RIZAL'S ANNOTATION OF MORGA'S SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

Introduction
1. What is the meaning of the word “Annotation”?
2. Who is Antonio de Morga?
3. What is Morga’s Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas?
● Chapter Summary

○ Of the first discoveries of the Eastern Islands

○ Of the government of Dr. Francisco de Sande

○ Of the government of Don Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa

○ Of the government of Gomes Perez Dasmarinas

○ Of the government of don Franciso Tello

○ Of the government of don Pedro de Acuna

○ An account of the Philippine Islands

4. Rizal’s Annotation
a. Annotations of Rizal in Chapter 8: An Account to Philippine Islands
i. The Oriental Islands: Philippines
1. Topography and Seasons of the Oriental Islands
2. The Oriental People
3. Abundances of Natural Resources
4. Variation of Languages and Dialects among the Oriental People
5. Customs and Other Practices of the Oriental People
b. Ferdinand Blumentritt
i. Influence on Rizal ii. Notes
c. Rizal’s purpose in annotating Morga’s work
d. Reasons why Rizal chose Morga’s work for several considerations
e. Challenges
f. Criticisms on Rizal’s Annotations
i. Blumentritt’s Criticism
5. Importance to the present generation

Rizal’s Annotation of Morga’s Sucesos De Las Islas

Filipinas
Antonio De Morga Sánchez Garay (1559-1636)
 Back in 1559, Dr. Antonio de Morga was born in Sevilla, Spain with a Biscayan father and a
Sevilian mother. He was baptized on November 29, 1559. At 15 years old, he graduated from the
University of Salamanca in the year 1574 and obtained a doctorate in Canon Law in 1578. He taught
briefly in Osuna, later returning to study Civil Law in Salamanca. He joined the government service as a
lawyer in 1580 and was later appointed in 1595 to Manila as Lieutenant Governor wherein this position
holds the second-highest rank in the colony. In 1598, forgo his position as lieutenant governor and take
over the office of the odor in the Audiencia de Manila. By December 14, 1600, he was assigned to lead a
Spanish fleet to fight against the Dutch invasion. In the battle, the Dutch retreated and sailed but the
Spaniards were defeated and Morga was seen hiding and wailing in his flagship before it sank. For 43
years he served as a Spanish lawyer and high-ranking colonel in the Philippines and acted as the
president of Audencia for 20 years. By 1609 he published the Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
Morga was then investigated and arrested for corruption in 1965. After 11 years he died at the age of
77.

Important Dates:
● 1559 (November 29)- he was born in Sevilla, Spain.
● 1574 - he graduated from the University of Salamanca when he was 15 years old
● 1578 - he received his Doctorate degree in Cannon law
● 1580 - he joined the government service as a lawyer
● 1582 - he served as mayor of Baracaldo in Vizcaya, Spain (married to Juana de Briviesca de
Munotones)
● 1594, February- He sailed from Cadiz, Spain going to Mexico
● 1595 (March 22) - He departed Acapulco going to Manila
● 1595 (June 11) - He arrived in Manila and acquired the second-most powerful position in the
colony as Lieutenant to the Governor-General
● 1595 - He first served under the Governor-General Luiz Perez Dasmarinas, who was interim
after his father's death
● 1598 - He resigned as lieutenant governor and assumed the office of the odor or judge in the
Audiencia (Audencia de Manila)
● 1600 (December 14) - He was put in charge of the Spanish fleet against the Dutch invasion
under Oliver van Noort
● In the encounter, the Dutch sailed away but the Spaniards lost decisively and they found Morga
hiding and crying in his flagship before it sank
● 1603 (July 10) - Morga was reassigned to Mexico where he became alcalde of criminal causes in
the Royal Audiencia of Mexico City.
● He likewise served as an advisor to the viceroy on military matters and counsel for the Holy
Office of the Inquisition
● 1594 to 1604 - He served for 43 years as a Spanish lawyer and high-ranking colonial official in
the Philippines and he was a president of the Audiencia for 20 years
● He is the principal author of the Sucesos de las Filipinas which was published in 1609
 ● 1625 - Morga was investigated for corruption and arrested
● 1636 - He died at the age of 77

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas Sucesos

● Sucesos is the creation of an honest observer who was also a prominent player in the drama of
his time, a dynamic bureaucrat who knew the inner workings of the administration. It is also the
first history of the Spanish Philippines written by a layman rather than a religious chronicler.
● Morga's work is based on firsthand experiences or eyewitness accounts of the events depicted.
Furthermore, as he admits, survivors from Legazpi's expedition were still alive when he was
writing his book in Manila, and he could consult them as well. As a lawyer, it goes without saying
that he would look for such proof.

Las Islas Filipinas

● Providing accounts of the islands in the Philippine archipelago, as well as
observations on the nature and customs of the indigenous peoples, both before
and after the Spanish colonization of the islands in 1564.

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

● Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas was a historical account describing the
scenarios in the Philippines from 1493 to 1603 under the Spaniards.
● This is based on the experience and observation of Antonio De Morga.
● Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas is the first book to tackle Philippine History.
● This book centralizes on the political, social, and economical aspects of the
Philippines under the Spanish era.
● Rizal found the book back in London in the British Museum’s reading
room.
● Rizal also hand-copied the whole 351 pages of Morga’s Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas and annotated every chapter of it.
● It was the first historical work not written by a colonizer.
● The book was published in two volumes, both in 1609 published by Casa de
Geronymo
Balli in Mexico
City

● In 1609 April, Viceroy Luis de Velasco authorized the publication ●

Annotated by Jose Rizal with a prologue by Ferdinand Blumentritt.

Morga (1609) wrote that the purpose for writing Sucesos was so he could chronicle “the deads
achieved by our Spaniards, the discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Filipinas
Islands - as well as various fortunes that they have from time to time in the great
kingdoms and among the pagan people surrounding the islands”
 ● The book narrates the history of wars, intrigues, diplomacy, and evangelization
of the Philippines in a somewhat disjointed way.
● Took four months of intense historical research and writing and almost a year to
get his manuscript published in Paris in 1890 January. Its long Spanish title is
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas por el Doctor Antonio de Morga. Obra
publicada en mejico en el año 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 and annotated by Jose Rizal and
preceded by an introduction by professor Ferdinand Blumentritt).
Chapter Summary:
CHAPTER 1: Of the first discoveries of the Eastern Islands
: The natives and their conquerors
● the first chapter of Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas describes the
rich and precious islands that are found in Asia
Some of the famous islands are Maluco, Celeves, Tendaya, Luzon, Mindanao,
●
and Borneo, which are now called the Filipinas
CHAPTER 2: Of the government of Dr. Francisco de Sande

1575 - Dr. Sande was appointed as a governor and captain of the island of the
●
Philippines
CHAPTER 3: Of the government of Don Gonzalo Ronquillo de Penalosa

● 1580- Don Penalosa is a native Arevalo and chief alguacil of the Audencia of
Mexico
● Don Fray Domingo de Salazar was the first bishop of the Filipinas
● 1583 - A fire broke out in the city of Manila around lunchtime at the church of
the monastery of St. Augustine, causing extensive damage to products and
property, as well as putting some people in risk.
The city had to be rebuilt with considerable effort and labor, leaving the
●
Spaniards bankrupt and destitute.
CHAPTER 4: Of the government of Dr. Santiago de Vera

● 1584 (May) – the president and auditors of the Audienciaarrived in the

Filipinas,Diego Ronquillo as the governor.
The plan for revolt and insurgency was discovered by the president of the
●
Audiencia, Sactiago de Vera, among the then ative leaders of Manila and
Pampanga.
CHAPTER 5: Of the government of Gomes Perez Dasmarinas

● 1590 – Under the administration of Governor General Gomez Perez

Dasmarinas, the following achievements were made: submission of the
Audiencia de Manila; establishment of the paid garrison; walling of the city;
 construction of cavaliers; increased trade with China; pacification of Zambales
and the province of the Pintados; and the construction of artillery in Manila.
His government included the construction of the Manila wall and other
●
defenses, the building of galleys, the control of commerce, several pacifications,
the reconstruction of Manila, and the commencement of relations with Japan,
all of which he inspired. However, it was also in his administration that the
peace and ties between Japan, Filipinas’
Spaniards began to crumble.
CHAPTER 6: Of the government of don Franciso Tello

● 1596 –Governor Francisco Tello appointed governor-general of the Filipinas and

in his arrival Fray Ignacio de Santibanezwas appointed archbishop.
● 1596 – Juan Ronquillo was sent to Mindanao (La Caldera)and he became
victorious over the combined forces of Mindanaos and Ternatans.
● 1597 – The passengers of San Geronymo were allowed to return in Manila but
six
Franciscan missionaries; three Jesuits; and seventeen native helpers were
crucified (Taicosama’s wrath- Toyotomi Hideyoshi)

1597 — The religious addressed a goodbye letter to Dr. Morga, alerting him of
●
Japan's plans to conquer the Philippines.
CHAPTER 7: Of the government of don Pedro de Acuna

● 1602 to 1603 - The new governor first concern himself with home affair and
construct galleys
● His government prioritized the delivery of vessels to Nueva Espana in order to
promote trade with Quanto, as well as the transfer of laborers and religious
groups to Japan. The first seven chapters focus on the political events that
occurred during the first eleven governor-generals in the Philippines, from
Miguel Lopez de Legaspi to Pedro de Acuna.

CHAPTER 8: An account of the Philippine Islands

● This is about how the natives looked like, their clothes and gold jewelry,
customs, and governance before the Spaniards arrived. It is a glimpse of how
our ancestors lived before.
○ Rizal wanted to convey that the Philippines really existed on Earth
even before the colonization.
○ Rizal noticed all the mistakes of Morga, including the misspelled
words of native names, places, flora and fauna, social classes.
○ He also clarified geographical locations
 Rizal’s Annotation
Antonio Morga’s Spanish chronicle Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas was annotated by Rizal in 1890.
Before, Jose Rizal only heard about the Spaniard named Morga from his uncle, Jose Alberto.

By publishing his annotated version of de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, he

intended to provide the Filipino people with the history during the Spanish era and present the
authenticity of the cultures and traditions of the country. He selected this book because he considered it
necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who governed the destinies of the
Philippines at the beginning of her new era and witnessed the last moments of our ancient
nationality.” Some of his annotations include different clarification and amplifications about the
details, refutations of statements, and confirmation of the credibility of sources. These annotations
provided some seeds of the idea of how the Filipinos should view themselves amidst a growing
nationalism that eventually led to the formation of a nation.

Points to Ponder:
● What led Rizal to Morga’s work is that he had a desire to know exactly the condition of
the Philippines at the time of the Spanish colonization.
● His theory: that the country was economically self-sufficient and prosperous.
● He also believed that the conquest of the Spaniards contributed in part to the decline of the
Philippines ’ own culture and rich traditions.
● Filipinos were decimated, demoralized, exploited, and ruined by the Spanish colonization.
● In his annotations, he included the colonial history of the Philippines, being in prolonged periods
of suffering that many people have been subjected to.

Rizal claims that the Philippines was already economically self-sufficient and has a flourishing
culture and tradition even before the Spanish colonized the country. To prove his claim, he had to read
Antonio de Morga’s work to identify the somewhat real condition of the Philippines by the time
the Spaniards arrived at the country. In addition to this, Rizal also believed that the arrival of the
Spaniards only caused the decline of the already thriving civilization and culture of the country. In his
annotations, he included the colonial history of the Philippines, being in prolonged periods of suffering
that many people have been subjected to.

Important Dates:
● 1888 (August 18) - After two hundred seventy-nine (279) years Jose Rizal began to copy by hand
the entire first edition of Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.
● 1888 (December 11) - Rizal went to Madrid and Barcelona to search the historical materials in
the Bibliotheque Nationale (National Library).
● 1889 (By the end of September) - He brought the manuscript to Paris for printing and sent a
letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt requesting him to write an introduction

The Suceso as annotated by Rizal, appeared for the first time in the Philippines sixty-eight years later
when a publisher in Manila, published the new work in 1958, to contribute his bit to the national effort
to honor Rizal.
 ANNOTATIONS OF RIZAL CHAPTER 8: AN ACCOUNT TO PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The Oriental Islands: Philippines

● The Philippines was regarded as Oriental Islands by Morga, wherein these 'islands' are described
to be vast and noteworthy. Some of the known Islands were Luzon, Mindoro, Tendaya, Capul,
Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Mindanao, etc. As described by Morga, the Oriental Islands may be located
from west to east when sailing from India of Portugal.
❖ The Island Tendaya, as annotated by Rizal, is difficult to determine since the island might relate to
either the chief Tandaya or rather the southeastern region of Samar known as Ibabao or
Zibabao.

Topography and Seasons of the Oriental Islands

● According to Morga, the temperature on these islands varies depending on the

location and province. Heavy rains, whirlwinds, and storms can be expected from June through
September. The sky is bright and the sea is calm from October to the end of May. However,
winter and severe rains arrive sooner in certain areas than in others.

❖ On the other hand, Rizal criticized Morga in his annotation for thinking rainy seasons to be winter
and the rest of the year to be summer. He also stated that the temperature in Manila drops
more in the months of December, January, and February than in the months of August and
September.

The Oriental People

Morga described
● Luzon - locals of the islands who are middle-sized and have a complexion comparable to the
quince fruit. Both men and women have attractive characteristics, such as dark hair and a sparse
beard, and are intelligent, determined, sharp, and quick-tempered.
● Cagayan - natives have the same color as the others, but they are more physically capable,
courageous, and warlike. They have lengthy hair that reaches all the way down to their shoulder.
● Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the people of Luzon wore cangan fabric without a collar,
bahaque with their waist, and potong above the forehead.
❖ Rizal corrected Morga in his annotation, stating that men and women walk out without
outerwear and barefooted. He added that locals everywhere are cautious and cautious,
concealing their bodies with tremendous modesty and shyness.

Abundances of Natural Resources

Natural resources were plentiful during the pre-conquest period. A wide range of fruit-bearing
plants and fish species may be found. In the provinces, livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens are
plentiful. There was such an abundance of livestock, according to Rizal, that Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin
speaks of Dumangas. This monastery has a large cattle pasture with around 30,000 cows. This farm also
boasts a large number of excellent horses.
Variation of Languages and Dialects among the Oriental People
The language spoken in Luzon and its neighboring islands differs significantly from that spoken
in the Visayas, according to Morga. Cagayan, like the Ilocanos, Zambalenos, Pampanga, Manila, and
other regions, has its distinct dialect. Writing is highly established throughout the islands, and writing
was done on bamboo or paper. The horizontal orientation was adopted once the Spaniards arrived,
according to Rizal.

Customs and Other Practices of the Oriental People

The custom of marriage is prominent in Morga's observations. Marriages between the principals
and their fellow principals or nobles are common among the natives. The practice of dowry was also
prevalent at the time. "This custom continued the union between the parents and the children, a wiser
practice that which is followed in many parts of Europe where cases are found of children neglecting
their parents once they have taken possession of their patrimony, or of parents who refuse to consent
to the marriage of their children in order to avoid parting with their property," Rizal said
Note : Bigay-kaya (dowry) means to give what one can, a voluntary offering,a gift of good-will.
This confirms further that in the case of marriage there was no sale, unlike in the already known alms
for scapulars,rosaries, belt, etc.

MORGA RIZAL

The Oriental Islands: The Philippines was regarded as Oriental

Philippines Islands by Morga, wherein these 'islands' are
described to be vast and noteworthy.
One of the known Islands is Tandaya.
As described by Morga, the Oriental
Islands may be located from west to east
The Island Tendaya, as annotated by Rizal, is
difficult to determine since the island might
relate to either the chief Tandaya or rather
the southeastern region of Samar known as
Ibabao or Zibabao.
 Topography and According to Morga, the temperature on Rizal criticized Morga in his annotation for
Seasons of the these islands varies depending on the thinking rainy seasons to be winter and the
Oriental Islands location and province. rest of the year to be summer.

He also stated that the temperature in

Heavy rains, whirlwinds, and storms can be
Manila drops more in the months of
expected from June through September.
December, January, and February than in the
months of August and September.
The sky is bright and the sea is calm from
October to the end of May. However, winter
and severe rains arrive sooner in certain areas
than in others.

The Oriental People Luzon - locals of the islands who are middle- Rizal stated that men and women walk out
sized and have a complexion comparable to without outerwear and barefooted.
the quince fruit.
He added that locals everywhere are
Cagayan - natives have the same color as the
cautious and cautious, concealing their
others, but they are more physically capable,
bodies with tremendous modesty and
courageous, and warlike.
shyness.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the people
of Luzon wore cangan fabric
without a collar, bahaque with their waist,

and potong above the forehead.

The language spoken in Luzon and its Writing is highly established throughout
Variation of neighboring islands differs significantly the islands, and writing was done on
Languages and from that spoken in the Visayas bamboo or paper. The horizontal
Dialects among the orientation was adopted once the
Oriental People Spaniards arrived
Customs and Other The custom of marriage is prominent in The practice of dowry was also prevalent
Practices of the Morga's observations. Marriages between at the time.
Oriental People the principals and their fellow principals
or nobles are common among the natives. The observation was supported by Rizal:

"This custom continued the union

between the parents and the children, a
wiser practice that which is followed in
many parts of Europe where cases are
found of children neglecting their
parents once they have taken possession
of their patrimony, or of parents who
refuse to consent to the marriage of
their children in order to avoid parting
with their property.”

Ferdinand Blumentritt:

Ferdinand Blumentritt is an Austrian educator, Leitmeritz secondary school administrator,

lecturer, and author of essays and books about the Philippines and its ethnography. He is well known in
the Philippines for his close connection with writer and propagandist José Rizal, and the countless letters
between the two serve as an important reference for Rizal historians and researchers, notably his final
letter from prison before his execution.

Blumentritt’s Influence on Rizal:

● Ferdinand Blumentritt wrote it in Spanish even though he's German. He also
encouraged Rizal to write about the Philippines ’ pre-colonial history.
● He praised Rizal’s work as “Scholarly and well-thought-out”
● Blumentritt notes that the book is “so rare that the few libraries that have a
copy guard it with the same care as they would an Inca treasure”
● Blumentritt noticed that Rizal has committed mistakes made by modern historians who
judged events in the past.
● He also said the Rizal shouldn’t condemn Catholicism even though they
didn’t do any effort to suppress calls for reform.

1889, November 19: Rizal thanked Blumentritt for writing the introduction to his edition of the book.
He praised it but Rizal strongly reacted upon Blumentritt’s mention of “Quiopquiap” (pseudonym
of Pablo Feced, brother of ex-governor Jose Feced y Temprado, who wrote anti-indio articles) He told
Blumentritt that Quiopquiap may be highly regarded in Spanish circles in Manila but he chose not pay
attention of it. He then declared that he does not want to soil the pages of the book with his name as
this could give a wrong impression.Then Rizal said:
 “I do not write for the Spaniards in Manila, I write for my countrymen and we all detest
Quiopquiap.” (Epistolario, 1938)

1889, November 22: Three days later, Rizal still seeks Blumentritt's final approval . He returned the
draft along with its corrections. With the deletion of the name Quiopquiap, he also cut any fraternity
between indios and Spaniards.

"You wish that the Spaniards embrace us as brothers, but we do not ask for this by always imploring and
repeating this because the rest is humiliating for us. If the Spaniards do not want us as brothers, neither
are we eager for their affection. We will not ask for fraternal love as if it were like alms. I am convinced
that you wish
too much and also wish for the good of Spain. But we do not solicit the compassion of Spain. We do not
want compassion, but justice. Fraternity like alms from the proud Spaniard we do not seek. I repeat, you
only have the best intentions, you want to see the whole world embraced by means of love and reason
but I doubt if the Spaniards wish the same" - Jose Rizal

Notes:
“These new points of view give your notes an imperishable value, an undeniable value even for
those
who dream of an inaccessible superiority of race or nationality. The scholar will salute your erudite
annotations with enthusiasm, the colonial politician’s gratitude and respect. Through these lines run a
flood of serious observations equally interesting and important to historians and ministers of
overseas colonies alike. “

Ferdinand Blumentritt also wrote a preface emphasizing some salient points:

1. The Spaniards have to correct their conception of Filipinos as “children of limited
intelligence”
2. That there are 3 kinds of Spanish delusion about the Philippines
a. Filipinos as an inferior race
b. Filipinos were not ready for parliamentary representation and other reforms
c. Denial of equal rights can be compensated by strict dispensation of justice.

Rizal’s Purpose in annotating Morga’s work

1. To awaken the consciousness of the Filipinos regarding their glorious ways of the past. It sets out
to evoke civilizational consciousness among Filipinos in the time of Spaniard colonization.
2. To correct what has been distorted about Philippine history during the Spanish Era.
3. In order to prove that Filipinos have their own culture even before Spaniards. That Philippines
had a higher standard of authenticity of culture and morality even before the Spaniard’s
arrival.
The purpose of the new edition of Morga’s sucesos:
 “ If the book (Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas succeeds to awaken your consciousness of our past, already
effaced from your memory, and to rectify what has been falsified and slandered, then I have not to work
in vain, and with this as a basis, however small it may be, we shall be able to study the future. “ -Dr.
Jose Rizal (Europe, 1889)

Reasons why Rizal chose Morga:

1. Morga was a layman and not a religious chronicler
2. Rizal felt that Morga to be more “objective” than other religious writers
3. Morga was more sympathetic to indios;
4. Morga was not only an eyewitness but a major actor in the events of his narration.

Rizal chose Morga’s work for several considerations:

● His first consideration is that Morga's book was rare, and was originally published in
Mexico in 1609.
● In which his book has never been reprinted until the annotated edition of Rizal which came off
the press of Garnier Hermanos in Paris during 1889.
0 Morga was a layman and not a religious chronicler
○ Rizal felt that Morga to be more “objective” than other religious writers

● Rizal’s second consideration is that It was the only civil, as opposed to religious or
ecclesiastical, history of the Philippines written during the colonial period.
● He intended to write an edition because there is no other history was written by an Indio or
from the point of view of an Indio.
- For Rizal, Philippine histories must be from the point of view of a Filipino.

● His third consideration is that, According to him, that this secular account (Morga’s)
was more objective, more trustworthy, than those written by the religious missionaries which
were liberally sprinkled with tales of miracles and apparitions.

“All the histories written by the religious before and after Morga, up to our days, abound with
stories of devils, miracles, apparitions, etc. These form the bulk of the voluminous histories of
the Philippines (Rizal 1890, 311 n. 1)”

2 categories in Rizal’s annotation:

1. Rizal corrects the original one. “The straight-forward historical annotations”
where Rizal amplifies or corrects the original.
2. “Historical based reflect his anticlerical bias”
 ● The fourth consideration in Rizal’s choice of Morgas was that it appeared more
sympathetic (in the part
of indios), in contrast to the friar account where there is bias and downright racism in its tone
and interpretation.

Rizal wrote a letter for Blumentritt about his views and preferences for Morga on
September 17, 1888:
“The Morga is an excellent book; it can be said that Morga is a modern learned explorer (modern
sabio explorador). He has nothing of the superficially and exaggeration so typical of present-day
Spaniards. He writes very simply, but in reading him there is much between the lines because he was
governor-general in the Philippines and after, head (Alcalde) of the inquisition. (Epistolario 1938,
5:308). “

● And lastly, the fifth consideration was that Morga is a primary source as he was an
eyewitness on the contact of Philippine people with Spain. Rizal also argued that Filipinos
already had their own culture and did not require any civilization or religion from the Spaniards
0 Rizal spoke highly of Morga’s integrity as a colonial official in Manila.

Two defects of Rizal’s scholarship which have been condemned by later historians:
- An ahistorical use of hindsight
- A strong anticlerical bias
Challenges:
One of the challenges that Rizal encountered is that he has been relegated in the canon
under his “minor writings” and the copies of these books were banned in the Philippines in the
19th century and are confiscated by Spanish customs in Manila and other ports. With that, the books
attained a rare and out-ofprint status which is why it did not have a second printing and few copies in
circulation were left hidden and unread.
1. “Minor writings”
2. Copies of books were banned in the Philippines in the 19th century and are confiscated
by Spanish customs in Manila and other ports.
3. Rare and out of print
4. Didn’t have a second printing and few copies in circulation were left hidden and
unread.

Criticism on Rizal’s Annotation:

The first criticism of RIzal’s historical work was not from the Spaniards but by Ferdinand
Blumentritt. ● Blumentritt’s Criticisms:
1. Rizal censure the events of past centuries according to the concepts that correspond to
contemporary ideas
2. Against Catholicism.
 "My great esteem for your notes does not impede me from confessing that, more than once, I have
observed that you participate in the error of many modern historians who censure the events of past
centuries according to the concepts that correspond to contemporary ideas. This should not be so. The
historian should not impute
to the men of the sixteenth century the broad horizon of ideas that moves the nineteenth century. The
second point with which I do not agree is against Catholicism. I believe that you cannot find the origin of
numerous events regrettable for Spain and for the good name of the European race in religion but in the
hard behavior and abuses of many priests"

● Rizal used history as a propaganda weapon against the abuses of Spaniards.

● The problem with Rizal is his ambiguity.
● It was deemed too historical, too scholarly for propagandists.
● Too biased, too much work of propaganda

To the Filipinos:

In Noli Me Tangere ("The Social Cancer") I started to sketch the present state of our native land. But the
effect which my effort produced made me realize that, before attempting to unroll before your eyes the
other pictures which were to follow, it was necessary first to post you on the past. So only can you fairly
judge the present and estimate how much progress has been made during the three centuries (of
Spanish rule).

Like almost all of you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our country's past and so, without
knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw nor have studied, I deem it necessary to quote
the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who at the beginning of the new era controlled the destinies of
the Philippines and had personal knowledge of our ancient nationality in its last days.

It is then the shade of our ancestor's civilization which the author will call before you. If the work serves
to awaken in you a consciousness of our past, and to blot from your memory or to rectify what has been
falsified or is calumny, then I shall not have labored in vain. With this preparation, slight though it may
be, we can all pass to the study of the future.

He went to say:
“..little by little, they (Filipinos) lost their old traditions, the mementos of
their past; they gave up their writing, their songs, their poems, their laws, in
order to learn other
doctrines which they did not understand, another morality, another aesthetics,
different from those inspired by their climate and their manner of thinking. They
declined,
degrading themselves in their own eyes. They become ashamed of what was
their own; they began to admire and praise whatever was foreign and
incomprehensible; their spirit was damaged and it surrendered."
Importance of Rizal’s Annotations to the present generation:

● To awaken the consciousness of Filipinos to the Philippine History.

● To prove that Filipinos already had their own culture prior to colonization and that Filipinos
were NOT inferior to other races, especially to white men.
● To shatter the myth of the so-called “Indolence of the Filipinos”
● To reduce the future generation’s denial of their native tongue especially in these kinds
of times.
● To study Tagalog and comprehensively understand its roots.
● To embrace the “Indio” with all its negative connotation, turning it into someone with
dignity and nobility.
“To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open the books that
tell of her past” - Rizal

Conclusion:
By contemporaries and successors, Morga's book was praised, quoted, and plagiarized. Filipinos
have found it to be a detailed depiction of the state of their native culture when the conquistadors
arrived; Spaniards have viewed it as a work to admire or condemn, depending on their viewpoints and
the circumstances of their time.
Surprisingly, Rizal's sarcastic rebuttal appears in a scholastic work— his annotated reedition of
Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. By his annotation, he intended to show and remind the
Filipinos of their authentic identity. This annotation itself was a gargantuan effort to provide a
larger context pertaining to better understanding. Although it never attained the popularity of
both Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, the book sparked consciousness and did call forth
attention. Despite the fact that recent research has confirmed many of Rizal's claims, his work is now
outdated. Furthermore, Rizal's annotations are secondary, and scholars today place a greater emphasis
on Morga, the primary source, than on Rizal's notes.