Rizal 6: Annotation

• Antonio de Morga was a Spanish lawyer, historian, and colonial official who served as the deputy governor of the Philippines from 1594 to 1604
• Antonio de Morga was born in Seville in 1559 and studied law at the University of Salamanca
• Antonio de Morga arrived in Manila in 1595 and became the second highest-ranking official in the colony
• Antonio de Morga was involved in various administrative, judicial, and military affairs, such as reforming the government, suppressing piracy, and exploring new territories
• Antonio de Morga wrote the first comprehensive history of the Philippines, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, which he published in Mexico in 1609
• Sucesos

  A short explanation or note added to a text or image, or the act of adding short explanations or notes
• Sucesos de las islas Filipinas


  The work of an honest observer, a versatile bureaucrat, who knew the workings of the administration from inside
• Las Islas Filipinas means "The Philippine Island" in English and was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain
• Sucesos de las islas Filipinas is one of the important works of the Philippines about the colonization of Spain, published by Antonio De Morga in Mexico in 1609
• Sucesos de las islas Filipinas explains the political, social, and economical aspects of a colonizer and the colonized country
• Sucesos de las islas Filipinas is based on the experience and observation of Antonio De Morga
• Sucesos de las islas Filipinas was annotated by Jose Rizal with a prologue by Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt
• Modern historians, including Rizal, have noted that Morga has a definite bias and would often distort facts or even rely on invention to fit his defense of the Spanish conquest
• Rizal was an earnest seeker of truth and this marked him as a historian
• Rizal had a burning desire to know exactly the conditions of the Philippines when the Spaniards came ashore to the islands
• Rizal's theory was that the country was economically self-sufficient and prosperous, and he believed that the conquest of the Spaniards contributed in part to the decline of the Philippines's rich tradition and culture
• Rizal's first consideration for the choice of Morga was that the original book was rare, Morga is a layman not a religious chronicler, and Rizal felt Morga to be more "objective" than the religious writers who included many miracle stories
• Three main propositions of Rizal's annotation of Morga's Sucesos

  • Awaken the consciousness of the Filipinos of their glorious ways of the past
  • Correct what has been distorted about the Philippines due to Spanish conquest
  • Prove that Filipinos are civilized even before the coming of the Spaniards
• Three kinds of Spanish delusions about the Philippines

  • Filipinos were considered an inferior race
  • Filipinos were not ready for parliamentary representation and other reforms
  • Denial of equal rights can be compensated by strict dispensation of justice
• Two categories in Rizal's annotation

  • Rizal co
• Correct what has been distorted about the Philippines due to Spanish conquest

  Proved that Filipinos are civilized even before the coming of the Spaniards
• Three kinds of Spanish delusions about the Philippines

  • Filipinos were an inferior race
  • Filipinos were not ready for parliamentary representation and other reforms
  • Denial of equal rights can be compensated by strict dispensation of justice
• Two categories in Rizal's annotation

  • Rizal corrects the original one "the straight forward historical annotation"
  • Historical based reflect his anticlerical bias
• Geography

  1. Ptolemy in his geography indicated three (3) islands which are Sinadae, Gilolo, Amboina and their inhabitants, thus, Philippines was not deserted and was actually habitable

  2. It is actually at exactly 25 degrees and 40 minutes latitude north, until 12 degrees latitude south

  3. The Philippines was inhabitable

  4. It extends up to 12 degrees south latitude
• Climate

  1. In Manila, by December to February, the temperature goes down more than it does during August to September

  2. Thus, with regards to the season, it resembles Spain as all the rest of the northern hemisphere

  3. Winters and summers are opposite of those in Europe

  4. Rainy weather is from June to September. Summer is from October to May
• Plant Species

  1. Betel is "Kasubha” in Tagalog

  2. Betel or Buyo, Pickles and Ginger are abundant
• Culture & Society

  1. Rizal agreed, it is the same method as the Japanese

  2. Draws pattern first before putting black powder where the blood oozes out

  3. They will always choose violence until the Government enters because of their inhumane ways as answer those who do not submit to the Friars

  4. Tribes of whom cannot be safe because of violence

  5. We find it everywhere in the world even in Europe

  6. Indios have hygienic customs which is the proper way of taking a bath

  7. Men and women are money loving and in capitals so when there is a price, they yield

  8. Bathing their body on rivers or streams regardless of their age

  9. Rizal agreed that there were no such kings

  10. Rizal argued that it was better that way because having a leader that knows what the tribe needs and what problems they have is more effective

  11. There are no king or lords to rule them

  12. Morga was critical of the system of government because there are no rulers for myriad communities, instead one leader for each tribe
• Food

  1. It is called "Bagoong" and all those who have eaten it and tasted it know that it is not or ought to be not rotten

  2. It seems that Morga refers to "Tawilis" or "Dilis" which is eaten by natives in large quantities

  3. They prefer to eat salt fish which begin to decompose and smell

  4. The ordinary food of the natives is very small fish which they call "Laulau"
• Faith

  1. It is just like how other nations have their respect to lions and bears, putting their symbols in their shields and giving them vulnerable epithels

  2. The native set traps on the borders of rivers and streams near their settlements to secure them from which they fear and venerate

  3. Proved through the story of Fr. Chirino about the case of Armandao who is sick. He often offer his body to see if he will be cured. But if he was cured, what could be said now to all who died despite all the masses offer to the different virgins

  4. Grave sorcerers and wizards who deceived t
• Lions and bears

  Putting their symbols in their shields and giving them vulnerable epithets
• Natives

  Set traps on the borders of rivers and streams near their settlements to secure them from what they fear and venerate
• Morga: 'Rizal'
• Healers

  1. Proved through the story of Fr. Chirino about the case of Armandao who is sick

  2. Offering his body to see if he will be cured

  3. Belief in omens and superstitions

  4. Telling whether the sick person would live or die
• Custom for the dead

  Burying their dead in their own houses keeping their bodies and bones for a long time in boxes and venerating their skulls
• Economy

  • They also have cotton and not just rice
  • Cotton is raised through the island which they sell and trade as threads
  • The natives of the islands sell the artifacts to the Japanese
  • Natives are always mining for gold but when the Spaniards came, the mining became lesser and they just treasured what gold jewelry they have passing it through generations
• Rizal's idea on how to rewrite Philippine history
• Rizal wanted to awaken the Filipinos' sense of nationalism and identity by correcting the historical distortions and biases of the colonizers
• Rizal used Morga's book as a primary source and added his own annotations and critiques to reveal the truth and counter the propaganda of the Spanish authorities
• Rizal and Morga had different views about Filipinos and Philippine culture
• Morga wrote his book to describe the discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Philippines from a colonial point of view