LOOKING
AT
THE
FILIPINO
PAST
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSE RIZAL | LESSON 9
PREPARED BY: TJ RIVERA
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
o
Argue the reasons why Jose Rizal decided to annotate Antonio Morga’s
work, Sucesus de las Islas Filipinas;
o
Relate how Rizal’s annotations conform with the overall aims of the
Propaganda Movement; and
o
Create their own annotations of a sample text.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
Antonio Morga was a Spanish administrator who served in the Philippines
in the late 16th century.
o
He was born in Seville in 1559 and began working for the government in 1580.
o
He served as the Lieutenant-Governor – second most powerful position in the
colony – of the Philippines in 1593 and then as a judge of the Audiencia in
1598.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
By 1615, he moved to Mexico where he served as the president of the
Audiencia.
o
He was later investigated for corruption and was found guilty.
o
Before being sent to the gallows, however, he died in 1636.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
Morga’s work, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, was publish in 1609 in
Mexico and consisted of eight chapters.
The first seven chapters dealt with the terms of governors-general who
had served in the Philippines from the time of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in
1565 to Pedro de Acuna in 1606.
o The last chapter, titled “An account of the Philippine islands,“ provided
ample descriptions of early Filipinos upon the arrival of the Spaniards in
the 16th century.
o
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
While at the British Museum in late 1889, Rizal found a copy of the first
edition of Antonio Morga’s Secesos de las Islas Filipinas and began copying
the text by hand.
o
He annotated the work along the way with the intention of creating a critical
work on the history of the Philippines.
o
By September 1889, Rizal decided to publish the annotations himself in
Garnier Hermanos, a printing press based in Paris.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
Historian Ambeth Ocampo provides five reasons behind Rizal’s choice.
1. The first reason was the fact that Morga’s work in its original Spanish
edition was rare.
2. Second, Morga was a civil administrator and therefore provided a
secular view of historical events during the early Spanish colonial
period.
3. Third, for Jose Rizal, a secular account was more credible than those
written by religious missionaries.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
Historian Ambeth Ocampo provides five reasons behind Rizal’s choice.
4.
Fourth, it was more sympathetic towards the natives in contrast to the biased
accounts written by the friars.
5.
Finally, Morga’s work was a fitting choice because he was an eye witness to
historical events that occurred in the Philippines during the period of early
Spanish colonization.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
With the publication of his annotations to Sucesos, Rizal presented an outline
of a linear conception of history.
o
More than an attempt to write the country’s history, however, Rizal’s
annotation of Morga’s work must also be seen within the context of the
propaganda movement.
o
At a time when Filipino propagandists were clamoring for reforms in Spain,
presenting a critical narrative of the country’s history might be considered as
an endeavor to create a sense of national consciousness or identity that was
anchored on a glorious past.
LOOKING AT THE FILIPINO PAST
o
Whereas early Spanish chronicles ridiculed the early Filipinos for being
barbarians, Rizal’s copious notes of Sucesos revealed early Filipino culture as
rich and flourishing.
o
Thus, Rizal’s annotations may be considered an effort to assert Filipino
identity within an oppressive colonial framework.