Module4 Search For Filipino Origins

WEEK 4
The Search for

the Filipino
Origins
GEd 103 Life and Works of Rizal
A.Y. 2019-2020, Midterm

THE SEARCH FOR
THE FILIPINO
ORIGINS
POINTS TO TALK ABOUT
Section 1 Pacto De SangreL Why We Were Conquered?
Section 2 Pre-Colonial Philippines: Rizal’s Annotations of Morga

In 1565, a compact was sealed in
D
a
tu
d S
ik
blood to ensure peace and friendship
a a
tu tu
o n
f a
b
o
h
, between the two nations that they
o
l
Pacto de Sangre
represented.
S
p
a
M n
ig
u
is
h Each made a small cut on his arm and
e C
l a
L p
o ta
p
e
z
in
G
let two or three drops of blood drip
d
e e
le n
e
g ra
a
z
p
l onto a cup of wine, and the both
i
drank from it.

The blood compact between
Legazpi and Sikatuna has often
been among the starting points
in discussing the history of
Spanish colonization in the
Philippines.
The Blood Compact, an
1886 “historic and
historical' painting by
Filipino painter Juan Luna.
Location: Presidential
Museum and Library -
Malacañn Palace
the blood compact served as a solemn
ritual and agreement between two
equals, constituting a pledge of eternal
fraternity and alliance. It is a symbolic
transfusion that wedded Filipinos to
Spanish culture and civilization.
AGUILAR(2010)
the blood compact also became the reason the
Philippines was conquered. As an ancient
tradition in the Philippine archipelago, it was
usually done by parties who were former enemies
and wished to reconcile or those who wanted to
avoid being enemies. In the case of Legazpi and
Sikatuna, the blood compact was initiated for the
second reason.
In an article that appeared in La Solidaridad on September
20, 1889, Marcelo H. del Pilar stated that the blood compact
was a political treaty the Philippines and Spain engaged in
good faith through their representatives.
The treaty, according to del Pilar, was valid but subject to the
fulfillment of its terms, that is, that Spain would annex the Philippines
and in return the Philippines could be assimilated. The Philippines
satisfactorily complied with such terms but Spain reduced the Filipino
race to an inherent position of inferiority.

It was the same point that Andres Bonifacio insisted—the blood compact was
a valid agreement but Sikatuna was misled by the Spaniards in their promise
of enlightenment and prosperity. Bonifacio, in Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga
Tagalog (1896), emphasized that before the Spaniards came, the Filipinos
were living in complete abundance and were able to trade with other
countries. However, the Spaniards deceived Sikatuna and made him believe
that they would treat Filipinos as equals. It was recognizing this deceit that
stirred nationalism among the Filipinos towards the end of the Spanish rule in
the Philippines.
THE SEARCH FOR

FILIPINO ORIGINS
THE SEARCH FOR
FILIPINO ORIGINS
Historically, the Pacto de Sangre between Sikatuna and Legazpi was
integrated in founding of Filipino nationhood. It was also the same
Pacto de Sangre that the ilustrados used in demanding reforms from
Spanish colonial government, a desire for change fueled by what
has been called nationalism.

PRE-COLONIAL
PHILIPPINES: RIZAL'S
ANNOTATIONS OF
MORGA
SECTION 2
Between 1889 to 1890, Dr. Jose P. Rizal spent several months in London as
he tried to improve his mastery of the English language. He stayed as a
boarder with the Beckett Family at 37 Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill,
Camden town, Greater London.
During this time, Rizal was greatly interested in studying precolonial Philippines.
He believed that the Philippines already had an established community, way of
life, and society, and was not as backwards and inferior as the Spaniards
claimed. On the contrary, Rizal was resolved that the arrival of the Spaniards
contributed to the decline of the rich pre-colonial Filipino society and culture.
As such, through a letter if introduction from Reinhold
Rost, the Director of the India Office Library, Rizal was
granted a reader’s pass to the British Museum where he
stumbled upon Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas (1609).
Rizal laboriously copied the entire 351-page work while
making annotations on every nuance in Filipino cultural
practices that Morga wrote about, and even on Morga’s
typographical errors.
Rizal’s dedication to annotate Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas por el
work was further enriched by the Doctor Antonio de Morga, Obra
promise of publication by a wealthy publicada en Mejico en el ano de 1609,
nuevamente sacada a luz y anatoda por

Filipino exile in London, Antonio
Jose Rizal y precedida de un prologo de
Regidor. Regidor committed to equally
prof. Fernando Blumentritt (Events in the
divided the profits between him and
Philippine Islands by Dr. Antonio de
Rizal as soon as his investments were
Morga, a work published in Mexico in
recovered. Unfortunately, Regidor

the year 1609, reprinted and annotated
backed out of the deal prompting Rizal by Rizal and preceded by an
to publish the manuscript by himself in introduction by professor Ferdinand
Blumentritt).
September 1889 with the title,
According to Ambeth Ocampo (1998), Rizal’s choice of Morga’s work as
his primary source for studying Philippine pre-colonial history instead of
Antonio Pigafetta’s was due to the objectivity and civil nature of the
former in contrast to the religious nature of the latter. Morga was said
to be not only an eyewitness but also a major actor as he narrated his
accounts.
The 1609 original work of Morga was not reprinted in full until the
publication of Rizal’s work in 1889 in Paris. In 1909, Wenceslao Retana
made a reproduction of the original including the misprints drawn from
the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. Rizal’s Spanish version was
republished in 1958 in the Philippines, and an English translation was
commissioned and published in 1961 by the Jose Rizal National Centennial
Commission.

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WEEK 4

The Search for

A.Y. 2019-2020, Midterm

Section 1 Pacto De SangreL Why We Were Conquered?

Section 2 Pre-Colonial Philippines: Rizal’s Annotations of Morga

drank from it.

1886 “historic and

Filipino painter Juan Luna.

Museum and Library -

Philippines was conquered. As an ancient

tradition in the Philippine archipelago, it was

usually done by parties who were former enemies

and wished to reconcile or those who wanted to

avoid being enemies. In the case of Legazpi and

Sikatuna, the blood compact was initiated for the

was a political treaty the Philippines and Spain engaged in

good faith through their representatives.

and in return the Philippines could be assimilated. The Philippines

race to an inherent position of inferiority.

of enlightenment and prosperity. Bonifacio, in Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga

THE SEARCH FOR

integrated in founding of Filipino nationhood. It was also the same

Pacto de Sangre that the ilustrados used in demanding reforms from

Spanish colonial government, a desire for change fueled by what

has been called nationalism.

he tried to improve his mastery of the English language. He stayed as a

boarder with the Beckett Family at 37 Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill,

Camden town, Greater London.

He believed that the Philippines already had an established community, way of

Rost, the Director of the India Office Library, Rizal was

granted a reader’s pass to the British Museum where he

stumbled upon Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas

Rizal laboriously copied the entire 351-page work while

making annotations on every nuance in Filipino cultural

practices that Morga wrote about, and even on Morga’s

work was further enriched by the Doctor Antonio de Morga, Obra

promise of publication by a wealthy publicada en Mejico en el ano de 1609,

nuevamente sacada a luz y anatoda por

recovered. Unfortunately, Regidor

backed out of the deal prompting Rizal by Rizal and preceded by an

to publish the manuscript by himself in introduction by professor Ferdinand

his primary source for studying Philippine pre-colonial history instead of

to be not only an eyewitness but also a major actor as he narrated his

publication of Rizal’s work in 1889 in Paris. In 1909, Wenceslao Retana

made a reproduction of the original including the misprints drawn from

the Archivo General de Indias in Seville. Rizal’s Spanish version was

republished in 1958 in the Philippines, and an English translation was

commissioned and published in 1961 by the Jose Rizal National Centennial

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