CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS

COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024

READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

COURSE OUTLINE
Additional notes
1. Meaning and Relevance of History -Every historian must strive at understanding the origins of
2. Content and Contextual Analysis
the sources and must also compare one source or
3. Teachings of the Katipunan of the Sons of the
People account with another.
4. Antonio Pigafetta. First Voyage Around the World -No historian is ever infallible but weighing all sources
5. Customs of the Tagalogs By Fray Juan de allows him to reach a conclusion that is true and objective.
Plasencia
6. Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence
7. A Glance at Selected Philippine Political INTRODUCTION: What are “History” and
Caricature in Alfred McCoy’s Philippine Cartoons: “Historical Sources”? By Louis Gottschalk
Political Caricature of the American Era
(1900-1941)
The Meaning of “History”

MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF GREEK ● History derived from the Greek

noun ιστορία, meaning
HISTORY “learning.”
● History meant a systematic
account of a set of natural
UNIT 1
phenomena, whether or not
chronological ordering was a
HISTORY factor in the account; and that
● The past aids an individual in understanding who he usage, though rare, still prevails in
is. English in the phrase natural
● Collectively, the past helps a nation understand its history.-Aristotle
realities.
● “The past speaks in a voice audible to those who GERMAN ● Geschichte, which is derived
want to hear and to listen attentively.”- David from “geschehen”, meaning to
Crabtree happen, Geschichte is that which
has happened.
WHAT IS HISTORY AND HOW IS IT WRITTEN? ● This meaning of the word history
● The word history means differently to various is often encountered in such
people including among scholars and historians overworked phrases as “all
themselves history teaches” or “the
lessons of history.”
● History relies on evidence which is the backbone
upon which history stands.
SCIENCE VS HISTORY
● History rests on diligent research and by careful ● SCIENCE
inquiry, historians could reconstruct the past and o Latin word Scientia (English science)
write them down in some form, so that we today can came to be used more regularly to
read their accounts, and at least know how these designate non-chronological systematic
events appeared to men of the time. accounts of natural phenomena
● HISTORY
● Facts constitute the “heart” of every historical o was reserved usually for accounts of
writing. They are collected from various sources phenomena (especially human affairs) in
and carefully investigated and written by a historian. chronological order.

● History is not merely a collection of “dead”

facts or data from events but an intellectually Additional notes
rigorous activity of searching for the truth about the -History now means “the past of mankind.”
past.
-History cannot be reconstructed.
● Sources collected and used in historical writing
determine to a large extent the quality of historical -The past of mankind for the most part is beyond
writing. recall.
-Even those who are blessed with the best memories
● The manner by which they are recovered, cannot re-create their own past, since in the life of all men
examined, and preserved provides the validity and there must be events, persons, words, thoughts, places,
reliability of the historian’s writing.

1 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Other than words that the historian can study

fancies that made no impression at all at the time they RELICS of human happenings (e.g. a potsherd, a
occurred, or have since been forgotten coin, a ruin, a manuscript)
o However, are never the happenings or the
-Fortiori-the experience of a generation-long dead, most events themselves. Instead, artifacts are
of whom left no records or whose records, if they exist, just the results of events
o Whether artifacts or documents, they are
have never been disturbed by the historian’s touch, is raw materials out of which history may be
beyond the possibility of total recollection. written.
o The historian deals with the dynamic or
-The reconstruction of the total past of mankind, although genetic (the becoming) as well as the
static (the being or the become) and he
it is the goal of historians, thus becomes a goal they know
aims at being interpretative (explaining
full well is unattainable. why and how things happened and were
interrelated) as well as descriptive (telling
what happened, when and where, and who
“Objectivity” and “Subjectivity” took part).
-Facts of history are derived from testimony and therefore o Without further evidence, the human
are facts of meaning. context of these articles can never be
recaptured with any degree of certainty.
-They may be said to be symbolic or representative of
something that once was real, but they have no objective
Historical knowledge Limited by Incompleteness of
reality of their own.
the Records
SUBJECTIVE
● Unfortunately, for most of the past, we not only have
● if they exist only in the observer’s or historian’s no further evidence of the human setting in which to
mind. place surviving artifacts.
● The word subjective is not used here to imply ● Most human affairs happen without leaving vestiges
disparagement of any sort, but it does imply the or records of any kind behind them.
necessity for the application of special kinds of
safeguards against error.

OBJECTIVE 1. Only a small part of what happened in

● with the intention of acquiring detached and truthful the past was ever observed.
knowledge independent of one’s personal reactions.
o a thing must first be an object; it must have 2. Only a part of what was observed in the
an independent existence outside the past was remembered by those who
human mind. observed it.

3. Only a part of what remembered was

Additional notes recorded;
-Recollections, however, do not have an existence
outside the human mind; and most of history is based 4. Only a part of what has survived has
come to the historian’s attention.
upon recollections – that is, written or spoken testimony.
5. Only a part of what is credible has been
-A vulgar prejudice exists against “subjective” knowledge grasped
as inferior to “objective” knowledge, largely because the
word “subjective” has also come to mean “illusory” or 6. Only a part of what has been grasped
can be expounded or narrated by the
“based upon personal considerations,” and hence either
historian.
“untrue” or “biased.”

● HISTORY-AS-ACTUALITY
-Knowledge may be acquired, however, by an impartial o the whole history of the past
and judicially detached investigation of mental images,
processes, concepts, and precepts that are one or more ● HISTORY-AS-RECORD
steps removed from objective reality o can be known to him only through the
surviving record of it.
o is only the surviving part of the recorded
Artifacts as Sources of History part of the remembered part of the
observed past of that whole.
ARTIFACTS

2 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Even when the record of the past is derived directly

from archeological or anthropological remains, they only in as far as his always incomplete and frequently
are yet only the scholar’s selected parts of the changing understanding of it can re-create it.
discovered parts of the chance survivals from the
total past. -Historians have to deal with human testimony as well as
● History can be told only from history-as-record; physical traces.
history as told (spoken-or-written-history) is only
the historians’ expressed part of the understood
part of the credible part of the discovered part of -For the historian history becomes only that part of the
history-as-record. human past that can be meaningfully reconstructed
from the available records and from inferences
Additional notes regarding their setting.
-There is no guarantee that what remains is the most
important, the largest, the most valuable, the most Historical Method and Historiography Defined
representative, or the most enduring part.
HISTORICAL METHOD
-In other words, the “object” that the historian studies is ● The process of critically examining and analyzing
not only incomplete; it is markedly variable as records the records and survivals of the past.
are lost or rediscovered.
o Historiography-the imaginative
reconstruction of the past from the data
History as the Subjective process of Re-creation derived by historical method (the writing of
history)
● The historian must do what he can to restore the o Historical method + Historiography=
total past of mankind. He has no way of doing it but Historical method
in terms of his own experience.
o (1) has taught him that yesterday was different ● Historian is handicapped. He rarely can tell the
from today in some ways as well as the same as story even of a part of the past “as it actually
today in others. occurred” due to its incompleteness of records.

o (2) that his own experience is both like and ● For the past conceived of as something that
unlike other men’s. It is not alone his own “actually occurred” places obvious limits upon the
memories interpreted in the light of his own kinds of record and of imagination that he may use.
experience that he must try to apply to the
understanding of historical survivals; it is the Imagination in Historiography
memories of many other people as well, but
one’s own memories are abstract images, not ● The historian is not permitted to imagine things that
realities, and one’s reconstructions of others’ could not reasonably have happened. He is
memories, even when reinforced by frequently required to imagine things that must have
contemporary records and relics, are likely to be happened.
even more abstract.
o For example, it is a platitude that the
historian who knows contemporary life
best will understand past life best.
Additional notes
-Historian’s aim is verisimilitude with regard to a perished
Additional notes
past – a subjective process – rather than experimental
-Unfortunately, no platitude tells how to acquire a wide
certainty with regard to objective reality.
range of those desirable qualities and knowledge or
how to transfer them to an understanding of the past.
-He tries to get as close an approximation to the truth
over a greater distance, it has a much thicker (more
about the past as constant correction of his mental images
muscular) wall.
will allow, at the same time recognizing that the truth has
in fact eluded him forever.
History of Historical Method
-history has only detached and scattered objects to study
(documents and relics) that do not together make up the ● For our purposes these methods will be considered
under four headings:
total object that the historian is studying – the past of
mankind – and that object, has largely disappeared, exists

3 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

o (1) the selection of a subject for

investigation
o (2) collection of probable sources of (2) because it is not translated from the language in
information of the subject which it was first written,
o (3) the examination of those sources for
genuineness (either in full or in part) (3) because it is in the earliest, unpolished stage
o (4) the extraction of credible particulars
from sources (or parts of sources) proved
genuine. (4) because its text is the approved text, unmodified
and untampered
Additional notes
(5) because it is the earliest available source of the
-For purposes of clarity we shall have to treat analysis and
information it provides.
synthesis as if they were discreet processes, but we shall
see that at various stages they cannot be entirely
-to describe a source, as it issued from the hands of the
separated.
authors (e.g., the original draft of the Magna Carta)

-a source that gives the earliest available information

SOURCES
(i.e. the origin) regarding the question under investigation
-Historical heuristics do not differ essentially from any other
bibliographical exercise in so far as printed books are because earlier sources have been lost
concerned.

-Historian has to use many materials that are not in books.

-Where they are official records, he may have to search for Primary Particulars Rather than Whole Primary
them. Sources Sought
● Sources, in other words, whether primary or
-The more precise his delimitations of persons, area, time, secondary, are important to the historian
and function, the more relevant his sources are likely to be because they contain primary particulars (or at
least suggest leads to primary particulars).
The Distinction between Primary and Other
Original Sources o The particulars they furnish are
● PRIMARY SOURCE trustworthy not because of the book or
o is the testimony of an eyewitness, or of a article or report they are in, but because of
witness by any other of the senses, or of a the reliability of the narrator as a witness of
mechanical device like the dictaphone – those particulars
that is, of one who or that which was
present at the events of which he or it tells ● THE DOCUMENT
(called simply eyewitness). o The word document (from docere, to
o It must thus have been produced by a teach) used to mean a written source of
contemporary of the events it narrates. historical information as contrasted with
oral testimony or with artifacts, pictorial
● SECONDARY SOURCE survivals, and archeological remains.
o is the testimony of anyone who is not an o It is sometimes reserved for only official
eyewitness – that is, of one who was not and state papers such as treatises, laws,
present at the events of which he tells. grants, deeds, etc.

The “Human” and the “Personal” Document

Additional notes
- “Original” is a word of so many different meanings that ● HUMAN DOCUMENT
it would have been better to avoid it in precise historical o “an account of individual experience which
discourse. reveals the individual’s actions as a human
agent and as a participant in social life.”
o Defined by a sociologist, social life” as an
-It is used to denote five different conditions of a
element of the human document.
document, all of which are important to the historian. A
document may be called “original”:
● PERSONAL DOCUMENT
(1) because it contains fresh and creative ideas o “any self-revealing record that intentionally
or unintentionally yields information

4 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

regarding the structure, dynamics, and “The Problem of Authenticity, or External

functioning of the author’s mental life.” Criticism”
o Defined by a psychologist, “the author’s
mental life” ● Even in the law courts, the question of the
authenticity of documents becomes a difficult
Additional notes problem only on rare occasions, when the writer or
witness to the writing cannot be produced.
-The two kinds of documents seem to have one essential
characteristic in common; a human, personal reaction to ● But for historical documents, those occasions are
the events with which they deal. not rare.

-To both sociologists and psychologists it is the degree of PROBLEM 1: Forged or Misleading Documents
subjectivity in these documents that distinguishes them ● “Historical documents” are fabricated for several
reasons:
from other documents.
o Sometimes they are used to bolster a false
claim or title.
-To the historian the difference between first-person and
third-person documents is not of major significance. That o Sometimes fabrication is due to less
is true for at least three reasons: mercenary considerations.
(1) Often an apparently third-person document is in fact o Sometimes quite genuine documents are
first-person intended to mislead certain
contemporaries and hence have misled
(2) Genuinely third-person documents in so far as they are subsequent historians.
“historicable” must ultimately rest on first-hand observation
o Occasionally misrepresentations of the
(whether by the author or by someone consulted by the nature of printed works result from the
author). editor’s tricks.

(3) Every document, no matter how thoroughly the author o The circumstances of the forgery or
misrepresentation of historical documents
strove to be impartial and detached, must exhibit to a
may often themselves reveal important
greater or lesser extent the author’s philosophies and political, cultural, and biographical
emphases, likes and dislikes, and hence betrays the information – but not about the same
author’s inner personality. events or persons as if they were genuine.

PROBLEM 2: Tests of Authenticity

-Whether, in other words, it is a third-person or a
● To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation from a
first-person document – thus depends upon the examiners
genuine document, the historian has to use tests
rather than the author’s intention. that are common also in the police and legal
detection.
AUTHENTICITY VS CREDIBILITY ● Making the best guess he can of the date of the
document: He examines the materials to see
-There are two mental processes that historians follow before whether they are not anachronistic (belonging to a
they formulate their arguments namely; authenticity and period other than that being portrayed.)
credibility.
● The historian also examines the ink for signs of age
AUTHENTICITY or for anachronistic chemical composition.
● is related to genuineness or external criticism of
a historical source ● Making his best guess of the possible author of the
o It answers questions related to the identity document: he sees if he can identify the
of the author in terms of personality, handwriting, signature, seal, letterhead, or
character, position, and qualifications or watermark.
disqualifications in writing the document.
o It also identifies when, where, and how the ● “Isographies” – dictionaries of biography giving
document was written, and how does the examples of handwriting.
content relates to other documents as well
as the evidential value of the source. ● For some period of history, experts using
techniques known as paleography and
diplomatics (first systematized by Mabillon in the
seventeenth century.)

5 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Seals have been the subject of special study by ● If the members of the same family are largely
sigillographers, and experts can detect faked copied from each other, as this arrangement in
ones. families frequently shows, the oldest one in all
probability (but not necessarily) the one nearest the
● Anachronistic style (idiom, orthography, or original.
punctuation) can be detected by specialists who are
familiar with contemporary writing (e.g. wrong ● When the copy nearest the original in each family is
spelling, signatures, proper names). discovered, a comparison of all of these “father”
copies will usually then reveal words and passages
PROBLEM 3: Garbled Documents that are in some but not in others
● A document that in its entirety or in large part is
the result of a deliberate effort to deceive may PROBLEM 5: Identification of Author and of Date
often be hard to evaluate. ● Some guess of the approximate date of the
o not of studied falsehood, but of document and some identification of its supposed
unintentional error. author

o They occur most frequently in copies of CREDIBILITY

documents whose originals have ● or internal criticism refers to the trustworthiness of
disappeared and are generally due to that the contents of the source.
kind of error of omission, repetition, or o This kind of criticism focuses on examining
addition with which anyone who has ever the believability of the contents of the
made copies soon becomes familiar. source.
o Sometimes they are the result, however, “The Problem of Credibility, or Internal Criticism”
not of carelessness but of deliberate
intention to modify, supplement, or ● The analysis of documents for credible details to be
continue the original. fitted into a hypothesis or context..
● This problem is most familiar to classical
PROBLEM 1: Historical fact
philologists and Bible critics.
o Textual criticism- The philologists give to ● Defined as a particular derived directly or
this problem of establishing an accurate indirectly from historical documents and
text the name regarded as credible after careful testing in
accordance with the canons of historical method.
o Lower criticism-this problem is used in o In the process of analysis, the historian
biblical studies. should constantly keep in mind the
relevant particulars within the
PROBLEM 4: The Restoration of Texts document rather than the document as
a whole.
● The technique is complicated but can be briefly
described. ● What is meant by calling a particular credible is not
that it is actually what happened, but that it is as
● The first task is to collect as many copies of the close to what actually happened. This means
dubious text as the diligent search will reveal. Then verisimilar at a high level.
they are compared. It is found that some contain
words or phrases or whole passages that are not
PROBLEM 2: The Interrogative Hypothesis
contained in others.
● In analyzing a document for its isolated “facts,” the
● QUESTIONS: Are those words, phrases, or historian should approach it with a question or a
passages additions to the original text that have set of questions in mind.
found their way into some copies, or are they o The questions may be relatively
omissions from the others? noncommittal.

● To answer that question it is necessary to divide the o Putting the hypothesis in interrogative
available copies into one or more “families” – that is, form is more judicious than putting it in
groups of texts which closely resemble each other declarative form
and therefore seem to be derived, directly or
indirectly, from the same master copy. PROBLEM 3: The Quest for Particular Details of
Testimony
● Then by a comparison of the texts within each ● Every historical subject has four aspects – the
family, an effort is made to establish the biographical, the geographical, the
comparative age of each in relation to the others. chronological, and the occupational or functional.

6 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

o It is generally wise to take notes on the

relevant matters whether or not it at first Content and Contextual Analysis
appears credible.
o Having accumulated his notes, the UNIT 2
investigator must now separate the
credible from the incredible. WHY STUDY HISTORY?
● The past aids an individual in understanding who he
o General rule: for each particular of is.
document, the process of establishing ● The past aids a nation understand its realities.
credibility should be separately undertaken ● It allows us to see beyond textbooks and see the
regardless of the general credibility of the past through new lenses
author.
A Guide for Using Primary Source or Original
PROBLEM 4: Identification of Author
Source Documents by Minnesota Humanities
● Determining the credibility of its particulars, even
Center
the most genuine of documents should be
regarded as guilty of deceit until proven ● Origin, Purpose, Value and Limitation (OPVL) -
innocent. is a technique for analyzing historical documents
o Where the name of the author can be ● OPVL is also known as Document Based
determined and he is a person about Questions (DBQ)
whom biographical data are available,
identification is a relatively easy task. ORIGIN
o The historian must therefore depend upon
the document itself to teach him what it ● Who wrote it?
can about the author. ● Where was the source found?
● When was the source written?
PROBLEM 5: Determination of Approximate Date
● Some documents might not permit even a remote
guess of their termini, but where the author is PURPOSE
known, one has at least the dates of his birth and
death go by ● What was the intent of the document or artifact?
● Who is the intended audience?
PROBLEM 6: The Personal Equation ● What does the document say?
● Was the author of the documents able to tell the
truth; and if able, was he willing to do so?
VALUE
● The ability and the willingness of a witness to give
dependable testimony are determined by a number ● What can we tell about the author from this piece?
of factors in his personality and social situation that ● What can we tell about the time period from this
together are sometimes called his “personal piece?
equation,” (a term applied to the correction ● Does the author represent a particular side of the
required in astronomical observations to allow for story?
the habitual inaccuracy of individual observers.) ● What was going on in the time when a particular
piece was written? Does it reflect that time period?
● The personal equation of a historian is sometimes (matching with historical events)
also called “his frame of reference”
LIMITATION
PROBLEM 7: General rules
● What part of the story is not mentioned in this
● The historian act as a prosecutor, attorney for the piece?
defense, judge, and jury all in one. ● What was the author leave out? (Cross-reference –
o To him any single detail of testimony is What other sources agree/disagree with the
credible – even if it is contained in a source?)
document obtained by force or fraud, or is
otherwise impeachable, or is based on
hearsay evidence, or is from an interested
witness – provided it can pass four tests:

7 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

Teachings of the Katipunan of the (An intelligent man is he who takes care in everything he
says and keeps quiet about what must be kept secret.)
Sons of the People 10. Sa daang matinik ng kabuhayan, lalaki ay siyang
patnugot ng asawa’t mga anak; kung ang umaakay ay tungo
UNIT 3 sa sama, ang patutunguhan ng iaakay ay kasamaan din.

1.Ang kabuhayang hindi ginugugol sa isang malaki at banal (Along the thorny path of life, the man leads the way and his
na kadahilanan ay kahoy na walang lilim, kundi damong wife and children follow. If the leader goes the way of
makamandag. perdition, then so do those who are led.)

(A life that is not dedicated to a great and sacred cause is 11. Ang babae ay huag mong tignang isang bagay na
like a tree without a shade, or a poisonous weed.) libangan lamang, kundi isang katuang at karamay sa mga
2. Ang gawang magaling na nagbubuhat sa pagpipita sa kahirapan nitong kabuhayan; gamitan mo ng buong
sarili, at hindi sa talagang nasang gumawa ng kagalingan, ay pagpipitagan ang kaniyang kahinaan, at alalahanin ang
di kabaitan. inang pinagbuhata’t nagiwi sa iyong kasangulan.

(A good deed lacks virtue if it springs from a desire for (Do not regard a woman as a mere plaything, but as
personal profit and not from a sincere desire to do good.) helpmate and partner in the hardships of this existence.
Have due regard to her weakness, and remember the
3. Ang tunay na kabanalan ay ang pagkakawang gawa, ang mother who brought you into this world and nurtured you in
pagibig sa kapua at ang isukat ang bawat kilos, gawa’t your infancy.)
pangungusap sa talagang Katuiran
12. Ang di mo ibig na gawin sa asawa mo, anak at kapatid,
(True charity resides in acts of compulsion, in love for one’s ay huag mong gagawin sa asawa, anak, at kapatid ng iba.
fellow men, and in making true Reason the measure of every
move, deed, and word.) (What you would not want done to your wife, daughter, and
sister, do not do to the wife, daughter, and sister of another.)
4. Maitim man at maputi ang kulay ng balat, lahat ng tao’y
magkakapantay; mangyayaring ang isa’y higtan sa dunong, 13. Ang kamahalan ng tao’y wala sa pagkahari, wala sa
sa yaman, sa ganda…; ngunit di mahihigtan sa pagkatao. tangus ng ilong at puti ng mukha, wala sa pagkaparing
kahalili ng Dios wala sa mataas na kalagayan sa balat ng
(Be their skin dark or pale, all men are equal. One can be lupa; wagas at tunay na mahal na tao, kahit laking gubat at
superior to another in knowledge, wealth, and beauty... but walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika, yaong may
not in being.) magandang asal, may isang pangungusap, may dangal at
puri; yaong di napaaapi’t di nakikiapi; yaong marunong
5. Ang may mataas na kalooban inuuna ang puri sa magdamdam at marunong lumingap sa bayang tinubuan.
pagpipita sa sarili; ang may hamak na kalooban inuuna ang
pagpipita sa sarili sa puri. (A man’s worth does not come from him being a king, or in
the height of his nose and the whiteness of his fac, or in him
(A person with a noble character values honor aboce being priest, a REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD, or his exalted
self-interest, while a person with an ignoble character values position on the face of this earth. Pure and truly noble is he
self-interest above honor.) who, though born in the forest and able to speak only his
own tongue, behaves decently, is true to his word, has
6. Sa taong may hiya, salita’y panunumpa dignity and honor, who is not an oppressor and does not abet
oppressors, who knows how to cherish and look after the
(An honorable man’s word is his bond.) land of his birth.)

7.Huwag mong sasayangin ang panahun; ang yamang 14. Paglaganap ng mga aral na ito at maningning na sumikat
nawala’y magyayaring magbalik; nguni’t panahong nagdaan ang araw ng mahal na Kalayaan dito sa kaabaabang
na’y di na muli pang magdadaan. Sangkalupuan, at sabugan ng matamis niyang liwanag ang
nangagkaisang magkalahi’t magkakapatid ng ligaya ng
(Don’t waste time; lost wealth may be recovered, but time walang katapusan, ang mga ginugol na buhay, pagud, at
lost is lost forever.) mga tiniis na kahirapa’y labis nang natumbasan. Kung lahat
ng ito’y mataruk na ng nagiibig pumasuk at inaakala niyang
8. Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi. matutupad ang mga tutungkulin, maitatala ang kaniyang
ninanasa sa kasunod nito.
(Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor.)
(When these doctrines have spread and the brilliant sun of
9. Ang taong matalino’y ang may pagiingat sa bawat beloved liberty shines on these poor Islands, and sheds its
sasabihin, at matutong ipaglihim ang dapat ipaglihim. sweet light upon a united race, a people in everlasting
happiness, then the lives lost, the struggle and the suffering
will have been more than recompensed.)

8 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

Antonio Pigafetta. First Voyage Magellan-Elcano expedition

● They left the port of San Lucar de Barrameda in
Around the World Seville on August 20, 1519 with around 270 men
of different nationalities.
UNIT 4 ● Objective: to search for a new maritime path to the
Spice Islands that would not violate Spain’s treaty
Historical Context with Portugal.
● One of the benefits that the Europeans gained from
Crusaders was the discovery of some products that ● The expedition suffered natural and man-made
were not available in their home country. These challenges and out of five ships that left Spain only
included porcelain, silk, incense, herbs, three reached the Philippines.
perfumes, fabrics, carpets, spices and other
oriental products
Additional notes
● Spices became the most expensive and in-demand
commodity among Europeans About the Author: Antonio Pigafetta
-born about 1490 in the town of Vicenza, Venice, Italy
● Since spices were a very lucrative commodity, -eldest son of Giovanni Pigaffeta and second wife Angela
many merchants aspired to monopolize their
supply and distribution in European markets. Zoga
-He studied astronomy, geography and cartography and
● Asian goods reached Europe either via the Silk during his younger years worked in ships owned by the
Road yet disrupted by wars, natural calamities Knights of Rhodes
and bandits.
-Pigafetta survived the challenges and catastrophes that
● The closing of the land route of the Spice Trade the expedition encountered along the way, including being
forced European kingdoms to look for ways to wounded in the battle of Mactan.
purchase spices directly from the source. They -He was among the 18 survivors who returned to
decided to explore the oceans to look for ways to Spain on Sept 6, 1522 aboard the Victoria with Juan
the famed Spice Islands.
Sebastian Elcano.
● Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal put up a -Very little is known as to what happened to him during the
maritime school that trained sailors to the Spice latter part of his life
Islands

● The numerous economic benefits it gave to About the book: The First Voyage around the world
Portugal made other monarchs envious and
prompted them to search for a new trade route to
Asia. Take Note:
● This led to the discovery of many territories ● Pigafetta kept a detailed journal of what happened
previously unknown to the Europeans, through to them from the time they left Seville in 1519 until
inhabited already and known to other races. they returned to Spain three years after.

● The marriage of Queen Isabella of Castile and King ● When he returned to Italy, many of his associates
Ferdinand II of Aragon (1469) couple resulted in asked him to write a formal account of the Magellan
the rise of Spain as a world power. expedition and have it published.

● Spain started to explore their economic options ● He presented his draft to Pope Clement VII,
outside the Iberian Peninsula. Philippe de Villiers L’Isle-Adam (grandmaster of the
Knights of Rodes) and to Lious of Savoy (mother of
● Inspired by the success of Portugal, they aspired to King Francis I of France), hoping that they would
have a fair share in the spice trade. They financed help him finance its publication.
the trans-Atlantic voyages of Christopher Columbus
(1942 to 1502) which resulted to the discovery of ● Unfortunately, he was unable to find a financier
the territories on the other side of the Atlantic who would pay the deposit required by the
Ocean. printer because by that time, the accounts of
Maximillianus Transylvanus and Peter Martyr were
● Decades later, the Spanish monarch also already out and interest on the Magellan expedition
supported the plan of Ferdinand Magellan to go had died down.
to the East by sailing westward, a proposal that
Portugal refused to finance.

9 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Sometime in 1536, a condensed version of his

manuscript was published in Venice by Jacques Additional notes
Fabre.
-He wrote the firsthand observation and general
● What was handed down to us are copies of the impression of the Far East including their experiences in
manuscript that were never printed in his the Visayas.
lifetime.

● Three of them were in French and two were kept in -In Pigafetta’s account, their fleet reached what we called
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. the Ladrones Islands or the “Islands of the Thieves.” He
recounted “These people have no arms, but use sticks,
● The third one was originally owned by British
which have a fish boneat the end. They are poor, but
collector Sir Thomas Phillipps.
ingenious and great thieves, and for the sake of that we
● The fourth copy was written in mixed Italian, called these three islands the Ladrones Islands.”
Spanish, and Venetian languages and could be
found in the Ambrosian Library in Milan. -Ladrones island is presently known as the Marianas
● In 1800, Carlo Amoretti published an Italian Islands.
version and the following year a French version
came out in Paris.
Events happened in Ladrones Islands
● An English version was published in 1819.

● Of the four known primary sources that dealt with EVENTS

Magellan expedition, Pigafettas’s account is the ● 10 days after they reached Ladrones Islands,
longest and most comprehensive. Pigafetta reported that they reached what Pigafetta
called the isle of Zamal, now Samar but Magellan
Pigafetta’s account decided to land in another uninhabited island for
● It recounted the individual fates of the five ships greater security where they could rest for a few
(Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago, and days.
Victoria) that comprised the Magellan expedition.
● After two days, March 18, nine men came to them
● It narrated lucidly how they gallantly survived the and showed joy and eagerness in seeing them.
unforeseen problems and challenges, such as
shortage of food, various types of diseases, the ● Magellan realized that the men were reasonable
crew’s lack of confidence in Magellan’s leadership, and welcomed them with food, drinks and gifts. In
and the hostile attitude of the people they turn, the native gave them fish, pal wine (uraca),
encountered during the journey. figs, and two cochos. The natives also gave them
rice (umai), cocos and other food supplies. Pigafetta
● Pigafetta’s account also included maps glossaries detailed in amazement and fascination the pal tree
of narrative words and geographic information and which bore fruits called cocho and wine.
descriptions of flora and fauna of the places they
visited. ● Pigafetta characterized the people as “very
familiar and friendly”
● Pigafetta’s travelogue contributed immensely to
the enrichment of Philippine historiography. ● Humunu Island (Homonhon)- “Watering Place of
Good Signs.”
● His writing provided us a glimpse of the political,
economic and social conditions of the islands in the
Visayan region during 16th century. Additional notes
● He described vividly the physical appearance,
social life, religious beliefs and cultural practices of -In Homonhon, it is where Pigafetta wrote that they found
the people they encountered in the islands of the first signs of gold in the island.
Samar, Leyte and Cebu. His account contains
data about the economic activities of the local
-They named the island with the nearby islands as the
folks and the goods they offered for trade.
Archipelago of St. Lazarus. They left the island, then on
● He got all this information through the help of March 25th.
Enrique de Malacca ( Magellan’s slave/interpreter,)

10 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Pigafetta recounted that they saw two ballanghai

(balangay) , a long boat full of people in -After seven days, Magellan and his men decided to move
Mazzava/Mazaua. The leader, who Pigafetta and look for the islands where they could acquire more
referred to as king of the ballanghai (balangay), supplies and provisions.
sent his men to the ship of Magellan.
-Raia Calambu offered to pilot them in going to Cebu, the
● When the king of the balangay offered to give largest and the richest of the islands
Magellan a bar of gold and a chest of ginger,
Magellan declined. ● April 7-Magellan and his men reached the port of
Cebu.
● Magellan sent the interpreter to the king and and
asked for money for the needs of the ship and ● The king of Cebu, through Magellan’s interpreter,
expressed that he came into the islands as a friend demanded that they pay tribute as it was customary,
and not as enemy. but Magellan refused. Magellan said that he was a
captain of a king himself and thus would not pay
● The king responded by giving Magellan needed tribute to other kings
provisions of food in chinaware.
● Magellan’s interpreter explained to the king of Cebu
● Magellan also shared with the king his charts and that Magellan’s king was the emperor of a great
maps and shared how they find the islands. empire and that it would do them better to make
friends with them than forge enmity.
● Magellan was introduced to the king’s brother who
was also a king of another island. ● By the next day, Magellan’s men and the king of
Cebu, together with other principal men of Cebu,
met in pen space. There, the king offered a bit of his
Additional notes blood and demanded that Magellan do the same.

-They went to this island and Pigafetta reported that they Additional notes
saw mines of gold
-Magellan spoke before the people of Cebu about peace
and God. Pigafetta reported that the people took pleasure
-Pigafetta described this king as the most handsome
on Magellan’s speech.
of all the men that he saw in this place.
-Pigafetta also related how the people talked about, how at
-This king was named Raia Calambu, king of Zuluan old age, parents were no longer taken into account and
and Calagan (Butuan and Caragua), and the first king had to follow orders from their children as the new leaders
of the land. Magellan responded to this by saying that his
was Raia Siagu. faith entailed children to render honor and obedience to
their parents.

-Pigafetta wrote that their men were overjoyed seeing that

● On March 31st, which was happened to be Easter the people wished to become Christians through their free
Sunday, Magellan ordered the chaplain to preside will not because they were forced or intimidated.
a Mass by the shore. The king heard of this plan
and sent two dead pigs and attended the Mass with
the other King. Pigafetta reported that both king
participated in the mass.
● April 14-Magellan spoke to the king and
● After the mass, Magellan ordered that the cross be encouraged him to be a good Christian by burning
brought with nails and crown in the place. Magellan all of the idols and worship the cross instead. The
explained that the cross, the nail, and the crown king of Cebu was then baptized as a Christian.
were the signs of his emperor and that he was
ordered to plant it in the places he would reach. ● After eight days, Pigafetta counted all of the island’s
The king concurred and allowed for the cross to be inhabitants were already baptized. He admitted that
planted. they burned a village down for obeying neither the
king nor Magellan.
Additional notes ● When the queen came to the Mass one day,
Magellan gave her an image of the Infant Jesus
-The mass in the Philippines and the cross would be made by Pigafetta himself. The king of Cebu swore
famed Magellan’s Cross still preserved at present day. that he would always be faithful to Magellan.

11 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Magellan reiterated that all of the newly baptized ● The natives had slain all of the men except the
Christians need to burn their idols but the native interpreter and Juan Serrano who was already
gave excuses telling Magellan that they needed the wounded.
idols to heal a sick man who was relative to the
king. ● The fleet abandoned Serrano. They left Cebu and
continued their journey around the world.
● They went to the sick man and baptized him. After
the baptismal, Pigafetta recorded that the man was ANALYSIS OF PIGAFETTA’S CHRONICLE
able to speak again. He called this a miracle. ● The chronicle of Pigafetta was one of the most
cited documents by historians who wished to
● April 26- Zula, a principal man from the island of study the precolonial Philippine.
Matan (Mactan) went out to see Magellan and
asked him for a boat full of men so that he would be ● Pigafetta was seen as a credible source for the
able to fight the chief named SIlapulapu (Lapulapu). period, which was prior unchronicled and
● Magellan offered three boats instead and expressed undocumented.
his desire to go to Mactan himself to fight the said ● Pigafetta’s writings account for the “purest”
chief. precolonial society.
● They numbered 49 in total and the islanders of ● The reader needs to understand that he was a
Mactan were estimated to number 1,500. The battle chronicler commissioned by the King of Spain to
began. accompany and document a voyage intended to
expand the Spain empire.
● Magellan died in that battle.
● Pigafettas’s attributes influenced his narrative, his
Additional notes selection of details to be included in the text, his
characterization of the people and of the species
that he encountered, and his interpretation and
-Magellan was pierced with a poisoned arrow in his right retelling of the events. Being a scholar of
leg. cartography and geography,
-Seeing that the captain has already deteriorated, more ● Pigafetta was able to give details on geography and
natives came to attack him climate of the spices that their voyage had reached.
-Pigafetta also said that the king of Cebu who has baptized ● In reading Pigafetta’s description of the people, one
could have sent help but Magellan instructed him not to has to keep in mind that he was coming from the
join the battle and stay in the balangay so that he would sixteenth century European perspective. Hence, the
see how they fought. reader might notice from a sixteenth century
European perspective.

● Pigafetta, whether implicitly or explicitly, regarded

● The king offered the people Mactan gifts of any the indigenous belief systems and way of life as
value and amount in exchange of Magellan’s body inferior to that of Christianity and of the European.
but the chief refused. They wanted to keep
Magellan’s body as memento of their victory. ● He would always remark on the nakedness of the
natives or how he was fascinated by their exotic
● Magellan’s men elected Duarte Barbosa as the new culture.
captain.
● Pigafetta also noticeably emphasized the natives’
● Pigafetta also told how Magellan’s slave and amazement and illiteracy to the European artillery,
interpreter named Henry betrayed them and told merchandise and other goods
king of Cebu that they intended to leave as quickly
as possible as possible. Pigafetta alleged that the ● His observations and assessments of the
slave told the king that if he followed the slave’s indigenous cultures employed the European
advice, then the king could acquire the ships and standards.
the goods of Magellan’s fleet. The two conspired
and betrayed what was left of Magellan’s men. ● It should be understood that such observations
were rooted from the context of Pigafetta and of
● The king invited 24 men to a gathering where he his era.
said he would present the jewels that he would
send for the King of Spain. Pigafetta was not able to ● Europe, for example, was dominated by the Holy
join Roman Empire, whose loyalty and purpose was the
dominations of the Catholic Church all over the
world.

12 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Hence, other belief systems different from

Christianity were perceived to be blasphemous and Europeans that on the
barbaric, even demonic other side of the
American continent
● Understanding the context would reveal that spices exists a large body of
were scarce in Europe and hence were seen as water which they
prestige goods. named Pacific Ocean
(Mar Pacifico)
● In that era, Spain and Portugal coveted the control
of Spice Islands because it would have led to a
certain increase in wealth, influence and power. CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS BY
FRAY JUAN DE PLASENCIA
European Philippine
UNIT 5
Historiography historiography

1. It preserved and 1. It contains HISTORICAL CONTEXT

popularized the important details about ● During the first century of Spanish rule, the colonial
achievements of the the conditions of the government had difficulty running local politics
Magellan-Elcano Visayan Islands in the because of the limited number of Spaniards who
expedition. 16th century. Some of wanted to live outside of Intramuros.
the prominent leaders
during that time, their ● This situation forced Spanish officials to hold the
economic activities, position of gobernadorcillo. To ensure that
social and cultural gobernadorcillos would remain loyal to the Crown,
practices, and religious the friars assigned in the parishes were instructed
beliefs. to supervise and monitor the activities of the former.

2. Credit must be 2. Source of historical ● Hence, the friars ended up performing the
given to Magellan information about the administrative duties of colonial officials.
expedition for proving beginning of
that the world is not Christianity in the ● The friars became the most knowledgeable and
flat but an oblate Philippines, the First influential figure in the pueblo.
sphere and they Mass and the
demolished the myth conversion of Rajah ● Plasencia’s Relacion de las Costumbres de Los
that there is boiling Humabon and his wife Tagalogs (Customs of the Tagalogs, 1589)- is an
water at the equator. and the story of the example of this kind of work.
image of the Sto. Nino. o It contains numerous information that
historians could use in reconstructing the
3. Magellan and his 3. Numerous accounts political and socio-cultural history of the
men completed the about the Filipinos Tagalog region.
circumnavigation of when they met the
the world. Spaniards. Some o -His work is a primary source because he
Filipinos were easily personally witnessed the events and his
befriended while account contained his observations.
others refused to
interact and trade with Additional notes
them.

4. They confirmed that 4. Lapu-lapu was the Fray Juan de Plasencia

the Portuguese route first Filipino who led -Real name: Joan de Portocarrerro
is not the only way to the resistance
the Spice Islands. movement against -A member of Franciscan order who came together with
They proved theory Spanish rule and
that one can go to the successfully thwarted the first batch of missionaries to the Philippines in 1578
east by sailing west the first attempt of the
Spaniards to take -He helped the foundation and organization of numerous
control of the towns in Quezon, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan.
Philippines.

5. They brought to the -His continuous interaction with the people he converted
attention of the to Christianity enables him to write a work titled Reacion

13 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

de las Custombres de Los Tagalogs (Customs of the ● Slaves (Aliping Saguiguilir)

Tagalogs, 1589) where he vividly described the political, o They serve their master in his house and
social, economic and cultural practices of the Filipinos his cultivated lands and can be sold.
before they were Christianized.
o A person becomes slave by:
-(1) by captivity in war, (2) by reason of
-His biggest challenge at that time was how to make the debt, (3) by inheritance, (4) by purchase,
articles of faith comprehensible to people who have never and (5) by committing a crime
heard of Christ or the Catholic Church.
o Slaves can be emancipated through:
(1) by forgiveness, (2) by paying debt, (3)
-He wrote the Doctrina Christiana En Lengua Espanola
by condonation, and (4) by bravery (where
y Tagala -first printed book in the Philippines in 1593. a slave can possibly become a Datu) or by
marriage
-He used it as reading material for those Filipinos who
wished to deepen their faith in the newly-accepted
HOUSES
religion.
● Made of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm.

MODE OF DRESSING
RELEVANCE ● IN MALE
● It covers numerous topics that are relevant in may o Headgear is called Putong (symbolizes
disciplines such as politics. It contains information the number of persons the wearer had
about the social classes, political stratifications and killed)
legal system of the Tagalog region. o (Upper) a jacket with short sleeves called
kanggan.
● It preserves and popularizes the unwritten customs, o (Lower) bahag
traditions and religious and superstitious of the
Filipinos. ● IN FEMALE
o (Upper) Baro or Camisa
● His writings about the Customs of the Tagalogs o (Lower) Saya
helped the priests and missionaries to become
effective evangelizers. GOVERNMENT
● The unit of government is called BARANGAY ruled
● Disprove the claim of some Spaniards that when by a chieftain, and consist of 30 to 100 families
they arrived in the Philippines, Filipinos were still together with their relatives and slaves
uncivilized and lacking in culture. According to
Plasencia, Filipinos were already politically and ● Administration of justice
economically organized. They had a functioning o The chieftain’s executive function includes
government, tax system, set of laws, criminal justice implementing laws, ensuring order and
system, indigenous calendar and long-standing giving protection to his subject.
customs and traditions. They had concept of
Supreme Being (Bathala), practiced burial customs o Disputes between individuals were settled
and believed in life after death. Lastly, the people he by a court made up of the chieftain and
met were wearing garments and gold ornaments council of elders.
and their houses were decorated with idols.
INHERITANCE
Las Costumbres de los Indios Tagalos de Filipinas ● The 1st son of the barangay chieftain inherits his
By Juan de Plasencia father’s position; if the 1st son dies, the 2nd son
succeeds their father; in the absence of male heirs,
SOCIAL CLASS it is the eldest daughter that becomes the chieftain.
● Chieftain (Datu)
o chief, captain of wars, whom governed, MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
obeyed and reverenced ● Men were in general, monogamous; while their
wives are called Asawa.
● Nobles (Maharlika)
o Free-born, they do not pay taxes. ● Courtship begins with Paninilbihan

● Commoners (Aliping Namamahay) ● Prior to marriage the man requires to give a dowry:
o They live in their own houses and lords of o Bigay- kaya (a piece of land or gold);
their property and gold

14 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

o Panghihimuyat (a gift for the brides o They used tap trees as ink and pointed
parents); stick as pencil.
o Bigay-suso (for brides wet nurse).
● Marriage between couples belonging to different o They wrote on large plant leaves, bark of a
social classes were not common. tree or bamboo tubes

● Several grounds of divorce are:

o Adultery
o Abandonment on the part of the Act of Declaration of Philippine
husband,
o Cruelty
Independence
o Insanity
UNIT 6
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
● They worship many gods and goddesses: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
o (1) bathala-supreme being ● In April 1898, the Spanish-American War broke out
o (2) Idayanale-god of agriculture as a result of the U.S. intervention in the Cuban
o (3) Sidarapa-god of death War of Independence.
o (4) Agni-god of fire
o (5) Balangaw-god of rainbow ● The U.S. attacked Spain’s Pacific Possession,
o (6) Mandarangan-god of war which led to its involvement in the Philippine
o (7) Lalahon- god of harvest Revolution.
o (8) Siginarugan-god of hell
● Commodore George Dewey sailed from Hongkong
● Also believe in sacred animals and trees to Manila Bay aboard U.S.S Olympia and led the
Squadron of the U.S. Navy.
SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS
● Believe in Aswang, Dwende, Kapre, Tikbalang, ● In May 1898, the Battle of Manila Bay ensued.
Patyanak/Tiyanak.
● Emilio Aguinaldo decided to return to the
● They also believe in magical power of amulet and Philippines from Hongkong, bringing with him the
charms such as anting-anting, kulam and gayuma first Philippine flag sewn by Marcela Agoncillo,
or love potion. Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina Herbosa.

ECONOMIC LIFE ● Upon arriving in Manila, Aguinaldo proceeded to his

mansion in Kawit, Cavite to rally all Filipinos to unite
● Agriculture in the plane lands: planting of rice, corn, and fight against the Spaniards in the historic battle
banana, coconut, sugar canes and other kinds of cry of the “Hour Celebration.”
vegetable and fruits.
● Together with the Americans, the Filipinos assaulted
● Hunting in high lands. the Spaniards in the Battle of Manila Bay.
● Fishing in river banks and sea. ● However, the said battle was perceived to be a
mock battle as arrangements were already made
● Shipbuilding, weaving, poultry, mining and between the Americans and the Spaniards, which
lumbering. the latter would hand over the Philippines including
Guam and Puerto Rico to the former. Such
● Domestic trade of different barangays by boat arrangements were already finalized in the Treaty of
Paris.
● Foreign trade with countries like Borneo, China,
Japan, Cambodia, Java, and Thailand. ● The Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence
(Acta dela Proclamacion de la Independencia del
LANGUAGE AND SYSTEM OF WRITING Pueblo Filipino) written by Ambrocio Rianzares
● Major languages: Tagalog, Ilocano, Pangasinan, Bautista had the intention to encourage Filipinos to
Pangpangan, Sugbuhanon, Hiligaynon, fight against the Spaniards.
Magindanaw and Samarnon this languages is
originated from the Malayo-Polenisian language. ● Aguinaldo formally declared Philippine
Independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. It
● System of writing: was symbolically accompanied by playing of the
o the alphabets consisted of 3 vowels and National Anthem composed by Julian Felipe with
14 consonants called Baybayin lyrics by Jose Palma from his poem Filipinas.

15 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista read the Act of

Declaration of Philippine Independence in -He died on December 4, 1903 (72 years old) from a fatal
Spanish. fall from s horse-drawn carriage.

● The United States of America, however, never

recognized this declaration.
ABOUT THE TEXT
● The Acta dela Proclamacion de la Independencia ● On June 10, 1896, General Emilio Aguinaldo issued
del Pueblo Filipino was among the documents lost on-sentence decree appointing his Auditor General
during the height of the pilferage of historical of War, Ambrocio Rianzares Bautista, as a “special
documents in the 1980’s. commissioner” to write the Act of Declaration of
Philippine Independence.
● The document was finally returned to the National
Library in 1994 after a professor from the University ● A sixteen page document that contained the
of the Philippines, Milagros Guerrero, negotiated for aspirations of freedom from the Spanish rule, the
its return. sacrifices made, and the revolution that resulted
from it.

● There was a problem in determining how many

Additional notes witnesses really signed the declaration.

Ambrocio Rianzares Bautista ● The copies classified under Philippine

-also known as “Don Bosyong’ Revolutionary Papers (PRP) in the National Library
had varying numbers.

-born on December 17, 1830 in Biñan, Laguna ● Later research by historian=writer Jim Richardson
placed the total number of the signees at 177.
-Parents: Gregorio Enriquez Bautista and Silvestra
Altamira. Analysis of the “Declaration of Philippine
Independence”
-He studied Law at the University of Sto. Tomas and ● A re-examination of the document on the
earned his degree in 1865 (at 35 years old). declaration of independence can reveal some often
overlooked historical truths about this important
-He solicited funds to finance the campaign for reforms in event in Philippine history.
the Philippines and became member of the La Liga
● The document reflects the general revolutionary
Filipina, Cuerpode Compromisarios, and La Propaganda. sentiment of that period. (e.g. the abuses
specifically mentioned in the proclamation like friar
-He was arrested and imprisoned in Fort Santiago by the abuse, racial discrimination, and inequality before
Spaniards as he was suspected of being involved in the the law reflect the most compelling sentiments
represented by revolutionary leadership.)
Philippine Revolution but managed to defend himself and
was eventually released. ● no mention was made about the more serious
problem that affected the masses more profoundly
-He became the first adviser of President Emilio Aguinaldo (e.g., the land and agrarian crisis felt by the
in 1898 numerous Filipino peasants in the 19th century)

● This is ironic specially when renowned Philippine

-In contrary to popular belief; it was Bautista, and not Revolution historian, Teodoro Agoncillo, stated that
Aguinaldo, who waved the Philippine flag before the the Philippine revolution was an agrarian revolution.
jubilant crowd during the proclamation of the Philippine
Independence in Kawit, Cavite. ● The common revolutionary soldiers fought in the
revolution for the hope of owning the lands that they
were tilling once friar estates in different provinces
-On July 14, 1898, he was elected as the president of the like Batangas and Laguna dissolve, if and when the
Philippines in Revolutionary Congress in Tarlac and was revolution succeeded.
later appointed judge of the Court of First Instance of
● Such aspects and realities of the revolutionary
Pangasinan.
struggle were either unfamiliar to the middle class
revolutionary leaders like Emilio Aguinaldo,
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista and Felipe

16 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

Buencamino, or were intentionally left out because ● However, the transition to the American colonial
they were landholders themselves. period provided leeway in the publication of
independent newspapers. Initially, newspapers
● The proclamation also gives us the impression on were scrutinized by the government to ensure that
how the victorious revolutionary government of they did not contain anti-American sentiments which
Aguinaldo historicized the struggle for were branded as subversive and were confiscated.
independence.
● However, the Katipunan as the pioneer of the ● The four decades of the American colonial rule
revolutionary movement was only mentioned once became a formative period in Philippine history.
toward the end of the document.
● Censorship was loosened when a civil government
● There was no mention of the Katipunans was established in 1901.
foundation.
● This gave the Filipinos the right to published without
● Bonifacio and his co-founders were also left out. prior censorship of the government.

● It can be argued, thus, that the way of historical ● After censorship was removed, Rafael Palma
narration found in the document also reflects the launched El Renacimiento (Rebirth) which became
politics of the victors. the most influential of the early nationalist
newspapers campaigning for the right to free press.
● The point is even official records and documents
like the proclamation of independence, while truthful ● Whenever the Americans left offended with any
most of the time, still exudes the politics and biases publication, they used libel and sedition laws to
of whoever is in power. This manifests in the obstruct the developing hostilities.
selectiveness of the information that can be found in
these records. ● After facing two libel suits, El Renacimiento had to
discontinue.
● It is the task of the historian, thus, to analyze the
content of these documents in relation to the ABOUT THE AUTHOR
dominant politics and the contexts of the people and Alfred McCoy
the institutions surrounding it.
● born on June 8, 1945 in Massachusetts USA.
● This tells us a lesson on taking primary sources like
official government records within the ● He earned hi BA in European Studies from
circumstances of this production. Columbia College in 1968
● Studying one historical subject, thus, entails looking ● He studied Philippine political caricatures to
at multi primary sources and pieces of historical understand the social and political context of the
evidences in order to have a more nuanced and Philippines during American period and later
contextual analysis of our past. worked with Alfredo Roces, his co-author of
Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricatures of the
A GLANCE AT SELECTED PHILIPPINE American Era.

POLITICAL CARICATURE IN ALFRED ● Though McCoy did not create any political
caricatures, his interest in them urged him to
MCCOY’S PHILIPPINE CARTOONS: compile such caricatures from various sources to
produce a single collection.
POLITICAL CARICATURE OF THE
AMERICAN ERA (1900-1941) Alfredo Reyes Roces

● born on April 29, 1923

UNIT 7
● He was a painter, an essayist and a versatile artist
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND who considered being a prominent figure in
● The Spanish colonial period in the Philippines was Philippine art.
characterized by strict censorship resulting in a lack
of political liberty and minimal avenues for ● His paintings started with a figurative style but soon
expressing political views. began to amalgamate expressionism, Fauvism, and
expressionism.
● Spanish censorship banned religious publications,
thus compelling newspaper publications to be
distributed underground.

17 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

ABOUT THE TEXT huge warehouses containing bulks of rice, milk and
grocery products.
● Political cartoons and caricature are rather recent
art form, which veered away from the classical art
by exaggerating human features and poking fun as
its subjects.

● It became a part of the print media as a form of

social and political commentary, which usually
targets persons of power and authority.
● Cartoons became an effective tool of publicizing
opinions through heavy use of symbolism,
which is different from verbose written editorial and
opinion pieces.

● The unique way that a caricature represents opinion

and captures the audience’s imagination is reason
enough for the historians to examine these political
cartoons. ● The third cartoon was a commentary on the
unprecedented cases of colorum automobile in the
● In his book of Philippine Cartoons: Political city streets.
Caricatures of the American Era(19001941, Alfred ● The Philippine Free Press published this
McCoy, together with Alfredo Roces, complied commentary when fatal accidents involving colorum
political cartoons published in newspapers dailies vehicles and taxis occurred too often already.
and periodical in the aforementioned time period.

LIST OF CARICATURES
● The first example shown above was published in
The Independent on May 20, 1916.
● The cartoon shows a politician from Tondo , named
Dr. Santos, passing his crown to his brother-in-law,
Dr. Barcelona. A Filipino guy (as depicted wearing
salakot and barong tagalog) was trying to stop
Santos, telling the latter to stop giving Barcelona the
crown because it is not his to begin with.

● This fourth cartoon depicts a cinema. A blown-up

police officer was at the screen saying that couples
are not allowed to neck and make love the theater.
Two youngsters look horrified while an older couple
seemed amused.

● The second cartoon was also published by The

Independent on June 16, 1917.
● This was drawn by Fernando Amorsolo and was a
commentary to the workings of Manila Police at that
period. Here, we see a Filipino child who stole a
skinny chicken because he had nothing to eat.
● The police officer was relentlessly pursuing the said
child. A man wearing a salakot, labered Juan de la
Cruz was grabbing the officer, telling him to leave
the small-time pick pockets and thieves and to turn
at the great thieves instead. He was pointing to

18 I MADE BY VIDAD
 CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY-ANDREWS CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES BATCH 2024
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PROF. LORETA CADATAL
ADAPTED FROM: POWERPOINT/LECTURE

● The next cartoon was published by The ● One example is the unprecedented increase of
Independent on November 27, 1915. motorized vehicles in the city. Automobiles became
● Here, we see the caricature of Uncle Sam riding a popular mode of transportation in the city and led
chariot pulled by Filipinos wearing school uniforms. the emergence of taxis. However, laws and policy of
The Filipino boys were carrying American objects implementation was mediocre. This resulted in the
like baseball bats, whiskey and boxing gloves. increasing colorum and unlicensed vehicles
McCoy, in his caption to the said cartoon, says that transporting people around the city.
this cartoon was based on an event in 1907 when
William Howard Taft was brought to the Manila pier ● Another sample is what McCoy called the “sexual
riding a chariot pulled by students of Liceo de revolution” that occurred in the 1930s. Young
Manila. Such was condemned by the nationalist at people, as early as that period disturbed
that time. conservative Filipino mindset by engaging in daring
sexual activities in public places like cinemas. Here,
we can see how that period was the meeting point
between the conservative past and the liberated
future of the Philippines.

● The cartoons also illustrated the conditions of poor

Filipinos in the Philippine now governed by the US.
From the looks of it, nothing much has changed.
For example, a cartoon depicted how police
authorities oppress petty Filipino criminals while
turning a blind eye on boarders who monopolized
goods in their huge warehouses (presumably
Chinese merchants)

ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL CARICATURES

DURING THE AMERICAN PERIOD
● The selected cartoons illustrate not only the opinion
of certain media outfits about the Philippine society
during the American period but also paint a broad
image of society and politics under United States.

● In the arena of politics for example, we see the

price that Filipinos paid for democracy modeled
after the Americans. This was depicted in the
cartoon “The Independent”.

● Patronage also became influential and powerful, not

only between clients and patrons but also between
the newly formed political parties composed of the
elite and the United States. This was depicted in the
cartoon in the cartoon where the US, represented
by Uncle Sam, provided doll outs for members of
the Federalista while the Nacionalista politicians
looked on and waited for their turn.

● Thus, the essence of competing political parties to

enforce choices among the voters was cancelled
out. The problem continues up to the present where
the politicians transfer from one party to another
depending on which party was powerful in specific
period of time.

● The transition from a Catholic-centered,

Spanish-Filipino society to an imperial
American-assimilated one, and its complications,
were also depicted in the cartoons.

19 I MADE BY VIDAD