Readings in

Philippine History
¡ Historical Criticism
¡ Colonial Historiography
¡ Philippine Historiography After World War II
¡ Characteristics of Contemporary Philippine
Historiography
In order for a source to be used as evidence in history,
basic matters about its form and content must be settled

§ External Criticism

§ Internal Criticism
¡ Historians attempt to understand the past
¡ Historians attempt to understand the past based
on evidence
¡ Historical evidence that comes directly from
society is called primary source.
¡ Historians interpret the primary source to
decide what they actually tell us about the past
¡ Interpretation: The process of deciding on
the meaning of a historical source
¡ Based on these interpretations, historians
attempt to create a narrative (a story)about
what happened in the past
¡ Historical narratives and interpretations are
known as secondary sources.
 Historians

External Criticism Primary

Sources
(D,AR,OV)
Internal Criticism

Secondary
Historiography Sources
 Lesson
Navigator
§ period of darkness or backwardness
¡ period of advancement or enlightenment

¡ Spaniards - “barbaric” lifeways

¡ Americans - “civilized lifestyle”

¡ Jose Rizal - annotated Antonio de Morga’s

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
§ Filipinos perception about their colonial past:

maltreated by the “wicked Spain”

and
rescued by the “benevolent America”
 Lesson
Navigator
PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER WORLD WAR II

§ Teodoro Agoncillo
§ pioneered nationalist historiography
in the country by highlighting the role
of the Filipino reformists and
revolutionaries from 1872
§ “lost history”
PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER WORLD WAR II

§ Renato Constantino

§ “people’s history”
PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER WORLD WAR II

§ Zeus Salazar

§ “Pantayong Pananaw”
PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER WORLD WAR II

§ Reynaldo Ileto

§ “history from below”

PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY AFTER WORLD WAR II

§ Samuel Tan

§ mainstreamed the role and relevance of

Filipino Muslims in the country’s national
history
 Lesson
Navigator
 Characteristics of Contemporary Philippine
Historiography

§ Colonial Histories
§ Emphasis on Lowland Christianized
Filipinos
§ Political Narratives
§ Patriarchal Orientation
§ Elite-centric Perspectives