Readings in Philippine History • The whole history of the past (history-as-

actuality) cab ne known to historians only

Chapter 1: The Meaning of History, Sources through the surviving records (history-as-
of Historical Data, and Historical Criticisms records) which is only a tiny part of the
whole phenomenon.

Verisimilitude - aim of the historians (the truth,

Lesson 1: The Meaning of History authenticity, and plausibility) about the past.
History – derived from the Greek word historia History is a subjective process as
which means learning by inquiry and documents and relics are scattered and do
investigation. not together comprise the total object that
➢ According to Aristotle – it is the systematic the historian is studying.
accounting of a set of natural phenomena,
that is, taking into consideration the
chronological arrangement of the account. Historical Method and Historiography
➢ Scientific investigation of past events.
• Historical method – the process of critically
Historians – writers of past events. examining and analyzing the records and
survival of the past.
“No document, no history”.
• Historical analysis – important element of
historical method.
Sources/sciences 1. Select the subject to investigate.
2. Collect probable sources of
1. Archeology – through artifacts
information about the subject.
➢ Determination of life, culture,
3. Examine the genuineness, in
customs etc.
part of in whole.
2. Geology – location and landscapes
4. Extract credible “particulars”
3. Linguist – trace of language
from the source.
4. Scientist – biologists, biochemists

Lesson 2: Sources of Historical Data

• Factual history – presents readers with the
plain and basic information about the events Historical data – sourced from the artifacts that
that took place (what, when, where, who). have left by the past.

• Speculative history – it goes beyond the • Relics or remains – artifacts that offers
facts because it is concerned about the researchers a clue about the past.
reason for which events happened (why),
and the way they happened (how). • Testimonies of witnesses - oral or written,
may have been created to serve as a records
or they might have been created for some
Historiography – the practice of historical other purposes.
writing
Historians deals with the dynamic or genetic (the
➢ An imaginative reconstruction of becoming) as well as the static (the being) and aims
the past from the data derived at the interpretative (explaining why and how
from historical method. things happened and were interrelated) as well as
➢ History of history. descriptive (telling what happened, when and
where, and who took part).
The Limitations of Historical Knowledge

• The incompleteness of records has limited

man’s knowledge of history.
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Written Sources of History 1. To discover the original meaning of the text
in its primitive or historical context and its
1. Narrative or literature – chronicles or literal sense or sensus literalis historicus.
tracts presented in narrative form, written
to impart a message. Ex. Books, newspapers 2. To establish a reconstruction of the
historical situation of the author and
2. Diplomatic sources – those which recipients of the text.
document record an existing legal situation
or create a new one. a. Source criticism – analyzes and
➢ The purest, the “best” source. studies the sources used by biblical
➢ Government documents authors.

3. Social documents – are information b. Form criticism – seeks to determine

pertaining to economic, social, political or a unit’s original form and historical
judicial significance. context of the literary tradition.
➢ Record kept by bureaucracies
➢ Government reports, research c. Redaction criticism – regards the
findings. author of the text as editor of the
source material.

Non-Written Sources of History d. Tradition criticism – attempts to

trace the development stages of the
1. Material evidence – archeological
oral tradition from its historical
evidence is one of the most important
emergence to its literary
unwritten evidence.
presentation.
➢ Artistic creations such as pottery,
jewelry, that tell a story of the past.
e. Canonical criticism – focuses its
interpretation of the bible on the
2. Oral evidence – tales and sagas of ancient
text of biblical canon.
peoples and folk songs or popular rituals
from the premodern period of the Philippine
history. Types of Historical Criticism

1. External criticism – determines the

authenticity of the material, also called
Primary versus Secondary Source
provenance of a source.
1. Primary source – first-hand information of ➢ Materials can be tested in two ways.
an event or period that ae usually written or o Paleographical – deciphering
made during or close to the event or period. and dating of historical
➢ Original and factual. manuscript.

2. Secondary sources – materials made by o Diplomatic criticism –

people long after the event being described. critical analysis of historical
➢ It analyzes and interprets primary document to understand how
source. the document came to be..

• Dom Jean Mabillon – a French

Benedictine monk who founded
Lesson 3: Historical Criticisms
paleography and diplomatics.
Historical criticism – it examines the origins of
earliest text to appreciate the underlying 2. Internal criticism – determines the
circumstances upon which the text came to be. historicity (historical actuality) of the facts
contained in the document.

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Test of Authenticity 3 Social Class in Barangay

1. Isographies – the dictionaries of biography • Maharlica – noble

giving examples of handwriting. • Aliping sa guiguilir
• Aliping namamahay
2. Sigilographers – studies seals and can
detect a fake one.
Situation 1:
3. Anachronistic style – idiom, orthography or
punctuation can be detected by specialists Those who are maharlicas on both the father’s and
who are familiar with contemporary writing. mother’s side continue to be so forever, and if it
happen that they should become slaves, it is
through marriage.

Chapter 2: Content and Contextual Analysis Situation 2:

and Selected Primary Sources
If the maharlicas had children among other slaves,
the children and their mother became free.
Content analysis – a systematic evaluation of the
primary source, be it a text, painting, caricature,
and speech. Situation 3:

Contextual analysis – considers specifically the If maharlicas had children by the slave-woman of
time, place, and situation when the primary source another, the slave woman was compelled when
was written. pregnant, to give her master half of a gold tael.

Lesson 1: The First Voyage around the World Situation 4:

(Refer to the separate reviewer.) If a free woman had children by slave, they were all
free, provided he were not her husband.

Lesson 2: Customs of the Tagalogs

Situation 5:
“Customs of the Tagalogs” – is a narrative on the
established culture of the Tagalogs in Luzon If two parents married, of whom one was a
written by Juan de Placensia, a Franciscan maharlica and the other a slave (namamahay or sa
missionary in the Tagalog region from 1578 to 1590. guiguilir) the children were divided.

• Datos – the chief who governed and were Odd birth order – belong to the father
captains of their wars, and they obeyed and
Even birth order – belong to the mother
reverenced.
Only child – half free, half slave
• Barangay – the tribal gathering of thirty to a
hundred houses.
➢ The head of the boat when they Situation 6:
arrived became the leader.
➢ Family of parents, children, Maharlica could not after marriage move from one
relations and slaves. village to another without paying a certain fine in
gold (ranging from one to three taels and banquet to
the entire barangay) as arranged among them.

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Special Cases: ➢ Sibi – temporary shed in each side of the
house to shelter and protect the people from
• When one married a woman of another the wet when it rained.
village, the children were afterward divided
equally between the two barangays. ➢ Sorihile – a small lamp that is placed in the
post in the house.
• Investigations made and sentences passed
by the dato must take place in the presence ➢ Nagaanitos – a way of worship by the whole
of those in his barangay. barangay.

• They had laws by which the condemned to ➢ Badhala – all powerful or maker of all things.
death a man of low birth who insulted the
daughter or wife of a chief; likewise witches, ➢ The natives has no established calendar.
and others of the same class. They are basing it on their crops and flowers
for the seasons.
• Dowries are given by men to the women’s
parents before marriage. If the parents are ➢ Catolonan – male or female officiating
both alive, they both enjoy the use of it. priest.

• Young girls who first had their monthly ➢ Maca – another life of rest, paradise or
courses, their eyes were blindfolded four village of rest.
days and four nights.
➢ Friends and relatives are invited to ➢ Casanaan – place of punishment, grief, and
partake food and drinks. affliction, a place of anguish.
➢ After four days, the catalonan will
take the girl to the water, bath her ➢ No one goes to heaven, only badhala lived
and wash her head and remove the there.
bandage from her eyes.
➢ Sitan – where demons lives and all the
• The deceased is buried beside his house. The wicked goes.
chief if he died will be placed in a small
house that is constructed for that purpose. ➢ Vibit – ghost
They mourned for four days, and laid in a
boat which served as a coffin and placed ➢ Tigbalaang – phantoms
beneath the porch and guarded by slave.
➢ Patianac – if a woman died in childbirth, she
• Divorce and dowries. and the child sufferd punishment; and that
night she could be heard lamenting.
• Death of wife or husband.

• Dowry and arranged marriage. Lesson 3: Works of Juan Luna and Fernando
Amorsolo
Some terms and Rituals of the Tagalogs Historical paintings – a visual representation of
concrete happening on the life of people in a specific
➢ No temples
period.
➢ Simbahan – temple or place of adoration ➢ It is expressed aesthetically through art with
form, technique, and style.
➢ Pandot – worship festival which is
celebrated in a large house of the chief.

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Juan Luna (1857 – 1899) – was a Filipino painter, ➢ Criticize the Navy men spends on vices.
sculptor and political activist of the Philippine ➢ Flooded the beerhouses, make brawls, and
Revolution during the late 19th century. prostitution became rampant.
➢ Treating the Filipinos as dust on their shoes
➢ Impressionist turned realist. that they will just leave behind when they
➢ He became one of the first recognized were gone.
Philippine artist.
➢ He turned to realism depicting social 2. A New Wrinkle in the Art of Thieving
inequalities during his time.
➢ Spoliarium
➢ The Parisian Life

Fernando Amorsolo (1892 – 1972) –

impressionistic technique depicting idyllic scenes,
beautiful maidens, and colorfully dressed peasants
planting or harvesting rice.

➢ His works were significant in the

development of the formation of Filipino
nation of self and identity.
➢ Antipolo Fiesta
➢ About the Torrens Title of land register.
➢ Palay Maiden
➢ The rich with the means of registering the
lands became lords, and the local tillers
became peasants.
Lesson 4: The Political Caricature ➢ The old way of owning a land is through
Political cartoon – a drawing (often including ancestry or inheritance.
caricature) made for the purpose of conveying
editorial commentary in politics, politicians, and 3. The Corruption of a City
current events.

➢ Such cartoon play a role in the political

discourse of the society that provides for
freedom of speech and of the press.

1. Memories of the Visit

➢ Depicts the life of Manila on that period.

➢ Poverty became a big problem because of not
sustained programs of the Americans.
➢ US sailors poured into Manila.
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 ➢ The man is asking the police if where he can Chapter 3
find or get a free food even if it is not enough
or underweight. One Past Many Histories: Controversies and
Conflicting Views in Philippine History
4. Convenient Blindness

Lesson 1 Site of the First Mass

➢ Government officials are blinded by the

vision of Conant Peso.
➢ The peso is pegged at 1$ = 2Php
➢ Officials tends to be blinded by the high
currency value of peso.
➢ They undermined their constituents.
➢ They are seen gambling even outside
government buildings.

Lesson 5: The Speech of Corazon C. Aquino

Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco

Aquino – a Pilipino politician.

➢ 11th president of the Philippines.

➢ First woman president of the Philippines.
➢ Prominent figure during the 1986 People
Power Revolution.
➢ Time Magazine’s Woman of the Year in 1986.
➢ Wife of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.
➢ Oversaw the promulgation of the 1987
Philippine Constitution.

Her speech in the US Congress, Washington DC on

September 18, 1986, six (6) months after her
assumption into office as president of the Republic
of the Philippines.

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