ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History

Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences

Visayas State University

Lesson 1.3: Philippine Historiography

Lesson Summary
In this topic, you will learn the trends of Philippine historiography. First,
you will get to know what historiography is and its development in the country
from the colonial period up to the contemporary era. Lastly, we shall talk about
different sources of Philippine history.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Name and be familiar with the works of foreign and local Philippine
historiographers.
2. Trace the development of Philippine historiography and the changes it
underwent in terms of style and perspective.

Motivation Question
What documents were written that would describe the life and culture
of our ancestors during the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods of
our Philippine history?

Discussion
Philippine historiography can be mainly traced back during the Spanish
period. It comprises the historical and archival research and writing on the
history of the archipelago throughout Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Additionally, under Philippine historiography, Filipino historians are constrained
to view Philippine history from the standpoint of the Filipinos. As early as the
1960s, our historians have devoted to expanding the foundations of their
historical sources and provided new and fresh interpretations that defied the
traditional discourses in history. Generally, Philippine historiography can be
divided into the pre-colonial period, colonial period: Spanish and American, and
post-colonial period (Cruz, 1984).

Pre-colonial Period

There is only limited information during this era. This is because almost
all records did not survive; most of the writings were written on perishable
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

materials such as bamboo or leaves. Hence, the first and only written
document found in the early Philippine language as of the moment is called
The Laguna Copper Inscription (LCI). The LCI is a legal document inscribed on
a copper plate in 900 CE (Postma, 1992). Before the LCI, most of the earliest
Philippine histories we had were written by westerners such as Antonio
Pigafetta and Maximilianus Transylvanus. This is referring to their narratives in
Visayas and Palawan during Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage or the remnants of
his expedition (Cruz, 1984). Specifically, Antonio Pigafetta’s chronicle about
Magellan’s voyage included profound ethnographic details on the culture of the
early Filipinos. His accounts were valuable because of the firsthand
information on Philippine culture before the Spanish contact (Sebastian, n.d.).
Meanwhile, there are also books or accounts written by Spanish
historians or chroniclers, mostly friars. Many of their works were about the
activities and missions of various religious orders delegated in the Philippines.
Their accounts are quite noteworthy for our history since these missionaries
brought Christianity or Catholicism in the country. Their reports are vital
because of their records of the establishment of many towns. Although most
of the time, the natives were responsible for founding the latter.
For example, the order of St. Francis was active since the 14th century
in Manila, the Tagalog provinces, Camarines, and other regions. The
Franciscan, Juan de Plasencia, was requested by Governor de Sande to provide
pieces of information about the government, administration of justice,
inheritances, slaves, dowries, worship, burials, and superstition of the colony.
As a response, he wrote the “Los Costumbres de los Tagalos” (B & R, volume
7). It was not only significant as a source of the local history of the Tagalog
region but also as a guide to the alcaldes in the settlement of cases involving
the natives. Hence, it became the first civil code of the Philippines. And so,
together with the account of Fr. Felix de Huerta, Estado geografico, topografico
estadistico, historico, religioro de Ia Santa y Apostolica provincia de S. Gregorio
Magnode religiosos menOt-es Ia regular y mas estrecha observancia de H.S.P.S.
Francisco en las Filipinas (Cruz, 1863). Meanwhile, the Jesuit friars made
valuable contributions to understanding the Philippines in the 16th century. Fr.
Pedro Chirino, who is considered as one of the most distinguished Jesuit
historians, authored the book “Relacion de las Islas Filipinas” which was
published in Rome in 1604. The book is a narrative of the life of the Filipinos
before their colonization (Sebastian, n.d).
Among the Spanish officials appointed in the Philippines, Dr. Antonio
de Morga was one of the most admired. His “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas” is
one of the most reliable sources of information regarding the Philippines in the
16th century. Rizal even attempted to annotate this book in his search for
unbiased historical truth about the country (Schumacher, 1975). Another well-
recognized work about the pre-colonial period was the book written by Captain
Miguel de Loarca, an encomendero in the Visayas. Capt. Loarca’s “Relacion de
las Islas Filipinas” emphasized the material culture of the early Filipinos which
he considered as innovative. As an encomendero, he made a rich portrayal of
the economic living of the native Filipinos (Sebastian, n.d.).
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

Colonial Period

Spanish Era
Most of the early historians were Spanish friars. Hence, their accounts
were concentrated on the Spanish history of the Philippines, particularly their
expeditions in the country as a missionary. Their passion to spread Christianity
has led them to study the culture of the early Filipinos and religiously
documented their observations. Their records of observations are crucial in the
understanding of the Philippine past, although, most of them were missionary
history. To name a few, we have Fr. Francisco Collin who wrote about the Jesuit
missions; Father Pedro Murillo Y. Velarde with his records on Philippine history,
mission and conquest of Mindanao, and including the map of the archipelago;
Fr. Juan Delgado’s account depicted the Philippines in terms of political,
ecclesiastical, economic, social, and cultural aspects.
Meanwhile, many secular historians had also exhibited a keen interest
in the Philippines. Apart from Dr. de Morga’s work, Jose Montero y Vidal’s work
entitled “Historia General de Filipinas Desde Descubriemento Hastra Nuestros
Diaz” was a good interpretation of the Spanish Philippines. Included in his book
was the Spaniard’s version of Cavite mutiny on January 20, 1872. Additionally,
Thomas de Comyn, a Spanish official wrote “Estado de las Islas Filipinas en
1810.” His work is valuable because it described the colonial economy after
the opening of Manila to international world trade. On the other hand, some
foreign residents wrote their observations in the Philippines, namely, Henry
Peddington, Dr. Jean Mallat, Sir John Browning, Dr. Feodor Jagor, and John
Foreman. These foreign writers offer contemporary Filipino historians an
alternative worldview in understanding our past.
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

Figure 1. Murillo Velarde map of the Philippines, 1734 (from Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/item/2013585226/).

The 19th century is also the era of the formation of Filipino identity. With the
opening of the Philippines to world trade, economic development paved the
way for the birth of the middle class. This progress allowed Filipino historians
to study in Europe and work for Philippine reforms. Sebastian (n.d.) noted that
the Filipino ilustrados like Jose Rizal,
Marcelo del Antonio Luna, Ponce, Trinidad Ilustrados – The enlightened
Pardo H. de Tavera, Pilar, Graciano Lopez- ones. They are educated
Jaena, Pedro Paterno, and Isabelo de los Filipinos during the Spanish
Reyes among others became the first period in the Philippine history.
Filipino nationalist-historians who defended
the country and the Filipinos from unfair representation made by foreign
historians.
The nationalist historiography sustained during the time of the
revolution. Filipino revolutionaries like Bonifacio, Mabini, Jacinto, Valenzuela,
Artemio Ricarte, and others wrote several articles about the Philippines that
sparked the nationalistic zeal of the Filipinos. Nonetheless, the writings of
Mabini and Ricarte demonstrated an intense anti-clerical and anti-colonial tone
(Sebastian, n.d.).
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

American Era
The way history was written during this period can be regarded as better
than the writings during the Spanish era. Filipino ilustrados in the likes of Pedro
Paterno, Rafael Palma, Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Epifanio de los Santos,
Teodoro M. Kalaw, and Isabelo de los Reyes continued to be active in the socio-
political field during the American colonization. Their immense concern in the
socio-political activities of the country directed them to contribute to the
development of Philippine historiography. These Filipino ilustrados had saved
numerous information concerning Filipino society, cultures, and history. Pardo
de Tavera’s valuable Filipiniana anthology entitled “Biblioteca Filipina”
published in 1903 was one of the most reliable sources of historians in writing
the history of the Philippines.
Pardo de Tavera’s Filipiniana collection was used as a reference to the
infamous book of Blair and Robertson entitled, “The Philippine Islands: 1943-
1898.” On the other hand, Epifanio de los Santos was a critic and biographer
who worked on the life of Filipino heroes like Bonifacio, Del Pilar, and
Aguinaldo. His monographs regarding the revolution and the life of several
heroes became one of the bases of modern historians.
The American historians had made tremendous efforts in research to
write the history of the Philippines. Although, most of the writings of the
Americans about the Philippines are still extremely biased, there a few
Americans who favorably wrote fairly for Filipinos. Blair and Robertson’s work
is considered as an authority in Philippine history. American colonial officials
also took the time to write their version of Philippine history. Some of the
notable colonial officials who contributed in the historical writing are Fred
Atkinson, with his book “The Philippine Islands”, 1903; James LeRoy who wrote
“Philippine Past and Present”, 1914; George Malcolm with his “The
Commonwealth of the Philippines”, 1936; and Joseph Hayden who worked on
the book “The Philippines: A Study in National Development”, 1936. The
accounts of the colonial officials were critical to the Republic of Malolos and
the Filipinos. Similar to the accounts of Spanish friars, the history was written
by the colonial officials were narratives of the history of the United States in
the Philippines. In their writings, they boast of the achievements of the colonial
administration in the country. They highlighted the changes and developments
that the Americans introduced and made it appear that the Filipinos are nothing
without the tutelage of the Americans. On the other hand, non-colonial officials
in the country like Catherine Mayo highlighted the so-called backwardness of
the Filipinos.
Schumacher (1975) agreed on how these scholarships became an
essential tool of historical propaganda in the service of US colonial rule. Due to
the miseducation of the Filipino people under the American colonial regime,
Filipinos were gradually trained to look on the American colonizers as their
benefactors and to allow themselves to be subjected to American economic
exploitation. The exploitation of the masses in its turn led to a new resistance,
which has widened the consciousness of the people to the source of their
misery, namely, the colonial relationship.
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

Post-Colonial Era

Most foreigners remarked that the Filipinos had no civilization before

the Spanish colonization. With that, Filipino historians felt obliged to contest
this unsolicited generalization (Caroll, 1961). From 1950-early 90s was
considered as great eras in the history of Philippine historical writing. These
periods had produced dedicated Filipino historians who tried to re-direct the
writing of Philippine history. Compared to the writings during the Spanish and
American era, the writings of history during the post-war era can be considered
revolutionary for the effort of Filipino historians to write the history of the
Philippines using a Filipino perspective. Aside from the historians mentioned
in the discussion, the Philippines has produced Filipino historians who worked
hard to come up with historical writings that can be used for a better
understanding of the Philippines and its people. Together with their foreign
counterparts, Filipino historians produced scholarly works explaining the
Philippines and its people.
In the early 50s, Filipino historians in the American era continued to
dominate the writings of history. Most of them were mainly traditional
historians. Most likely, they grounded their principles from the positivist
tradition “No document, no history.” Prominent scholars in the field of history
like Conrado Benitez, Dr. Nicolas Zafra, Dr. Gregorio Zaide, Dr. Domingo
Eufronio Alip, and Dr. Antonio Molina profoundly depended on documents as
their unit of analysis in writing history. On the other hand, William Henry Scott
and Dr. Landa Jocano were the leading researchers who specialized in the
subjects regarding the pre-colonial civilization of the country. They used
various sources like the colonial documents, ethnographic accounts, and
archaeological data in their reconstruction of the past.
After World War 2, History writings were influenced by the cold war. The
Philippines, an ally of the United States, tried to fight against communism by
favoring the achievements of the colonizers in Philippine history. Historian
Gregorio Zaide, Fr. Horacio de la Costa, and Fr. Jose Arcilla had written their
history books in a clerical perspective. Most of the writings during this period
are the history of the colonies in the Philippines such as Renato Constantino’s
“The Philippines: A Past Revisited” published in 1975. Constantino attempted
to look at Philippine history using the Filipino lens. However, he adopted for
himself a western framework—a non-Filipino tradition (Schumacher, 1975).
Moreover, Chandler (1987) argued that the most important trends of
the Philippine historiography happened in the mid-1970s. There has been an
emerging point of interest in regional history. A group of younger historians
explored the wealth of regional and local experience thereby moving away from
a Manila-centric focus on national and colonial institutions. They detailed rich
and fascinating mosaics that previously ignored by both Filipino and foreign
scholars (see John A. Larkin, the Pampangans: Colonial society in a Philippine
province).
Afterward, the post-EDSA period gave a new direction for Filipino
historians. The move to use Filipino as a medium of instruction had gained
support from different historians. With this development, Zeus Salazar and the
advocates of the “pantayong pananaw” gave a new direction to the study of
 ScSc12n – Readings in Philippine History
Department of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences
Visayas State University

history. Using Filipino as a medium, they defined history as “ang kasaysayan ay

isang salaysay tungkol sa nakalipas na may saysay sa isang grupo ng tao.” With
this definition, the study of Philippine history is redirected to what the people
believe to be important to them. This is the reason for the study of oral
traditions, culture, and local history which are privileged in the discourse of the
pantayong pananaw.
Filipino historians like Diokno, Salazar, Agoncillo, Ileto, Guerrero,
Ocampo, and others work hard to counter the colonial historiography that
dominated Philippine historiography for a long time. The accumulation of new
data and the development of new theories gave Filipino historians many
aspects of Philippine history that were left unsolved. Historians, with the help
of other fields of disciplines like anthropology, psychology, archaeology,
linguistics, and others faithfully restored the Philippines' past using a Filipino
perspective (Sebastian, n.d.).