Rotten Beef & Stinking

Fish: Rizal and the

Writing of Philippine
History
Armengol
Artificio
Aspe
Atilano
Anonuevo

Introduction
In writing history, historians (upon completing their research) are expected to
come up with enthralling narratives using the gathered evidence; narratives that
are not predetermined in analysis and structure. However, the task of looking for
such historical narratives proves to be difficult as each and every historian, no
matter how objective he/she tries to be, ends up producing an account not of
history per se, but of their own version of history.
Having this idea in mind is important when studying and analyzing historical
accounts and narratives like this of Rizals annotation of the Morga in order to
achieve a more neutral understanding despite flaws on writers subjectivity.

Antonio de Morga
University of Salamanca
1593 appointed as Lieutenant Governor of the Philippines
1598 resigned this post to assume the office of judge
in the Audiencia
Put in charge of the Spanish fleet against Dutch invasion
Lost and then moved to Mexico.
Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas

Antonio de Morga

Source:emaze.com

Inside the Sucesos de Las Islas Pilipinas:

Chronicled political events/people including achievements by the
Spaniards in transforming the Philippines
Specifically within the periods of the first governor-generals
Chapter 8 tackles the pre-Hispanic Philippines (unedited by Rizal
except for spelling and punctuation)

Sucesos de Las Islas Pilipinas:

Source:emaze.com

Rizals agenda in writing History:

Historiographically, Rizals Morga had patriotism as a fulcrum
Rizals historical perspective placed him in conflict with
Isabelo de los Reyes
Committed scholarship necessary fictions

Why Rizal chose Morga over other Spanish

chronicles:
Published in 1609 therefore original book was rare
Morga was a layman and was far more object unlike religious scribes
whose documents were written dominantly from religious/spiritual
basis
Morgas writings seemed like an extension of Spanish history in the
Philippines not the history of the Philippines itself.
Morga was more sympathetic to indios.

Rizals Annotations
Historical Annotations
Annotations reflecting his strong anti-clerical bias

Rizals flaws in his annotations:

Rizal incessantly insisted that the pre-Hispanic Philippines was
advanced and civilized for its time.
Examples in the text:
Boat technology
Panday Pira
Pre-Hispanic literature

Reception of the Morga:

Past
Banned in the Philippines /censored by Spaniards
Language barrier
Criticism by Blumentritt
Present
Recent advances in historical, archaeological and ethnographic
research
Considered one of his minor writings

Relevance
First account of Philippine history from the viewpoint of a Filipino history of the place versus history of the people of the place
Republished by Rizal without censorship or revisions, unlike the one by
H.E.J. Stanley
Recreation of the pre-Hispanic indio

INSIGHTS:

Rizals choice of the Morga reflects his preference for secular accounts
Use of history to engineer society - image of the indio
Information reception is based on the perceived credibility of the author