ANNOTATIONS

Jose Rizal’s
Historical Essays
“
To foretell the destiny of a
nation, it is necessary to
open a book that tells her
past.
3
Annotation of Antonio de Morga’s
Sucesos de las islas Filipinas
Filipinas dentro de cien años

(The Philippines, A Century Hence)
La Indolencia de los Filipinos (The Indolence

of the Filipino)
4
Sucesos de las islas
Filipinas
por el
Doctor Antonio de Morga
Obra publicada en Méjico el año 1609,

nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por
José Rizal
París, Librería de Garnier Hermanos,

1890
5
Antonio de Morga (1559-1636)
o a prominent governmental official in
the Philippines from 1595 to 1603
(Oidor of the Audiencia)
o He held a doctorate in cannon and

civil law
o Morga led the defense against the

Dutch in 1600.
6
Sucesos de las islas Filipinas
o Published in two volumes in Mexico in 1609
o first lay formal history of the Philippine conquest by

Spain, from 1493-1603.
o Narrates the history of wars, intrigues, diplomacy and

evangelization of the Philippines in a somewhat
disjointed way.
Overview of Morga’s work
o Political, social, and economic phases of life, both among the
natives and their conquerors;
o The futility of the Spanish policy in making external expeditions,

and its consequent neglect of internal affairs;
o the great Chinese question; the growth of trade; communication

with Japan; missionary movements from the islands to
surrounding countries; the jealous and envious opposition of the
Portuguese; and, the dangers of sea-voyages.
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas is composed of eight
chapters:
o First: Magellan and Legazpi’s seminal expeditions
o Second – Seventh: Chronological report on

government
administration under several Governors-General
o Eighth: “account of the Philippines Islands, the natives

there, their antiquity, customs, and government, both in the
time of their paganism and after their conquest by the
Spaniards; and other particulars.”
Rizal’s Annotations of Antonio de
Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas
o Originally published in 1609, Rizal republished
the
book with his annotations in 1889
o He labored for many months at the British Museum in
order to copy page by page the book of Morga
Rizal’s Annotations sought
three purposes
o The Filipino people have a culture of their own before
the coming of the Europeans
o Filipinos were decimated, demoralized, exploited and
ruined by Spanish colonialism
o The present state of the Philippines (19th century)
was not in all ways and necessarily superior to the
past
TO TH “ E
FILIPINOS
In the Noli me Tangere I began the sketch of the present state of our Native Land.
The effect that my attempt produced pointed out to me, before proceeding to
unfold the other successive pictures before your eyes, the necessity of first making
known to you the past om order that you may be able to judge better the present
and to measure the road traversed during three centuries
Born and reared in the ignorance “ of our Yesterday, like almost all
Without voice or authority to speak about what we did not see or studied, I
of you.
considered it necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who
governed the destinies of the Philippines in the beginning of her new era and
witness the last moments of our ancient nationality. It is then the shadow of the
civilization of our ancestors which the author is evoking before you.
I transmit faithfully to you his word “ s, without changing or
adapting them only whenever possible to modern orthography for greater
mutilating
clarity, andthem,
altering the some what defective punctuation of the original in
order to make its perusal easier, The post, the nationality merits of De Morga,
together with the data and testimonies furnished by his contemporaries,
almost all Spaniards, recommended the book to your thoughtful
consideration.
“
If the book succeeded to awaken your consciousness of the 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.
Some derivations
ON THE PRESUPPOSED LAZINESS of NATIVES
Rizal defended the natives in reference to their gold mining

activities; collecting gold deposits through washer or placer
mixing. Rizal said that:
o “
The indios fell into insufficiency in mining gold during the Spanish occupation
product of such labor only went to the personal interests of the encomenderos.
since the
o the whole time of working, the natives received continuous vexations from Spaniards,
prompting them to leave the mining behind.
o It was these vexations that made the natives “contented” of what they have from
previously mined gold (in the form of jewellry).
16
Some derivations
ON THE AGRICULTURAL DECLINE OF PROVINCES
In this area, Rizal referenced to the effects of Spanish rule in

selected provinces; Panay & Pampanga:
o Pampanga
big
“
was a rich province noted with numerous irrigations and
harvests but whose population declined steadily after almost half a century.
o Upon the governance of Sabiniano de Lara, extensive cutting of timber was
plausible
made explanation
for the onofwhy
construction ships the lowlands,
of the nutrient-rich
king which as the
in turn became theymost
were, remained uncultivated; leading to poor harvest and quality.
o Concerning the Island of Panay, where d“ espite abundance in agricultural plants
rice and wine-producing palm trees a steady decline of population was observed, Rizal
such as
noted that:
–from 50,000 families, the population dropped to only 14,000.
–people were deterred by vexations from provincial governors
Some derivations
ON LITERACY AND EARLY
WRITING SYSTEMS
De Morga stated in the book that there was a pre-existing
writing system in the islands, of which are parallel to Arabic
and Greek styles.
-comprised cumulatively of 15 symbols. Three are
vowels, while 12 are consonants and altogether equipped
with punctuations.
In Summary
o Rizal used historical scholarship to combat colonialist
ideology
–source of backwardness according to the friars
is the laziness of the Filipinos
o Destroyed the myth of the "lazy native“
o Critiqued colonialism and Filipino
constructing
identity the Asia Pacific perspective
o Forwarded
In Summary
o Used a European methodology to give a Filipino
meaning to the history of his people (a story-teller, a
myth-maker)
o The first Filipino, if not the first Asian to construct
a
nationalist view of history.

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Jose Rizal’s

Filipinas dentro de cien años

La Indolencia de los Filipinos (The Indolence

Obra publicada en Méjico el año 1609,

París, Librería de Garnier Hermanos,

o He held a doctorate in cannon and

o Morga led the defense against the

o first lay formal history of the Philippine conquest by

o Narrates the history of wars, intrigues, diplomacy and

o The futility of the Spanish policy in making external expeditions,

o the great Chinese question; the growth of trade; communication

o Second – Seventh: Chronological report on

o Eighth: “account of the Philippines Islands, the natives

Rizal defended the natives in reference to their gold mining

In this area, Rizal referenced to the effects of Spanish rule in

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