LESSON 5: THE MORGA AND RIZAL’S SEARCH FOR ORIGIN

I. OBJECTIVES

1. State their basic knowledge about the Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and the
Sikatuna and Ligazpi blood compact.
2. Compare and contrast Rizal and Morga’s different views about Filipinos and Philippine
Culture
3. Analyze Rizal’s ideas on how to write Philippine History.

II. CONTENT
MAIN IDEA

Rizal said the Noli Me Tangere is a sketch of the actual conditions of our country and while
writing his first novel, he realized that before he could write more chapters about the present, or
produce a sequel, he first had to visit the past. He had to reflect on what had taken place during the past
3 centuries. He said he was born and bred oblivious of our past, like most of his contemporaries; so, he
felt that he had no voice or authority to talk on what he did not know. He found it necessary “to invoke
the testimony of an “illustrious Spaniard” who ruled the destiny of the Philippines and was witness to
the dwindling of our former identity.

The illustrious Spaniard was Doctor Antonio de Morga, author of Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
that was published in Mexico in 1609. The book had been out of circulation when Rizal discovered it in
an obscure corner of the British Library and Museum. Some of my historian friends believe that Rizal had
always wanted to write a history of the Philippines but never found the time, so the next best thing was
to annotate Morga’s book, which he copied by hand. Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt was asked to write the
prologue in Spanish, instead he wrote Rizal a long letter with constructive criticism.

Rizal had read works about the Philippines written by friars like Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin and Fr.
Chirino; these were about the conquest and evangelization of the Philippines; Morga’s book was rare
because it was written by a layperson. In his annotations, Rizal would refer to Chirino and Gaspar de San
Agustin, as well as to Isabelo los Reyes (“Limahong and Los Régulos de Manila”), Argensola (The
Conquest of the Molucas) and to Trinidad Pardo de Tavera.

The first seven chapters which covered Spanish colonial rule from Adelantado Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi to Don Pedro de Acuña were packed with stories about political intrigue that gurgled from the
Capitania-General de Filipinas, swirled directly to the Metropolis (Spain), but sometimes took a
circuitous route through the Virreinato de la Nueva España (Mexico). The Captain-Generals (Governor-
Generals) while supervising the evangelization of the Philippines had their sights strained on the
Moluccas, China, Japan, and, believe it or not, Cambodia, Siam, and Cochin China as well. Although the

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Moluccas fell under Portugal’s domain, the spice trade was irresistible and the Spaniards based in
Manila would sail there to sow intrigue among the princelings who were always at war with each other.

Nepotism was commonplace, so was corruption. The religious orders were relentless in
spreading the Faith among “infidels” even if a number of them were tortured and crucified in China and
Japan and other heathen lands. Oftentimes, these politico-religious activities were carried out without
the knowledge of the Spanish monarchs. In several annotations, Rizal repeatedly pointed out that“ to
pacify” or “pacification” which were the politically correct word during Morga’s days were, in fact,
synonyms for “make war” or “ sow animosity.” He also said that the evangelization of the Philippines
was far from complete, so there was really to need to cross borders.

Morga wrote copiously about the Moro pirate raids of the Visayas and Luzon and the myriad
attempts of the Spanish governors to conquer Mindanao, Jolo, and Sulu. Rizal noted that because the
Spanish colonial administration forbade the Christianized natives to bear arms, they could not defend
themselves against the Moro raids; that encouraged the marauders.

Rizal said that Antonio de Morga was a witness of the dying days of the native way of life, the
end of that contact period and because he was a lay man, his observations would be a counterpoint to
what the religious missionaries had written about the Philippines.

ANTONIO DE MORGA AND HIS SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

The value of Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas has long been recognized. A first-hand
account of the early Spanish colonial venture into Asia, it was published in Mexico in 1609 and has since
been re-edited on a number of occasions. It attracted the attention of the Hakluyt Society in 1851,
although the edition prepared for the Society by H. E. J. Stanley was not published until 1868. Morga's
work is based on personal experiences, or on documentation from eye-witnesses of the events
described. Moreover, as he tells us himself, survivors from Legazpi's expedition were still alive while he
was preparing his book in Manila, and these too he could consult. As a lawyer, it is obvious that he
would hardly fail to seek such evidence. The Sucesos is the work of an honest observer, himself a major
actor in the drama of his time, a versatile bureaucrat, who knew the workings of the administration from
the inside. It is also the first history of the Spanish Philippines to be written by a layman, as opposed to
the religious chroniclers. Morga's book was praised, quoted, and plagiarized, by contemporaries or
successors. Filipinos have found it a useful account of the state of their native culture upon the coming
of the conquistadors; Spaniards have regarded it as a work to admire or condemn, according to their
views and the context of their times.

Who is Antonio de Morga?

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (November 29, 1559 – July 21, 1636) was a Spanish soldier,
lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official for 43 years, in the Philippines (1594 to 1604), New Spain and

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Peru, where he was president of the Real Audiencia for 20 years. He was also a historian. After being
reassigned to Mexico, he published the book Sucesos de las islas Filipinas in 1609, considered one of the
most important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. As Deputy
Governor in the Philippines, he restored the audencia. He took over the function of judge or oidor. He
also took command of Spanish ships in a 1600 naval battle against Dutch corsairs, but suffered defeat
and barely survived.

His history was first published in English in 1868; numerous editions have been published in
English, including a 1907 edition that is online at the Gutenberg Project. It has also been reprinted in
Spanish and other languages.

Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay was born in Seville. He graduated from the University of
Salamanca in 1574 and in 1578 received a doctorate in canon law. He taught briefly in Osuna, and then
returned to Salamanca to study civil law. In 1580 he joined the government service as a lawyer. Among
other positions in Spain, he held that of auditor general of the galleys. In 1582 he was serving as mayor
of Baracaldo in Vizcaya when he first married, to Juana de Briviesca de Munotones.

In August 1593 he was notified that he had been selected as Lieutenant to the Governor-
General of the Philippines, starting what would become 43 years of colonial service. He traveled
accompanied by his family, 14 servants, three black slaves and his collection of books. Following the
route of that time, he sailed from Cadiz in February 1594, arriving in Mexico in May. During the following
period of preparation for the Pacific voyage, he heard two important cases, and supervised the
supplying of the two ships to be used. He also recruited 200 soldiers for the garrison in Manila. They
departed Acapulco on March 22, 1595, reaching Manila on June 11, 1595. He had the second-most
powerful position in the colony.

He first served under Governor-General Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, who was interim after his
father's death. Francisco Tello de Guzmán soon succeeded him, and Morga reported to him during most
of his time in the colony. In his account of the colonial Philippines published in 1609, Morga noted the
miserable condition suffered by many of the Spanish/Mexican soldiers, who were young, ill-paid and
suffered in that unfamiliar environment. Few wanted to settle in Manila, and higher-level government
officials also sought to leave the colony in a few years. His first two reports to the Crown covered a wide
variety of topics, mentioning Japan, Mindanao, and China, in addition to civil, military and ecclesiastical
activities within the colony.

He issued regulations for administrative reform, known as the Ordenzas. Among his reforms was
to restore the audencia. In 1598 he resigned as lieutenant governor to assume the office of oidor, or
judge, in the newly re-established Audiencia of Manila. The position required his removal from much
public life.

Morga suffered important failures in both his military and political capacities. The same cannot
be said for his work as historian. In 1609, he published the work for which he is now remembered –
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine Isles). This work, perhaps the best account of

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Spanish colonialism in the Philippines written during that period, is based partly on documentary
research, partly on keen observation, and partly on Morga's personal involvement and knowledge.

The history was published in two volumes, both in 1609 by Casa de Geronymo Balli, in Mexico
City. (The work had circulated for years before this in manuscript form.) New Spain Viceroy Luis de
Velasco (hijo) authorized the publication and granted Morga the sole right to publish it for ten years, on
April 7, 1609. On the same date, Fray García Guerra, archbishop of Mexico, approved the publication of
the work. The history covers the years from 1493 to 1603. Political, social, and economic phases of life,
both among the natives and their conquerors, are treated. Morga's official position allowed him access
to many government documents.

The work greatly impressed Philippine independence hero José Rizal (1861–96), himself a man
of letters and of action. He decided to annotate it and publish a new edition. He began work on this in
London, completing it in Paris in 1890. He wrote:

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 worked in vain, and with this as a basis, however small it may be, we shall be able to
study the future.

The first English translation was published in London in 1868. Another English translation by
Blair and Robertson was published in Cleveland in 1907, (it is available online at the Gutenberg Project)
and an edition edited by J.S. Cummins was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1971 (ISBN 0-521-01035-
7).

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (English: Events in the Philippine Islands) is a book written and
published by Antonio de Morga considered as one of the most important works on the early history of
the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. It was published in 1609 after he was reassigned to Mexico
in two volumes by Casa de Geronymo Balli, in Mexico City. The first English translation was published in
London in 1868 and another English translation by Blair and Robertson was published in Cleveland in
1907.

The work greatly impressed the Philippine national hero José Rizal and decided to annotate it
and publish a new edition and began working on it in London and completing it in Paris in 1890.

The title literary means Events in the Philippine Islands and thus the books primary goal is a
documentation of events during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines as observed by the author
himself. The book also includes Filipino customs, traditions, manners, and religion during the Spanish
conquest.

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PACTO DE SANGRE: WHY WERE WE CONQUERED?

Pacto de sangre

The Pacto de sangre, Sandugo was a blood compact performed in the island of Bohol in the
Philippines, between the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of
Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal their friendship as part of the tribal tradition. This is considered as the
first treaty of friendship between the Spaniards and Filipinos. "Sandugo" is a Visayan word which means
"one blood".

The Sandugo is depicted in both the provincial flag and the official seal of the government in
Bohol. It also features the image of the blood compact. The top of the seal explains the history behind
the Sandugo event that occurred in Bohol, the fleet and the location where the Spaniards anchored and
the place where the treaty was conducted which was dated on March 16, 1565.

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan became the first person from Europe to reach
Asia by sailing west, a voyage of which he would meet an untimely death in the island of the Philippines.
Spain sent expeditions to colonize the East Indies in their competition with Portugal to seize control over
the spice trade. However, all of these expeditions failed. It was not until Miguel López de Legazpi, sailing
from Mexico with five ships and five hundred men, reached the Philippines in 1565 and a Spanish
settlement was established. López de Legazpi was greeted by hostile Muslim tribes opposing a foreign
invasion. His attempt to land on the island of Cebu resulted in the death of one of his soldiers prompting
him to explore another island and seek trade with various tribes.

Sailing south toward the island of Mindanao, López de Legazpi's fleet encountered highwinds
forcing them to sail northward to the island of Bohol. There, he captured a vessel from Borneo whose
Malay sailors informed the Spaniards that the natives inhabiting the region traded with people from
Borneo and Indonesia. Arriving in Bohol, López de Legazpi noticed the hostility of the people. The
Malayan servant explained that such hostility was due to the expeditions conducted by the Portuguese
from the Moluccas islands. In 1563, Portuguese fleets arrived in Visayan waters and enslaved about
1,000 inhabitants. López de Legazpi, with the help of the Malayan sailor, explained to the tribes in Bohol
that they were not Portuguese and that they had come to the islands to trade. Upon learning this, the
chieftains and their tribes became friendlier and welcoming to the Spaniards.

The Significance

The hostility of the Visayans toward the Legazpi expedition was understandable in view of their
bad experience with the Portuguese. Two years before Legazpi came, a group of Portuguese and their
allies tricked the Boholanos and plundered the island of Dauis-Panglao. They also did the same to
Camiguin and other Visayan settlements. So when Legazpi came, the hatred against the "white men with
beards" was still strong. Being white and bearded, Legazpi and his men were easily thought of as
Portuguese.

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 Because of this hostile attitude, Legazpi and his men could not get help from the natives in
terms of getting food to eat and supplies. But when Legazpi learned about the reason for the hostile
behavior, he used an interpreter to inform the Boholanos that he and his men were not Portuguese and
that they did not come to plunder but for peace.

That the Boholanos welcomed the Spaniards despite their bad experience with white and
bearded foreigners is also understandable since Legazpi met Pagbuaya or Lagubayan. Pagbuaya was the
brother of Dailisan, the great datu of Bohol who was killed by the Portuguese. Pagbuaya migrated to
Dapitan after the siege of Bohol. His rank was higher compared to Sikatuna. According to some sources,
Sikatuna was a vassal (a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage
and fealty) of Pagbuaya. And according to Rizal's sources, Pagbuaya gave Legaspi sea pilots. Hence, it is
very likely that the pilots brought Legazpi to Bohol or informed Legazpi about it when the expedition
was near the island.

We can only surmise the intention why Sikatuna went on board a Spanish vessel and performed
the sandugo rite with Legazpi. Probably, Legazpi told Sikatuna that he was a friend of Pagbuaya.
Probably, the previous raid taxed the courage of the Boholanos and made them complacent to offers of
friendship. Perhaps the memory of the plunder simply made them glad that white foreigners are friendly
and then seized this opportunity to formally seal the friendship to prevent any more Portuguese or
similar attacks. Sikatuna's intention, however, may become clearer by looking at the context of sandugo.

The prehispanic Visayan settlements were regularly at war with each other. These hostilities
were "suspended or avoided by sandugo (Scott, p. 156, 1994)." Sandugo is a Visayan procedure by which
"two men, not necessarily enemies, became blood brothers, vowing to stick together through thick and
thin, war and peace, and to observe mourning restriction whenever they were separated from one
another (Ibid.)." Because of this, "[A]ll Spanish explorers from Magellan to Legazpi made such pacts
with Visayan datus (Ibid.)." Since sandugo is a Visayan rite, it was very likely that Sikatuna had good
intentions in making the peace pact.

What is questionable was the motive of Legazpi in agreeing to perform the sandugo. First, he
was authorized by the King of Spain to enter the Philippine Islands and to use force when necessary (of
course with the concurrence of his chiefs who are part of his council). Second, his men were hungry so
they needed the natives to provide them with food, even if they have to rightfully pay for it. Third, he
did not have the cultural background to understand the natives' sandugo rite, hence, probably did not
understand the deep and wide implications of such rite. Fourth, he took possession of the island in the
name of the King of Spain inspite of the sandugo. And fifth, he made Bohol part of the encomienda
system of the country.

The Sikatuna-Legazpi sandugo, therefore, was not a formal international treaty of friendship.
Granting that it was, the terms and conditions were definitely not consummated on the part of the
Spaniards. On the contrary, the blood compact could be interpreted as the first formal treachery or
swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos, as distinguished from the one committed
by the Portuguese and their allies.

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RIZAL’S MORGA AND ILUSTRADO VIEW OF THE PRECONQUEST

To the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere 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 in 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 is, we can all pass to the study of the future.

Rizal painstakingly put things in their proper context: Morga said the natives revere and
venerate the crocodile because they are afraid of its power. Even Christians curse “may the crocodile kill
him!” to those who make false promises, perjure, and breach contracts. May they suffer the wrath of
the buhaya! Rizal explained that there were instances when crocodiles, while sparing their Indio
servants, gobbled friars. Historians have given propitious explanations when that happens, but not when
Indios are victims.

Dr. Jose Rizal's Annotations to Morga's 1609 Philippine History

Governor Antonio de Morga was not only the first to write but also the first to publish a
Philippine history. This statement has regard to the concise and concrete form in which our author has
treated the matter. Father Chirino's work, printed at Rome in 1604, is rather a chronicle of the Missions
than a history of the Philippines; still it contains a great deal of valuable material on usages and customs.
The worthy Jesuit in fact admits that he abandoned writing a political history because Morga had
already done so, so one must infer that he had seen the work in manuscript before leaving the Islands.

- By the Christian religion, Doctor Morga appears to mean the Roman Catholic which by fire and
sword he would preserve in its purity in the Philippines. Nevertheless in other lands, notably in
Flanders, these means were ineffective to keep the church unchanged, or to maintain its
supremacy, or even to hold its subjects.

- Great kingdoms were indeed discovered and conquered in the remote and unknown parts of
the world by Spanish ships but to the Spaniards who sailed in them we may add Portuguese,

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 Italians, French, Greeks, and even Africans and Polynesians. The expeditions captained by
Columbus and Magellan, one a Genoese Italian and the other a Portuguese, as well as those that
came after them, although Spanish fleets, still were manned by many nationalities and in them
went negroes, Moluccans, and even men from the Philippines and the Marianes Islands.

- Three centuries ago it was the custom to write as intolerantly as Morga does, but nowadays it
would be called a bit presumptuous. No one has a monopoly of the true God nor is there any
nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate prove, that to it has been given the exclusive
right to the Creator of all things or sole knowledge of His real being.

- The conversions by the Spaniards were not as general as their historians claim. The missionaries
only succeeded in converting a part of the people of the Philippines. Still there are Mahometans,
the Moros, in the southern islands, and negritos, igorots and other heathens yet occupy the
greater part territorially of the archipelago. Then the islands which the Spaniards early held but
soon lost are non-Christian-Formosa, Borneo, and the Moluccas. And if there are Christians in
the Carolines, that is due to Protestants, whom neither the Roman Catholics of Morga's day nor
many Catholics in our own day consider Christians.

- Morga shows that the ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and other implements
of warfare. Their prized krises and kampilans for their magnificent temper are worthy of
admiration and some of them are richly damascened. Their coats of mail and helmets, of which
there are specimens in various European museums, attest their great advancement in this
industry.

- Morga's expression that the Spaniards "brought war to the gates of the Filipinos" is in marked
contrast with the word used by subsequent historians whenever recording Spain's possessing
herself of a province, that she pacified it. Perhaps "to make peace" then meant the same as "to
stir up war." (This is a veiled allusion to the old Latin saying of Romans, often quoted by
Spaniard's, that they made a desert, calling it making peace.

- Morga has evidently confused the pacific coming of Legaspi with the attack of Goiti and Salcedo,
as to date. According to other historians it was in 1570 that Manila was burned, and with it a
great plant for manufacturing artillery. Goiti did not take posession of the city but withdrew to
Cavite and afterwards to Panay, which makes one suspicious of his alleged victory. As to the day
of the date, the Spaniards then, having come following the course of the sun, were some sixteen
hours later than Europe. This condition continued till the end of the year 1844, when the 31st of
December was by special arrangement among the authorities dropped from the calendar for
that year. Accordingly Legaspi did not arrive in Manila on the 19th but on the 20th of May and
consequently it was not on the festival of Santa Potenciana but on San Baudelio's day. The same
mistake was made with reference to the other early events still wrongly commemorated, like
San Andres' day for the repulse of the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong.

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 - Morga's statement that there was not a province or town of the Filipinos that resisted
conversion or did not want it may have been true of the civilized natives. But the contrary was
the fact among the mountain tribes. We have the testimony of several Dominican and
Augustinian missionaries that it was impossible to go anywhere to make conversions without
other Filipinos along and a guard of soldiers. "Otherwise, says Gaspar de San Agustin, there
would have been no fruit of the Evangelic Doctrine gathered, for the infidels wanted to kill the
Friars who came to preach to them." An example of this method of conversion given by the
same writer was a trip to the mountains by two Friars who had a numerous escort of
Pampangans. The escort's leader was Don Agustin Sonson who had a reputation for daring and
carried fire and sword into the country, killing many, including the chief, Kabadi.

- "The Spaniards, says Morga, were accustomed to hold as slaves such natives as they bought and
others that they took in the forays in the conquest or pacification of the islands." Consequently
in this respect the "pacifiers" introduced no moral improvement. We even do not know if in
their wars the Filipinos used to make slaves of each other, though that would not have been
strange, for the chroniclers tell of captives returned to their own people. The practice of the
Southern pirates almost proves this, although in these piratical wars the Spaniards were the first
aggressors and gave them their character.

Rizal and Morga’s Views about the Filipinos and Philippine History

JOSE Rizal lamented that he was born and bred without knowing about our pre-colonial past. As
a result, he felt that he had neither voice nor authority to talk on what he did not know. You can be sure
that most of his contemporaries felt the same way. When he was a student of the Ateneo Municipal,
Rizal did write an allegorical anti-colonial play where the Devil was raving about how beautiful this
archipelago was before the Spaniards came.

We can only imagine how difficult it must have been to research about our past history in those
days. Most of the available sources were written by friars of the religious orders, zealous missionaries
determined to obliterate native beliefs which they considered idolatrous and cultural practices which to
them were savage. Rizal must have spent hours plowing through early Philippine histories by Fathers
Pedro Chirino (1604), Francisco Colin (1663), Gaspar de San Agustin (1698), all of which he mentioned in
his annotations of Dr. Antonio Morga’s book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, published in Mexico (Nueva
España) in 1609. It was already out of circulation when Rizal saw it in an obscure corner of the British
Library and Museum.

Rizal and his barkada, the “Indios Bravos,” were not entirely ignorant of the ethnic or indigenous
communities of the Motherland; in fact, they abhorred the colonial practice of displaying “samples” of
these “savages” in European fairs to justify the conquest of the Philippines by Spain. While in Europe,
Rizal came across research papers about various ethnic communities in Asia published by eminent
European scientists; one of them was Ferdinand Blumentritt, the author of “Versuch einer Etnographie
der Philippinen.” Rizal wrote to him and that was how their friendship began.

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 Chapter 8 is, about how the natives looked like, their clothes and gold jewelry, customs, and
governance before the arrival of the Spaniards and after the conquest and other special features. Rizal’s
annotations are longer than the chapter itself. He noticed all of Morga’s “mistakes.” The author had
misspelled many native names of places, flora and fauna, and social classes, which Rizal corrected; he
also clarified geographical locations. For example, Morga said Tendaya island was one of the largest. Fr.
Urdaneta said it was close to Maluco but Fr. Colin vouched it was in the vicinity of Leyte. Other sources
revealed that Tendaya was a person’s name, the island never existed.

Morga said that cotton was grown extensively in practically all the islands which the natives sold
as thread and woven fabrics to Chinese and other foreign merchants. They also spun thread from
banana leaves; Rizal clarified, Morga must have meant sinamay, which was woven from abaca thread
that comes from the trunk, not the leaves. He then quoted Fr. Chirino who wrote that these cotton
fabrics were sought-after in Nueva España and that encomenderos made fortunes on the cotton trade.
That was 31 years after the encomiendas were created, but, Rizal pointed out, the industrious natives
were so discouraged by extreme exploitation, they abandoned the fields and burned the weaving looms.

Morga was obviously fascinated with the social organization of the natives; he described origins,
differences, privileges of social classes, upward and downward mobility, inheritance of possessions and
titles. Rizal emphasized that native women, unlike their European counterparts, never lost their noble
titles. In marriage, it was the groom who gave the bride’s parents a dowry because they were losing a
precious daughter.

As expected, Morga was critical of the system of government, which he said, barely existed
because there was no powerful figure that ruled over myriad communities, most of them coastal, each
with its own set of leaders. Rizal argued that it was better that way; why should the communities be
beholden to one ruler who didn’t even live among them and was not familiar with their needs and
problems? How could he have solved disputes, mete justice, implement policies, if he didn’t even live in
the community? (Perhaps Rizal was in favor of federalism.)

One of the most laborious footnotes was about the literacy of pre-colonial Filipinos. Morga said
that natives of all the islands had their own form of writing with characters that looked like Greek or
Arabic. Sadly enough, Rizal said, that was no longer true. Although the colonial government claimed, in
word and deed, that it was instructing the Filipinos, in truth, it was fomenting ignorance by putting the
friars in charge of education. Not only Filipinos but also Peninsulares and foreigners accused them of
wanting to stupefy (embrutecer) the nation and that was evident in their writings and behavior.

With regard to the ancient script, many eminent scholars have written about it. After Chirino,
Colin, and De San Agustin came Jacquet of “Journal Asiatique,” Alfred Marche’s “Luçon and Palaouan”
which was about the Tagbanuas; T. Pardo de Tavera’s, “Contribucion para el studio de los antiguos
alfabetos Filipinos (1884).

Through Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal met the most eminent European ethnologists of those
days. They must have been quite impressed by the intellectual curiosity of this young Asian that they
invited him to be a member of their prestigious society of ethnologists. Rizal was so enthused, he made

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plans for an international conference about the Philippines, but unfortunately his audacious idea not
pull through.

Had he lived longer, I am sure he would have spent many years studying the past. After all, his
third novel, Makamisa, was about the period of transition about which we know so little. He would have
gone to the highlands to meet the Ifugaos and Tinggians and live among our ancestors.

SOURCES

1. https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/966/dr-jose-rizals-annotations-to-morgas-1609-
philippine-history
2. https://thebiography.us/en/morga-antonio-de
3. http://www.bohol.ph/books/PhilippineIslands/PhilippineIslands.html
4. http://alsalca.blogspot.com/2011/03/sikatuna-legazpi-blood-compact.html

III. ACTIVITIES

A. Make a table comparing and contrasting Rizal and Morga’s views on Filipino culture and history.

B. Access this power presentation given below and make a short essay expressing your impression
towards Jose Rizal as a historian.
https://www.slideshare.net/JoPao21/rizal-as-historian?from_action=save

IV. ASSESSMENT
INSTRUCTION: Select the correct answer from the choices and answer only the letter.

1. Which of the following states wrong identity of Antonio de Morga?

2. Which of the following describes correctly Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas?

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 b. The title literary means Events in the Philippine Islands
c. The first English translation was published in Mexico in 1868
d. A book written and published by Dr. Jose Rizal

3. Which of the following states a wrong account of the Legazpi and Sikatuna blood compact?
a. It happened in Bohol on March 16, 1565
b. This is considered as the first treaty of friendship between the Spaniards and Filipinos.
c. Legazpi met Pagbuayan the brother Dailiasa the great datu of Bohol who was killed by the
Portugies.
d. The Sikatuna-Legazpi sandugo, therefore, was a formal international treaty of friendship.

4. The following are Morga’s views and accounts events and situation of the Philippines during the
pre-colonial period, except one.
a. The ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and other implements of warfare
b. There was no province or town of the Filipinos that resisted conversion or did not want
Roman Catholicism.
c. The Filipino natives had no form of writing.
d. Cotton was grown extensively in practically all the islands which the natives sold as thread
and woven fabrics to Chinese and other foreign merchants.

5. Which of the following was not done by Jose Rizal in his annotation of Morga’s book?
a. He corrected misspelled many native names of places, flora and fauna
b. Clarified geographical locations.
c. He argued that the rightful title of the book should be Historia de las Filipinas
d. He quoted some ancient script written by many of the eminent scholars of his time

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