PHILIPPINE HISTORY: Issues and
Trends
POSITIVISM – Filipino historians
tradition in writing history
- Historical knowledge and
interpretation ought to be
based upon verifiable data
gathered after examination of
documents through internal
and external criticism
NEW HISTORICISM – new historical
approach that emerged
- Seeks the interpretation of
facts from all perspectives,
including those that do not
concern history before
1960’s – historians exerted efforts to
broaden the bases of their historical
sources and provide new and fresh
interpretations
Leslie Bauzon – wrote Perspective on
Contemporary Philippine
Historiography
- Emphasized the need to
develop a methodology for
interpretative historical
analysis within the context of
the Philippine society
- Argued social scientists are
using Western model which do
not fit Philippine setting
DEFINITIONS OF HISTORY
Foreign Scholar: History is the record
of what one age finds worthy of note
in another
Cariz: History is a study of human
achievements
*whatever historians’ def.: history
suggests past events
Elizabeth Medina: History is not just
the past but also and principally the
present and future
Keith Jenkis: History can never be
and will never for one’s self. It is
always for one person.
Samuel Tan: (prominent historian)
(debunked Manila-centered History)
History is the dynamic process of
dealing with the past in which the
stages or aspect of development are
interrelated brought upon by the
understanding if the present and
future
History is collective interplay of
events
Renalo Constantino: (prominent
nationalist historian)
History is the achievement of man
not the individual but the collective
Masses as the real mover of history
Post-EDSA Period – gave a new
direction for Filipino historians
- Filipino as medium of
instruction had gained support
from different historians
Zeus Salazar and advocates of
PANTAYONG PANANAW: Ang
kasaysayan ay isang salaysay tungkol
sa nakalipas na may saysay sa isang
grupo ng tao
Priveleged in the Discourse of
PANTAYONG PANANAW: study of
- Oral traditions
- Culture
- Local History
INVENTION OF WRITING –
considered as one of the most
important inventions of human
civilization
- Gave man the instrument to
record their achievements
- Ended the pre-historic age
- Marked the beginning of the
historic era
HISTORY BRANCHES:
1. GENERAL HISTORY – covers
political, economic, diplomatic
and military history
2. ECONOMIC HISTORY –
economic thoughts and
economic system
3. CULTURAL HISTORY – covers
local and ethnic history
4. SOCIAL HISTORY
5. MYTH HISTORY
HISTORICAL WRITING – dependent
on the availability of primary source,
documentary sources, secondary
event or testimonies of the
authorities
CATEGORIES OF HISTORICAL
SOURCES:
1. WRITTEN SOURCES –
A. LITERARY – the
interpretation of the writer
which involves his
subjectivity
B. OFFICIAL – record produced
when transacting business
2. TRADITIONAL SOURCES – such
as folklore, oral tradition, epic
and indigenous materials
- part of social science
- follows the scientific way of
viewing things
3. MATERIAL/MATERIAL OBJECTS
– such as money, guns, church
bells and other materials which
served as part of the events
HISTORIOGRAPHY – the art of writing
- The theory and history of
historical writing
- came from Greek words:
- HISTORIA – past
- GRAPHIER – to write
- scientific way of writing history
only gained prominence in the
early 1990s
Michel Foucault – new historicism
pioneer
- provided new perspectives in
terms of historical
interpretation data like oral
history, folklore, indigenous
materials(which traditionally
can’t be considered as sources
of history but is now
otherwise)
Baktin – “silences, not just the voices
in history are important”
WRITING OF HISTORY IN SPANISH
PERIOD
MISSIONARY HISTORY – writings of
the early friars
- recorded observations on the
life of the early Filipinos
- were focused on the Spanish
history of the Philippines
specifically their missionary
experience in the country
AUGUSTINIAN – first order of friars
that arrived in Philippines
Cronica de la Order de N.P.S Agustin
en las provincias dela Nueva España
- Fray Juan de Grijalva
- Showcased the Augustinian
missions in the Philippines
Filipino Uprisings in the 17th and 18th
Centuries - Fray Casimiro Diaz
Historia delas Islas Filipinas
 - Fray Joaquin Martinez de
Zuñiga
- summary of the accounts of
the early chronicles
DOMICICAN ORDER – came after
Augustinians
- one of the most influential
religious orders in the
Philippines
Historia de la Provincial del Santo
Rosario – Fr. Diego de Advante
- showcased their missionary
activities
Binalatongan Revolt of 1860 in
Pangasinan – Fr. Baltazar de Santa
Cruz
Dominican Mission in Batanes – Fr.
Vicente Salazar & Fr. Diego Colantes
History of the Dominican Order in
the Philippines – Fr. Juan Ferrando
ORDER of St. FRANCIS – also held
missionary posts in the country
Los Casturibres de los Tagalogs
- Fray Juan de la Plasencia
- Published in Nagcarlan in 1589
- Showcase the customary laws
of the Pre-Spanish Philippines
- Fist civil code of the Philippines
Fray Francisco de Santa Ines –
tackled the ancient Filipino cultures
and the missionary labor of the
Franciscan Order in the Philippines,
China and Japan
*both sources of knowledge
regarding the cultures of the early
Filipinos
JESUIT FATHERS – made valuable
contributions to the understanding of
the 16th century Philippines
Relacion de las Islas Filipinas
- Fr. Pedro Chirino (one of the
most distinguished Jesuit
historians)
- Published in Rome in 1604
- Narrative of life of the Filipinos
prior to their colonization
Jesuit Missions – Fr. Francisco Collin
Father Pedro Murilla Y. Velarde –
made very valuable contribution in
Philippine historiography
- In accounts of the history of
the Philippines, mission and
conquest of Mindanao and the
inclusion of a map of the
archipelago
Fr. Juan Delgado – gave broader
description of the Philippines
- Includes the political
ecclesiastical, economic, social
and cultural accounts of the
country
RECOLLECT FATHERS – less popular
compared to other religious orders in
the country
Fray Juan dela Concepcion – written
value information that can be used to
understand the culture of the Spanish
Philippines
CONTEMPORARY HISTORIANS – use
a post-colonial reading on the
documents to eliminate the colonial
bias
SECULAR HISTORIANS IN SPANISH
PERIOD
- Spanish officials in the island
 - Foreign residents and writers
- Filipino Ilustrado
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
- Dr. Antonio de Morga(most
respected)
- One of the most reliable
sources of information
regarding 16th century
Philippines
Relacion de las Islas Filipinas
- Captain Miguel de Loarca
(encomendero in the Visayas)
- Work on Pre-Spanish Philippine
Society
- Highlighted the material
culture of the early Filipinos (a
very high degree of
advancement)
- Vivid description of the
economic life of the early
Filipinos
Estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1810
- Thomas de Comyn (one of the
colonial officials who worked
on the history of the
Philippines)
- Description of the colonial
economy after the opening of
Manila international trade
Paul de la Goromiere – surgeon
mayor of Spanish army
- Also wrote his impressions on
the country
Historia General de Filipinas Desde
Descubriemento Hastra Nuestros
Diaz - 3 volume work of Jose
Montero y Vidal
- good account of Spanish PH