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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Sanitizing, Editing, Romanticizing History

o The Fall of Bataan
o The Fall of Corregidor
CHED’s objective: To expose students to different o The Fall of Tirad Pass
facets of Philippine history through the lens of the o Death of Bonifacio
eyewitnesses.

✓ Collecting/Gathering of Historical Data Major Lazaro Makapagal.

• Depends on: Availability of data The man who led the
o No Data (Writing Culture) soldiers who executed
• Gathered from: Andres Bonifacio, The
o Churches Supremo of the Katipunan
o Govt. Institutions (Intramuros
Administration
o UST
o Local Govts. (Old provinces) A section of a letter of Col. Lazaro Makapagal to
✓ Studying/Analyzing the validity of the data historian Jose P. Santos in the 1930s narrating how he
• language barrier and his squad executed Andres Bonifacio and his
• The author’s background (intent), authority brother, Procopio in Maragondon, Cavite in May,
on the subject. 1897. This is the portion where Makapagal says
• biases in history starts with the historian Bonifacio fell to his knees begging for his life then
• History is never objective running away when he saw that he was about to be
✓ Writing/Narrating of history shot.
TRUE/FALSE STATEMENTS
1. The historian brings with them their biases in writing
history.
2. External factors (e.g. climate, geography, or
religion) can never affect a specific historical
event.
3. There are no fictions in history.
4. Primary sources in history such as diaries,
manuscript, historical novels are 100% objective.
5. We can always doubt history.
6. All historical works and sources are
commendable.
7. One has to look at the 19th century Philippine and
European society in order to understand Rizal’s
greatness.
8. Without Rizal, Bonifacio and the other heroes,
freedom can never be attained.
9. Movies can be considered as a primary source in
history.
10. One cannot “sanitize” history.

• Not all remembering is useful to life. A lack of

memory however is as injurious to life as the
excess of it.
• History should use a multi-disciplinary approach
of study
• History is a developmental subject, teaching
people how to surpass their sufferings History should be a developmental subject, trying to
• History without sources is unthinkable, but not all teach people to surpass their sufferings.
historical works with sources are commendable.
Lessons from the Battle of Tirad Pass
• The moment data pass through the human mind,
1. Our reluctance to look ahead and plan.
it is no longer objective.
2. Our inability to organize
3. Our disunity and childishness

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Things to remember
o There is no single understanding of truth in
history.
o Every generation writes their own history. It is
not because the history written by previous
generous is wrong, but because each
generation uses a different perspective in
analyzing a particular historical event.
o We can always doubt history. It is a science.
Thus, it is evolving. It teaches us to be critical
and analytical.
A PRIMARY SOURCE is a document or physical
object which was written or created during the time
under study.
• External Criticism- checking the sources’
authenticity
• Internal Criticism- checking the source’s
validity
Diaries, speeches, manuscripts letters, interviews,
news film footage, autobiographies, official records
• The original "manuscript" of Rizal's last poem
later entitled "Mi Ultimo Adios" This is now
preserved in the vault of the National Library
of the Philippines along with the other writings
of Jose Rizal and the original manuscripts of
the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
o Jose Rizal's admission record to the
Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in
the University of Santo Tomas (1878-
1879). This gives lie to the story that
Rizal had to hide his real last name
"Mercado" when he enrolled in UST.
(UST Archives)
• Specimen of the
writing of the early
Filipinos called
Baybayin from the UST
Archives. This brittle
sheet of paper is one
of the irreplaceable
PH HISTORY | 1CMT
treasures found at the University of Santo
Tomas
• Other examples of PRIMARY SOURCE:
o RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture,
clothing, buildings
o CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama,
novels, music, art
A SECONDARY SOURCE interprets and analyzes
primary sources. These sources are one or more steps
removed from the event. Secondary sources may
have pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources
in them.
• Some types of secondary sources include:
o PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine
articles, histories, criticisms,
commentaries, encyclopedias
o Examples of secondary sources include:
1. A journal/magazine article which
interprets or reviews previous findings
2. A history textbook
3. A book about the effects of WWI
When historians discuss the past, they use
frameworks like political, economic, social and
cultural.
Frameworks like political, economic, social and
cultural allow historians to write about society with
greater depth, precisions and complexity while
avoiding generalization.
Historians should interpret history based on every
aspect.
You cannot interpret history based on human
decisions alone, there are external forces.
Meaning and Relevance of History
“Only a part of what was observed in the past
was remembered by those who observed it; only a
part of what was remembered was recorded; only a
part of what was recorded has survived; only a part
of what has survived has come to historian’s
attention; only a part of what has come to their
attention is credible; only a part of what is credible
has been grasped; and only a part of what has been
grasped can be expounded or narrated by the
historian…Before the past is set forth by the historian,
it is likely to have gone through eight separate steps
at each of which some of it has been lost; and there
is no guarantee that what remains is the most
important “. - Louis Gottschalk
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Teodora Alonso lying in state at the Funeraria The remains of the Santo Domingo Church and
Nacional in Sta. Cruz, Manila, 1911 Convent following the bombing raid, December,
1941.
• Photo published in the • Nothing much remained of the church
Renacimiento Filipino except its walls which were further reduced
Rizal's mother died on 16 to rubble during the Battle of Manila in 1945.
August 1911 at her
home Binondo, Manila,
a few months after the
transfer of her son's
remains to the new Rizal
Monument at the Luneta

Emilio Jacinto, taken by an

unknown photographer,
1899
• Published in
Renacimiento Filipino. This
De La Salle College, St. La Salle Building, post-World
photograph was taken
War II
during his funeral in
• The building is apparently being repaired but
Laguna where he died of
war damage can still be seen on the facade
malaria. His remains were later transferred to
as well as debris from the Battle of Manila.
the Manila North Cemetery and in the 1970s
Military vehicles can be seen parked in front
at the Himlayang Pilipino Memorial Park in
of the building on what is apparently the
Quezon City.
driveway. Photo taken from Taft Avenue. The
main facade is blocked by the tree but the
entrance to the building can be seen.

Newstands in the United

States on April 10, 1942
announcing the Fall of
Bataan

Fort Santiago gate, ca.

1950.
This was how the gate looked after the Second World
War. After it was restored, the only remaining original
section of the gate was the two soldiers on the two Pilosopong Tasio
lower sides, the sea lions, and the Royal Seal on top by Juan Luna
of the doorway One of a series of
drawings Luna
made for a
planned illustrated
second edition of
Jose Rizal's Noli me
tangere

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The Malate area during

the Battle for Manila,
1945.
• Photo taken
from today's
Quirino Ave.
side. Taft
Avenue is on
the left and
present-day
Fidel Reyes St. is
on the right. The The necrological services for the late
war-damaged Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon at the
north wing of De La Salle College can be University of Santo Tomas Chapel, 29 July 1946.
seen in the background and the baseball Quezon's remains were brought home from Arlington
stadium of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum can Cemetery in Virginia, USA where it was temporarily
be seen beside it. buried in August 1944 following his death in Saranac
Lake, New York. The UST Chapel was the last stop of
Padre Salvi as drawn by the funeral cortege before the late president was
Juan Luna. buried at the North Cemetery on August 1.
• The sketch was
supposed to be part
of a series of
drawings Luna made
for a second edition
of the Noli me
tangere which Rizal
planned as an illustrated edition. The
project, however, was discontinued.
• Luna's signature can be seen on the lower
right "JB" which meant "Juan Buan" - "Luna" The house of Deodato Arellano on Elcano corner
being the Spanish word for "Moon" Azcarraga St. where the Katipunan was founded on
• The first illustrated edition of the Noli came July 7, 1892. The accessoria where the members met
out in 1909 in the first Tagalog translation of is the last door on the left with an "X" mark.
the Noli me tangere by Pascual Poblete

The burial of the remains of Commonwealth

President Manuel L. Quezon at the Manila North
Cemetery, 1 August 1946. One hundred soldiers
pulled the military caisson containing the coffin from
the University of Santo Tomas until the North
Cemetery. Quezon's remains stayed at the cemetery
until the completion of the Quezon Memorial Circle
where his remains were transferred in a mausoleum
in 1979.
The UST Gymnasium, ca. 1945
The Gymnasium was constructed in 1933 and was
used for various events in the university including
school programs for the opening of classes. In 1942,
it was used as a dormitory for the Santo Tomas
Internment Camp until its liberation in 1945. The
Gymnasium was demolished in 2011 to make for the
UST Alumni Center.

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still enforcing the separate sex rule: Men on one side,

Women on the other.

The entrance door of the Intramuros campus of the

University of Santo Tomas. The door on the left is the
university portal after the renovations of 1937 during
the XXXIII Eucharistic Congress. The one on the right The facade of the De La
is the door after the Battle of Manila in 1945. This Salle College building
entrance was later dismantled and transferred to the after the Battle of
Sampaloc campus. It is now the Arch of the Manila, 1945. The
Centuries. concrete structure
survived the shelling of
the city but the interiors
were burned by the
Japanese forces who
massacred the civilians
and Christian Brothers
taking shelter in the
second floor chapel of
the building.
Remnants of one of the
entrances of the old President Emilio Aguinaldo at
University of Santo 93 in 1963. By this time, he
Tomas building in had lived through the
Intramuros, ca. l950. Philippine Revolution, the
Note that squatters are Philippine-American War; the
already living inside the Commonwealth
ruins. Government under
Presidents Quezon, Osmena
and Roxas (1935 to 1945);
World War II; the Second
Philippine Republic under Laurel (1943-1945); and
the Third Philippine Republic from Roxas to
Macapagal (1946-1961). By the time he died,
Internees of the Santo Marcos was already Senate President and was
Tomas Internment Camp getting set to run for President. Aguinaldo died a
stand in front of the year later.
University of Santo Tomas
Main Building the morning The Men Who Wrote The Law of The Land. The
following the liberation of opening session of the 1934 Constitutional
the camp by the US Army Convention that created the 1935 Constitution, July
on February 3, 1945 prior to 30, 1934. Delegate Claro M. Recto is speaking after
the Battle of Manila. being chosen President of the Convention as Senate
President Manuel L. Quezon behind him listens.
The original Espana Gate of the University of Santo What looks like a Japanese flag to one side is not a
Tomas, ca. 1940s. Take note that the gate has two flag, it is the glare shield of a spotlight.
pedestrian entrances. The campus at that time was

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University of Santo Tomas Student Handbook, ca.

1930s. Student handbooks were issued to the UST
students as part of the administration's reminders for
the rules and regulations of the university to its
students. The handbook here shows part of the strict
guidelines for being with the women students at the
time when the university started accepting females.

Apolinario Mabini.
Picture taken during
his imprisonment at
the Anda St. prison
cell where he was
confined following his
Photograph of an
capture and arrest in
original copy of the La
Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija
Solidaridad. Contrary to
in 1901
popular belief, it was
only the size of a 8x11
bond paper. This is one
of several copies found
Construction of the Rizal Monument in Switzerland,
in the UST Archives
1911.

• The original name of the monument was

“Motto Stella” by Richard Kissling which won
RIZAL’S LETTER (letter bears no date )
second prize in a contest for a monument to
To my family,
the national hero in 1905. Construction
began in 1908 and three years later, it was I ask you for forgiveness for the pain I cause you, but
shipped to the Philippines. In December, some day I shall have to die and it is better that I die now
1911, the remains in the plentitude of my conscience.
of Jose Rizal were
transferred to the Dear parents and brothers: give thanks to God that I may
proposed site of preserve my tranquility before my death. I die resigned,
the monument hoping that with my death you will be left in peace. It is
better to die than to live suffering. Console yourselves.
and placed in
the foundation. I enjoin you to forgive one another the little meanness of
The completed life and try to live united in peace and good harmony.
monument was Treat your old parents as you would like to be treated by
unveiled on your children later. Love them very much in my memory.
December 30,
1913. Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross over it.
My name, the date of my birth and of my death. Nothing
more. If later you wish to surround my grave with a fence,
you can do it. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.

Have pity on poor Josephine.

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PACO CEMETERY – Where Rizal was first buried after

the execution

RIZAL’S LETTER TO HIS BROTHER: Mr. P. R. (Paciano

Rizal)

My dear brother,

It has been four years and a half that we have not seen
each other or have we addressed one another in writing
or orally. I do not believe this is due to lack of affection
either on my part or yours but because knowing each
other so well, we had not need of words to understand
each other.

Now that I am going to die, it is to you I dedicate my last

words to tell you how much I regret to leave you alone in
life bearing all the weight of the family and of our old
parents!

I assure you, brother, that I die innocent of this crime of

rebellion. If my former writings had been able to
contribute towards it, I should not absolutely deny it, but
then I believe I expiated my past with my exile.

I think of how you have worked to enable me to have a

career. I believe that I have not tried to waste my time.
My brother: if the fruit has been bitter, it is not my fault; it is
the fault of circumstances. I know that you have suffered
much because of me: I am sorry.

Tell our father that I remember him, but how? I remember

my whole childhood, his tenderness and his love. Ask him
to forgive me for the pain I have unwillingly caused him.

Your brother,

José Rizal

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Antonio Pigafetta
➢ Pigafetta’s account is the
single most important
source in history, voyage
and navigation.
➢ ”At noon on Friday, March
22, those men came as they had promise us
in two boats with cocoanuts, sweet oranges,
and a jar of palm-wine. They exhibited great
signs of pleasure at seeing us.”
[When the natives accepted the ”new”
faith, did it mean submission to Spanish rule?]
➢ “It was necessary to set that cross on the
summit of the highest mountain, so that on
seeing it every morning, they might adore it;
and if they did that, neither thunder,
lightning, nor storms would harm them in the
least”.
• Magellan came in a time when the
natives where already highly spiritual
and religious. The natives were concept
of religion has something to do with their
day to day lives.
➢ “The captain-general had him asked to
declare whether he had any enemies, so
that he might go with his ships to destroy
them and to render them obedient to him.
The king thanked him and said that he did
indeed have two islands hostile to him, but
that it was not then the season to go there.”
➢ “The captain told him that if God would
again allow him to return to those districts, he
would bring so many men that he would
make the king’s enemies subject to him by
force.”
• The blackmailing god. The kind of
Catholic religion brought to the
Philippines.
➢ The interpreter told the king that, since his
master was the captain of so great a king, he
did not pay tribute to any seignior in the
world, and that if the king wished peace he
would have peace, but if war, instead, war.
➢ They further said to the king “ These men are
the same who have conquered Calicut,
Malaca and all India Magiore (i.e., India
Major) . The master’s king was more powerful
in men and ships than the kings of Portogalo
that he was the king of Spagnia, and that if
the king did not care to be his friend he
would next time send so many men that they
would destroy him.
➢ They shot so many arrows at us and bamboo
spears. The captain-general sent some men
to burn their houses in order to terrify them.
When they saw their houses burning, they
were roused to greater fury.
The historian brings with them their biases in history.
Pigafetta on Magellan’s death
• “One of them wounded him on the left leg
with a large cutlass. That caused the captain
to fall face downward, when immediately
they rushed him with iron and bamboo
spears and with their cutlasses, until they
killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and
our true guide”.
•

➢ Their seignior was an old man who was

painted (i.e., tattooed). He wore two gold
armlets on their arms and kerchiefs about
their heads.
➢ They go naked, with a cloth woven from the
bark of a tree about their privies except
some of the chiefs who wear cotton cloth
embroidered with the silk at the ends by
means of a needle.
➢ Their women are clad in tree cloth from their
waist down, and their hair is black and
reaches to the ground.
➢ The king told him that he was welcome but
that it was their custom for all ships that
entered their ports to pay tribute.

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