History Cries: Forget Me Not!

Written by: __________

In account to a substantial analyzation of our National Hero, José Protacio Rizal Mercado y
Alonso Realonda’s statement, it is with utmost important that we be cognizant of the influences,
circumstances and context before these words are articulated.

“If the book succeeds to awaken your consciousness of our 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”

The book that Rizal is pertaining to is his published annotated version of Antonio de Morga 's Sucesos de
las Islas Filipinas (Events of the Philippine Islands). Antonio de Morga is the first to write and publish a
Philippine history book. His work is originally published in 1609 and was intended not only to provide
the Filipino people their early history, a pre-Spanish history, but to present to them their own authentic
culture and identity. Rizal adjudge the necessity of the testimony of an Illustrous Spaniard such as de
Morga who personally witness the shifting from our last moments of ancient nationality to new era of
colonialism in writing about the past which he blatantly quoted he is ignorant of. In addition to de
Morga’s work, Rizal’s included clarifications and great discussion of details, evidences and grounds to
falsity we believed, and confirmations which are all checked against other sources.
Subsequently, knowing Rizal’s purpose in writing the books let us give a crystal view of what he
wants to convey. And the last part of the statement mirrors his purpose. We can say that Rizal saw the
value of the past in understanding the present and in foretelling the future. That apprehension of the past
comes with knowing the worth of the present. And by fully grasping our history, we are bound learn from
its mistakes. Thus, giving us a brighter path ahead. To support this claim, Rizal stated this along with the
aforementioned statement we are discussing:

‘’Before attempting to unroll before your eyes the other pictures which were to follow, it was necessary
first to post you on the past. So only can you fairly judge the present and estimate how much progress has
been made during the three centuries.’’

Delving more to statement per se, I think it was preordained to evoke and kindle the patriotism
and nationalism in us. Rizal’s statement like his work was meant to bring us to our core – our past. Like
how fiction books let us travel to fantasy worlds, his statement was meant to remind us of what our world
was once before we readily decided to forget. And I think Rizal knows how easy it is to forget, much
more of things we did not particularly took part ourselves, and doubles the effort to explicate things and
even state that if his does awakens us, he did not work in vain.
Moreover, the statement means to study our own heritage is to love our own identity. By
correcting erroneous beliefs on our own culture and identity, we stay current and get ahead. Like
philosopher Alvin Toffler once wrote:
 "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who
cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
Learning what we do not know, unlearning what is unnecessary and wrong and relearning all of what
makes us Filipinos constantly is how we remain attached to our ethnicity against the hundreds of years
subjugation from different countries. This is how we stay passionate to each hero and their sacrifices; this
is the reason why our liberty tastes sweeter.

References:
Alvin Toffler. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2020, from
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191826719.001.0001/q-oro-ed4-
00010964

Dr. Jose Rizal's annotations to Morga's 1609 Philippine History. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2020, from
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/966/dr-jose-rizals-annotations-to-morgas-1609-
philippine-history

(n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2020, from https://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/aufi/rizal/hall03.htm