The Filipino

Past
Rizal’s Annotation of Morga
<<
 Sucesos de
las islas
Filipinas
• Written by Antonio Morga
• Published in Mexico in 1609
• Consisted of eight chapters,
the last chapter title being
“An account of the Philippine
Islands”
 Antonio de
Morga
• A Spanish administrator who served
in the Philippines in the late 16th
century.
• He was the Lieutenant-Governor of
the Philippines in 1593
• In 1615, he moved to Mexico and
served as the president of the
Audiencia.
 Rizal and
Sucesos
• He was influenced by his friend,
Ferdinand Blumentritt to write
about the Filipino past.
• He found a first edition copy of
the book in the British Museum.
• After four months of intense
historical research, he finished
with 639 annotations.
 Rizal and
Sucesos
• Rizal self-published his
annotations in September 1889.
• His friend, Blumentritt gave an
introduction for the published
book.
Important Points of the Book
(Chapter 8)
● The book discusses the political, social
and economical aspects of a colonizer and
the colonized country.
● The pre-colonial Philippines already
possessed a working judicial and
legislative system.
● Our ancestors possessed a complex society
and culture filled with arts and
literature.
 Why Sucesos?

Rarity Secular > Religious Fitting choice

The original For Rizal, secular Morga was an
Spanish edition account is more eyewitness
was rare. credible

Morga Unbiased
Morga was a The account is more
civil sympathetic towards
administrator. the natives
 Rizal’s Objective for the Annotation

Awaken Correct Prove

Awaken the Correct what has been Prove that the
consciousness of the distorted about the Filipinos are
Filipinos to their Philippines due to the civilized even before
glorious past. Spanish conquest. the Spaniards arrived.
 Rizal’s annotations may be
considered an effort to assert
Filipino identity within an
oppressive colonial framework
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