camden town, Greater
London. During this time, Rizal was
greatly interested in studying pre-
colonial Philippines. He believed that the Philippines already had an established community, way
of life, and society, and was not as backwards and inferior as the Spaniards claimed. On the
contrary, Rizal was resolved that the arrival of the Spaniards contributed to the decline of the rich
pre-colonial Filipino society and culture. As such, through a letter of introduction from Reinhold
Rost, the Director of the India Office Library, Rizal was
granted a reader’s pass to the British Museum where he
stumbled upon Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas (1609). Rizal laboriously copied the entire 351-
page work while making annotations. After four months
of intense historical research, Rizal finished 639
annotations on every nuance in Filipino cultural practices
that Morga wrote about, and even on Morga’s

Rizal’s Annotations of Morga’s

typographical errors. Rizal’s dedication to annotate
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas Morga’s work was further enriched by the promise of
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6 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

publication by a wealthy Filipino exile in London, Antonio Regidor. Regidor committed to equally
divide the profits between him and Rizal as soon as his investments were recovered.
Unfortunately, Regidor backed out of the deal prompting Rizal to publish the manuscript by
himself on September 1889 with the title, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas por el Doctor Antonio de
Morga, Orba piblicada en Mejico en el ano 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 by Rizal
and preceded by an introduction by professor Ferdinand Blumentritt).

According to Ambeth Ocampo (1998), Rizal’s choice of Morga’s cweork as his primary
source for studying Philippine pre-colonial history instead of Antonio Pigafetta’s was due to the
objectivity and civil nature of the former in contrast to the religious nature of the latter. Morga was
said to be not only an eyewitness but also a major actor as he narrated his accounts.

The 1609 original work of Morga was not reprinted in full until the publication of Rizal’s
work in 1889 in Paris. In 1909, Wenceslao Retana made a reproduction of the original including
the misprints drawn from the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. Rizal’s Spanish version was
republished in 1958 in the Philippines, and an English translation was commissioned and
published in 1961 by the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission.

Content Analysis and Synthesis

Instructions: In 1896, Andres Bonifacio wrote “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog” to denounce
Spain’s maltreatment of the Filipinos and to elicit support for calls to separate from Spain. Make
a content analysis and synthesis using the guide below.

Reading:
• Bonifacio, A. (1896). Ang dapat mabatid ng mga Tagalog. Retrieved from
http://www.kasaysayan-kkk.info/kalayaan-the-katipunan-newspaper/andres -bonifacio-
ang-dapat-mabatid-ng-mga-tagalog-c-march-1896

1. Overall Impression of the Text

a. Author’s Purpose
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7 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

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b. Readers
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c. Context
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2. Content Analysis
a. Thesis Statement and Main Ideas

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b. Supporting Details
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3. Synthesis
a. What do you think was the reason why Bonifacio wrote “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga
Tagalog?”
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b. What have you realized after reading the text?

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c. Write a response to Bonifacio in the form of a letter using your own pen name.

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 Module 3 – THE SEARCH FOR FILIPINO ORIGINS AND
9 RIZAL’S CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE ON THE SPANISH RULE

In this lesson, you have learned that…

✓ Pacto de Sangre: Why We Were Conquered presents a view of the blood compact
between early Spanish conquistadors led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and community
rulers led by Sikatuna and its significance to the development of Filipino nationalism.
✓ Rizal’s Annotations of Morga discusses insights from Rizal’s research and Annotations
of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

Books:
Clemente, J., Cruz, G. (2019). The Life and Works of Rizal. C&E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City,
Philippines

Web Sources:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucesos_de_las_Islas_Filipinas
• https://www.slideshare.net/superekaa/rizal-in-london-52133406
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blood_Compact