Philippine History: Spaces

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 Objectives:
• Interpret historical events using primary sources.

• Recognize the multiplicity of interpretation than can be

read from a historical text.

• Identify the advantages and disadvantage of employing

critical tools in interpreting historical events through
primary sources.
History is the study of the past,
but a more contemporary
definition is centered

on how it
impacts the present through its
consequences.
MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST: HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

GEOFFREY BARRACLOUGH
- "History as theattempt to discover, on the basis of
fragmentary evidence, the significant things about the past."
- "The history we read, though based on facts, is strictly
speaking, not factual at all,
but a series of accepted
judgment."

The Code of Kalantiaw is a mythical legal code in the epic

history Maragtas. Before it was revealed as a hoax, it was a
source of pride for the people of Aklan. In fact, a historical
marker was installed in the town of Batan, Aklan in 1956.
 THE CODE OF KALANTIAW
- Datu Bendehara Kalantiaw, third chief of Panay, born in
Aklan, established his government in the peninsula of
Batang, Aklan Sakup. Considered the first Filipino
Lawgiver, the promulgated
in about 1433 about penal
code now known as a Code of Kalantiaw containing 18
articles. Don Marcelino Orilla of Zaragoza, Spain, obtained
the original manuscript from an old chief of Panay which
was later translated into Spanish by Rafael Murviedo
Yzamaney.
 WILLIAM HENRY SCOTT
-.It was only in my 1968 that it was proved a hoax, when
William Henry Scott, then a doctoral candidate at the
university of Santo Tomas, defended his research on pre-
Hispanic sources in Philippines history. He attributed the
Code to a historical fiction written
in 1913 by Jose E. Marco
titled Las Antiguas Leyendas de lang Isla de Negros. Marco
attributed the Code itself to a priest named Jose Maria
Pavon. Prominent Filipino historians did not dissent to Scotts
findings but there are still some who would like to believe
that the Code is a legitimate document.
 Historians utilize facts collected from primary sources
of history and then draw their own reading so that their
intended audience may understand the historical event,
ah process that in essence, makes sense of the past.

The premise is that not all primary sources are

accessible to a general audience, and without the
proper training and background, and non historian
interpreting and primary sources may do more harm
than good- a primary source may even cause
misunderstanding; sometimes, even resulting in more
problems.
 Interpretations of the past, therefore, vary according to who reads
primary sources, when it was read, and how it was read. As student of
history we must be well equipped to recognize different types of
interpretation why these may differ from each other, and how to
critically sift the interpretations
through historical evaluation.
Interpretations of history event change over time; thus, it is an
important skill for a student of history to track these changes in an
attempt to understand the past.
 "SA AKING MGA KABATA"
- Is a poem purportedly written by Jose Rizal when he was
8 yrs. old and is probably one of Rizals most prominent
works. There is no evidence to support the claim that this
poem, with that now immortalized lines "Ang hindi
magmahal sa kanyang sariling

wika mahigit pa sa
malansang isda" was written by Rizal, and worse the
evidence against Rizals authorship of the poem seems all
unassailable.
 There exist no manuscript of the poem handwritten by
Rizal. The poem was first published in a 1906, in a book
by Hermenegildo Cruz. Cruz said he received the poem
from Gabriel Beato Francisco, who claimed to have
received it in 1884 from Rizals close friend, Saturnino
Raselis Rizal never mentioned

writing this poem
anywhere in his writings and more importantly, he never
mentioned of having a close friend by the person of
Raselis. Further criticism of the poem reveals more about
the wrongful attribution of the poem to Rizal. The poem
was written in Tagalog and referred to the word
"Kalayaan".
 But it was documented in Rizals letters that he first encountered
the word through a Marcelo H. del Pilars translation of Rizals
essay "El Almor Patrio", where it was spelled as "kalayahan ".
While Rizals native tounge was Tagalog, the was educated in
Spanish, starting from his mother, Teodora Alonso. Later on, he
would express disappointment
in his difficulty in expressing
himself in his native tounge. The poems spelling is also suspect-
the use of letters "k" and "w" to replace "c"and " u ", respectively
was suggested by Rizal as an adult. If the poem was indeed
written his time, it should use the original Spanish orthography that
was prevalent in his time.
 MULTIPERSPECTIVITY
- Multiperspectivity With several possibilities of interpreting
the past, another important concept that we must note is
multiperspectivity. This can be defined as a way of looking
at historical events, personalities, development, culture and
societies from different perspective. Historians may
misinterpret evidence, attending
to those that suggest that a
certain event happened, and then ignore the rest that goes
against the evidence. Different source that counter each
other may create space for more investigation and
research, while providing more evidence, truths that there
sources agree on.
 These are just many of the way a
historian may fail in his historical
inference, description, and interpretation.
- Exploring multiple perspective in history
requires incorporating source material
that reflect different views of an event in
history, because singular historical
narrative do not provide for space to
inquire and investigate.
 Different kinds of sources also provide different
historical truth-an official document may note
different aspect of the past than, say, ah memoir of an
ordinary person on the same event. Taking these in
close regard in the reading of historical interpretation,
it provides for the audience a more complete and
richer understanding of the past.

team
 ARTICLE I

You shall not kill, neither shall you steal,

neither shall you do harm to the aged,
lest you incur the danger of death. All
those who infringe
this order shall be
condemned to death by being drowned in
the river, or in boiling water.
 ARTICLE II

You shall obey. Let all your debts

with the headman be met
punctually. He who does not obey
shall receive for the first time one
hundred lashes. If the debt is large,
he shall be condemned to thrust
his hand in boiling water thrice. For
the second time, he shall be
beaten to death.
 ARTICLE III

Obey you: let no one have women that are very

young nor more than he can support; nor be given
to excessive lust. He who does not comply with,
obey, and observe this order shall be condemned
to swim for three hours for the first time and for
the second time, to be beaten to death with sharp
thorns.
 ARTICLE IV

Observe and obey; let no one disturb

the quiet of the graves. When passing
by the caves and trees where they
are, give respect to them.

He who
does not observe this shall be killed
by ants, or beaten to death with
thorns.
 ARTICLE V

You shall obey; he who

exchanges for food, let it
be always done in
accordance with his word.
He
who does not comply,
shall be beaten for one
hour, he who repeats the
offense shall be exposed
for one day among ants.
 ARTICLE VI

You shall be obliged to revere sights that are

held in respect, such as those of trees of
recognized worth and other sights. He who
fails to comply shall pay with one month's
work in gold or in honey.
ARTICLE

VII
These shall be put to death; he who kills trees of venerable
appearance; who shoot arrows at night at old men and women;
he who enters the houses of the headmen without permission;
he who kills a shark or a streaked cayman.
 ARTICLE VIII

Slavery for a doam (a certain period of

time) shall be suffered by those who
steal away the women of the headmen;
by him who keep ill-tempered dogs that
bite the headmen; by him who burns
the fields of another.

ARTICLE IX

All these shall be beaten for two days:

who sing while traveling by night; kill
the Manaul; tear the documents
belonging to the headmen; are
malicious liars; or who mock the dead.
 ARTICLE X

It is decreed an obligation; that every mother teach secretly to her

daughters matters pertaining to lust and prepare them for womanhood;
let not men be cruel nor punish their women when they catch them in the
act of adultery. Whoever shall disobey shall be killed by being cut to
pieces and thrown to the caymans.

ARTICLE XI

These shall be burned: who by their strength or cunning have mocked at

and escaped punishment or who have killed young boys; or try to steal
away the women of the elders.

ARTICLE XII

These shall be drowned: all who interfere with their superiors, or their
owners or masters; all those who abuse themselves through their lust;
those who destroy their anitos (idols) by breaking them or throwing them
down.
 ARTICLE XIII

All these shall be exposed to ants for half a day:

who kill black cats during a new moon; or steal
anything from the chiefs or agorangs, however
small the object may be.

ARTICLE XIV

These shall be made slave for life: who have

beautiful daughters and deny them to the sons
of chiefs, and with bad faith hide them away.

ARTICLE XV

Concerning beliefs and superstitions; these

shall be beaten: who eat the diseased flesh of
beasts which they hold in respect, or the herb
which they consider good, who wound or kill the
young of the Manaul, or the white monkey.
 ARTICLE XVI

The fingers shall be cut-off: of all those who break idols

of wood and clay in their alangans and temples; of those
who destroy the daggers of the tagalons, or break the
drinking jars of the latter.

ARTICLE XVII

These shall be killed: who profane sites where idols are

kept, and sites where are buried the sacred things of
their diwatas and headmen. He who performs his
necessities in those places shall be burned.

ARTICLE XVIII

Those who do not cause these rules to be obeyed: if

they are headmen, they shall be put to death by being
stoned and crushed; and if they are agorangs they shall
be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and caymans.
 NOTE: In the famous epic story of Maragtas, there was this mythical
legal code called "The Code of Kalantiaw". It was named after its
supposed author, Datu Kalantiaw, who allegedly wrote it in 1433. Datu
Kalantiaw was a chief on the island of Negros. It was written about by
Jose E. Marco in 1913 in his historical fiction "Las Antiguas Leyendes de
la Isla de Negros" (The Ancient Legends of the Island of Negros). He
ascribed its source to a priest named Jose Maria Pavon.

The historian Josue Soncuya wrote about the Code of Kalantiaw in 1917
in his book "Historia Prehispana de Filipinas" (Prehispanic History of the
Philippines) where he transferred the location of the origin of the Code
from Negros to Panay because he contended that said Code may have
been related to the Binirayan festival.

The story on this Code has been recognized through the ages by known
authors. In 1968, however, historian William Henry Scott called this a
"hoax" in his book "Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of
Philippine History". Consequently, Filipino historians agreed to expunge
the Code of Kalantiaw in future materials on Philippine history.

Although the said Code ceases to be part of the texts of Philippine

history, however, many still believe its validity.
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Thank You !
Group 8
Matos, Desiree
Largo,Canesha Venn
Montaña, Angela