Bicol University

Institute of Physical Education Sports and Recreation

General Education
Daraga. Albay

READING IN
PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Submitted by:
Rica M. Arango
BSESS 1B

Submitted to:
Sir. Jay-ar T. Tomas
Subject Professor
READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
*Meaning
*Relevance
*Primary and Secondary Sources
*External and Internal Criticism

MEANING
 HISTORY is the study of the past – specifically, the people, societies, events and problems
of the past – and our attempts to understand them. It is a pursuit common to all human
societies. The word “history” and the English word “story” both originate from the
Latin historia, meaning a narrative or account of past events. History is itself a collection
of thousands of stories about the past, told by many different people.
 It is generally define as a record of events affecting a nation's life and destiny, history is
written based on actual happenings or facts as these are revealed though sources. According
to noted historian and Sorbonne professor Dr. Charles Seignober (1854-1942) these
sources are oral tradition, archaeological artefacts, and written literature.
 The history of the Philippines starts from the Early Inhabitants of the Philippine Islands
where many historians and scientists believe that the first inhabitants of the Philippine
islands emerged during the Pleistocene period.

RELEVANCE
 History gives us a sense of identity. By understanding where we have come from, we can
better understand who we are.
 History provides a sense of context for our lives and our existence. It helps us to understand
the way things are and ways that we might approach the future.
 History teaches us what it means to be human, highlighting the great achievements and
disastrous errors of the human race.
 History also teaches us through example. It offers hints about how we can organise and
manage our societies for the benefit and betterment of all those who live in them.
 History allows us to gain valuable perspectives on the problems of our modern society.
 History can provide us with insight into our cultures of origin as well as cultures with which
we might be less familiar, thereby increasing cross-cultural awareness and understanding.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

Primary Sources
 Sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject being studied.
 Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates include diaries, autobiography, memoirs,
personal letters, correspondence, photographs, drawing and etc.
Secondary Sources
 Sources that are produced by an author who used primary sources to produce the material.
 Historical sources which studied a certain historical subject. Describe, discuss, interpret,
comment upon, analyze, evaluate, summarize, and process primary sources. Example of
this are bibliographic, biographical works, Reference books, including dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and atlases, articles from magazines, journals, and newspapers after the
event, literature reviews and review articles (e.g., movie reviews, book reviews)

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL CRITICISM

External Criticism
 The practice of verifying the authenticity of evidence by examining its physical
characteristics, consistency with the historical characteristics of the time when it was
produced; and the materials used for the evidence.
Internal Criticism
 Looks at contents of the sources and examines the circumstances of its production.
 Looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the
source, it’s context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed and its
intended purposes.
 Without thorough criticisms of historical evidences, historical deceptions and lies will all
be probable.
RESOURCES:

Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

According to the book of Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History, The English word history is
derived from Greek noun στορία, meaning learning. As used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle,
history meant a systematic account of natural phenomena, whether or not chronological ordering
was a factor in the account; and that usage, though rare, still prevails in English in the phrase
natural history. In the course of time, however, the equivalent Latin word scientia (English,
science) came to be used more regularly to designate non-chronological systematic accounts of
natural phenomena; and the word history was reserved usually for accounts of phenomena in
chronological order.
By its most common definition, the word history now means “the past of mankind”. Compare the
German word for history Geschichte, which is derived from geschehen, meaning happen. Thus
meaning of the word history is often encountered in such overworked phrases as “all history
teaches” or “the lessons of history”.

Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources

From Reliable Sources is a lively introduction to historical methodology, an overview of the

techniques historians must master in order to reconstruct the past. Its focus on the basics of source
criticism, rather than on how to find references or on the process of writing, makes it an invaluable
guide for all students of history and for anyone who must extract meaning from written and
unwritten sources.
Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier explore the methods employed by historians to establish the
reliability of materials; how they choose, authenticate, decode, compare, and, finally, interpret
those sources. Illustrating their discussion with examples from the distant past as well as more
contemporary events, they pay particular attention to recent information media, such as television,
film, and videotape. From Reliable Sources also provides a survey of western historiography and
an extensive research bibliography.

Santiago Alvarez, Katipunan and The Revolution: Memoirs of a General

First published during the 1920s in Sampaguita, a Tagalog weekly, the memoirs are reproduced in
this volume together with the English translation by Paula Carolina Malay. Filipino and American
historians have recreated the Philippine Revolution to suit the political needs of succeeding
generations, disregarding aspects that now emerge so clearly in Alvarez's account- an embittered
factionalism, strong undercurrents of messianism and animism and a violent machismo. To give
their new nation Western style heroes and heroism, postwar Filipino Historians often stripped these
events of their authenticity. Alvarez gives us back these elements without denigrating the dignity
or glory of the revolution. “In the interest of noble truth” he wrote of the successes as well as
failures, bravery as well as brutality, providing the new raw material for recreating this aspect of
the Filipino past. Without denigrating the dignity or glory of the Revolution, this book gives an
account of the successes as well as failures, and bravery as well as brutality of the war, providing
raw material for recreating this aspect of the Filipino past. This book contains both the Tagalog
and English texts.

Teodoro Agoncillo, History of The Filipino People

Teodoro Agoncillo was the first Filipino historians who earned renown for promoting a distinctly
nationalist point of view of Filipino history (nationalist historiography). Agoncillo's History of the
Filipino People, first published in 1960, remains a popular standard textbook in many Filipino
universities, as are many of Agoncillo's other works. This is despite Agoncillo's controversial tone
and for his perceived leftist bent. Gregorio Zaide, Teodoro Agoncillo, Reynaldo Ileto and Renato
Constantino stand as the most prominent 20th century Filipino historians to emerge during the
post-war period. It must be noted however, that Agoncillo's works suffer from uneven scholarship
throughout, especially with his use (or especially, non-use) of reliable historical sources.

Robert Fox, The Tabon Cave

Tabon caves is known as the “Cradle of Philippine Civilization”; home to the “Tabon
Man” whose fossils were carbon dated to 16,500 yrs – one of the oldest human fossil discoveries.
In the year 1962, researcher Dr. Robert B. Fox and his team found the skull of the Tabon man in
one of the Tabon caves. It is reported that the remains were approximately 22-24,000 years old.
The Tabon man belongs to the species of the Homo Sapien or better known as the intelligent and
modern manBecause the oldest human remnant ever to be found in the Philippines, the Tabon man
was found in the Tabon Cave, the caves gained the title of being the country’s Cradle of
Civilization. It plays a very significant role in the discovery and knowledge of the history and
heritage of Filipinos. According to the discoveries, the Tabon Caves is where one of the first
habitants of the Philippines lived and was buried. The remains show that Tabon men lived in the
cave. It says that they lived on small animals like bats and birds due to the small sizes of their stone
tools.

William Henry Scott, Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History

The purpose of this book is to present a critical summary of what is actually known about the
Filipino people before the beginning of Spanish records in 1521 from a consideration of the sources
produced before that time. It does not propose to write history or prehistory, but rather to serve as
an introduction to the facts which are available to historians who might wish to write it, teachers
with need to teach it, and students desiring to learn it.

References:

Vina O. Cadonna(2013), Philippine history in General and own concept of History. Retrieved from

www.academia.edu

Llewellyn and Thompson (2018), What is history. Retrieved from https://alphahistory.com/what-

is-history/

Blogs, Essays and Paragraphs Teamwork (2016), Importance pf History in our Life. Retrieved
from www.importantindia.com

https://guides.lib.uw.edu/tacoma/library

Santiago Canyon College, Primary and Secondary Sources. Retrieved from

www.sccollege.edu/library/pages/Primary-Sources.aspx

Monte Christo, Introduction to History: Definition, Issues, sources, and Methodology. Retrieved
from www.slideshare.com

P. Alfred A. Khopf, Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Methods.

Retrieved from www.questia.com

Cornell University Press(2001), Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources. Retrieved from
www.books.google.com.ph

William Henry Scott, Prehispanic Source Materials for the study of Philippine History. Retrieved
from https://www.amazon.com/prehispanic-source-materials-for-the-study-of-Philippine-history-
dp/9711002272
The Tabon Cave. Retrieved from www.magtxt.com-The-Tabon-Cave