Readings in Philippine

History
An Introduction
Course Description
 The course critically analyzes Philippine history,
with focus on Philippine urban history, from
multiple perspectives and sources. It describes
and examines important turning points from the
precolonial to the modern and contemporary
periods in Philippine urban history and the
social, political, economic and cultural factors
that influenced them. It introduces the student
to historiography as the approach by which
urbanization and the growth and development of
Philippine towns and cities will be discussed.
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the students should
be able to:
◦ Describe, analyze, and appreciate the rich history of
the Filipino people, from pre-colonial times to the
present, through the lens of selected primary and
secondary sources;

◦ Critically examine, from various perspectives,

sources that will enable them to understand deeper
the social, political, economic, religious, and other
factors that influenced urbanization and the growth
of Philippine towns and cities;
◦ Analyze and comprehend the context, content, and
perspective of selected sources to determine their
meaning, significance and relevance in terms of the
sources’ contribution to our understanding of
Philippine urban history;

◦ Communicate and articulate analysis of Philippine

urban issues in history and manage present day
issues and concerns; and

◦ Recommend possible solutions to present day

urban problems based on their own understanding
of their root causes, and their anticipation of and
assessment of alternative scenarios for the future.
 Understanding History
 History is the written records of past events
arranged in chronological order.
 It is the study of past events.
 Is the recorded struggle of people for ever

increasing freedom and for newer and higher

realizations of the human person.

Importance of History
 To know the success and failures of

mankind.
 It serves as a guide or pattern.

“Those who can not remember the past

are condemned to repeat it”
George Santayana
Harvard Historian
“History is not only the past, but also
the present and the future”
Renato Constantino
Filipino Historian
 To know what causes the event.

 To know our roots.

 To understand other peoples customs and

traditions.

 To show how the Filipino nation was born.

 Annotated Edition of Morga Published
(1889)
 Rizal dedicated his new edition of Antonio de
Morga to the Filipino people so that they may
know their glorious past.

“ …the necessity of first giving an

understanding of the past in order the better
to judge the present…”
 Rizal’s Important Essay
The Philippines Within a Century (Filipinas dentro
de Cien Años)
 Rizal portrayed at the beginning of his article

the glorious past of the Filipino people, then

described their economic stagnation and
unhappiness under the harsh Spanish rule.

 In
order to read the destiny of a people, it is
necessary to open the book of its past.
Approaches in Historical Studies:

 Historical structuralism (Fernand Braudel)-

To achieve a “total history”, all aspects of
man’s past are to be integrated.

 Pantayong Pananaw (Zeus Salazar)- posited

the various views to consider in the study of
history.
 Materialist concept of history or historical
materialism (Karl Marx) - states that the history
of society is a history of struggles between the
ruling class and the oppressed masses.
 Philippine history is a people’s history.( Renato

Constantino)- History is not about the story of

man the individual, but man as the associated
man.
 History is not merely the work of heroes and

great men but rather the masses of individuals

as well as the social forces generated by
collective lives and struggles have to be
included.
History is the product of society.

Guiding Principles in the study of Philippine

history:
 If an event or fact warrants two or more

interpretations, then it should be interpreted

from the point of view of the Filipino people.
 The study of Philippine history should be

focused on the mass struggle of the Filipino

people to freedom.
“It is not the hero, not the personality
but the people who are the moving
force of history”
Ivan Petrov
Russian Historian
Historiography – paradigm or framework in
writing history; method in the selection and
analysis of sources.
 Sources of History
 Primary sources – are those that have witnessed
the event or eyewitness accounts/testimonies.
Examples: Written records (narratives, memoirs,
manuscripts, public documents, letters, diaries),
fossils, artifacts and testimony from living
witnesses.
 Secondary sources – are those that have not

been part of the event being considered such as

magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, typescripts,
and articles written about the primary sources.
Commentaries or narratives based on primary
sources
 The Philippine  The Making of a Nation
Revolution by: by John Schumacker
Apolinario Mabini  The Propaganda
 Sermones of Father Movement by John
Schumacker
Blancas de San Jose  Malolos The Crisis of the
 Sucesos de las Islas Republic by Teodoro
Filipinas by Antonio Agoncillo
Morga  Battle for Batangas by
 The Philippine Islands Glenn May
by Blair and Robertson  The Muslim Filipinos by
 Historia de los Indios Cesar Adib Majul
de Visayas by Fr.
 The Pampangans by John
Ignacio Alcina Larkin

PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES

 Mga Gunita ng  The Chinese In
Himagsikan ni Emilio Philippine History by
Aguinaldo Edgar Wickberg
 Documentary Sources of  The Jesuits in the
Philippine History by Philippines by Fr.
Gregorio Zaide Horacio de la Costa
 Ilang Talata Ng  The Manila Galleon by
Paghihimagsik Ni Carlos William Schurz
Ronquillo  The Friar Estate of the
 Relacion de las Islas Philippines by Dennis
Filipinas by Miguel de M. Roth
Loarca  Revolt of the Masses by
 The Wainwright Papers Teodoro Agoncillo

PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES