ACSI COLLEGE ILOILO

5th Flr., Gaisano City Mall, Lapaz, Iloilo City

Readings in Philippine History

SELF-LEARNING MODULE

Name; ______________________ yr/sec_______________ Date Inclusive____________________

LESSON 1

Knowing Philippine History

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to;

1. Find out the meaning and task of history.

2. Be aware of the theories in understanding history and to relate them to past events and current issues.

3. Determine the sources of history and the historical errors

Understanding History

* It is by the possession and transmission of a culture that man differs from other animals.

* The first culture began with the habitual use of tools and articulate speech.

* Nick Joaquin - history as culture is not merely a reconstruction of the past nor an analytical interpretation of past events, but a process of
creation or a formation of culture, specifically a “national culture”

A. HISTORY - (Broadest meaning)

- is the study of past events.

- Generally presents the known past.

- The recording and analysis of experiences of a society comprise the totality of a people’s history.

* In analyzing history, the use of correlated disciplines in necessary to understand the reason the reasons and consequences of human actions.

* By referring to philosophies of History, the theories of some great thinkers should be considered.

* In the investigation and interpretation of the past, these theories could explain how and why events happen in the societies.

1. CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE THEORY (Arnold Toynbee)

-Is based on the idea that man responds to the situation placed before him. His actions are based on his thoughts.

- the society’s way of facing the challenges depending upon its capabilities uncovers the pattern of the society’s history.

- it is therefore, mankind’s approach in coping with the challenges determines history.

Arnold Toynbee - history reflects the progress and civilization and societies.

- viewed the past as a succession of civilizations rather than political entities.

- there were patterns in the histories of various civilizations for which he came to the conclusion that there appears to be laws
governing the lives of human civilizations.

- the general pattern shows the growth, breakdown, and eventual dissolution of a particular civilization leading to the
formation of a new one.

“Based on the hypothesis; the failure of a civilization to survive was the result of its inability to respond to challenges.”
 To illustrate, the prehistoric men had shown their ability to respond to the challenge of

surviving amidst the conditions of the environment. The used of crude stone tools, then later, highly polished ones, and those made
from metal and other raw materials like clay soil, shows the capacity of human beings to devise material equipment for subsistence.

*The preservation of man’s material equipment is another challenge that people have to face. Cultural artifacts made of wood, bark of trees, and other
organic materials decompose more rapidly in hot and humid regions. Many of the objects left behind by ancient societies are no longer existing as
part of archaeological record because they have disintegrated over time.

CONCRETE EXAMPLE!

In the struggle of dauntless Filipino to regain the lost rights and freedom during the Spanish Era, the propagandists and revolutionaries
responded to colonial oppression by resisting. The challenge was posed by the colonial subjugation of the Filipinos,generally characterized by
injustice and corruption. The RESPONSE was defiance to the prevailing rule.

.These responses pass through the process of reasoning and analysis.

2. EXCHANGE THEORY (Alvin Scaff)

- Refers to the systematic statement of principles that govern the exchange of goods (tangible goods like property or money and
intangible goods like peace or prestige) between individuals, between groups, between organizations and even between nations.

- based on the idea of RECIPROCITY

- alliances of people, communities as well as nations are rooted in the idea of INTERCHANGE

- there are some MOTIVATIONAL FORCES found in the society affecting the actions of people involved in the situation.

MOTIVATIONAL FORCES

* BARTER SYSTEM - used in business transactions because there was no currency during those days.

*DOMESTIC TRADE - among barangays and islands

*FOREIGN TRADE - with China, Japan, Siam (Thailand) Borneo, Sumatra, Cambodia, and Old Malaysia

CONCRETE EXAMPLE!

- Mrs. Corazon “Cory” Aquino, the wife of the slain opposition leader, amidst high expectations that she would free all political
prisoners, abolish censorship of the media, and institute legal proceedings to recover ill-gotten wealth taken by the
corrupt public servants once elected into office.

3. ROLE OF A HISTORICAL MAN (Georg Wilhelm Hegel) (1770- 1831)

- an idea is the moving force of History

- man has task to do so that events may happen.

- Weltgeist or world spirit which embodies ideals like patritism, heroism, and unity.

- man as historical ideals are guided by Geisteswissenchaften or the world of Spirit of thought which is the THESIS.

-a particular situation or matter that combines with Geisteswissenchaften is Naturwissenchaften the anti thesis or the complete opposite of
the Geistewissenchaften for man to achieve the synthesis,which is the historical reality.

CONCRETE EXAMPLE!

There were Guerilla fighters in WWII who were guided by their sense of duty and responsibility to lead the people during the warfare. The
Naturwissenchaften or the situation was the Japanese invasion. The combination of their thoughts like patriotism and heroism resulted to their
historical acts, manifested through their deeds and exploits in the battles that were fought against the Japanese forces during the war era.

4. ECONOMICS THEORY (Karl Marx) German Philosopher

- the prevailing economic system determines the form of societal organization and political and intellectual history of the epoch,
which thus attribute actions and events in history to economic motives.
 - human interrelations depend on the material conditions of their production.

- the struggle to maintain life is the most enduring motivation for any human activity.

An instance!

-The intensification of inter-island contacts and increasing specialization in craftsmanship by early dwellers were brought about by
economic consideration.

-Centuries of trade and personal relations with Southeast Asian neighbors led to the enrichment of Filipino life and culture.

CONCRETE EXAMPLE!

The Spanish Era….. It has been said that the three primary motives for vast exploration of lands were for God, gold, and glory, but the
main incentive was for economic reasons. Colonies are the important sources of raw materials and opportunities for investment.

5. HISTORIOGRAPHY ( Fernand Braudel) (1902-1985)

- human actions are not only based on human decisions but also on “STRUCTURES” that may be natural (topography and natural
resources) or man made (existing laws and technological devices).

Example!

Men build houses for shelter. Even if they wanted to construct high-rise condominiums in the area, the builders have to
consider the availability of the resources, the budget of the client and he building site. Furthermore, the introduction of new
technology literally transform societies and thereby, history.

“To achieve total history is to integrate all aspects of man’s past.”

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE FILIPINO HISTORIOGRAPHERS

1. Jose Rizal - Annotated Morga’s Sucessos de las Islas Filipinas. he depicted the destructive effects of western colonization of
early Filipino Societies.

2. Teodoro Agoncillo - Father of Nationalist Historiography, he wrote the conditions of the Philippine past by analyzing the conditions of
the masses.

3. Renato Costantino - history is the recorded struggle of people for ever increasing freedom and for newer and higher realization of
the human person.”

-”Man interacts with nature and with other men, thus, consciously changing his own perspective and to some
extent, the system of environment.”

In conclusion, history can serve as a guide to present and succeeding generations in facing the challenges of the times. By projecting the
people’s aspirations, a people’s history will enable us to grasp he direction of the country’s development and identify the factors that impede real
progress. Truly, the need for a real’s people’s history becomes more urgent as we Filipinos search for truly Filipno solutions to the problem besetting
or country.

B. SOURCES OF HISTORY

Sources of information provide the evidence from which the historian obtains facts about the past. In writing history, the historian not only
relies on the past thoughts, rather reenacts it in the context of analyzing the documents and other records left. This is an indispensable condition
of the quest for historical facts. Literature, sports, visual and performing arts like dance can also be considered as visual records of a country’s
history and culture.

*Printed sources for the study of early Philippine history can be traced from the missionary chronicles published by the various religious
orders assigned to the Philippines:

1. Augustinians

2. Franciscans

3. Dominicans

4. Jesuits

5. Recollects

Although generally viewed as moralistic and ethnocentric with regard to description of Filipino culture and society, these records provided
valuable contribution for the study of history during the Spanish period in the Philippines.
 Friars of the religious orders who had later known the dialects of the natives , recorded observations of Filipino society and culture like:

1. Fray Juan de Plasencia (1589), a Franciscan

2. Fray Pedro Chirino (1604) a Jesuit

* Dr. Antonio de Morga (1887) - author of Succesos de la Islas Filipinas (1609) a book on 16th century Philippines

* Filipino Muslims - were able to preserve written materials of great historical value.

* Sarsila or Tarsila - which is a genealogical records of the sultans or datus who tried to preserve the lineage of the ruling class like the
Sulu Sarsila and Maguindanao Tarsila.

* Kitab - a book attributed to the late Hadji Butu Abdul Baqui, Wazir of the Sulu Sultanate, who tried to record the historical and personal
events of this time. (20th Century)

*Philippine Insurgent Records ( Renamed the Phil. Revolutionary Records, now located in the National Library.

- represents the records captured by the United States Army during its suppression of the Filipino resistance against American
takeover of the Philippines from 1899-1903

*National Library - an important repository of the Filipiniana materials.

- established in Manila on March 9, 1900

- to honor the memory of American military personnel killed during the Filipino-American war

Public Law Act No. 1935 - mandated the creation of the Philippine Library to consolidate all libraries in the Philippine colonial government.

* 1916 - the colonial administration decided to merge The Philippine Library with other entities and it came to be known as The Philippine Library
and Museum.

*1928 - The Philippine Legislature passed Public Law No. 3477 providing for the separate entities to be called The National Museum and the National
Library.

* Executive order No. 486, s. 1951 issued by Pres. Elpidio Qurino and a follow up order, Executive order no.39, s. 1963 by President Diosdado
Macapagal - public school teachers throughout the Philippines were assigned to collect the histories and custom of their localities. These records are
now known as the Historical Data Papers or Provincial Histories, intended to replace government records destroyed during the World War II

Sources of History may be classified as PRIMARY and SECONDARY

* Primary Sources - are those that have witnessed the event that took place or have been part of the incident being studied. These include

*written records:

1. Narratives

2. Manuscripts

3. Public documents

4. Letters

5. Diaries

*Fossils

*Artifacts

*Testimony from living witnesses

* Secondary Sources - have not been part of the event being considered such as:

1. Magazines

2. Newspapers
 3. Pamphlets

4. Typescripts

5. Articles written about the Primary sources

IMPORTANT REPOSITORIES OF HISTORIC DOCUMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES:

1. Archives of the Dominican Province of the Philippines (Sto. Domingo Convent)

2. Archives of the University of Sto. Tomas

3. Archives of the Province of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

4. Jesuit Archives at the Ateneo de Manila University

5. Archives of the Archbishopric of Manila

Archaeology - studies and reconstructs the cultural events of the past through the material remains left by people.

Archeologist - study artifacts (material equipment made by people of the past like tools, pottery, and jewelry) and Fossils ( preserved remains of plants,
animals and people of a remote geological past.)

Archaeological Excavation - refers to the systematic recovery and study of these pieces of material evidence.

Prehistory - a term given by 19th century French scholars, covers the past human experiences prior to the existence of written records.

Prehistoric archaeology - the basic source of prehistory, one of the fields of anthropological archaeology.

- it studies societies at the time writing system has not been invented.

Early Archaeological Undertakings in the Philippines

- first major expedition in 1881 by a Frenchman, Alfred Marche in the island of Marinduque and other parts in Central Mindanao.

- Feodor Jagor - a German traveler, reported having encountered a priest in Naga, Camarines Sur who collected artifacts from ancient
graveyards.

- Dr. Antonio de Morga - (Sucessos de Las Islas Filipinas) described the ancient artifacts that were recovered by farmers in Luzon, particularly in
Ilocos, Pangasinan, Pampanga , and Manila.

- Jose Rizal - noted to have found ground and polished stone tools during his exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte.

- second major archaeological expedition was carried out by Carl Guthe from the University of Michigan from 1922-1925

- conducted several test-digs in Palawan, Bohol, Northern Mindanao, and other places in Central Philippines.

- the purpose was to collect Chinese ceramics exported to the Philippines to China.

- the collection was consisted of more than 30 cubic tons of prehistoric artifacts.

-from 1926 to the outbreak of the Second World War

* Henry Otley Beyer (1883-1966) done much of the archaeological discoveries

* born in Edgewood, Iowa

* Lingayu Gambuk, 15 y.o. old daughter of a powerful Ifugao chief in 1910- the wife of Henry Otley Beyer

*the discovery of a major archaeological site in Novaliches in 1926, resulting from the construction of a dam for Manila’s water supply was
his first archeological research

*Beyer disclosed the importance of Palawan in the search of the early man in the Philippines.

All over the archipelago, the fossilized remains of large mammals that roamed in the isalands during the Middle Pleistocene Epoch have been
discovered in 1920’s. THe fossils of Elephas, stegodons, rhinoceros, and deer have been discovered in Cagayan, Pangasinan, Rizal, Panay Island, and
in Northeastern Mindanao.
 In Cabarruyan island in Lingayen Gulf, a fossilized tooth of a dwarf elephant was reported to have been retrieved. This specie of dwarf elephant
was subsequently identified and named Elephas beyeri after H. Otley Beyer, considered as the Father of Philippine Archaeology and Prehistory.

* Von Koenigswald, a Paleontologist known for his work on Java Man, gave the name for this specie

AFTER WORLD WAR II

* increased in interest in prehistoric beginnings of the Philippines evolved.

* Archaeology was introduced as part of the curriculum at the University of the Philippines.

* Wilhelm G. Solheim II conducted the first postwar excavations in Masbate Island from 1951-1953

* earliest work in Philippine archaeology was in 1951, with the publications on archaeological fieldwork in San Narciso, Tayabas (now
Quezon).

* Robert B. Fox and Alfredo Evangelista (1958-1962) both working for the National

Museum of the Philippines undertook a series of test-digs in the caves of Cagraray, Albay, and Bato, Sorsogon.

* Tradeware from China and Thailand were recovered in Calatagan.

* Fox led the Tabon Caves Archaeological Project in Southwestern Palawan, resulting in unearthing of Pleistocene human fossils and stone
tools and implements.

- charcoal materials analyzed by carbon 14 technique revealed the presence of man in the area between 22,000-24,000 years ago

- human fossil bones of at least three individuals were found. These included a large frontal bone, with the browse and part of the
nasal bones as well as fragments of a mandible and teeth. Classified as modern man or HOMO SAPIENS, these are the earliest known
human inhabitants of the Philippines.

*Neil McIntosh of the University of Sydney in Australia undertook the analysis and x-rays of the Tabon skullcap and mandible in 1975.

OTHER MINOR DIGGINGS AND EXPLORATIONS IN 1960’S

* In Southern regions of the Visayas and Mindanao, led by the anthropologists of;

1. University of San Carlos - Cebu

2. Siliman University - Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

* Marcelino Maceda of San Carlos University - conducted archaeological excavations at Kulaman Plateau in Bukidnon and recovered
a number of limestone burial jars.

* Samuel Briones, a graduate of Siliman University reported the presence of limestone burial jars in several caves he visited in
1966

* Karl Hutterer and Rosa Tenazas of San Carlos University recovered prehistoric artifacts in the middle of Cebu City

--------------------------- good luck!---------------------------