GROUP 4

RZL 110-A56

GROUP THOUGHT PAPER 2

DAUB, ELYCKA D. IGNE, CYRIL JOY M.

DELA CRUZ, JESSON ANGELO V. LABBAO, TRINITY R.

CLASSIFICATIONS

GEOGRAPHY

240

Ptolemy in his geography, indicates three islands which in the Latin text are called Sindae, which Mercator
interprets as Celebes, Gilolo, and Amboina. Thus, Philippines was not deserted and was actually habitable.

242

Morga Takes the Rainy as Winter and the rest of the year summer. However, this is not quite exact, because
in Manila by December, January, and February the thermometer goes down more than in the months of
August and September and therefore with regard to the seasons it resembles Spain as all the rest of the
North Hemisphere.

CULTURE and SOCIAL

244
Bahag, “rich colored cloth and quite often with gold stripes”, among the chiefs

“They put it in different ways, sometimes in Moro style like a turban, sometimes wrapped around the head
like a small headdress. Those who took pride in being brave let fall the ends of the cloth, elaborately
decorated, and so long they reach until the legs. …”

245

There were also of ivory

“Many rings of gold with stones on the fingers.” “The last accessory of the gala dress is like our sash, a
richly colored cloak thrown over the shoulder and joined under the arm” (even today men wear the lambong
or mourning)… The Bisayans, instead of this, use robes, well-made without collar, long, reaching until the
feet and with colored stripes. The whole garb, in short, Moorish style, and really elegant and rich, they wear
even now.”

249

Kalasag, This weapon has been lost and not event its name remain. A proof of the backwardness of the
present-day Filipinos in their industries is the comparison of the weapons made today with those described
by the historians. The hilts of the tailbones are neither of gold or ivory, nor the scabbards of horn, nor are
they curiously worked.
GROUP 4

251

The Filipinos, like the inhabitants of the Marinas who are no less famous and skilled in the art of navigation,
far from progressing have become backward, for, though now boats are built on the Islands. We can say
that they are almost all of European models. …

265

The men of these islands are great carpenter and shipbuilders “who make many of them and very light ones
and thy take them to be sold in the territory in a very strange way … The woman are very manly. “They
don’t drink from the river though the water is very clear because they loathe it… “The women’s dress is
modest and elegant because they wear their skirts in Bisayan style, of fine stuff. Their hair is gathered and
very well dressed. They put a flower on top of their head. …” These islands have also gone backwards.

269

The paintings are very elegant and very proportional… if they would bring them to Europe they would earn
much money by exhibiting them.” … “The painting was done by with some kind of a brush or a bundle of
thin cane nibs with which they pricked and marked the body until blood came out. On this they sprinkled
powder or soct made of pitch of black color that would never be erased. They did not paint the whole body
at once but part by part and formerly they did not begin to paint until after they have done some deed of
valor. …”

278

Which in no way affected the peace of the people because many times a custom has more force than a
written or printed law…The force of law is not that it is written on a piece of paper but if it is engraved in
the memory of those for whom it is made, if they know it since their tender age,…”

283

“The Tagalog wife is free and respected, she manages and contracts, almost always with the husband’s
approval, who consults her about all his acts. She is the keeper of the money, she educates the children, half
of whom belong to her. …”

FAITH

255

Perhaps for the same reason, other nations have great esteem for the lion and bear, putting them on their
shields and giving them honorable epithets. The mysterious life of the crocodile, the enormous size that is
sometimes reaches, its fatidical aspect, without counting anymore its voraciousness, must have influenced
greatly the imagination of the Malayan Filipinos.

ECONOMY

264

Not only did they have large harvest of rice but also of cotton which they wove into textile for their garments
and which is very much esteemed in New Spain…
GROUP 4

We had classified Rizal’s annotation based on general factors in which Antonio de Morga had accounted
in his work Sucesos de Las Islas Filipinas. Based on the accounts of Morga and Rizal, it can be classified
into Geography, Culture and Society, Faith, and Economy. As mentioned, Dr. Jose Rizal annotated the
book in order to refute the misinformation, errors, and biases that Antonio de Morga had written about the
pre-conquest Philippines. It could be identified that Dr. Jose Rizal was not merely correcting the
misinformation of the Spaniards, but he was also exposing their ignorance which had led them to leave such
impressions of the Philippines. Although there were several accounts where annotations of Rizal agrees
with Morga’s accounts, Rizal was very critical in assessing the book as he wanted people to reexamine the
state of Philippines under the three hundred year colonial rule of the Spaniards.

In comparison with Morga’s accounts of the Pre-Conquest Philippines, Rizal viewed it as something that
had potential and was more progressive compared to the time it was colonized, he described it as something
that the present Philippines could take pride. In his annotations, Rizal refuted the idea that Philippines was
deserted and uninhabitable by describing how rich it was in terms of geography and its food (240,242).
Rizal believed that without the intrusion of the Spaniards, Philippines could have flourished on its own as
he argued that even before the arrival of the colonizers, it already had its rich culture, significant amount of
morality (283), belief, and had a broad set of skills (251,265,269). Dr. Jose Rizal further described the life
during the Pre-Colonial period, as he was able to give a better picture of the culture (244,245,249), traditions
(255,269), and society. However, it was evident in his words that the Filipinos had experienced a sudden
shift of atmosphere under the Spanish government. He also mentioned about the “backwardness” that was
experienced by the Filipinos under the Spaniards. The Colonialists argued that the Filipinos are indolent
which had caused the “backwardness” of the state of the Philippines, but Rizal emphasized that the
difference of diligence of Filipinos compared to the Europeans was not necessarily the reason of the
“backwardness”, but because of the three hundred year degenerative rule. We take for example his accounts
on the Filipinos as great navigators and adept carpenters (251,265). Initially described as what is mentioned
before, the ways of men and women were changed in the hands of the Spaniards which, based on Rizal’s
point of view, could have been much more. He also connected this “backwardness” towards the originally
warm and just system of government which he argued was better since it proved that laws can be rigorous
but not oppressive since even the slaves back then had the half the rights of a free man (278).

Based on further research, it was identified that Rizal’s knowledge of the pre-conquest Philippines were
based on scholarly works as he visited museums in Europe while making comments on Morga’s work.
Based on this, we can identify that his accounts were valid, yet according to Rizal, was still insufficient to
properly re-write the Philippines history that was touched by the colonialists. Rizal’s note on Morga’s work
was important not because it gave complete answers to the pre-colonial life, but because of what it had
contributed to the identification of pre-colonial life in which future pre-colonial research can dwell into.

Rizal perceived the precolonial era as a rich and honorable period. He would often compare the colonial
to precolonial situation and notice the huge gap between the two. He perceived Filipino culture as warm
and affectionate, the law system as fair and just, and proved that the faith of the natives was valid. It is
evident in his words that Filipinos had experienced hardships under the Spanish government. Evaluating
the annotations, Rizal’s narrative is highly informative. It supplemented additional information about the
country long before the Spaniards had colonized the Philippines. His work has emphasized the natives and
the islands in which they lived. Although Rizal’s annotations may also have had some bias, his time and
GROUP 4

efforts surely paved way as basis for reconstructing the Philippine history with the purpose of changing
the perspective of the world towards the Philippines.