CRITIQUING COLONIAL DISCOURSE

To fully understand Rizal’s writing’s and why they had a powerful impact on his
contemporaries, we must realize the viciousness of the racist and orientalizing representations of
the Filipinos (creoles, mestizos, and natives) concocted by the colonial regime.
● As Syed H. Alatas points out in his myth of the Lazy Native 3, these mythologies were
constructed by the Spanish regime’s ideological agents, most of whom were friars, to
deny the colonized indios’ humanity and so justify their degration.
Si Syed H. Alatas ay isang sociologist, professor at politician.2
● Alatas cites 2 very influential Spanish Writers whose treatises justified, even called for,
the degradation of the indio: Sinibaldo de Mas4 and Fray Gaspar de San Agustin5
Sinibaldo de Mas
Sinibaldo de Mas- civil servant in Madrid na yung policy report na ipinasa niya ay naging
foundation ng colonial practice (kasanayan) sa Ph. Sinimulan niya premise ng kanyang report
sa pamamagitan ng pagtatanong ng “Paano magrule (mamahala) depende sa purpose ng
gobyerno”.
If it is to keep the islands as a colony, then the regime must observe 3 policy imperatives:
1. The colored population must voluntarily respect and obey the whites.
2. The growth of the creole class and the formation of liberals in the colony must be
prevented;
3. The administration (bureaucracy and military) must undergo a thorough reform.

“It is better to let a Spanish rancher even if he can neither read nor write be an officer or sergeant rather
than the most capable native.”

Kinakailangan din daw (Mas) na iform yung intelek at moral na estado ng mga indiyo. Na kahit pa mas
marami sila, mas inferior pa rin sila. Ikinumpara pa sa, tumpok ng dayami (pile of hay) at isang
bar ng ginto. Kinakailangan ito, para ma-break yung pride ng mga katutubo sa lahat ng lugar
(tapos), para kilalanin nila ang mga Espanyol na masters o mas matataas sa kanila kung saan
wala silang pantay na antas.

Mula dito, hindi dapat tawaging “don” at “dona” ang mga Pilipino. Hindi rin sila dapat turuang
mangastila. Sa military, wala dapat Pilipinong tataas pa sa corporal ang rank. Mula pa kay
Sinibaldo de Mas, sabi niya…

Mas explains why creoles are dangerous:

“A Filipino- Spaniard (a creole)… has spent his infancy in the Philippines, there he has enjoyed the
games of childhood and known his first loves, there he has all his companions, there he has
domiciled his soul… The Philippines is his native land.”

Kahit pa may dugong Espanyol ang mga kreyoles (half-European), hindi pa rin sila dapat bigyan ng
ganong karapatan na gaya ng sa mga Europeong hindi rito isinilang, dahil dito sila lumaki sa
Pilipinas. Dito sila nakabuo ng mga memories, dito sila nagkaroon ng mga kakilala, kaibigan o
kung ano man. Kaya naman ang damdamin no’n para sa bayang kanyang tinubuan, para sa
Pilipinas.

Kaya rin siguro, sinusuppressed din yung growth at advancement nila, dahil threat din sila sa mga
mananakop. Yung makabayang damdamin nila hindi para sa Spain.

Likewise, colonial authorities must beware of the liberal. Writes Mas:

The work-hand, the goatherd, do not read social contracts and neither do they know what occurs beyond
their own town. It is not this kind of people who have destroyed absolutism in Spain, but those
who have been educated in the colleges who know the value of constitution liberties and
accordingly fight for them… in a colony, liberal and rebellious are synonymous terms.

Ang mga kolonyal na awtoridad ay dapat mag-ingat sa mga taong may kakayang mag-aral, sapagkat
ang mga taong ito ang makaaalam din ng mga ng halaga ng constitutional liberalism 1 at pano
ipaglaban ito. Sabi ni Mas, sa isang kolonya, ang liberal at rebelyon ay iisa lamang.

Mahigpit na tinututulan ni Governor-General Don Pedro Sarrio ang sekularisasyon, base sa kanyang
liham sa hari ng Espanya. Dito sinabi niya na ang kontribusyon ng mga prayle para tuluyang
mapaamo o maipayapa ang mga katutubo. Kung ang mapapasakamay ng mga paring secular
ang mga simbahan, ang gobyerno ay mawawalan ng control sa mga impormasyon o balita na…

Ang pagiging pari nila ay hindi mag-aalis sa ideya na mula sila sa bayang nasakop at may
pagmamahal sila sa kanilang mga kababayan.

Sinabi din ni Sinibaldo de Mas, “bilang opinyon ng isang mamayan ng Espanya, mas mabuti para sa
Espanya na ihanda ang Pilipinas sa kalayaan”. Matalino si Sinibaldo para ma-realize lahat na
sa pag-aaral niya ng kolonisasyon, useless ang Pilipinas sa Spain. Dahil unang-una

1. It did not augment the Crown’s treasury

2. It is not necessary as a market for Spanish manufactured products because Spain had not
industrialized.
4. It is not needed as a solution for overpopulation because Spain did not suffer from this problem.
Mas not only raised the ethical issue but also predicted the violent end of Spanish rule in the Philippines.

Para kay Sinibaldo de Mas, pano nila mapagsasama yung idea na sila mismo, nagsasagawa ng
kalayaan sa kanilang mga sarili pero naghahangad naman sila na ipatupad ang kanilang mga
batas sa ibang tao. Bakit kailangang ipagkait sa mga Pilipino yung mga bagay na ninanais nila
sa kanilang sariling bansa?

Bukod din dito, nahulaan din niya na makakamit ng Pilipinas ang kanilang kalayaan sa pamamagitan
ng pagdanak ng dugo at maraming masasayang na properties ang maraming Espanyol at
Pilipino. Kayat, habang maaga pa, mas madali na bitawan na lamang ang Pilipinas.

Fray Gaspar de San Agustin

Bago pa man tumindi ang pangangampanya ni Burgos sa sekularisasyn, 1720 pa lang, nagbigay na
agad ng argumento ang prayleng si Gaspar de San Agustin hinggil sa sekularisasyon sa
Pilipinas sa kanyang akdang, “Letter on the Filipinos”.

Letter on the Filipinos

Dito sinabi ni Padre San Agustin na ang mga indiyong inordehanan ay hindi nagiging prayle dahil
tinawag ng kabutihan, kundi dahil sa malaking advantage na makukuha nila kung bigyan sila ng
mataas na pwesto. Mula sa pagiging sacristan sa pagiging prayle. Mula sa pagbabayad ng
tributo sa pagiging binabayaran nito. Kung yung mga Pilipino raw ba na meron lamang maliit
na kapangyarihan, ay wala nang pakundangan o bastos at hindi matiiisin, paano pa kaya kung
bigyan ng mas mataas na tungkulin at kapangyarihan?

San Agustin is convinced of the innate inferiority of the Indios, who do not have the “great
changeableness of the Europeans,” and who “lack magnanimity 6,” and are “remarkable for their
ingratitude7,” “naturally rude,” “fickle8, malicious, untrustworthy, dull and lazy”.

Ang katamaran daw ng mga Pilipino ay makikita sa mga maliliit na bagay na ginagawa nila, gaya ng
kapag nagbukas ng pinto, hindi sinasara. Kung manghihiram ng mga kutsilyo, gunting, martilyo
at kung ano pa ay hindi raw ibinabalik bagkus naiiwan lamang kung saan sila gumawa.

Ang mga ganitong argumento ay hindi na bago noong panahon ng pananakop. Gaya ng naobserbahan
ni Syed, ang mga diskursong nabanggit ay umikot din sa British Malaya at Dutch Indonesia.

Ang mga kolonyal na diskursong ito ang nagpatibay ng pang-aapi sa maraming tao. Yung thinking na
gaya ng kina Sinibaldo de Mas at Fray Gaspar de San Agustin ang dahilan kaya pilit na
pinipigil ang sekularisasyon at equality sa bansa.
Alatas comes up with an interesting thesis based on his reading of Mas and San Agustin. Alatas (1977,
109) writes: “The attack on the Filipino character in ecclesiastical writings was actually an
attempt to subject the Filipino priests to the dominance of the Spanish ecclesiastical authorities in
the Philippines.”

1. Constitutional liberalism describes a form of government that upholds the principles

of classical liberalism and the rule of law. It differs from liberal democracy in that it is not about
the method of selecting government.[1] The journalist and scholar Fareed Zakariaexplains that
constitutional liberalism "is about government's goals. It refers to the tradition, deep in Western
history, that seeks to protect an individual's autonomy and dignity against coercion, whatever the
source—state, church, or society."[2] Democracy is becoming more common around the
world. Freedom House reported that in 2013 there were 118 electoral democracies. Many of
these countries are not constitutionally liberal and can be described as illiberal democracies.[3][4]
2. In 1966, the sociologist and researcher Syed Hussein Alatas began pondering the question of
why Western colonialists had, for four centuries, considered the natives of Maritime Southeast
Asia to be generally lazy. His research eventually produced The Myth of the Lazy Native, a book
which was published in 1977. In the book, he cited one instance of a “denigrating” view of the
natives, when a German scientist suggested that the Filipinos made their oars from bamboo so
they could rest more frequently: “If they happen to break, so much the better, for the fatiguing
labour of rowing must necessarily be suspended till they are mended again.” Syed Hussein
criticised such beliefs in the book as ranging “from vulgar fantasy and untruth to refined
scholarship.” He also asserted that “[t]he image of the indolent, dull, backward and treacherous
native has changed into that of a dependent one requiring assistance to climb the ladder of
progress”.
Syed Hussein wrote and published another book in 1971, Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1781-1826:
schemer or reformer?. It is an account of Raffles’ political philosophy and its relation to the
massacre of Palembang, the Banjarmasin affair, and some of his views and legislations, during
his colonial career in Java, Sumatra, and Singapore.
3. The Myth of the Lazy Native is Syed Hussein Alatas' widely acknowledged critique of the
colonial construction of Malay, Filipino and Javanese natives from the 16th to the 20th century.
Drawing on the work of Karl Mannheim and the sociology of knowledge, Alatas analyses the
origins and functions of such myths in the creation and reinforcement of colonial ideology and
capitalism. The book constitutes in his own words: 'an effort to correct a one-sided colonial view
of the Asian native and his society' and will be of interest to students and scholars of colonialism,
post-colonialism, sociology and.
4. Si Sinibaldo de Mas y Sanz (ipinanganak noong 1809, Barcelona – namatay noong
1868, Madrid) ay isang kilalang diplomata ng pamahalaan ng Espanya sa Asya noong ika-19
siglo. Bilang adbenturero at makata, sinimulan niya ang potograpiya sa Pilipinas noong 1841. Isa
rin siyang embahador ng Espanya sa Macau, Tsina.[1]
5. Gaspar de San Agustín ( Madrid , July 5, 1651 - Manila , August 8, 1724) was a Spanish
clergyman and historian. 1
He entered the Order of San Agustín in 1667. He spent only a month in the convent of San Felipe
el Real de Madrid, immediately following the trip to the Philippines , during which he cast his
vows. He lived in the convent of San Agustín (Manila) 2 and held various positions in the
islands: procurator general, provincial secretary, prior
of Lipa , Parañaque , Pasig , Malate , Tondo and Tambobong , provincial visitor and
commissioner of the Holy Office (the Inquisition ).
He stood out for his mastery of different classical and modern languages, including two of the
Filipino vernacular: the Visaya and the Tagalog . Among his works are:
 ● Conquests of the Philippine Islands: The temporal by the arms of Mr. Don Phelipe
Segundo the Prudent; and the spiritual one by the religious of the Order of Our Father St.
Augustine - Foundation and progresses of his Province of the Most Holy Name of
Jesus (1698, reissued in 1998 with the title Conquests of the Philippine Islands 1565-
1615 )
● Compendium of the art of the Tagalog language (1703).
● Letter to a friend of his giving an account of the natural and genius of the Indians of these
Philippine islands (1720)
6. Kagandahang loob
7. Walang utang na loob
8. Salawahan; pabago-bago ng isip