Rizal and Morga (2)

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Published April 26, 2018, 4:32 AM

LANDSCAPE
By GEMMA CRUZ ARANETA

JOSE Rizal lamented that he was born and bred without knowing about our pre-colonial past. As a result, he felt that he had
neither voice nor authority to talk on what he did not know. You can be sure that most of his contemporaries felt the same way.
When he was a student of the Ateneo Municipal, Rizal did write an allegorical anti-colonial play where the Devil was raving
about how beautiful this archipelago was before the Spaniards came.

We can only imagine how difficult it must have been to research about our past history in those days. Most of the available
sources were written by friars of the religious orders, zealous missionaries determined to obliterate native beliefs which they
considered idolatrous and cultural practices which to them were savage. Rizal must have spent hours plowing through early
Philippine histories by Fathers Pedro Chirino (1604), Francisco Colin (1663), Gaspar de San Agustin (1698), all of which he
mentioned in his annotations of Dr. Antonio Morga’s book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, published in Mexico (Nueva España)
in 1609. It was already out of circulation when Rizal saw it in an obscure corner of the British Library and Museum.

Rizal and his barkada, the “Indios Bravos,” were not entirely ignorant of the ethnic or indigenous communities of the
Motherland; in fact, they abhorred the colonial practice of displaying “samples” of these “savages” in European fairs to justify
the conquest of the Philippines by Spain. While in Europe, Rizal came across research papers about various ethnic communities
in Asia published by eminent European scientists; one of them was Ferdinand Blumentritt, the author of “Versuch einer
Etnographie der Philippinen.” Rizal wrote to him and that was how their friendship began.

Chapter 8 is, about how the natives looked like, their clothes and gold jewelry, customs, and governance before the arrival of the
Spaniards and after the conquest and other special features. Rizal’s annotations are longer than the chapter itself. He noticed all
of Morga’s “mistakes.” The author had misspelled many native names of places, flora and fauna, and social classes, which Rizal
corrected; he also clarified geographical locations. For example, Morga said Tendaya island was one of the largest. Fr. Urdaneta
said it was close to Maluco but Fr. Colin vouched it was in the vicinity of Leyte. Other sources revealed that Tendaya was a
person’s name, the island never existed.

Morga said that cotton was grown extensively in practically all the islands which the natives sold as thread and woven fabrics
to Chinese and other foreign merchants. They also spun thread from banana leaves; Rizal clarified, Morga must have meant
sinamay, which was woven from abaca thread that comes from the trunk, not the leaves. He then quoted Fr. Chirino who wrote
that these cotton fabrics were sought-after in Nueva España and that encomenderos made fortunes on the cotton trade. That was
31 years after the encomiendas were created, but, Rizal pointed out, the industrious natives were so discouraged by extreme
exploitation, they abandoned the fields and burned the weaving looms.

Morga was obviously fascinated with the social organization of the natives; he described origins, differences, privileges of social
classes, upward and downward mobility, inheritance of possessions and titles. Rizal emphasized that native women, unlike their
European counterparts, never lost their noble titles. In marriage, it was the groom who gave the bride’s parents a dowry because
they were losing a precious daughter.

As expected, Morga was critical of the system of government, which he said, barely existed because there were no powerful
figure that ruled over myriad communities, most of them coastal, each with its own set of leaders. Rizal argued that it was better
that way; why should the communities be beholden to one ruler who didn’t even live among them and was not familiar with their
needs and problems? How could he have solved disputes, mete justice, implement policies, if he didn’t even live in the
community? (Perhaps Rizal was in favor of federalism.)

One of the most laborious footnotes was about the literacy of pre-colonial Filipinos. Morga said that natives of all the islands had
their own form of writing with characters that looked like Greek or Arabic. Sadly enough, Rizal said, that was no longer true.
Although the colonial government claimed, in word and deed, that it was instructing the Filipinos, in truth, it was fomenting
ignorance by putting the friars in charge of education. Not only Filipinos but also Peninsulares and foreigners accused them of
wanting to stupefy (embrutecer) the nation and that was evident in their writings and behavior.
With regard to the ancient script, many eminent scholars have written about it. After Chirino, Colin, and De San Agustin came
Jacquet of “Journal Asiatique,” Alfred Marche’s “Luçon and Palaouan” which was about the Tagbanuas; T. Pardo de Tavera’s,
“Contribucion para el studio de los antiguos alfabetos Filipinos (1884).

Through Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal met the most eminent European ethnologists of those days. They must have been quite
impressed by the intellectual curiosity of this young Asian that they invited him to be a member of their prestigious society of
ethnologists. Rizal was so enthused, he made plans for an international conference about the Philippines, but unfortunately his
audacious idea not pull through.

Had he lived longer, I am sure he would have spent many years studying the past. After all, his third novel, Makamisa, was about
the period of transition about which we know so little. He would have gone to the highlands to meet the Ifugaos and Tinggians
and live among our ancestors.
(ggc1898@gmail.com)

TO the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere I started to sketch the present state of our native
land. But the effect which my effort produced made me realize that, before attempting to
unroll before your eyes the other pictures which were to follow, it was necessary first to
post you on the past. So only can you fairly judge the present and estimate how much
progress has been made during the three centuries (of Spanish rule).

(Dr. Jose P. Rizal, center beside Marcelo H. Del Pilar and other Filipinos in Madrid, Spain, 1890.)

Like almost all of you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our country's past and
so, without knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw nor have studied, I
deem it necessary to quote the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who in the beginning
of the new era controlled the destinies of the Philippines and had personal knowledge of
our ancient nationality in its last days.

It is then the shade of our ancestor's civilization which the author will call before you... If
the work serves to awaken in you a consciousness of our past, and to blot from your
memory or to rectify what has been falsified or is calumny, then I shall not have labored
in vain. With this preparation, slight though it be, we can all pass to the study of the
future.

Dr. Jose Rizal's annotations to Morga's

1609 Philippine History
Posted under General History
Tuesday February 28, 2012 (7 years ago)
JOSE RIZAL, Europe, 1889.

Governor Antonio de Morga was not only the first to write but also the first to publish
a Philippine history. This statement has regard to the concise and concrete form in
which our author has treated the matter. Father Chirino's work, printed at Rome in 1604,
is rather a chronicle of the Missions than a history of the Philippines; still it contains a
great deal of valuable material on usages and customs. The worthy Jesuit in fact admits
that he abandoned writing a political history because Morga had already done so, so
one must infer that he had seen the work in manuscript before leaving the Islands.

 By the Christian religion, Doctor Morga appears to mean the Roman Catholic which by
fire and sword he would preserve in its purity in the Philippines. Nevertheless in other
lands, notably in Flanders, these means were ineffective to keep the church unchanged,
or to maintain its supremacy, or even to hold its subjects.

 Great kingdoms were indeed discovered and conquered in the remote and unknown
parts of the world by Spanish ships but to the Spaniards who sailed in them we may add
Portuguese, Italians, French, Greeks, and even Africans and Polynesians. The
expeditions captained by Columbus and Magellan, one a Genoese Italian and the other
a Portuguese, as well as those that came after them, although Spanish fleets, still were
manned by many nationalities and in them went negroes, Moluccans, and even men
from the Philippines and the Marianes Islands.

 Three centuries ago it was the custom to write as intolerantly as Morga does, but
nowadays it would be called a bit presumptuous. No one has a monopoly of the true
God nor is there any nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate prove, that to it has
been given the exclusive right to the Creator of all things or sole knowledge of His real
being.

 The conversions by the Spaniards were not as general as their historians claim. The
missionaries only succeeded in converting a part of the people of the Philippines. Still
there are Mahometans, the Moros, in the southern islands, and negritos, igorots and
other heathens yet occupy the greater part territorially of the archipelago. Then the
islands which the Spaniards early held but soon lost are non-Christian-Formosa, Borneo,
and the Moluccas. And if there are Christians in the Carolines, that is due to Protestants,
whom neither the Roman Catholics of Morga's day nor many Catholics in our own day
consider Christians.

 It is not the fact that the Filipinos were unprotected before the coming of the Spaniards.
Morga himself says, further on in telling of the pirate raids from the south, that previous
to the Spanish domination the islands had arms and defended themselves. But after the
natives were disarmed the pirates pillaged them with impunity, coming at times when
they were unprotected by the government, which was the reason for many of the
insurrections.

 The civilization of the Pre-Spanish Filipinos in regard to the duties of life for that age was
well advanced, as the Morga history shows in its eighth chapter.

 The islands came under Spanish sovereignty and control through compacts, treaties of
friendship and alliances for reciprocity. By virtue of the last arrangement, according to
 some historians, Magellan lost his life on Mactan and the soldiers of Legaspi fought
under the banner of King Tupas of Cebu.

 The term "conquest" is admissible but for a part of the islands and then only in its
broadest sense. Cebu, Panay, Luzon Mindoro and some others cannot be said to have
been conquered.

 The discovery, conquest and conversion cost Spanish blood but still more Filipino blood.
It will be seen later on in Morga that with the Spaniards and on behalf of Spain there
were always more Filipinos fighting than Spaniards.

 Morga shows that the ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and other
implements of warfare. Their prized krises and kampilans for their magnificent temper
are worthy of admiration and some of them are richly damascened. Their coats of mail
and helmets, of which there are specimens in various European museums, attest their
great advancement in this industry.

 Morga's expression that the Spaniards "brought war to the gates of the Filipinos" is in
marked contrast with the word used by subsequent historians whenever recording
Spain's possessing herself of a province, that she pacified it. Perhaps "to make peace"
then meant the same as "to stir up war." (This is a veiled allusion to the old Latin saying
of Romans, often quoted by Spaniard's, that they made a desert, calling it making
peace.-C.)

Magellan's transferring from the service of his own king to employment under the King of
Spain, according to historic documents, was because the Portuguese King had refused
to grant him the raise in salary which he asked.

 Now it is known that Magellan was mistaken when he represented to the King of Spain
that the Molucca Islands were within the limits assigned by the Pope to the Spaniards.
But through this error and the inaccuracy of the nautical instruments of that time, the
Philippines did not fall into the hands of the Portuguese.

 Cebu, which Morga calls "The City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus," was at first called
"The village of San Miguel."

 The image of the Holy Child of Cebu, which many religious writers believed was brought
to Cebu by the angels, was in fact given by the worthy Italian chronicler of Magellan's
expedition, the Chevalier Pigafetta, to the Cebuan queen.

 The expedition of Villalobos, intermediate

between Magellan's and Legaspi's, gave the
name "Philipina" to one of the southern
islands, Tendaya, now perhaps Leyte, and
this name later was extended to the whole archipelago.

 Of the native Manila rulers at the coming of the Spaniards, Raja Soliman was called
"Rahang mura", or young king, in distinction from the old king, "Rahang matanda".
Historians have confused these personages. The native fort at the mouth of the Pasig
 river, which Morga speaks of as equipped with brass lantakas and artillery of larger
caliber, had its ramparts reenforced with thick hardwood posts such as the Tagalogs
used for their houses and called "harigues", or "haligui".

 Morga has evidently confused the pacific coming of Legaspi with the attack of Goiti and
Salcedo, as to date. According to other historians it was in 1570 that Manila was burned,
and with it a great plant for manufacturing artillery. Goiti did not take posession of the
city but withdrew to Cavite and afterwards to Panay, which makes one suspicious of his
alleged victory. As to the day of the date, the Spaniards then, having come following the
course of the sun, were some sixteen hours later than Europe. This condition continued
till the end of the year 1844, when the 31st of December was by special arrangement
among the authorities dropped from the calendar for that year. Accordingly Legaspi did
not arrive in Manila on the 19th but on the 20th of May and consequently it was not on
the festival of Santa Potenciana but on San Baudelio's day. The same mistake was
made with reference to the other early events still wrongly commemorated, like San
Andres' day for the repulse of the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong.

 Though not mentioned by Morga, the Cebuans aided the Spaniards in their expedition
against Manila, for which reason they were long exempted from tribute.

 The southern islands, the Bisayas, were also called "The land of the Painted People (or
Pintados, in Spanish)" because the natives had their bodies decorated with tracings
made with fire, somewhat like tattooing.

 The Spaniards retained the native name for the new capital of the archipelago, a little
changed, however, for the Tagalogs had called their city "Maynila."

 When Morga says that the lands were "entrusted" (given as encomiendas) to those who
had "pacified" them, he means "divided up among." The word "en trust," like "pacify,"
later came to have a sort of ironical signification. To entrust a province was then as if it
were said that it was turned over to sack, abandoned to the cruelty and covetousness of
the encomendero, to judge from the way these gentry misbehaved.

 Legaspi's grandson, Salcedo, called the Hernando Cortez of the Philippines, was the
"conqueror's" intelligent right arm and the hero of the "conquest." His honesty and fine
qualities, talent and personal bravery, all won the admiration of the Filipinos. Because of
him they yielded to their enemies, making peace and friendship with the Spaniards. He it
was who saved Manila from Li Ma-hong. He died at the early age of twenty-seven and is
the only encomendero recorded to have left the great part of his possessions to the
Indians of his encomienda. Vigan was his encomienda and the Ilokanos there were his
heirs.

 The expedition which followed the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong, after his unsuccessful
attack upon Manila, to Pangasinan province, with the Spaniards of whom Morga tells,
had in it 1,500 friendly Indians from Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Panay, besides the many
others serving as laborers and crews of the ships. Former Raja Lakandola, of Tondo,
with his sons and his kinsmen went, too, with 200 more Bisayans and they were joined
by other Filipinos in Pangasinan.

 If discovery and occupation justify annexation, then Borneo ought to belong to Spain. In
the Spanish expedition to replace on its throne a Sirela or Malaela, as he is variously
 called, who had been driven out by his brother, more than fifteen hundred Filipino
bowmen from the provinces of Pangasinan, Kagayan, and the Bisayas participated.

 It is notable how strictly the earlier Spanish governors were held to account. Some
stayed in Manila as prisoners, one, Governor Corcuera, passing five years with Fort
Santiago as his prison.

 In the fruitless expedition against the Portuguese in the island of Ternate, in the Molucca
group, which was abandoned because of the prevalence of beriberi among the troops,
there went 1,500 Filipino soldiers from the more warlike provinces, principally Kagayans
and Pampangans.

 The "pacification" of Kagayan was accomplished by taking advantage of the jealousies

among its people, particularly the rivalry between two brothers who were chiefs. An early
historian asserts that without this fortunate circumstance, for the Spaniards, it would
have been impossible to subjugate them.

 Captain Gabriel de Rivera, a Spanish commander who had gained fame in a raid on
Borneo and the Malacca coast, was the first envoy from the Philippines to take up with
the King of Spain the needs of the archipelago.

 -The early conspiracy of the Manila and Pampangan former chiefs was revealed to the
Spaniards by a Filipina, the wife of a soldier, and many concerned lost their lives.

 The artillery cast for the new stone fort in Manila, says Morga, was by the hand of an
ancient Filipino. That is, he knew how to cast cannon even before the coming of the
Spaniards, hence he was distinguished as 4"ancient." In this difficult art of ironworking,
as in so many others, the modern or present-day Filipinos are not so far advanced as
were their ancestors.

 When the English freeboother Cavendish captured the Mexican galleon Santa Ana, with
122,000 gold pesos, a great quantity of rich textiles-silks, satins and damask, musk
perfume, and stores of provisions, he took 150 prisoners. All these because of their
brave defense were put ashore with ample supplies, except two Japanese lads, three
Filipinos, a Portuguese and a skilled Spanish pilot whom he kept as guides in his further
voyaging.

 From the earliset Spanish days ships were built in the islands, which might be
considered evidence of native culture. Nowadays this industry is reduced to small craft,
scows and coasters.

 The Jesuit, Father Alonso Sanchez, who visited the papal court at Rome and the
Spanish King at Madrid, had a mission much like that of deputies now, but of even
greater importance since he came to be a sort of counsellor or representative to the
absolute monarch of that epoch. One wonders why the Philippines could have a
representative then but may not have one now.

 In the time of Governor Gomez Perez Dasmarinias, Manila was guarded against further
damage such as was suffered from Li Ma-hong by the construction of a massive stone
wall around it. This was accomplished "without expense to the royal treasury." The same
 governor, in like manner, also fortified the point at the entrance to the river where had
been the ancient native fort of wood, and he gave it the name Fort Santiago.

 The early cathedral of wood which was burned through carelessness at the time of the
funeral of Governor Dasmarifias' predecessor, Governor Ronquillo, was made,
according to the Jesuit historian Chirino, with hardwood pillars around which two men
could not reach, and in harmony with this massiveness was all the woodwork above and
below. It may be surmised from this how hard workers were the Filipinos of that time.

 A stone house for the bishop was built before starting on the governor-general's
residence. This precedence is interesting for those who uphold the civil power. Morga's
mention of the scant output of large artillery from the Manila cannon works because of
lack of master foundrymen shows that after the death of the Filipino Panday Pira there
were not Spaniards skilled enough to take his place, nor were his sons as expert as he.

 It is worthy of note that China, Japan and Cambodia at this time maintained relations
with the Philippines. But in our day it has been more than a century since the natives of
the latter two countries have come here. The causes which ended the relationship may
be found in the interference by the religious orders with the institutions of those lands.

 For Governor Dasmarinas' expedition to conquer Ternate, in the Moluccan group, two
Jesuits there gave secret information. In his 200 ships, besides 900 Spaniards, there
must have been Filipinos for one chronicler speaks of Indians, as the Spaniards called
the natives of the Philippines, who lost their lives and others who were made captives
when the Chinese rowers mutinied. It was the custom then always to have a thousand or
more native bowmen and besides the crew were almost all Filipinos, for the most part
Bisayans.

 The historian Argensola, in telling of four special galleys for Dasmarinas' expedition,
says that they were manned by an expedient which was generally considered rather
harsh. It was ordered that there be bought enough of the Indians who were slaves of the
former Indian chiefs, or principales, to form these crews, and the price, that which had
been customary in pre-Spanish times, was to be advanced by the encomenderos who
later would be reimbursed from the royal treasury. In spite of this promised
compensation, the measures still seemed severe since those Filipinos were not correct
in calling their dependents slaves. The masters treated these, and loved them, like sons
rather, for they seated them at their own tables an gave them their own daughters in
marriage.

 Morga says that the 250 Chinese oarsmen who manned Governor Dasmariias' swift
galley were under pay and had the special favor of not being chained to their benches.
According to him it was covetousness of the wealth aboard that led them to revolt and
kill the governor. But the historian Gaspar de San Agustin states that the reason for the
revolt was the governor's abusive language and his threatening the rowers. Both these
authors' allegations may have contributed, but more important was the fact that there
was no law to compel these Chinamen to row in the galleys. They had come to Manila to
engage in commerce or to work in trades or to follow professions. Still the incident
contradicts the reputation for enduring everything which they have had. The Filipinos
have been much more long-suffering than the Chinese since, in spite of having been
obliged to row on more than one occasion, they never mutinied.
 It is difficult to excuse the missionaries' disregard of the laws of nations and the usages
of honorable politics in their interference in Cambodia on the ground that it was to
spread the Faith. Religion had a broad field awaiting it then in the Philippines where
more than nine-tenths of the natives were infidels. That even now there are to be found
here so many tribes and settlements of non-Christians takes away much of the prestige
of that religious zeal which in the easy life in towns of wealth, liberal and fond of display,
grows lethargic. Truth is that the ancient activity was scarcely for the Faith alone,
because the missionaries had to go to islands rich in spices and gold though there were
at hand Mahometans and Jews in Spain and Africa, Indians by the million in the
Americas, and more millions of protestants, schismatics and heretics peopled, and still
people, over six-sevenths of Europe. All of these doubtless would have accepted the
Light and the true religion if the friars, under pretext of preaching to them, had not
abused their hospitality and if behind the name Religion had not lurked the unnamed
Domination.

 In the attempt made by Rodriguez de Figueroa to conquer Mindanao according to his

contract with the King of Spain, there was fighting along the Rio Grande with the people
called the Buhahayenes. Their general, according to Argensola, was the celebrated
Silonga, later distinguished for many deeds in raids on the Bisayas and adjacent islands.
Chirino relates an anecdote of his coolness under fire once during a truce for a marriage
among Mindanao "principalia." Young Spaniards out of bravado fired at his feet but he
passed on as if unconscious of the bullets.

 Argensola has preserved the name of the Filipino who killed Rodriguez de Figueroa. It
was Ubal. Two days previously he had given a banquet, slaying for it a beef animal of
his own, and then made the promise which he kept, to do away with the leader of the
Spanish invaders. A Jesuit writer calls him a traitor though the justification for that term
of reproach is not apparent. The Buhahayen people were in their own country, and had
neither offended nor declared war upon the Spaniards. They had to defend their homes
against a powerful invader, with superior forces, many of whom were, by reason of their
armor, invulnerable so far as rude Indians were concerned. Yet these same Indians
were defenceless against the balls from their muskets. By the Jesuit's line of reasoning,
the heroic Spanish peasantry in their war for independence would have been a people
even more treacherous. It was not Ubal's fault that he was not seen and, as it was
wartime, it would have been the height of folly, in view of the immense disparity of arms,
to have first called out to this preoccupied opponent,and then been killed himself.

 The muskets used by the Buhahayens were probably some that had belonged to
Figueroa's soldiers who had died in battle. Though the Philippines had lantakas and
other artillery, muskets were unknown till the Spaniards came.

 That the Spaniards used the word "discover" very carelessly may be seen from an
admiral's turning in a report of his "discovery" of the Solomon islands though he noted
that the islands had been discovered before.

 Death has always been the first sign of European civilization on its introduction in the
Pacific Ocean. God grant that it may not be the last, though to judge by statistics the
civilized islands are losing their populations at a terrible rate. Magellan himself
inaugurated his arrival in the Marianes islands by burning more than forty houses, many
small craft and seven people because one of his boats had been stolen. Yet to the
 simple savages the act had nothing wrong in it but was done with the same naturalness
that civilized people hunt, fish, and subjugate people that are weak or ill-armed.

 The Spanish historians of the Philippines never overlook any opportunity, be it suspicion
or accident, that may be twisted into something unfavorable to the Filipinos. They seem
to forget that in almost every case the reason for the rupture has been some act of those
who were pretending to civilize helpless peoples by force of arms and at the cost of their
native land. What would these same writers have said if the crimes committed by the
Spaniards, the Portuguese and the Dutch in their colonies had been committed by the
islanders?

 The Japanese were not in error when they suspected the Spanish and Portuguese
religious propaganda to have political motives back of the missionary activities. Witness
the Moluccas where Spanish missionaries served as spies; Cambodia, which it was
sought to conquer under cloak of converting; and many other nations, among them the
Filipinos, where the sacrament of baptism made of the inhabitants not only subjects of
the King of Spain but also slaves of the encomenderos, and as well slaves of the
churches and convents. What would Japan have been now had not its emperors
uprooted catholicism? A missionary record of 1625 sets forth that the King of Spain had
arranged with certain members of Philippine religious orders that, under guise of
preaching the faith and making Christians, they should win over the Japanese and oblige
them to make themselves of the Spanish party, and finally it told of a plan whereby the
King of Spain should become also King of Japan. In corroboration of this may be cited
the claims that Japan fell within the Pope's demarcation lines for Spanish expansion and
so there was complaint of missionaries other than Spanish there. Therefore it was not for
religion that they were converting the infidels!

 The raid by Datus Sali and Silonga of Mindanao, in 1599 with 50 sailing vessels and
3,000 warriors, against the capital of Panay, is the first act of piracy by the inhabitants of
the South which is recorded in Philippine history. I say "by the inhabitants of the South"
because earlier there had been other acts of piracy, the earliest being that of Magellan's
expedition when it seized the shipping of friendly islands and even of those whom they
did not know, extorting for them heavy ransoms. It will be remembered that these Moro
piracies continued for more than two centuries, during which the indomitable sons of the
South made captives and carried fire and sword not only in neighboring islands but into
Manila Bay to Malate, to the very gates of the capital, and not once a year merely but at
times repeating their raids five and six times in a single season. Yet the government was
unable to repel them or to defend the people whom it had disarmed and left without
protection. Estimating that the cost to the islands was but 800 victims a year, still the
total would be more than 200,000 persons sold into slavery or killed, all sacrificed
together with so many other things to the prestige of that empty title, Spanish
sovereignty.

 Still the Spaniards say that the Filipinos have contributed nothing to Mother Spain, and
that it is the islands which owe everything. It may be so, but what about the enormous
sum of gold which was taken from the islands in the early years of Spanish rule, of the
tributes collected by the encomenderos, of the nine million dollars yearly collected to pay
the military, expenses of the employees, diplomatic agents, corporations and the like,
charged to the Philippines, with salaries paid out of the Philippine treasury not only for
those who come to the Philippines but also for those who leave, to some who never
have been and never will be in the islands, as well as to others who have nothing to do
 with them. Yet all of this is as nothing in comparison with so many captives gone, such a
great number of soldiers killed in expeditions, islands depopulated, their inhabitants sold
as slaves by the Spaniards themselves, the death of industry, the demoralization of the
Filipinos, and so forth, and so forth. Enormous indeed would the benefits which that
sacred civilization brought to the archipelago have to be in order to counterbalance so
heavy a-cost.

 While Japan was preparing to invade the Philippines, these islands were sending
expeditions to Tonquin and Cambodia, leaving the homeland helpless even against the
undisciplined hordes from the South, so obsessed were the Spaniards with the idea of
making conquests.

 In the alleged victory of Morga over the Dutch ships, the latter found upon the bodies of
five Spaniards, who lost their lives in that combat, little silver boxes filled with prayers
and invocations to the saints. Here would seem to be the origin of the anting-anting of
the modern tulisanes, which are also of a religious character.

 In Morga's time, the Philippines exported silk to Japan whence now comes the best
quality of that merchandise.

 Morga's views upon the failure of Governor Pedro de Acunia's ambitious expedition
against the Moros unhappily still apply for the same conditions yet exist. For fear of
uprisings and loss of Spain's sovereignty over the islands, the inhabitants were
disarmed, leaving them exposed to the harassing of a powerful and dreaded enemy.
Even now, though the use of steam vessels has put an end to piracy from outside, the
same fatal system still is followed. The peaceful countryfolk are deprived of arms and
thus made unable to defend themselves against the bandits, or tulisanes, which the
government cannot restrain. It is an encouragemnnt to banditry thus to make easy its
getting booty.

 Hernando de los Rios blames these Moluccan wars for the fact that at first the
Philippines were a source of expense to Spain instead of profitable in spite of the
tremendous sacrifices of the Filipinos, their practically gratuitous labor in building and
equipping the galleons, and despite, too, the tribute, tariffs and other imposts and
monopolies. These wars to gain the Moluccas, which soon were lost forever with the
little that had been so laboriously obtained, were a heavy drain upon the Philippines.
They depopulated the country and bankrupted the treasury, with not the slightest
compensating benefit. True also is it that it was to gain the Moluccas that Spain kept the
Philippines, the desire for the rich spice islands being one of the most powerful
arguments when, because of their expense to him, the King thought of withdrawing and
abandoning them.

 Among the Filipinos who aided the government when the Manila Chinese revolted,
Argensola says there were 4,000 Pampangans "armed after the way of their land, with
bows and arrows, short lances, shields, and broad and long daggers." Some Spanish
writers say that the Japanese volunteers and the Filipinos showed themselves cruel in
slaughtering the Chinese refugees. This may very well have been so, considering the
hatred and rancor then existing, but those in command set the example.

 The loss of two Mexican galleons in 1603 called forth no comment from the religious
chroniclers who were accustomed to see the avenging hand of God in the misfortunes
 and accidents of their enemies. Yet there were repeated shipwrecks of the vessels that
carried from the Philippines wealth which encomenderos had extorted from the Filipinos,
using force, or making their own laws, and, when not using these open means, cheating
by the weights and measures.

 The Filipino chiefs who at their own expense went with the Spanish expedition against
Ternate, in the Moluccas, in 1605, were Don Guillermo Palaot, maestro de campo, and
Captains Francisco Palaot, Juan Lit, Luis Lont, and Agustin Lont. They had with them
400 Tagalogs and Pampangans. The leaders bore themselves bravely for Argensola
writes that in the assault on Ternate, "No officer, Spaniard or Indian, went unscathed."

 The Cebuans drew a pattern on the skin before starting in to tatoo. The Bisayan usage
then was the same procedure that the Japanese today follow.

 Ancient traditions ascribe the origin of the Malay Filipinos to the island of Sumatra.
These traditions were almost completely lost as well as the mythology and the
genealogies of which the early historians tell, thanks to the zeal of the missionaries in
eradicating all national remembances as heathen or idolatrous. The study of ethnology is
restoring this somewhat.

 The chiefs used to wear upper garments, usually of Indian fine gauze according to Colin,
of red color, a shade for which they had the same fondness that the Romans had. The
barbarous tribes in Mindanao still have the same taste.

 The "easy virtue" of the native women that historians note is not solely attributable to the
simplicity with which they obeyed their natural instincts but much more due to a religious
belief of which Father Chirino tells. It was that in the journey after death to
"Kalualhatian," the abode of the spirit, there was a dangerous river to cross that had no
bridge other than a very narrow strip of wood over which a woman could not pass unless
she had a husband or lover to extend a hand to assist her. Furthermore, the religious
annals of the early missions are filled with countless instances where native maidens
chose death rather than sacrifice their chastity to the threats and violence of
encomenderos and Spanish soldiers. As to the mercenary social evil, that is worldwide
and there is no nation that can 'throw the first stone' at any other. For the rest, today the
Philippines has no reason to blush in comparing its womankind with the women of the
most chaste nation in the world.

 Morga's remark that the Filipinos like fish better when it is commencing to turn bad is
another of those prejudices which Spaniards like all other nations, have. In matters of
food, each is nauseated with what he is unaccustomed to or doesn't know is eatable.
The English, for example, find their gorge rising when they see a Spaniard eating snails,
while in turn the Spanish find roastbeef English-style repugnant and can't understand the
relish of other Europeans for beefsteak a la Tartar which to them is simply raw meat.
The Chinaman, who likes shark's meat, cannot bear Roquefort cheese, and these
examples might be indefinitely extended. The Filipinos' favorite fish dish is the bagong
and whoever has tried to eat it knows that it is not considered improved when tainted. It
neither is, nor ought to be, decayed.

 Colin says the ancient Filipinos had minstrels who had memorized songs telling their
genealogies and of the deeds ascribed to their deities. These were chanted on voyages
in cadence with the rowing, or at festivals, or funerals, or wherever there happened to be
 any considerable gatherings. It is regretable that these chants have not been preserved
as from them it would have been possible to learn much of the Filipinos' past and
possibly of the history of neighboring islands.

 The cannon foundry mentioned by Morga as in the walled city was probably on the site
of the Tagalog one which was destroyed by fire on the first coming of the Spaniards.
That established in 1584 was in Lamayan, that is, Santa Ana now, and was transferred
to the old site in 1590. It continued to work until 1805. According to Gaspar San Agustin,
the cannon which the pre-Spanish Filipinos cast were "as great as those of Malaga,"
Spain's foundry. The Filipino plant was burned with all that was in it save a dozen large
cannons and some smaller pieces which the Spanish invaders took back with them to
Panay. The rest of their artillery equipment had been thrown by the Manilans, then
Moros, into the sea when they recognized their defeat.

 Malate, better Maalat, was where the Tagalog aristocracy lived after they were
dispossessed by the Spaniards of their old homes in what is now the walled city of
Manila. Among the Malate residents were the families of Raja Matanda and Raja
Soliman. The men had various positions in Manila and some were employed in
government work near by. "They were very courteous and well-mannered," says San
Agustin. "The women were very expert in lacemaking, so much so that they were not at
all behind the women of Flanders."

 Morga's statement that there was not a province or town of the Filipinos that resisted
conversion or did not want it may have been true of the civilized natives. But the contrary
was the fact among the mountain tribes. We have the testimony of several Dominican
and Augustinian missionaries that it was impossible to go anywhere to make
conversions without other Filipinos along and a guard of soldiers. "Otherwise, says
Gaspar de San Agustin, there would have been no fruit of the Evangelic Doctrine
gathered, for the infidels wanted to kill the Friars who came to preach to them." An
example of this method of conversion given by the same writer was a trip to the
mountains by two Friars who had a numerous escort of Pampangans. The escort's
leader was Don Agustin Sonson who had a reputation for daring and carried fire and
sword into the country, killing many, including the chief, Kabadi.
Annotations to Dr. Antonio Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1609) (Translated by Austin
Craig)
As a child José Rizal heard from his uncle, José Alberto, about a ancient history of the Philippines written by a Spaniard named Antonio de
Morga. The knowledge of this book came from the English Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Browning, who had once paid his uncle a visit.
While in London, Rizal immediately acquainted himself with the British Museum where he found one of the few remaining copies of that work.
At his own expense, he had the work republished with annotations that showed the Philippines was an advanced civilization prior to the Spanish
conquest. Austin Craig, an early biographer of Rizal, translated into English some of the more important of these annotations.

-----------------------------------------------

To the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere ("The Social Cancer") I started to sketch the present state of our
native land. But the effect which my effort produced made me realize that, before attempting to unroll
before your eyes the other pictures which were to follow, it was necessary first to post you on the past. So
only can you fairly judge the present and estimate how much progress has been made during the three
centuries (of Spanish rule).

Like almost all of you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our country's past and so, without
knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw nor have studied, I deem it necessary to quote the
testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who in the beginning of the new era controlled the destinies of the
Philippines and had personal knowledge of our ancient nationality in its last days.

It is then the shade of our ancestor's civilization which the author will call before you. If the work serves
to awaken in you a consciousness of our past, and to blot from your memory or to rectify what has been
falsified or is calumny, then I shall not have labored in vain. With this preparation, slight though it may
be, we can all pass to the study of the future.

José Rizal
Europe, 1889

Governor Morga was not only the first to write but also the first to publish a Philippine history. This
statement has regard to the concise and concrete form in which our author has treated the matter. Father
Chirino's work, printed in Rome in 1604, is rather a chronicle of the Missions than a history of the
Philippines; still it contains a great deal of valuable material on usages and customs. The worthy Jesuit in
fact admits that he abandoned writing a political history because Morga had already done so, so one must
infer that he had seen the work in manuscript before leaving the Islands.

 By the Christian religion, Dr. Morga appears to mean the Roman Catholic which by fire and
sword he would preserve in its purity in the Philippines. Nevertheless in other lands, notably in
Flanders, these means were ineffective to keep the church unchanged, or to maintain its
supremacy, or even to hold its subjects.

 Great kingdoms were indeed discovered and conquered in the remote and unknown parts of the
world by Spanish ships but to the Spaniards who sailed in them we may add Portuguese, Italians,
French, Greeks, and even Africans and Polynesians. The expeditions captained by Columbus and
Magellan, one a Genoese Italian and the other a Portuguese, as well as those that came after them,
 although Spanish fleets, still were manned by many nationalities and in them were negroes,
Moluccans, and even men from the Philippines and the Marianes Islands.

 These centuries ago it was the custom to write as intolerantly as Morga does, but nowadays it
would be called a bit presumptuous. No one has a monopoly of the true God nor is there any
nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate prove, that to it has ben given the exclusive right
to the Creator of all things or sole knowledge of His real being.
 The conversions by the Spaniards were not as general as their historians claim. The missionaries
only succeeded in converting a part of the people of the Philippines. Still there are
Mohammedans, the Moros, in the southern islands, and Negritos, Igorots and other heathens yet
occupy the greater part territorially of the archipelago. Then the islands which the Spaniards early
held but soon lost are non-Christian -- Formosa, Borneo, and the Moluccas. And if thre are
Christians in the Carolines, that is due to Protestants, whom neither the Roman Catholics of
Morga's day nor many Catholics in our own day consider Christians.
 It is not the fact that the Filipinos were unprotected before the coming of the Spaniards. Morga
himself says, further on in telling of the pirate raids from the islands had arms and defended
themselves. But after the natives were disarmed the pirates pillaged them with impunity, coming
at times when they were unprotected by the government, which was the reason for many of the
insurrections.
 The civilization of the Pre-Spanish Filipinos in regard to the duties of life for that age was well
advanced, as the Morga history shows in its eighth chapter.
 The islands came under Spanish sovereignty and control through compacts, treaties of friendship
and alliances for reciprocity. By virtue of the last arrangement, according to some historians,
Magellan lost his life on Mactan and the soldiers of Legaspi fought under the banner of King
Tupas of Cebu.
 The term "conquest" is admissible but for a part of the islands and then only in its broadest sense.
Cebu, Panay, Luzon, Mindoro, and some others cannot be said to have been conquered.
 The discovery, conquest and conversion cost Spanish blood but still m ore Filipino blood. It will
be seen later on in Morga that with the Spaniards and on behalf of Spain there were always more
Filipinos fighting than Spaniards.
 Morga shows that the ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and other implements of
warfare. Their prized krises and kampilans for their magnificent temper are worthy of admiration
and some of them are richly damascened. Their coats of mail and helmets, of which there are
specimens in various European museums, attest their great advancement in this industry.
 Morga's expression that the Spaniards "brought war to the gates of the Filipinos" is in marked
contrast with the word used by subsequent historians whenever recording Spain's possessing
herself of a province, that she pacified it. Perhaps "to make peace" then meant the same as "to stir
up war." (This is a veiled allusion to the old Latin saying of Romans, often quoted by Spaniard's
that they make a desert, calling it making peace. -- Austin Craig)
 Megellan's transferring from the service of his own king (i.e. the Portuguese) to employment
under the King of Spain, according to historic documents, was because the Portuguese King had
refused to grant him the raise in salary which he asked
 Now it is known that Magellan was mistaken when he represented to the King of Spain that the
Molucca Islands were within the limits assigned by the Pope to the Spaniards. But through this
error and the inaccuracy of the nautical instruments of that time, the Philippines did not fall into
the hands of the Portuguese.
 Cebu, which Morga calls "The City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus," was at first called "The
village of San Miguel."
 The image of the Holy Child of Cebu, which many religious writers believed was brought to
Cebu by the angels, was in fact given by the worthy Italian chronicler of Magellan's expedition,
the Chevalier Pigafetta, to the Cebuan queen.
 The expedition of Villalobos, intermediate between Magallan's and Legaspi's gave the name
"Philipina" to one of the southern islands, Tendaya, now perhaps Leyte, and this name later was
extended to the whole archipelago.
 Of the native Manila rulers at the coming of the Spaniards, Raja Soliman was called "Rahang
mura", or young king, in distinction from the old king, "Rahang matanda". Historians have
confused these personages.
 The native fort at the mouth of the Pasig river, which Morga speaks of as equipped with brass
lantkas and artillery of larger caliber, had its ramparts reinforced with thick hardwood posts such
as the Tagalogs used for their houses and called "harigues", or "haligui".
 Morga has evidently confused the pacific coming of Legaspi with the attack of Goiti and Salcedo,
as to date. According to other historians it was in 1570 that Manila was burned, and with it a great
plant for manufacturing artillery. Goiti did not take possession of the city but withdrew to Cavite
and afterwards to to Panay, which makes one suspicious of his alleged victory. As to the day of
the date, the Spaniards then, having come following the course of the sun, were some sixteen
hours later than Europe. This condition continued until the end of the year 1844, when the 31st of
December was by special arrangement among the authorities dropped from the calendar for that
year. Accordingly Legaspi did not arrive in Manila on the 19th but on the 20th of May and
consequently it was not on the festival of Santa Potenciana but on San Baudelio's day. The same
mistake was made with reference to the other earlyl events still wrongly commemorated, like San
Andres's day for the repulse of the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong.
 Though not mentioned by Morga, the Cebuans aided the Spaniards in their expedition against
Manila, for which reason they were long exempted from tribute.
 The southern islands, the Bisayas, were also called "The land of the Painted People (or Pintados,
in Spanish)" because the natives had their bodies decorated with tracings made with fire,
somewhat like tattooing.
 The Spaniards retained the native name for the new capital of the archipelago, a little changed,
however, for the Tagalogs had called their city "Maynila."
 When Morga says that the lands were "entrusted (given as encomiendas) to those who had
"pacified" them, he means "divided up among." The word "entrust," like "pacify," later came to
have a sort of ironical signification. To entrust a province was then as if it wre said that it was
turned over to sack, abandoned to the cruelty and covetousness of the encomendero, to judge
from the way these gentry misbehaved.
 Legaspi's grandson, Salcedo, called the Hernando Cortez of the Philippines, was the
"conqueror's" intelligent right arm and the hero of the "conquest." His honesty and fine qualities,
talent and personal bravery, all won the admiration of the Filipinos. Because of him they yielded
to their enemies, making peace and friendship with the Spaniards. He it was who saved Manila
from Li Ma-hong. He died at the early age of twenty-seven and is the only encomendero recorded
to have left the great part of his possessions to the Indians of his encomienda. Vigan was his
encomienda and the Illokanos there were his heirs.
 The expedition which followed the Chinese corsair Li Ma-hong, after his unsuccessful attack
upon Manila, to Pangasinan province, with the Spaniards of whom Morga tells, had in it 1,500
friendly Indians from Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Panay, besides the many others serving as laborers
and crews of the ships. Former Raja Lakandola, of Tondo, with his sons and his kinsmen went
too, with 200 more Bisayans and they wre joined by other Filipinos in Pangasinan.
 If discovery and occupation justify annexation, then Borneo ought to belong to Spain. In the
Spanish expedition to replace on its throne a Sirela or Malacla, as he is variously called, who had
been driven out by his brother, more than fifteen hundred Filipino bowmen from the provinces of
Pangasinan, Kagayan and the Bisayas participated.
 It is notable how strictly the early Spanish governors were held to account. Some stayed in
Manila as prisoners, one, Governor Corcuera, passed five years with Fort Santiago as his prison.
 In the fruitless expedition against the Portuguese in the island of Ternate, in the Molucca group,
which was abandoned because of the prevalence of beriberi among the troops, there went 1,500
Filipino soldiers from the more warlike provinces, principally Kagayans and Pampangans.
 The "pacification" of Kagayan was accomplished by taking advantage of the jealousies among its
people, particularly the rivalry between two brothers who were chiefs. An early historian asserts
that without this fortunate circumstance, for the Spaniards, it would have been impossible to
subjugate them.
 Captain Gabriel de Rivera, a Spanish commander who had gained fame in a raid on Borneo and
the Malacca coast, was the first envoy from the Philippines to take up with the King of Spain the
needs of the archipelago.
 The early conspiracy of the Manila and Pampangan former chiefs was revealed to the Spaniards
by a Filipina, the wife of a soldier, and many concerned lost their lives.
 The artillery cast for the new stone fort in Manila, says Morga, was by the hand of an ancient
Filipino. That is, he knew how to cast cannon even before the coming of the Spaniards, hence he
was distinguished as "ancient." In this difficult art of ironworking, as in so many others, the
modern or present-day Filipinos are not so far advanced as were their ancestors.
 When the English freebooter Cavandish captured the Mexican galleon Santa Ana, with 122,000
gold pesos, a great quantity of rich textiles -- silks, satins and damask, musk perfume, and stores
of provisions, he took 150 prisoners. All these because of their brave defense were put ashore
with ample supplies, except two Japanese lads, three Filipinos, a Portuguese and a skilled Spanish
pilot whom he kept as guides in his further voyaging.
 From the earliest Spanish days ships were built in the islands, which might be considered
evidence of native culture. Nowadays this industry is reduced to small craft, scows and coasters.
 The Jesuit, Father Alonso Sanchez, who visited the papal court at Rome and the Spanish King at
Madrid, had a mission much like that of deputies now, but of even greater importance since he
came to be a sort of counselor or representative to the absolute monarch of that epoch. One
wonders why the Philippines could have a representative then but may not have one now.
 In the time of Governor Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, Manila was guarded against further damage
sch as was suffered from Li Ma-hong by the construction of a massive stone wall around it. This
was accomplished "without expense to the royal treasury." The same governor, in like manner,
also fortified the point at the entrance to the river where had been the ancient native fort of wood,
and he gave it the name Fort Santiago.
 The early cathedral of wood which was burned which was burned through carelessness at the
time of the funeral of Governor Dasmariñas' predecessor, Governor Ronquillo, was made,
according to the Jesuit historian Chirino, with hardwood pillars around which two men could not
reach, and in harmony with this massiveness was all the woodwork above and below. It may be
surmised from this how hard workers were the Filipinos of that time.
 A stone house for the bishop was built before starting on the governor-general's residence. This
precedence is interesting for those who uphold the civil power.
 Morga's mention of the scant output the scant output of large artillery from the Manila cannon
works because of lack of master foundry workers shows that after the death of the Filipino
Panday Pira there were not Spaniards skilled enough to take his place, nor were his sons as
expert as he.
 It is worthy of note that China, Japan and Cambodia at this time maintained relations with the
Philippines. But in our day it has been more than a century since the natives of the latter two
countries have come here. The causes which ended the relationship may be found in the
interference by the religious orders with the institutions of those lands.
 For Governor Dasmariñas' expedition to conquer Ternate, in the Moluccan group, two Jesuits
there gave secret information. In his 200 ships, besides 900 Spaniards, there must have been
Filipinos for one chronicler speaks of Indians, as the Spaniards called the natives of the
Philippines, who lost their lives and others who were made captives when the Chinese rowers
 mutinied. It was the custom then always to have a thousand or more native bowmen and besides
the crew were almost all Filipinos, for the most part Bisayans.
 The historian Argensola, in telling of four special galleys for Dasmariñas' expedition, says that
they were manned by an expedient which was generally considered rather harsh. It was ordered
that there be bought enough of the Indians who were slaves of the former Indian chiefs, or
principals, to form these crews, and the price, that which had been customary in pre-Spanish
times, was to be advanced by the ecomenderos who later would be reimbursed from the royal
treasury. In spite of this promised compensation, the measures still seem severe since those
Filipinos were not correct in calling their dependents slaves. The masters treated these, and loved
them, like sons rather, for they seated them at their own tables and gve them their own daughters
in marriage.
 Morga says that the 250 Chinese oarsmen who manned Governor Dasmariñas' swift galley were
under pay and had the special favor of not being chained to their benches. According to him it
was covetousness of the wealth aboard that led them to revolt and kill the governor. But the
historian Gaspar de San Agustin states that the reason for the revolt was the governor's abusive
language and his threatening the rowers. Both these authors' allegations may have contributed,
but more important was the fact that there was no law to compel these Chinamen to row in the
galleys. They had come to Manila to engage in commerce or to work in trades or to follow
professions. Still the incident contradicts the reputation for enduring everything which they have
had. The Filipinos have been much more long-suffering than the Chinese since, in spite of having
been obliged to row on more than one occasion, they never mutinied.
 It is difficult to excuse the missionaries' disregard of the laws of nations and the usages of
honorable politics in their interference in Cambodia on the ground that it was to spread the Faith.
Religion had a broad field awaiting them in the Philippines where more than nine-tenths of the
natives were infidels. That even now there are to be found here so many tribes and settlements of
non-Christians takes away much of the prestige of that religious zeal which in the easy life in
towns of wealth, liberal and fond of display, grows lethargic. Truth is that the ancient activity was
scarcely for the Faith alone, because the missionaries had to go to islands rich in spices and gold
though there were at hand Mohammedans and Jews in Spain and Africa, Indians by the million in
the Americas, and more millions of protestants, schismatics and heretics peopled, and still people,
over six-sevenths of Europe. All of these doubtless would have accepted the Light and the true
religion if the friars, under pretext of preaching to them, had not abused their hospitality and if
behind the name Religion had not lurked the unnamed Domination.
 In the attempt made by Rodriguez de Figueroa to conquer Mindanao according to his contract
with the King of Spain, there was fighting along the Rio Grande with the people called the
Buhahayenes. Their general, according to Argensola, was the celebrated Silonga, later
distinguished for many deeds in raids on the Bisayas and adjacent islands. Chirino relates an
anecdote of his coolness under fire once during a truce for a marriage among Mindanao
"principalia." Young Spaniards out of bravado fired at his feet but he passed on as if unconscious
of the bullets.
 Argensola has preserved the name of the Filipino who killed Rodriguez de Figueroa. It was Ubal.
Two days previously he had given a banquet, slaying for it a beef animal of his own, and then
made the promise which he kept, to do away with the leader of the Spanish invaders. A Jesuit
writer calls him a traitor though the justification for that term of reproach is not apparent. The
Buhahayen people were in their own country, and had neither offended nor declared war upon the
Spaniards. They had to defend their homes against a powerful invader, with superior forces, many
of whom were, by reason of their armor, invulnerable so far as rude Indians were concerned. Yet
these same Indians were defenseless against the balls from their muskets. By the Jesuit's line of
reasoning, the heroic Spanish peasantry in their war for independence would have been a people
even more treacherous. It was not Ubal's fault that he was not seen and, as it was wartime, it
 would have been the height of folly, in view of the immense disparity of arms, to have first called
out to this preoccupied opponent, and then been killed himself.
 The muskets used by the Buhayens were probably some that had belonged to Figueroa's soldiers
who had died in battle. Though the Philippines had latakas and other artillery, muskets were
unknown until the Spaniards came.
 That the Spaniards used the word "discover" very carelessly may be seen from an admiral's
turning in a report of his "discovery" of the Solomon islands though he noted that the islands had
been discovered before.
 Death has always been the first sign of European civilization on its introduction in the Pacific
Ocean. God grant that it may not be the last, though to judge by statistics the civilized islands are
losing their populations at a terrible rate. Magellan himself inaugurated his arrival in the Marianes
islands by burning more than forty houses, many small craft and seven people because one of his
ships had been stolen. Yet to the simple savages the act had nothing wrong in it but was done
with the same naturalness that civilized people hunt, fish, and subjugate people that are weak or
ill-armed.
 The Spanish historians of the Philippines never overlook any opportunity, be it suspicion or
accident, that may be twisted into something unfavorable to the Filipinos. They seem to forget
that in almost every case the reason for the rupture has been some act of those who were
pretending to civilize helpless peoples by force of arms and at the cost of their native land. What
would these same writers have said if the crimes committed by the Spaniards, the Portuguese and
the Dutch in their colonies had been committed by the islanders?
 The Japanese were not in error when they suspected the Spanish and Portuguese religious
propaganda to have political motives back of the missionary activities. Witness the Moluccas
where Spanish missionaries served as spies; Cambodia, which it was sought to conquer under
cloak of converting; and many other nations, among them the Filipinos, where the sacrament of
baptism made of the inhabitants not only subjects of the King of Spain but also slaves of the
encomenderos, and as well slaves of the churches and converts. What would Japan have been
now had not its emperors uprooted Catholicism? A missionary record of 1625 sets forth that the
King of Spain had arranged with certain members of Philippine religious orders that, under guise
of preaching the faith and making Christians, they should win over the Japanese and oblige them
to make themselves of the Spanish party, and finally it told of a plan whereby the King of Spain
should become also King of Japan. In corroboration of this may be cited the claims that Japan fell
within the Pope's demarcation lines for Spanish expansion and so there was complaint of
missionaries other than Spanish there. Therefore it was not for religion that they were converting
the infidels!
 The raid by Datus Sali and Silonga of Mindanao, in 1599 with 50 sailing vessels and 3,000
warriors, against the capital of Panay, is the first act of piracy by the inhabitants of the South
which is recorded in Philippine history. I say "by the inhabitants of the South" because earlier
there had been other acts of piracy, the earliest being that of Magellan's expedition when it seized
the shipping of friendly islands and even of those whom they did not know, extorting for them
heavy ransoms. It will be remembered that these Moro piracies continued for more than two
centuries, during which the indomitable sons of the South made captives and carried fire and
sword not only in neighboring islands but into Manila Bay to Malate, to the very gates of the
capital, and not once a year merely but at times repeating their raids five and six times in a single
season. Yet the government was unable to repel them or to defend the people whom it had
disarmed and left without protection. Estimating that the cost to the islands was but 800 victims a
year, still the total would be more than 200,000 persons sold into slavery or killed, all sacrificed
together with so many other things to the prestige of that empty title, Spanish sovereignty.
 Still the Spaniards say that the Filipinos have contributed nothing to Mother Spain, and that it is
the islands which owe everything. It may be so, but what about the enormous sum of gold which
was taken from the islands in the early years of Spanish rule, of the tributes collected by the
 encomenderos, of the nine million dollars yearly collected to pay the military, expenses of the
employees, diplomatic agents, corporations and the like, charged to the Philippines, with salaries
paid out of the Philippine treasury not only for those who come to the Philippines but also for
those who leave, to some who never have been and never will be in the islands, as well as to
others who have nothing to do with them. Yet allof this is as nothing in comparison with so many
captives gone, such a great number of soldiers killed in expeditions, islands depopulated, their
inhabitants sold as slaves by the Spaniards themselves, the death of industry, the demoralization
of the Filipinos, and so forth, and so forth. Enormous indeed would the benefits which that sacred
civilization brought to the archipelago have to be in order to counterbalance so heavy a cost.
 While Japan was preparing to invade the Philippines, these islands were sending expeditions to
Tonquin and Cambodia, leaving the homeland helpless, even against the undisciplined hordes
from the South, so obsessed were the Spaniards with the idea of making conquests.
 In the alleged victory of Morga over the Dutch ships, the latter found upon the bodies of five
Spaniards, who lost their lives in that combat, little silver boxes filled with prayers and
invocations to the saints. Here would seem to be the origin of the anting-anting of the modern
tulisanes, which are also of a religious character.
 In Morga's time, the Philippines exported silk to Japan whence now comes the best quality of that
merchandise.
 Morga's views upon the failure of Governor Pedro de Acuña's ambitious expedition against the
Moros unhappily still apply for the same conditions yet exist. For fear of uprisings and loss of
Spain's sovereignty over the islands, the inhabitants were disarmed, leaving them exposed to the
harassing of a powerful and dreaded enemy. Even now, though the use of steam vessels has put
an end to piracy from outside, the same fatal system still is followed. The peaceful country folk
are deprived of arms and thus made unable to defend themselves against the bandits, or tulisanes,
which the government cannot restrain. It is an encouragement to banditry thus to make easy its
getting booty.
 Hernando de los Rios blames these Moluccan wars for the fact that at first the Philippines were a
source of expense to Spain instead of profitable in spite of the tremendous sacrifices of the
Filipinos, their practically gratuitous labor in building and equipping the galleons, and despite,
too, the tribute, tariffs and other imposts and monopolies. These wars to gain the Moluccas,
which soon were lost forever with the little that had been so laboriously obtained, were a heavy
drain upon the Philippines. They depopulated the country and bankrupted the treasury, with not
the slightest compensating benefit. True also is it that it was to gain the Moluccas that Spain kept
the Philippines, the desire for the rich spice islands being one of the most powerful arguments
when, because of their expense to him, the King thought of withdrawing and abandoning them.
 Among the Filipinos who aided the government when the Manila Chinese revolted, Argensola
says there were 4,000 Pampangans "armed after the way of their land, with bows and arrows,
short lances, shields, and broad and long daggers." Some Spanish writers say that the Japanese
volunteers and the Filipinos showed themselves cruel in slaughtering the Chinese refugees. This
may very well have been so, considering the hatred and rancor then existing, but those in
command set the example.
 The loss of two Mexican galleons in 1603 called forth no comment from the religious chroniclers
who were accustomed to see the avenging hand of God in the misfortunes and accidents of their
enemies. Yet there were repeated shipwrecks of the vessels that carried from the Philippines
wealth which encomenderos had extorted from the Filipinos, using force, or making their own
laws, and when not using these open means, cheating by the weights and measures.
 The Filipino chiefs who at their own expense went with the Spanish expedition against Ternate,
in the Moluccas, in 1605, were Don Guillermo Palaot, Maestro de Campo, and Captains
Francisco Palaot, Juan Lit, Luis Lont, and Agustin Lont. They had with them 400 Tagalogs and
Pampangans. The leaders bore themselves bravely for Argensola writes that in the assault on
Ternate, "No officer, Spaniard or Indian, went unscathed!"
 The Cebuans drew a pattern on the skin before starting in to tatoo. The Bisayan usage then was
the same procedure that the Japanese today follow.
 Ancient traditions ascribe the origin of the Malay Filipinos to the island of Samatra. These
traditions were almost completely lost as well as the mythology and the genealogies of which the
early historians tell, thanks to the zeal of the missionaries in eradicating all national
remembrances as heathen or idolatrous. The study of ethnology is restring this somewhat.
 The chiefs used to wear upper garments, usually of Indian fine gauze according to Colin, of red
color, a shade for which they had the same fondness that the Romans had. The barbarous tribes in
Mindanao still have the same taste.
 The "easy virtue" of the native women that historians note is not solely to the simplicity with
which they obeyed their natural instincts but much more due to a religious belief of which Father
Chirino tells. It was that in the journey after death to "Kalualhatiran," the abode of the spirit, there
was a dangerous river to cross that had no bridge other than a very narrow strip of wood over
which a woman could not pass unless she had a husband or lover to extend a hand to assist her.
Furthermore, the religious annals of the early missions are filled with countless instances where
native maidens chose death rather than sacrifice their chastity to the threats and violence of
encomenderos and Spanish soldiers. As to the mercenary social evil, that is worldwide and there
is no nation that can "throw the first stone" at the other. For the rest, today the Philippines has no
reason to blush in comparing its womankind with the women of the most chaste nation in the
world.
 Morga's remark that the Filipinos like fish better when it is commencing to turn bad is another of
those prejudices which Spaniards like all other nations, have. In matters of food, each is
nauseated with what he is unaccustomed to or doesn't know is eatable. The English, for example,
find their gorge rising when they see a Spaniard eating snails, while in turn the Spanish find roast
beef English-style repugnant and can't understand the relish of other Europeans for beef steak a la
Tartar which to them is simply raw meat. The Chinamen, who likes shark's meat, cannot bear
Roquefort cheese, and these examples might be indefinitely extended. The Filipinos favorite fish
dish is the bagong and whoever has tried to eat it knows that it is not considered improved when
tainted. It neither is, nor ought to be, decayed.
 Colin says the ancient Filipinos had had minstrels who had memorized songs telling their
genealogies and of the deeds ascribed to their deities. These were chanted on voyages in cadence
with the rowing, or at festivals, or funerals, or wherever there happened to be any considerable
gatherings. It is regrettable that these chants have not been preserved as from them it would have
been possible to learn much of the Filipinos' past and possibly of the history of neighboring
islands.
 The cannon foundry mentioned by Morga as in the walled city was probably on the site of the
Tagalog one which was destroyed by fire on the first coming of the Spaniards. That established in
1584 was in Lamayan, that is, Santa Ana now, and was transferred to the old site in 1590. It
continued to work until 1805. According to Gaspar San Augustin, the cannon which the pre-
Spanish Filipinos cast were "as great as those of Malaga," Spain's foundry. The Filipino plant was
burned with all that was in it save a dozen large cannons and some smaller pieces which the
Spanish invaders took back with them to Panay. The rest of their artillery equipment had been
thrown by the Manilans, then Moros, into the sea when they recognized their defeat.
 Malate, better Maalat, was where the Tagalog aristocracy lived after they were dispossessed by
the Spaniards of their old homes in what is now the walled city of Manila. Among the Malate
residents were the families of Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman. The men had various positions in
Manila and some were employed in government work nearby. "They were very courteous and
well-mannered," says San Agustin. "The women were very expert in lace-making, so much so
that they were not at all behind the women of Flanders."
 Morga's statement that there was not a province or town of the Filipinos that resisted conversion
or did not want it may have been true of the civilized natives. But the contrary was the fact among
 the mountain tribes. We have the testimony of several Dominican and Augustinian missionaries
that it was impossible to go anywhere to make conversions without other Filipinos along and a
guard of soldiers. "Otherwise, says Gaspan de San Agustin, there would have been no fruit of the
Evangelic Doctrine gathered, for the infidels wanted to kill the Friars who came to preach to
them." An example of this method of conversion given by the same writer was a trip to the
mountains by two Friars who had a numerous escort of Pampangans. The escort's leader was Don
Agustin Sonson who had a reputation for daring and carried fire and sword into the country,
killing many, including the chief, Kabadi.
 "The Spaniards," says Morga, "were accustomed to hold as slaves such natives as they bought
and others that they took in the forays in the conquest or pacification of the islands."
Consequently in this respect the "pacifiers" introduced no moral improvement. We even do not
know if in their wars the Filipinos used to make slaves of each other, though that would not have
been strange, for the chroniclers tell of captives returned to their own people. The practice of the
Southern pirates, almost proves this, although in these piratical wars the Spaniards were the first
aggressors and gave them their character.
Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade Tina S. Clemente1 Asian Center,
University of the Philippines Diliman This essay demonstrates how Rizal’s annotations of Morga’s
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas can be used even today to derive insights useful for investigating pre-
Hispanic economic and political institutions. This is done through a close reading of three broad topics
treated by Rizal: first, the notion of a “confederation” of chiefs and the complexity of polities; second,
the character of precolonial law and enforcement; and third, the engagement of pre-Hispanic polities in
international trade. Finally the role of indigenously produced goods in the dynamics of chiefly rulership
and foreign trade is discussed. The essay provides an analysis of the potential of pre-Hispanic research
and possible directions for future efforts. JEL classification: N01, N45, N75, Z10 Keywords: Rizal, Morga,
pre-Hispanic, chiefly polities 1. Introduction Much has been written about Rizal’s annotations on
Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Rizal’s Morga henceforth) in terms of their value for nationalist
arguments, but less interest has been shown in seriously assessing pre-Hispanic economic history using
the issues raised in the annotations as a starting point. Owing to the contributions of Castro [1982],
Corpuz [1997], and Legarda [1999], the immediate impact of the conquest and of 1 Assistant Professor,
Asian Center, University of the Philippines. 118 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic
institutions and trade the effects of colonialism have been better appreciated and understood. By
contrast, Philippine prehistory has been less examined and has been characterized by a weaker
consensus among scholars. This paper focuses on Rizal’s annotations of Morga, particularly those
pertaining to institutions and goods exchange in pre-Hispanic Philippines to demonstrate that these can
be used to derive useful insights into institutional and economic interactions before Spanish contact.2
Wherever appropriate, Rizal’s observations are supplemented and compared with knowledge gained
from more current historical and archaeological research. Rizal’s Morga sets out to evoke civilizational
consciousness among Filipinos, bringing to life a past that preceded Spanish contact [Guerrero 2007].
The work is the first part in Rizal’s nationalist trilogy of major writings. As Craig [2004] writes: “Rizal had
now done all that he could for his country; he had shown them by Morga what they were when Spain
found them; through Noli me tangere he had painted their condition after three hundred years of
Spanish influence; and in El filibusterismo he had pictured what their future must be if better counsels
did not prevail in the colony.” In itself, therefore, Rizal’s Morga was a gargantuan effort to provide a
larger context for a better understanding of the message of the Noli and Fili. As the Noli neared
completion, Rizal realized that it was imperative to understand history and culture as crucial
components in advancing “national emancipation” [Quibuyen 1999]. Primary was the “necessity of first
making known … the past in order that you may be able to judge better the present and to measure the
road traversed during the three centuries.” Further, there was the importance of awakening a
“consciousness of our past … to rectify what has been falsified and slandered …” [Rizal 1962:vii]. On the
other hand, while the political and educational objectives of Rizal’s Morga are widely acknowledged,
critiques of Rizal’s effort have generally tended to portray the work as outdated (Coates [1992]; Ocampo
[1998]) in light of contemporary ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence. The pithiest 2
Archaeological chronologies applied to research on the Philippines use the traditional phases (e.g.,
protohistoric, metal age), Chinese dynasty chronologies (e.g., Ming, Yuan), alternative phases (e.g.,
emergent, incipient) as well as local chronologies. There is still an absence of a standard with respect to
Philippine history and archaeology, but the traditional chronologies are more in use. Since it is still
difficult to strictly define the protohistoric period in the Philippines, which begins with the Sung (960-
1279 AD) and is within the Ming (1368-1644 AD), the paper will just employ “pre-Hispanic” for simplicity
[Bridges 2005]. See also Henson [1992]. The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2
December 2011 119 assessment of the situation came from Guerrero [2007:222] who noted that the
real loss in Rizal’s Morga came from the fact that it was “too scholarly for partisans, too partisan for
scholars.” For both reasons, it failed to command an audience, which has led to its neglect relative to
Rizal’s other writings. Perhaps partly for this reason, the full significance of Rizal’s achievements in his
Morga has yet to be fully appreciated even today. Through his annotations, Rizal holds the distinction as
the first Filipino to dig through primary sources3 and apply tools of German historiography to analyse
history in aid of well-elucidated nationalist objectives. Guerrero [2007:231] noted in 1961 that a full 75
years after Rizal’s Morga was published, a complete history of the Filipinos from the perspective of the
Filipinos had yet to be written. Rizal used history to challenge three centuries of Spanish colonialism,
arguing for the existence of pre-Hispanic institutions, trade, and industry. Even Rizal’s use of Filipinos to
refer to pre-Hispanic indigenous inhabitants was a milestone that few have appreciated fully.
Discrediting the colonial view that pre-Spanish Filipinos were savages, Rizal was the first Asian to launch
an encompassing undertaking that included not only historical and political objectives but also an Asian
perspective, citing linguistic, cultural, and economic linkages (Quibuyen [1999]; Guerrero [2007]). This
paper is organized according to the following themes. Section 2 discusses Rizal’s notion of a chiefly
confederation and the attendant dynamics among polities. Section 3 looks into Rizal’s attention to the
existence of pre-Hispanic law and enforcement. Section 4 discusses Rizal’s thoughts on pre-Hispanic
trade in the larger context of the Asiatic flow of goods. Section 5 analyses Rizal’s views on the demise of
domestic industries. Section 6 concludes the essay. 2. Structure of chiefly rulership 2.1. “Confederation”
of chiefs One of the important unsettled issues in Philippine prehistory is the level of political
development at the time of the conquest. While Morga states the absence of a centralized rulership by a
king akin to such found 3 Rizal’s Morga provides an important study cross-referenced on primary and
secondary sources (e.g., Pigafetta, Chirino, Colin, De San Agustin, Argensola, Cavendish, Drake, Stanley,
Jagor, Blumentritt, Wallace, Joest, Chao Ju-Kua). 120 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-
Hispanic institutions and trade in kingdoms elsewhere in the world, he describes the political structure
through rulership of chiefs in the islands. Chiefs and their own polities were autonomous in the sense
that each had his own henchmen and followers. Chiefly rulership was based on kinship. Chiefs, who
were distinguished by importance and achievements, related among each other, and there was
friendship as well as wars. Rizal notes these details, agrees with the absence of a centralized ruler, and
also deduces that conflict was less prevalent than amicable ties [Rizal 1962:274-275]. Notwithstanding
the civilizational context behind this deduction, the idea of friendly relations among chiefs becomes
more pointed later. Morga states that when a principal or chief exceeds other chiefs in battle and in
other matters, more privileges accrue to him. The chief extends his authority beyond his own barangay
as more henchmen and even other chiefs become subsumed under his leadership [Rizal 1962:276]. They
formed a kind of confederation, like the states of the Middle Ages, with their barons, counts, dukes who
elected the bravest to lead them or they accepted the authority of the most important of them. Rizal
concludes that the chiefs forged a “confederation,” comparing such to that which existed in the
European Middle Ages when nobles elected or accepted the authority of one among them. Elsewhere,
Rizal underscores that a confederation of chiefs existed owing to the agreement and general uniformity
of laws across the islands, resulting in strong relations in the islands where cooperation was more
common than armed conflict. This agreement of the laws … and this general uniformity prove that the
relations of the islands among themselves were very strong and the bonds of friendship were more
common than wars and differences. Perhaps a confederation existed, for we know through the first
Spaniards that the ruler of Manila was a generalissimo of the Sultan of Borneo. Moreover there exist
other documents of the XII century that attest this.4 [Rizal 1962:278] 4 Rizal was most likely describing
the blood tie between Rajah Sulayman’s wife and the sultan of Brunei. While the use of “generalissimo”
is inaccurate, the existence of alliances is likely. But the features of alliances differ among polities. As for
the 12th-century documents, we refrain from commenting further owing to the need for more evidence.
The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 121 Where differences existed
among chiefs, however, these were used by the Spaniards to subjugate the early Filipinos at the onset of
the conquest. They took advantage of the enmities among the natives themselves and especially of the
rivalries between two brothers who were chiefs, without which it would have been impossible to
subdue them, as Gaspar de San Agustin insinuates. [Rizal 1962:19] 2.2. Power mobilization in stratified
relations Rizal includes Pigafetta’s entire account of the Battle of Mactan in his footnote [Rizal 1962:4],
an excerpt of which is presented below. The first few lines reveal the dynamics between chiefs, implying
the existence of relations that could constrain action, as well as forge alliance in aid of power
mobilization. Zula, who was one of the chiefs, or rather one of the heads of the Island of Maktan, sent to
the Captain General (Magellan) one of his sons with two goats as a present to him; and he ordered that
he be told that if he did not do all that he had promised him, it was because of another chief called Si
Lapulapu who had prevented him from doing so as he did not want to obey at all the King of Spain. But,
if the Captain would only like to send him the following night a boatload of men to help him, he would
conquer and subjugate his rival. Another of Magellan’s companions, Fernando Oliveira [2002],
corroborates Pigafetta’s account of Lapulapu’s reaction, sending word to Magellan that “he would do
nothing of what he had ordered him to do, and that if he would wage war on him, he would defend
himself.” Magellan viewed this as a provocation. Lapulapu’s reaction contrasted with that of Zula and
the other chiefs whom Magellan met previously and who had allied themselves with Magellan in
subordination as evidenced by the descriptions of the blood compact formalizing chiefly ties,
conversion, and vassalage. According to Pigafetta’s Primo viaggio intorno al mondo (The first voyage
around the world), “negotiations” for the subjugation of the Cebu chief were carried out interestingly.
The following summarizes the points underscored in the communication with Rajah Humabon. First,
Magellan represented superior power. Magellan did not pay tribute to any chief in the world5 5 Note
that Magellan was expected to pay tribute to the chief, as had been practiced for centuries by Philippine
polities. 122 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade because he
served the king of Spain, who was more powerful than the king of Portugal in men and ships. Second,
Magellan represented supremacy in geopolitics. Magellan and his men were the same men “who
conquered Calicut, Malacca, and all … India Major.” The chief of Cebu, head of a major trade center by
the time of the Spanish contact, could not have been oblivious to the significance of this, considering
that the Philippines had been part of the Asiatic trade network for centuries. Third, this was not just a
friendly alliance but was clearly about being subordinated to Magellan’s authority. Humabon was told
that if the “friendship” could not be forged, destruction would be visited upon them. Conversion was
part of the subjugation as the Spanish king was also the “Emperor of the Christians.” To these, the chief
replied that he would deliberate with his men. Later, Humabon intimated that he was willing to convert
to Catholicism, but some of “his chiefs did not want to obey, because they said that they were as good
men as he.” This resulted in Magellan threatening the chiefs unless they obeyed Humabon. This reduced
Humabon’s transactions cost in gaining agreement among the chiefs below him in rank. Magellan
promised Humabon that he would make him the “greatest king of those regions” when he came back
with forces after the trip back to Spain that he intended soon [Pigafetta 1903-1909]. This simplified the
process of mobilizing power on the part of Humabon. Humabon’s agreeing to subsume himself to
Magellan’s command was calculated, given his understanding of the political economy of local alliance
building to gain supremacy among Philippine polities. The reality he sorely missed, however, was that
Magellan did not just represent a strong polity, with whom subjugation meant a tributary relationship
that still allowed a measure of autonomy; rather it pointed to complete subjection under a unified state.
In this respect, Rizal’s service consists in elucidating the rational political calculus behind the decisions
and actions of the early chiefs. He recognized that these nobles understood the realpolitik of force and
power in their rulership; hence, they acquiesced to foreign power when this was proven to exceed theirs
[Rizal 1962:281]. Rizal makes this comment while discussing the dynamics of social stratification with
foreign subjugation in the early Spanish contact period. But this is a prescient view that has been
neglected and which only relatively recent anthropological and archaeological scholarship has been able
to articulate. Among the polities, alliances—especially those forged through marriage—were stratified,
and rank was taken seriously. For instance, Humabon was married to Lapulapu’s niece. Their eldest
child, Humabon’s heir, was married to Tupas, the son of his brother, the Bendahara (prime The
Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 123 minister) of his polity. The
chiefs of Butuan, Limasawa, Cebu, and Mactan were related. In terms of rank, Sikatuna of Bohol had
subordinate chiefs in Leyte while he was below Si Gala in rank. Titles that the chiefs took reflected rank
and influence. Lapulapu’s influence and importance can be deduced from Mactan’s location, which
allowed him to intercept shipping in Cebu harbor. Magellan attempted to coerce Lapulapu into
submitting to Humabon’s authority, since the latter was now Magellan’s vassal. While documentary
evidence does not ascribe any title to Lapulapu, the latter’s reply to Magellan suggested his rank and
influence. Lapulapu sent word that “he was unwilling to come and do reverence to one whom he had
been commanding for so long a time” [Scott 1994].6 Table 1 shows the various titles used by chiefs,
which reflect rank and influence. It is worth noting that the Malay-Sanskrit terms were used to
distinguish chiefs who controlled ports that facilitated trade. Table 1. Chiefly titles of rank Terminology
Titles of chiefs Meaning Examples of chiefs Indigenous Pangulo Head or leader Kaponoan Most
sovereign Makaporos nga datu Unifying chief Malay-Sanskrit Rajah Ruler – Awi of Butuan – Kolambu of
Limasawa – Humabon of Cebu Batara Noble Lord Sarripada (variants: Salipada, Sipad, Paduka) His
Highness – Humabon of Cebu – Makaalang of Maguindanao – Dailisan of Panglao – Sultan of Brunei
Source: Scott [1994]. 6 M. De Jong, Um roteiro inédito de circunnavegação de Fernão de Magalhães
(Coimbra: Faculdade de Letras, 1937), 21. 2.3. Complex polities The elucidation of features in the
political structure is imperative to understand better the institutional picture that governed pre-Hispanic
124 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade economic life—in
particular, trade and industry. While the extreme view that pre-Hispanic Philippine polities were to be
regarded in the same light as kingdoms or empires elsewhere in Asia cannot be sustained, the
complexity in political organization has been missed in the general appreciation and even among many
scholars. In mapping out a framework of precolonial society and economic life, Corpuz [1997], for
instance, points out that indigenous governance was based on the barangay and that each barangay was
a separate unit, organized according to kinship, while kinship ties in turn explained the barangay’s
limited size. Further, a central or regional authority was not observed, thus a supra-barangay authority
did not exist. This, in turn, underscores how the existence of “social organization, governance and
economics” was largely local in scale. Further, the barangays in Luzon and the Visayas did not
experience external factors that could influence the political structure. Corpuz argues that even by the
time of the Spanish contact, the absence of intertribal control described by Chao Ju-Kua’s Chu-fan-chih
in his accounts of Ma-yi and San-su still endured, implying that the political organization had only
developed marginally at best. These characterize the prevalent attitude toward the study of pre-
Hispanic institutions: disinterested and/ or fragmented. Another instance is found in the distinction
between Ma-yi and San-su. Using Wu’s [1959] translation of Chao Ju-Kua’s text, which Corpuz [1997]
cites, the following description refers to San-su: “The barbarians who settle around the San-su Islands do
not have inter-tribal control.” But investigating Chao Ju-Kua’s accounts reveals that the absence of
intertribal control is not mentioned in Ma-yi. Moreover, in both the Ma-yi and San-su accounts, San-su is
described as belonging to Ma-yi, suggesting a relationship among polities or a measure of enforced
authority at the very least. These distinctions make a significant difference in the study of the pre-
Hispanic workings of institutions, which unfortunately have not received sufficient attention. Until the
present, the reconstruction of pre-Hispanic society is fraught with difficulty, as the lack of consensus
demonstrates. One’s view of pre-Hispanic sociopolitical organization changes significantly when
contextualized from the perspective of a chiefdom. Scott [1994] defines the latter as a “loose federation
of chiefs bound by loose ties of personal allegiance to a senior among them. The head of such a
chiefdom exercised authority over his supporting chiefs, but not over their subjects or territory, and his
primacy stemmed from his control of local or foreign trade, and the ability to redistribute luxury goods
desired by others. Philippine chiefdoms The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2
December 2011 125 were usually located at river mouths where they could facilitate the sort of
highland-lowland exchanges.” The contrast between Corpuz’s analysis of pre-Hispanic economic history
and Scott’s contextualization is striking. Beyond Scott, the elaboration of the chiefdom concept to
include the complex dynamics among forging allegiance (i.e., alliance building), trade control, and
coordination of economics activities with the interior draws from such works as that of Junker [2000],
Bacus [2000], Earle [1991], and Frankenstein and Rowlands [1978]. In light of the preceding analyses,
Rizal’s assertion regarding the existence of a confederation of chiefs is far from dated, after all. It was, in
fact, a pioneer concept. But between Rizal’s Morga and the scholarly elaboration of the chiefdom
concept, there appears to have been a tendency in modern Philippine historical scholarship to render
dichotomous the absence of kingdoms and the existence of complexity in precolonial polities in the
Philippines. Beyer [1948], for example, assesses early Chinese accounts and points out that trade
between the Chinese and early Filipinos was characterized by merchandising, wholesaling, the use of
secondary channels, bartering, and Chinese settlement at port while waiting for the consummation of
barter, which could last for eight to nine months. The very complexity of these activities implies a
system in operation. However, this did not whet the appetite for investigating the underlying system or
set of institutions necessary in facilitating these activities. As Hutterer [1973] posits, a system that
coordinated the exchange of luxury foreign goods in the ports for local products from the interior
implied the existence of a vibrant trade between the coast and the interior. Jocano [1998] has also
challenged the notion that precolonial sociopolitical institutions were small and primitive while
economic activities were marginal. He contends that from the first to the fourteenth century, foreign
trade became a major driver for internal developments, gaining in importance as trade itself intensified.
By the 14th to the 16th century, the latter part being the period of Spanish contact, the barangay
reached its last phase of development before it could achieve greater complexity, cut short by Spanish
colonization. Jocano renders past studies’ focus on small communities as strange since it seemed that
larger units were not considered barangay models. Note that even Corpuz [1997] makes a distinction
when discussing Islamic polities in pre-Hispanic Philippines. From the standpoint of the study of social
stratification in precolonial society, a fact profusely noted by Rizal in his footnotes [Rizal 1962:282-288],
Jocano [1998] argues that affluence, material culture, and craft specialization 126 Clemente: Rizal’s
Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade are indicated to have advanced, showing the
barangay to be a complex society that had the emerging forms of market and an intensifying foreign
trade that affected domestic interactions. Jocano’s [1998] statement on the polities’ emerging forms of
“market” as well as his application of “state” to precolonial Philippine polities remains contentious,
however. This paper’s own standpoint is that precolonial Philippine polities did achieve a level of
complexity but these are distinguished from the modern state given the latter’s features [Fernandez
1976]. 3. Law and enforcement 3.1. The existence and character of law Rizal attempted to find evidence
of a uniformity of laws across various islands in the Philippines and to deduce from this a commonality
of informal cultural norms or customs, if not of formal governance. This agreement of the laws … and
this general uniformity prove that the relations of the islands among themselves were very strong and
the bonds of friendship were more common than wars and differences. [Rizal 1962:278] Among the
Tagalogs, custom law was observed to be systematic and coherent and applied across a wide expanse of
polities, implying that political coordination extended beyond the barangay unit [Plasencia 1903- 1909].
Rizal cited the details of laws documented in the early Spanish contact period and posits that this
indicated preconquest sophistication in culture and morality among the early Filipinos. All these
distinctions between legitimate children who inherited, the children of free concubines who did not
inherit, but received something, the children of slaves who received nothing, but who freed and saved
their mothers, and the children of married women, though they belonged to the principal class, who did
not even inherit the status of their fathers but rather degenerated, prove the high degree of culture and
morality of the ancient Filipinos. [Rizal 1962:286] The enforcement and adherence to these laws further
demonstrate the degree of complexity in communities. In particular, the custom law that Rizal refers to
in the following footnote is significant in studying preconquest sophistication. Fernandez [1976] posits
that where custom law was in The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011
127 operation, its strongly integrative character indicates a substantial political unity, notwithstanding
the absence of political coordination from which a measure of governance was exercised widely across
territories. In this sense, the loose federation among chiefs reflected the diffuse pattern of political
authority that ensued. Which in no way affected the peace of the people because many times a custom
has more force than a written or printed law, especially when the written laws are a dead letter to those
who know how to evade them or who abuse their high position. 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, if it is in harmony with their customs and above all if it has stability. The Indio,
since childhood learned by heart the traditions of his people, live and was nourished in the atmosphere
of his customs and however imperfect those laws might be, he at least knew them, and not as it
happens today that wise laws are written, but the people neither know nor understand them, and many
times they are changed or become extinct at the whim of persons entirely alien to them. It is the case of
the sling of David and the arms of Saul. [Rizal 1962:278] Rizal’s normative distinction between rigorous
and tyrannical draws from the Spanish colonial context wherein the law was not just deemed unjust for
the Indio (and more so for the Chinese settlers) but the magnitude of injustice was heavy to bear. For
the Chinese in the Philippines, the law was even more predatory. To illustrate the aforementioned
distinction, Rizal points out the rights of the “free half” of a part slave. What Rizal brings out is the
intricacy of justice in precolonial law, which even included the rights of the lowest class in a stratified
society. Because the free half had the rights of a free man. It proves also that the laws were not
tyrannical despite their being rigorous, the custom of asking charge of the rights of the free half, rather
than the degradation of the slave half. [Rizal 1962:280] 3.2. The existence of third-party enforcement In
the context of North [1990], while self-enforcement is important in the case of norms, ideology, or
culture and second-party enforcement is also important in informal exchange, impersonal exchange
with third-party 128 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade
enforcement has been the major factor in successful modern economies characterized by complex
contracting. As complexity in exchange rises, the institutions that mediate exchange likewise become
more complex and costly, and the benefits from contract violation also rise. Where enforcement is
inadequate, self-interested behavior renders complex exchange untenable because of the uncertainty
that a party in a contract will violate the agreement. The risk premium in the transactions cost reflects
this uncertainty, while the probability of reneging and the ensuing cost to the injured party increase
with the magnitude of that risk premium. Enforcement then critically affects the efficient organization of
economic activities, the development of complex exchange, and possibilities of economic growth.
Therefore, establishing third-party enforcement through a system that applies law, albeit imperfectly, is
challenging; and Rizal’s assertion of the existence of a precolonial justice system has a significant
implication in pointing toward more study in precolonial institutional evolution. In the following note of
Rizal, what is described in effect is an enforcement of law by third parties. This is very simple and crude
but it was more speedy, and the judges were persons of the locality, forming a jury, elected by both
parties who knew the case, the customs and usages better than the gowned judge who comes from
outside to make his fortune, to judge a case he does not know and who does not know the usages,
customs, and language of the locality. Proofs of the backwardness to which we have fallen are the
multitude of laws, contradictory royal orders and decrees; the discontent of both parties who, in order
to seek justice, now have many times have to resort to the Supreme Court of Spain (if they can and can
afford a 36-day trip) where the judges are more honest and incorruptible, if not better informed about
the country; the cases that last an eternity, handed down from fathers to sons and grandsons, the
enormous expenses that the aggrieved party has to defray so that he may get justice, etc., etc. [Rizal
1962:277] The relative speed and competence found in such a system is contrasted with that of the high
transactions cost system in operation during Spanish times, which is described as comprising a multitude
of laws, contradictory orders and decrees, ineffective resolution of cases requiring escalation to a higher
court, and the length of resolution extending across generations. Enforcement during the Spanish period
was weak, at best. Realistically, it was predatory—that is, enforcers are rent seekers. The Philippine
Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 129 Rizal is not the first to describe the state
of justice and law enforcement in the Philippines. Among others, MacMicking [1851], who was neither
Spaniard nor Filipino, talks about the “dilatoriness” of the law in the colony and documents his
observations on the inefficiency of enforcement. Nevertheless, Rizal was the first Filipino to analyse the
state of affairs in this manner, underscoring that what prevailed was not necessarily superior, even in
comparison to enforcement that existed in precolonial times. Beyond asserting the existence of third-
party enforcement during preHispanic times, Rizal also characterized the strength of enforcement. In
the following description, he mentions a prevalent “strict justice,” the latter being contextualized in a
shared heritage with other Asians. This proves the high spirit of strict justice that prevailed in Filipino-
Malayan communities. The principle of the law was mathematically observed and it was applied
rigorously and impartially. [Rizal 1962:279] The previous comment is brief but yields significant
implications. Rizal was well aware of other people groups, kingdoms, and civilizations elsewhere in Asia,
having cross-referenced primary and secondary documentary sources. His attempt at establishing an
Asian perspective of early Filipino institutions not only intended to accentuate precolonial heritage but
was also meant to decolonize the Philippines by articulating its civilizational affinity to Asia in general
and to Malays in particular. Second, Rizal’s concept of strong enforcement does not only draw from
deductions based on Morga’s account and corroborating accounts from other primary sources but also
from his knowledge of Chinese accounts. Specifically Rizal in 1888 had already written his analysis of
Chao Ju-Kua’s account of Mayi and San-su in Chu-fan-chi. The two settlements are believed to be part of
the Philippines notwithstanding subsequent debates on their specific location (Wu [1959]; Laufer
[1908]; Rizal [2007]; Wang [1964]). It is worth noting that Rizal’s comments on Ma-yi point to his interest
in the strength of enforcement in the territory: The Chinese writer speaks of “mandarin’s place” perhaps
because he saw a certain culture among the Ma-yi not inferior to that of China, a state that knew how to
defend itself well. For that reason, “Robbers seldom come to this territory.” The heavy penalties that
formerly the Tagalogs imposed on thieves and the ingenious and barbarous methods that they
employed to discover them were the reason for the writer’s observation. [Rizal 2007:44-48] 130
Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade Fernandez [1976] cites
Vergouwen’s [1964] work on the “peace of the market,” a well-established Malay custom,7 in explaining
how a polity can maximize gains from trade when enforcement at the port is strong. He invokes self-
interest as a motivator for law-abiding behavior. Rizal was interested in an example of strong
enforcement in Ma-yi because this indicated civilized nature. Nevertheless, based on his meticulous
study of Ma-yi and San-su, and the other locations pegged within the Philippines, Rizal was likewise
aware of differing enforcement conditions in the islands. San-su, for example, was described as a weak
enforcement polity where hostages had to be utilized as bonds that Chinese traders required for trade
to commence. The resulting contrast between Ma-yi’s barter trade and that of San-su is also striking.
Owing to strong enforcement, Chinese traders allowed precolonial Filipinos to take Chinese
merchandise away while goods from the interior were to be brought back to the port after eight to nine
months. In contrast, San-su, with its weak enforcement against predation, had spot trade for three to
four days as opposed to barter-on-credit in Ma-yi, the consummation of which stretched to as long as
nine months.8 Rizal is silent regarding Pi-sho-ye, which is described in Chao Ju-Kua’s work as predatory,
where enforcers were themselves the raiders. It must be noted though that the location of Pi-sho-ye
was very much debated at the time of Rizal. He nevertheless commented on piracy in the islands. If we
are to consider that these piracies lasted more than two hundred fifty years during which the
unconquerable people of the South captured prisoners, assassinated, and set on fire not only the
adjacent islands but also going as far as Manila Bay, Malate, the gates of the city, and not only once a
year but repeatedly, five or six times, with the government unable to suppress them and to defend the
inhabitants that it disarmed and left unprotected; supposing that they only cost the islands 800 victims
every year, the number of persons sold and assassinated will reach 200,000, all sacrificed jointly with
very many others to the prestige of that name Spanish Rule. [Rizal 1962:134] We don’t know, however,
if the Filipinos in their wars among themselves made slaves, which would not be unusual, for histories
tell us of captives returned to their country and the practice of 7 Jacob C. Vergouwen, The social
organisation and customary law of the Toba-Batak of northern Sumatra, translated from the Dutch by
Jeune Scott-Kemball (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964). Translation of Het Rechtsleve der Toba-
Bataks. DS632 B3V4 8 See Wu [1959], Wang [1964], and Hirth and Rockhill [1912] The Philippine Review
of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 131 the pirates of the South proves it, though in
these piratical wars, as we already pointed out, the Spaniards were the first ones to provoke them and
regulated them. [Rizal 1962:320] As Rizal did not discount predation, he cites Colin in the following
footnote to illustrate how the violation of property rights or “thievery” is dealt with, ironically
juxtaposing the previous “barbaric” practice and the “civilized” practice of his time. Here are some ways
the ancient Filipinos investigated thievery: “If it consists of the offense but not of the offender, if the
suspects are more than one … each one was first required to place in a pile a bundle of cloth, leaves or
what they liked, which could cover the stolen and if after this formality the article was found in the pile,
the case ended.” This practice that leaves a door to repentance and saves the honor of the repentant
ought to have been imitated by the Europeans. Between this barbaric practice and the civilized practice
that we now have of investigating theft by force of electric machines, whipping, stocks, and other
inquisitorial tortures, there is quite a distance. However, if the object did not show up after the first
attempt, the ancient Filipinos used another method already more perfect and civilized inasmuch as it
resembled the judgment of God and the practices of the Middle Ages. They submerged them in water at
the same time … each one with a pole in his hand. “The one who came out of the water first was held
guilty, and thus many were drowned for fear of punishment” (Colin, p. 70). [Rizal 1962:287]
Nevertheless, Rizal will not have even the last illustration understood as uncivilized; he attempts to
clarify what he believes as simply misunderstood. Applying reason, he contends: That is, they preferred
to die being feared as thieves, for however terrible the penalty might be, it would not be more than
drowning oneself, a difficult death which needs a firm and determined will. The ancient Filipinos,
according to other historians, were guided in this by the principle that the guilty, being more afraid than
the innocent, fear accelerated the palpitations of his heart and physiologically the circulation of the
blood and consequently the respiration which was thereby shortened. Based on the same principle that
the guilty one swallowed his saliva or his mouth dried up, they also made them chew rice, spit it out
afterwards, declaring guilty the one who spit it out dry and badly chewed. All this is ingenious, but it can
happen, and it happens, that an 132 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions
and trade innocent man with a fine sense of honor may be affected in such a way upon being accused,
or may fear an accident, and for this appear as guilty. [Rizal 1962:287] Note that Rizal does not rule out
the imperfection that this system may adjudge an innocent party guilty. What is interesting, however, is
his comparing this with the system in place that allows a parish priest to get on as a reputed soothsayer,
encouraging instead of correcting those who consult him on the basis of his reputation. Rizal also notes
that during his time, Filipinos were given to consulting “old hysterical women, impostors, etc.” He
argues that despite the imperfections of precolonial justice, it still resulted in a better state of affairs
compared to what colonialism brought [Rizal 1962:287]. It was a contrast between the use of reason in
an imperfect system and the proliferation of superstition in a system that was supposed to have a
civilizing effect on Filipinos. 4. Pre-Hispanic Philippine trade Philippine precolonial trade linkages are well
established in the literature from both historical and archaeological research. However, this has
contributed little to the popular concept of affinity with Asia. It is in this sense that the motivations of
Rizal in exploring the Philippines’ multidimensional links with Asia remain fresh and relevant. In this
section we focus on the aspects of Rizal’s notes that relate to precolonial trade. 4.1. Trade relations with
Asia In the late 10th century, the Ma-yi polity appears in Chinese texts in relation to the polity’s part in
the lucrative trade with the Chinese. The first mention was in 971 AD in an edict in the Song dynasty
annals. The second mention was 11 years after. Ma Tuan-Lin’s Wen hsien tung kao (A general
investigation of the Chinese cultural sources) of 1317-1319 credits Ma-yi for bringing prized
merchandise to Guangdong in 982 AD. While these two accounts mark the earliest probable beginning
of international recognition of the role of Philippine polities in trade, the works of Chao Ju-Kua and
Wang-Ta Yuan in 1225 and 1349, respectively, provide the first two detailed descriptions on Sino-Filipino
trade in pre-Hispanic Philippine ports (Wu [1959]; Wang [1964]; Hirth and Rockhill [1912]). Rizal was
conscious of the attention that Philippine polities received in pre-Hispanic times and was immensely
interested in related material. He The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December
2011 133 wrote his analysis of Ma-yi and San-su in 1888; and even after the publication of his Morga, he
remained deeply interested. In a letter to Blumentritt on 31 July 1894, he asks for a copy of Chao Ju-
Kua’s work to be sent to Dapitan, several years after the annotated Morga was published in Paris: “You
would certainly oblige me, my dear sir, if you send me a copy of that interesting account of the Chinese
about my country. Do you remember that translation by Mr. Hirth?” On 7 January 1889, months before
his Morga was published, Rizal corresponded with Dr. A. B. Meyer about his opinion of Ibn Batuta’s
Tawalisi. Also relevant are Rizal’s mention of a common justice heritage among Filipino-Malayan
communities [1962:243], of ancient traditions traceable to Sumatra [1962:279], as well as his notes
referring to trade relations with China, Japan, Cambodia, Moluccas, Borneo, Siam, Malacca, and India
[1962:305]. All of these strongly imply that Rizal was aware of the larger sociopolitical and commercial
context involving precolonial Philippines. The following footnotes on trade deserve our attention. Note
that China, Japan, and Cambodia maintained relations with the Philippines. Later, the natives of the last
two did not return to this country for a century. The determining causes of this we shall find in the
interference of the religious orders in the Philippines of those countries. [Rizal 1962:28] With the
exception of the trade with China, the relation with the other nations had ceased during more than two
centuries. [Rizal 1962:305] In these two comments, Rizal notes how Spanish colonization came to
reconfigure precolonial trade patterns. Spanish colonization drastically reduced the Philippines’
potential role in Asiatic trade, modifying the economic dynamics of the Philippines both domestically
and internationally. The archipelago ceased its participation as an entrepôt on the trade route whose
two termini were the Mediterranean and the Middle East on one end and China on the other [Hall and
Whitmore 1976].9 The role of entrepôt 9 As a link in the maritime trade route in Asia, Southeast Asia’s
part has been significant over the centuries. Important ports in the route functioned as major entrepôts,
through which the movement of merchandise was facilitated and desired goods were sourced locally.
The location of Southeast Asia, therefore, was strategically and economically double-edged. Conflict
impeded trade, while the viability of entrepôts precipitated better trade. The development trajectory
then of Southeast Asia was affected by developments in the trade route [Hall and Whitmore 1976:303].
134 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade remained, however, to
the extent that the Philippines under Spain now connected three spheres—Europe, Asia, and the New
World—through the galleon trade. Rizal was not oblivious to the geopolitics involved in the colonial
state of affairs as evidenced by his comments, for instance, on the use of the Philippines as a conduit in
the conquest of the Moluccas and control of the spice trade [Rizal 1962:192] and in Spanish attempts to
subjugate Cambodia and Japan on the pretext of religion [Rizal 1962:75]. Viewed in the light of then-
prevailing international political economy, Rizal’s comments on trade underscore his thesis that
colonization was a cause of “backwardness.” This is also consistent with his concurring observations on
the demise of domestic industries as a consequence of the country’s marginalization in Asiatic trade.
4.2. The Luzon jars and patterns in ceramics Rizal makes two interesting notes on jars unearthed in the
Philippines. Although the subject of jars and ceramics in general can be discussed in the section
regarding domestic industries and craft specialization, we discuss it below in the context of insights on
international trade. These might be the precious ancient jars which even now are found in the
Philippines. Of dark brown color Chinese and Japanese esteemed them very much … [Rizal 1962:181] Dr.
Jagor, in his famous work Reisen in den Philippinen (Berlin 1873) in chapter XV deals with these jars,
describing some, giving very curious and interesting details about their history, shape, and value, some
of which reach enormous prices, like those of the Sultan of Borneo who scorned the price of 100,000
pesos offered for one of them. Dr. Jagor himself, while in the Philippines, was able to get one, found in
one of the excavations undertaken in Libmanan (Camarines Sur) with other prehistoric objects belonging
to the bronze age, as attended by knives made of this metal and the absence of iron, etc. It is a pity that
those objects had not been studied better. Discovering these very precious jars in Cambodia, Siam,
Cochin-china, the Philippines, and other adjacent islands, and their manufacture dating to a very remote
epoch, the study of their form, structure, seals and inscriptions, would perhaps give us a key to finding a
common center of civilization for these peoples. [Rizal 1962:263] The Philippine Review of Economics,
Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 135 Jagor [1916] painstakingly describes how valuable the jars are,
and how these are highly prized in Japan for their role in tea-leaf preservation, which in turn has great
significance in the esteemed chanoyu. Concurringly, the literature is unanimous that these jars, known
as Luzon jars or rusontsubo in Japan, were indeed highly valued. The jars are mentioned as part of the
luxury goods trade in Japan that Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted to monopolize, which also
included silk, gold and mercury, and saltpeter and tin (Schottenhammer [2007:36]; Susser [1993:147];
Naohiro [1991:63]). Second, while the literature recognizes that these jars were acquired from Luzon, its
origin of manufacture is strongly conjectured to be elsewhere. The idea that the jars were
“transshipped” to Japan from the Philippines has received wide attention. As a first possibility, the origin
is said to be from China (Guth [2011:51]; Cort [2003:71]; Addiss [1983:259]; Fujioka [1973:49]). A second
possibility is that the jars were manufactured elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Finlay [2010:194] cites
Francesco Carletti’s assessment and pins the origin of the jars on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand,
ignoring that Carletti included the Philippines and neighboring islands in his view [Trollope 1932:7, 9].
This latter detail Jagor took note of. Where Rizal is concerned, his attention on the discovery of the jars
in Southeast Asia is consistent with his interest in investigating the civilizational affinities of precolonial
Philippines. Sinologist Berthold Laufer in an earlier work offers the possibility that pottery was
manufactured in China for the particular demand in the Philippines, or jars reached Luzon shores from
Siam and Cambodia. As a third possibility, Laufer [1979:507-509] posits that the manufacture of the
Luzon jars might have originated from domestic production by Chinese and/or Japanese specialists who
settled in the Philippines. In general, precolonial Philippine trade goods or merchandise for barter at
Philippine ports are not known to include ceramics. Tables 2 and 3 provide a list of goods exchanged
between early Filipinos and Chinese traders at the ports, as recorded in Chao Ju-Kua’s and Wang-Ta
Yuan’s works (Wu [1959]; Wang [1964]; Hirth and Rockhill [1912]). The excavation of 9th- to 10th-
century Asian ceramics in Cebu demonstrates an extensive involvement in foreign trade. Among the
trading centers in the Visayas by the time of Spanish contact, Cebu ranked as one of the largest (if not
the largest). Port trade was controlled by the Cebu chief, 136 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into
pre-Hispanic institutions and trade Table 2. Filipino-Chinese barter goods, Chao Ju-Kua, 1225 Indigenous
goods Chinese goods Ma-yi yellow wax, cotton, pearls, tortoiseshell, medicinal betel nuts, uta (or Yu-ta)
cloth porcelain ware, trade metals, iron tripod vessels, black lead, variegated glass beads, iron needles,
etc. San-su cotton, yellow wax, native cloth, coconut pith, mats, etc. porcelain ware, black satin, colored
silk fabrics, variegated fiery pearls, leaden weights for nets, white tin Source: Wu [1959]. Table 3.
Filipino-Chinese barter goods, Wang-Ta Yuan, 1349 Indigenous goods Chinese goods Ma-yi kapok,
yellow beeswax, tortoiseshell, betel nuts, and cloth of various patterns cauldrons, pieces of iron, red
cloth of taffetas of various color stripes, ivory, “ting” or the like San-su beeswax, cotton, cloth of various
patterns copper beads, bowls of blue or white flowers’ pattern, small figured Chintzes, pieces of iron
and the like Min-tolang “wu-li,” wood musk, sandal wood, cotton and “niu-jii,” leather lacquered ware,
copper cauldron, Djava (Java) cloths, red taffetas, blue cloth, “tou,” tin, wine and the like Ma-li-lu
tortoiseshell, yellow beeswax, la-ka wood, “Jwu-buh, and kapok “ting” in standard weight, blue cloth,
porcelain water jar of Chu-chou, big pot, iron cauldron and the like Su-lu la-ka wood of middle quality,
yellow beeswax, tortoiseshell, and pearls pure gold, unpure trade silver, Patu-la cotton cloth, blue
beads, Chu earthenware, iron bars and the like Source: Wu [1959]. 10 To illustrate, the research of Aga-
Oglu [1946], for instance, investigated two specimens of Ying Ch’ing porcelain excavated in the
Philippines; this type of porcelain was not made for export and rarely found outside of China. Similarly,
this exception pointed to back up the bigger picture of ceramics as trade goods in Asia and, specifically,
the patterns surrounding ceramics exported into the Philippines. implying a measure of control over
trade goods flowing in and out of the port, and foreign goods constituted an important currency in
sociopolitical negotiations [Bacus 2000]. However, the precious ancient jars in Rizal’s footnotes are
exceptions to the record of Philippine exports. Why is this still important given that the local origin of
manufacture is contested? We are prodded to look at the larger picture and find patterns.10 Interest
The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 137 in these jars allows us to
inquire into the following points for further research in economic history: (1) the patterns that emerged
from domestic specialization in ceramics, (2) the ceramic types (e.g., whether these were status or
common goods) and the differing prestige values attached to them, (3) the period and origin of their
manufacture, (4) and comparative trade volumes. As for the first point, it is unlikely that Philippine
ceramics represented a significant component in foreign trade. There is also the absence of supporting
Spanish contact-period documentary evidence on luxury earthenware produced in the polities. Evidence
from the Tanjay excavations, however, makes a case for domestic production of earthenware for use as
status symbols in Philippine polities in the middle of the second millennium AD [Junker 2000]. As for
prestige value, this will be dealt with further in the discussion, while the last two points of inquiry are
subjects for further research. 4.3. Importance of the study of excavated objects Rizal expresses well the
importance of the proper investigation of artifacts, jars in particular. We revisit the last sentence of the
second note on jars. Discovering these very precious jars in Cambodia, Siam, Cochinchina, the
Philippines, and other adjacent islands, and their manufacture dating to a very remote epoch, the study
of their form, structure, seals and inscriptions, would perhaps give us a key to finding a common center
of civilization for these peoples. [Rizal 1962:263] This suggestion is useful even today. Owing to their
durability and the traceability of their period and origin of manufacture, ceramics provide a very good
platform to analyse trade movements, international economic integration, and interpolity interactions,
as the use of ceramics is associated with significant sociopolitical dynamics within and across polities.
Characteristics of artifacts yield myriad a wealth of information on various aspects of social
arrangements. The role of artifacts is therefore essential in reconstructing the picture of pre-Hispanic
life [Henson 1992]. As an example, Table 4 presents data on (a) the sizes of residential compounds of
five chiefs, (b) the ratios of foreign porcelain to plain earthenware, and (c) ratios of locally made
decorated earthenware to plain earthenware. 138 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-
Hispanic institutions and trade Table 4. Comparisons of percentages of luxury goods with size of chiefly
house compound in 18th- and 19th-century Tausug cottas Size (total in ‘square meters) Porcelain/plain
earthenware Decorated/plain earthenware Cotta Labuan 2,112 0.380 0.037 Cotta Daan 3,500 0.531
0.037 Cotta Laum-Sua 1,596 0.182 0.065 Cotta Bunga-Ammas 4,221 0.270 0.041 Cotta Wayngan 1,152
0.114 0.095 Note: Correlation (size versus porcelain ratio) = 0.5900; not significant at .05 level.
Correlation (size versus decorated earthenware ratio) = -0.7486; not significant at .05 level. Source:
Junker [2000]. The data show that larger residential size is associated with higher relative density in
porcelains while a negative correlation exists with respect to density in decorated earthenware. Hence,
chiefs with higher status, as indicated by size of residential space, tend to have more access to
prestigious porcelain while lower-ranked chiefs tend to use less prestigious earthenware as their lower
status means less access to prestige porcelain.11 In her investigation of polities that existed in the
Dumaguete-Bacong area of southern Negros Island during the 11th to 16th centuries, Bacus [2000]
shows that the chiefly elite’s habitation was larger in size than that of commoners and that such
residences were associated with higher densities and more types of imported and locally produced
luxury goods. Archaeological investigation during Rizal’s time was incipient at best, which means that
data collection and recording were less than ideal. Nevertheless, it is interesting that Rizal’s annotations
mention the work of Alfred Marche. Marche is credited with pioneering the discovery of jar burials in
the Philippines. In 1881, his exploration of burial sites yielded wooden coffins, earthenware jars, Chinese
stoneware jars, Chinese porcelain, gold, wooden images, shell bracelets, and rings [Henson 1992]. Rizal
studied Marche’s 1887 work, Lucon et Palaouan, and corroborates Pigafetta’s and Colin’s accounts of
burial practices [Rizal 1962:294]. The accounts of burial practices associated with their respective rungs
on the 11 Junker notes that while the correlations are not significant statistically speaking, valuable
observations can still be gleaned. The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December
2011 139 socioeconomic ladder were all meticulously noted by Rizal. His comments on the importance
of archaeology in studying the jars are insightful and still applied today to other excavated objects,
especially those in burial sites. Objects found in burial sites yield useful data. In particular, prestige
items—wealth objects that signify status and power—are important to study owing to their association
with significant aspects of culture, such as (a) degree of social complexity (i.e., technology, goods
production capacity, craft specialization, stratification); (2) social interaction across groups; and (3)
community and individual identity, and notions of wealth. The economic value of these goods becomes
a significant point of inquiry and a challenging one, since the prestige value accorded to an object is
contingent on cultural particularities in concepts of wealth and status. The following tables are examples
of designating measures of prestige value considering the object’s source, raw material,
acquisition/manufacture method, and cultural role [Tesoro 2003]. Table 5a assigns a value to each
prestige factor criterion. Table 5b computes the prestige value of each artifact’s raw material by
summing up the value associated to each of its prestige factors. In Table 5c, the prestige values of grave
goods in the protohistoric period (1000-1521 AD) are presented. These tables illustrate how the study of
prestige objects and their value allow us to gain a clearer understanding of burial goods and what they
represent in social arrangements and interactions—exactly as Rizal suggested. 5. Demise of domestic
industries This paper thus far has been replete with contrasts. We consider another to start off this
section. In Skowronek [1998], archaeological perspectives are utilized in investigating economic
dynamics in Spanish colonial Philippines. The fringe location of the Philippines with respect to the
Spanish empire and its proximity to China led to a unique colonial approach. While this shows the
importance given to Asia’s role in the global economy, the result for the Philippines was detrimental. It
is well established that beginning in the Sung dynasty at least, the goods found in burial and habitation
excavations in the Philippines speak of a large volume of trade in earthenware, metalwork, and
porcelain. This momentum was not sustained, however. Spanish religious mercantilism allowed the
Philippines to stay barely afloat even while the colony was unproductive [Skowronek 1998]. Holding on
to the Philippines met Spain’s strategic objectives, even 140 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into
pre-Hispanic institutions and trade Table 5b. Prestige values assigned to artifacts in selected Philippine
burial sites Artifact Raw material Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Bolo Iron 2 2 3 1 8 Spearhead Iron 2 2 3 1 8 Knife Iron 2
2 3 1 8 Dagger Iron 2 2 3 1 8 Adze Tridacna giga Andesite 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 6 4 Porcelain Clay 2 2 2 1 7
Stoneware Clay 2 2 2 1 7 Earthenware vessels Clay 1 1 1 1 4 Scoop Melo sp. Cassis cornuta Linnaeus 1 1
1 1 4 Spoon Shell 1 1 1 1 4 Mortar Stone 1 1 1 1 4 Spindle whorl Clay 1 1 1 1 4 Handle Bone 1 1 1 1 4
Anklet Tin + Copper (bronze) 2 2 3 2 9 Bracelet Tin + Copper (bronze) Jade Agatef Glass Limpet shell
Conus litteratus Linn. Clay Bone 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 9 8 8 8 5 5 5 5
Table 5a. Prestige factors and values Prestige factors Criteria Assigned value A. Source Difficult to
acquire Easy to acquire 2 1 B. Raw material Scarce/rare Abundant/not rare 2 1 C. Time and energy
needed to manufacture and acquire an object Traded and reworked Traded Local 3 2 1 D. Cultural
function Non-utilitarian Utilitarian 2 1 Source: Tesoro [2003]. The Philippine Review of Economics,
Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 141 Table 5b. Continued Artifact Raw material Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Bead
Tin + Copper (bronze) Jade Glass Carnelian Shell Gold 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 9 8 8 8
5 7 Earring Tin + Copper (bronze) Jasperg Chalcedonyh Gold Cone Shell 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 2
2 2 9 8 8 7 5 Ring Tin + Copper (bronze) Copper Shell Alloy of gold-silver-copper 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 2 2 2
2 2 9 7 5 8 Pendant Gold Conus litteratus 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 7 5 Comb Gold 2 2 1 2 7 Pair of threadlike strips
Gold 2 2 1 2 7 Wire Tin + Copper (bronze) 2 2 2 2 8 Strips Copper 2 2 1 2 7 Lime container Arca shell 1 1 1
1 4 Perforated ringlike shell objects Tridacna gigas 1 1 1 2 5 Tubular bone objects Bone 1 1 1 2 5 Chinese
coin 2 2 1 2 7 Notes: a Source. b Raw material. c Time and energy to manufacture and acquire an object.
d Cultural function. e Prestige value. f The nearest source to Palawan in the Philippines is Bulacan. g The
nearest source to Palawan in the Philippines is Cuyo Island. h The nearest sources to Palawan in the
Philippines are Catanduanes and Tarlac. Source: Tesoro [2003]. 142 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights
into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade as the state of the islands degenerated dismally. The demise of
domestic industries coincided with the marginalization of Philippine goods in Asian trade. Rizal lengthily
notes the state of the domestic industries as a result of colonization. They worked more and they had
more industries when there were no encomenderos, that is, when they were heathens, as Morga
himself asserts (p. 229, 358, etc.). What happened—and this is what the Spaniards do not understand, in
spite of the fact that it shines through the events and some historians have indicated at it—was that the
Indios, seeing that they were vexed and exploited by their encomenderos on account of the products of
their industry, and not considering themselves beasts of burden or the like, they began to break their
looms, abandon the mines, the fields, etc. believing that their rulers would leave them alone on seeing
them poor, wretched, and unexploitable. Thus they degenerated and the industries and agriculture so
flourishing before the coming of the Spaniards were lost, as is proven by their own accounts relating
incessantly the abundance of the supply of foodstuffs, gold placers, textiles, blankets, etc. [Rizal
1962:317] Table 5c. Summary of prestige values of grave goods in the protohistoric period Prestige value
Protohistoric period (AD 1000-1521)a 9 Bronze ornaments 8 Traded stone beads Iron implements Glass
beads Glass bracelets 7 Stoneware Porcelain Chinese coin Gold ornaments Copper ornaments 5 Bone
ornaments 4 Spindle whorl Earthenware vessels Stone implements Notes: a The table culls the
protohistoric data and excludes other periods in the original comparative table. In this light, prestige
value 6 is excluded in the table as it only pertains to items in the neolithic period, which is excluded in
this table. Source: Adapted from Tesoro [2003]. The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume XLVIII No.
2 December 2011 143 The coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, their rule, and with this the
immigration of the Chinese, killed the industry and the agriculture of the country. The terrible
competition that the Chinese wage against the members of any other race is well known and for that
reason the United States and Australia refuse to receive them.12 The “indolence,” then, of the
inhabitants of the Philippines has for its origin the little foresight of the government. Argensola says the
same thing, who could not have copied Morga, for their works were published in the same year in the
countries far from each other and in them are found notable divergencies. [Rizal 1962:216] 5.1.
Domestic manufactures: metallurgy and goldsmithing Rizal goes further and enumerates specific
industries to demonstrate their decline. He argues that the state of these industries during precolonial
times was superior to that which the Philippines was experiencing under Spain. The following notes by
Rizal are illustrative. That is, an Indio who already knew how to found cannons even before the arrival of
the Spaniards, hence the epithet “old.” In this difficult branch of metallurgy, as in others, the present-
day Filipinos or the new Indios are very much behind the old Indios. [Rizal 1962:23] This weapon has
been lost and not even its name remains. 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 talibones are neither of gold or ivory, nor their scabbards of horn, nor are they curiously
worked. [Rizal 1962:249] It seems that it can be deduced from the frequent mention of placers that in
those times the Indios devoted themselves with eagerness to gold mining not only to washing the sand
for gold but also to doing the real work of the mines, because the Spaniards inspected gold mines of ten
estados deep and they found more implements used by the Indios” (Gaspar de San Agustin). [Rizal
1962:267] 12 The application of Chinese traits and superior organization resulted in their access to
commercial opportunities in colonial Philippines amid exchange difficulties owing to weak property
rights enforcement. Indigenous industries were crowded out. Colonization substantially altered the
trading context from precolonial times where Chinese trade with polities differed according to
enforcement strength. These points have been discussed extensively in Clemente [2010]. 144 Clemente:
Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade When the Spaniards arrived at this
island (Panay), it was said there were on it more than 50,000 families, but they diminished greatly …
They had many gold mines and in Panay River they got gold by washing the sand; “but driven by the
vexations they received from some provincial governors,” the same historian says, “they have
abandoned the work, preferring to live in poverty to suffering such hardships.” [Rizal 1962:270] It is
worth noting that Rizal mentions ceramics (discussed in section 4), metallurgy (and weapons), and
goldsmithing in his lament over important precolonial industries that have declined. In fact, these
industries (together with textiles mentioned in Rizal [1962:317]) constitute major points of
contemporary discussion in analysing indigenous production of prestige goods. The production of these
goods, access to which was elite-controlled, was material to polities in Southeast Asia during the late
first millennium and early second millennium AD. In terms of metallurgy, Junker [2000], citing the work
of Dizon on the analysis of iron artifacts, concurs that by the first millennium BC, there existed a
domestic capacity for iron smelting and casting among pre-Hispanic specialists; and through time,
craftsmen worked from local ores with port-based workshops. The increased complexity in chiefly
polities and foreign trade stimulated demand in weapons and luxury goods, which in turn resulted in a
rise in indigenously produced iron. Access to iron beyond the trade ports in the 15th and 16th centuries
likewise rose, increasing access to it by nonelites. Where gold is concerned, the evidence suggests that
goldsmithing was another craft industry oriented for both the local elite clientele and foreign demand in
the middle of the second millennium AD. As to the monetary use of gold, evidence is not supportive of
this role. Nevertheless, findings support the utilization of gold in valuing trade goods. The absence of
gold in 16th-century Chinese lists of purchased goods from the Philippines indicates that patronage of
gold from the polities may have come from Southeast Asia [Junker 2000]. For instance, in Tome Pires’s
Suma Oriental, Luzon gold in the Melaka trade center is mentioned [Cortesao 1944]. 5.2. Implications of
pre-Hispanic boat building Rizal made special mention of boat making as an important precolonial
industry as seen in his notes below. Although boat making is not considered The Philippine Review of
Economics, Volume XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 145 in the context of craft specialization or goods
production, it deserves space owing to its implications. We end the section with this brief: Since the
beginning, boats were made in the country … Does this not show culture among the natives? Today this
industry has been reduced to minor crafts and some vessels for the coasting trade. [Rizal 1962:23] The
Filipinos, like the inhabitants of the Marianas who are no less famous and skilled in the art of navigation,
far from progressing, have become backward, for, though now boats are built in the Islands, we can say
that they are almost all of European model. The ships that carried on hundred rowers as crew and thirty
fighting soldiers disappeared. The country that at one time with primitive methods built ships of about
2,000 tons (Hernando de los Rios, p. 24), now has to resort to foreign ports, like Hong Kong, to give away
the gold wrested from the poor in return for unserviceable cruisers. The rivers are obstructed, interior
navigation dies, due to the obstacle created by a timid and distrustful system of government. And of all
that naval architecture hardly one name or so is remembered, killed without being replaced by modern
advancement in proportion to the centuries that have elapsed, as it has happened in the adjacent
countries. And those old vessels in their kind and for their time were so perfect and right, above all
those of the Marianas, that sailors and pilots said: “While we moved in one shot of arquebus they gave
us six turns so graceful that they cannot be more” (Doc. 47. Academia de la Historia). And they sailed
also against the wind and the Spaniards called them shuttles for their swiftness. Why did they not think
of perfecting this kind of vessels? [Rizal 1962:251] The men of these islands are great carpenters and
shipbuilders “who make many of them and very light ones and they take them to be sold in the territory
in a very strange way: They make a large ship without covering nor iron nail nor futtock timbers and they
make another that fit in the hollow of it, and inside it they place another so that in a large biroco there
go then and twelve boats that they call biroco, virey, barangay, and binitan.” They went “painted, and
they were such great rowers and sailors that though they sink many times, they never drown.” [Rizal
1962:265] Precolonial capacity in building seaworthy boats has received scholarly attention (Scott
[1989]; Clark et al. [1993]; Hontiveros [2004]; Manguin [1993]) and we defer to the literature with
respect to the discussion on 146 Clemente: Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and
trade technology and actual production. Contemporary research notwithstanding, the mainstream or
general appreciation of precolonial boat building is sadly not commensurate to its significance. The
importance Rizal attempted to give precolonial boat building shows that he knew what civilizational
legacies to look for in at least establishing that indeed there was “culture among the natives.” The
implication of the utilization of precolonial boats in tribute missions or merchandise sent beyond the
Philippines indicates complexity of polities. For instance, from 970 AD to 1020 AD, Ma-yi and Butuan
were documented to have sent tributes to China while Sulu, Pangasinan, Luzon, Maguindanao, Mao-li-
lu, and Soli were found to have sent tributes from 1370 AD to 1420 AD (Junker [2000]; Scott [1989]). On
this note, future economic comparisons with other Southeast Asian polities or states during the same
period would be a good point for additional research. This does not only mean that the Philippines was
integrated in the goings-on in the international political economy but also raises the question of what
institutions and interactions were necessary in the domestic sphere for this integration to be possible.
Clemente [2010] conjectures that despite seagoing capacity, chiefs maximized the gains from trade by
developing ports rather than bringing merchandise to foreign ports. From an economic standpoint, it
should interest future researchers to rigorously explore the larger context of polities’ access to
international trade through seafaring efforts: the particular market segments of foreign trade that the
polities accessed, the geographical concentration of relative volumes of goods and their types, and the
reasons for frequency and decline of polities’ seafaring endeavors. 6. Concluding remarks The essay
brings to light three major themes. First, Rizal emphasized certain aspects of precolonial culture that
were methodologically important even by current standards. Second, the significance of the aspects he
noted has only grown in the light of what is now being elucidated in contemporary scholarship from
various fields of study (e.g., institutional economics, anthropology, and archaeology). Third, the
knowledge and appreciation by today’s public toward Philippine precolonial history is inadequate and
often faulty based on Rizal’s standards—especially in relation to what he thought it signified for national
identity. Further research is promising. Rizal’s Morga is notable not because it offers final answers to
questions regarding the reconstruction of precolonial The Philippine Review of Economics, Volume
XLVIII No. 2 December 2011 147 economic life. Rather its value lies in the pointers it does offer in regard
to precolonial polities, trade, and industry. While research points have been elaborated in the previous
sections, we conclude by indicating areas that future pre-Hispanic economic research can explore. Given
the themes underscored in the essay, we provide the following points of investigation: (a) the role of
foreign-trade goods in alliance building among local polities and the causal relationship between
foreign-trade access and increased power in polities, (b) the detailed disaggregation of quantified data
on trade goods in both foreign and domestic exchange, and (c) the economic analysis of precolonial
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Rizal on Annotations of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos las Islas Filipinas
1.7KSHARES191
image: https://www.philstar.com/images/authors/1804784.jpg

FROM A DISTANCE - Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) - October 28, 2018 -
12:00am

Yesterday I received an email from Veronica Pedrosa who now lives in

London. She said that she was writing a book and was at the British Museum
for her research.

I texted her back that one of the less known books of Jose Rizal, “Annotations
on Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Pilipinas” was researched and
written there.

It was by way of reply on just who and what Filipinos were before the Spanish
colonialists came. I have excerpted from a translation by Austin Craig of the
introduction to the book.

“As a child José Rizal heard from his uncle, José Alberto, about an ancient
history of the Philippines written by a Spaniard named Antonio de Morga. The
knowledge of this book came from the English Governor of Hong Kong, Sir
John Browning, who had once paid his uncle a visit. While in London, Rizal
immediately acquainted himself with the British Museum where he found one
of the few remaining copies of that work. At his own expense, he had the work
republished with annotations that showed the Philippines was an advanced
civilization prior to the Spanish conquest. Austin Craig, an early biographer of
Rizal, translated into English some of the more important of these
annotations.

Here are excerpts from Rizal’s annotations to inspire young Filipinos of today.
“To the Filipinos: In Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer) I started to sketch
the present state of our native land. But the effect which my effort produced
made me realize that, before attempting to unroll before your eyes the other
pictures which were to follow, it was necessary first to post you on the past.
So only can you fairly judge the present and estimate how much progress
has been made during the three centuries (of Spanish rule). Like almost all of
you, I was born and brought up in ignorance of our country’s past and so,
without knowledge or authority to speak of what I neither saw nor have
studied, I deem it necessary to quote the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard
who in the beginning of the new era controlled the destinies of the Philippines
and had personal knowledge of our ancient nationality in its last days.

It is then the shade of our ancestor’s civilization which the author will call
before you. If the work serves to awaken in you a consciousness of our past,
and to blot from your memory or to rectify what has been falsified or is
calumny, then I shall not have labored in vain. With this preparation, slight
though it may be, we can all pass to the study of the future, wrote Rizal in
Europe in 1889.

“Governor Morga was not only the first to write but also the first to publish a
Philippine history. This statement has regard to the concise and concrete form
in which our author has treated the matter. Father Chirino’s work, printed in
Rome in 1604, is rather a chronicle of the Missions than a history of the
Philippines; still it contains a great deal of valuable material on usages and
customs. The worthy Jesuit in fact admits that he abandoned writing a political
history because Morga had already done so, so one must infer that he had
seen the work in manuscript before leaving the Islands.”

Here are items I have chosen from the annotations.

“By the Christian religion, Dr. Morga appears to mean the Roman Catholic
which by fire and sword he would preserve in its purity in the Philippines.
Nevertheless in other lands, notably in Flanders, these means were ineffective
to keep the church unchanged, or to maintain its supremacy, or even to hold
its subjects.

These centuries ago it was the custom to write as intolerantly as Morga does,
but nowadays it would be called a bit presumptuous. No one has a monopoly
of the true God nor is there any nation or religion that can claim, or at any rate
prove, that to it has been given the exclusive right to the Creator of all things
or sole knowledge of His real being.
The civilization of the Pre-Spanish Filipinos in regard to the duties of life for
that age was well advanced, as the Morga history shows in its eighth chapter.

Morga shows that the ancient Filipinos had army and navy with artillery and
other implements of warfare. Their prized krises and kampilans for their
magnificent temper are worthy of admiration and some of them are richly
damascened. Their coats of mail and helmets, of which there are specimens
in various European museums, attest their great advancement in this industry.

Of the native Manila rulers at the coming of the Spaniards, Raja Soliman was
called “Rahang mura,” or young king, in distinction from the old king, “Rahang
matanda.” Historians have confused these personages.

The artillery cast for the new stone fort in Manila, says Morga, was by the
hand of an ancient Filipino. That is, he knew how to cast cannon even before
the coming of the Spaniards, hence he was distinguished as “ancient.” In this
difficult art of ironworking, as in so many others, the modern or present-day
Filipinos are not so far advanced as were their ancestors.

From the earliest Spanish days ships were built in the islands, which might be
considered evidence of native culture. Nowadays this industry is reduced to
small craft, scows and coasters.

In Morga’s time, the Philippines exported silk to Japan whence now comes the
best quality of that merchandise. Morga’s views upon the failure of Governor
Pedro de Acuña’s ambitious expedition against the Moros unhappily still apply
for the same conditions yet exist.

Ancient traditions ascribe the origin of the Malay Filipinos to the island of
Sumatra. These traditions were almost completely lost as well as the
mythology and the genealogies of which the early historians tell, thanks to the
zeal of the missionaries in eradicating all national remembrances as heathen
or idolatrous. The study of ethnology is restring this somewhat.

Filipinos had had minstrels who had memorized songs telling their
genealogies and of the deeds ascribed to their deities. These were chanted
on voyages in cadence with the rowing, or at festivals, or funerals, or
wherever there happened to be any considerable gatherings. It is regrettable
that these chants have not been preserved as from them it would have been
possible to learn much of the Filipinos’ past and possibly of the history of
neighboring islands.”
Read more at https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/10/28/1863744/rizal-
annotations-antonio-morgas-sucesos-las-islas-filipinas#RAOvIYdk0C7QgrDo.99