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Readings IN Philippine History 1st sem

Nursing (Bukidnon State University)

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Meaning of History Reading Material

Definitions and Subject Matter

Issues and Questions
History and the Historian
Historical Sources

Definition and Subject Matter

• History has always been known as the study of the past.

• Students of general education often dread the subject for its notoriety in requiring them to memorize dates. places,
names, and events from distant eras.
• This low appreciation of the discipline may be rooted in the shallow understanding of history's relevance to their
lives and their respective contexts.
• While the popular definition of history as the study of the past is not wrong. it does not give justice to the
complexity of the subject and its importance to human civilization.
• History was derived from the Greek word historia which means "knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation."
• History as a discipline existed for around 2,400 years and is as old as mathematics and philosophy. This term was
then adapted to classical Latin where it acquired a new definition.
• Historia became known as the account of the past of a person or of a group of people through written documents
and historical evidences.
• History became an important academic discipline. It became the historian's duty to write about the lives of
important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and nobilities.
• History was also focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other important breakthroughs. It is thus
important to ask: What counts as history?
•Traditional historians lived with the mantra of "no document, no history." It means that unless a written document
can prove a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact.
• But as any other academic disciplines, history progressed and opened up to the possibility of valid. historical
sources, which were not limited to written documents, like government records, chroniclers' accounts, or personal
letters.
• Giving premium to written documents essentially invalidates the history of other civilizations that do not keep
written records. Some were keener on passing. their history by word of mouth. Others got their historical documents
burned or destroyed in the events of war or colonization.
• Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other social classes who were not
recorded in paper. Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the middle class would have their birth, education,
marriage, and death as matters of government and historical record.
• But what of peasant families or indigenous groups who were not given much thought about being registered to
government records? Does the absence of written documents about them mean that they were people of no history
or past? Did they even exist?
• This loophole was recognized by historians who started using other kinds of historical sources, which may not be in
written form but were just as valid.
• A few of these examples are oral traditions in forms of epics and songs, artifacts, architecture, and memory.
• History thus became more inclusive and started collaborating with other disciplines as its auxiliary disciplines.
• With the aid of archaeologists,
• historians can use artifacts from a bygone era to study ancient civilizations that were formerly ignored in history
because of lack of documents.

• Linguists
• can also be helpful in tracing historical evolutions, past connections among different groups, and flow of
cultural influence by studying language and the changes that it has undergone.

•Even scientists like biologists and biochemists

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• can help with the study of the past through analyzing genetic and DNA patterns of humanReading
societies. Material

Questions and Issues in History

• Indeed, history as a discipline has already turned into a complex and dynamic inquiry.
• his dynamism inevitably produced various perspectives on the discipline regarding different questions like: What is
history? Why study history? And history for whom?
• These questions can be answered by historiography.

Historiography
• In simple terms, historiography is the history of history.
• History and historiography should not be confused with each other. The former's object of study is the past, the
events that happened in the past, and the causes of such events. The latter's object of study, on the other hand, is
history itself
• (i.e., How was a certain historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What
particular historical method was employed? What were the sources used?).

• History has played various roles in the past. States use history to unite a nation. It can be used as a tool to
legitimize regimes and forge a sense of collective identity through collective memory.
• Lessons from the past can be used to make sense of the present. Learning of past mistakes can help people to not
repeat them. Being reminded of a great past can inspire people to their good practices to move forward.

• Finally, history helps humanity to acquire a sense of self knowledge. As British historian R. G. Collingwood elegantly
put it,

"Knowing yourself means knowing what you can do; and since nobody knows what he can do until he tries, the
only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has
done and thus what man is."

Positivism

• Positivism is the school of thought that emerged between the eighteenth and nineteenth century. This thought
requires empirical and observable evidence before one can claim that a particular knowledge is true.
• Positivism also entails an objective means of arriving at a conclusion. In the discipline of history, the mantra "no
document, no history" stems from this very same truth, where historians were required to show written primary
documents in order to write a particular historical narrative.
• Positivist historians are also expected to be objective and impartial not just in their arguments but also on their
conduct of historical research.
• As a narrative, any history that has been taught and written is always intended for a certain group of audience.
• When the ilustrados, like Jose Rizal, Isabelo de los Reyes, and Pedro Paterno wrote history, they intended it for the
Spaniards so that they would realize that Filipinos are people of their own intellect and culture.
• When American historians depicted the Filipino people as uncivilized in their publications, they intended that
narrative for their fellow Americans to justify their colonization of the islands. They wanted the colonization to appear
not as a means of undermining the Philippines' sovereignty, but as a civilizing mission to fulfill what they called as the
"white man's burden."
•The same is true for nations which prescribe official versions of their history like North Korea, the Nazi Germany
during the war period, and Thailand.
• The same was attempted by Marcos in the Philippines during the 1970s.
• One of the problems confronted by history is the accusation that the history is always written by victors.

• This connotes that the narrative of the past is always written from the bias of the powerful and the more dominant
player.

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• For instance, the history of the Second World War in the Philippines always depicts the United States asMaterial
the hero
and the Imperial Japanese Army as the oppressors. Filipinos who collaborated with the Japanese were lumped in the
category of traitors or collaborators.
• However, a more thorough historical investigation will reveal a more nuanced account of the history of that period
instead of a simplified narrative as a story of hero versus villain.

History and the Historian

• If history is written with agenda or is heavily influenced by the historian, is it possible to come up with an
absolute historical truth?
• Is history an objective discipline?
• If it is not, is it still worthwhile to study history?
• These questions have haunted historians for many generations.

• Indeed, an exact and accurate account of the past is impossible for the very simple reason that we cannot go back
to the past. We cannot access the past directly as our subject matter. Historians only get to access representation of
the past through historical sources and evidences.
• Therefore, it is the historian's job not just to seek historical evidences and facts but also to interpret these facts.
• "Facts cannot speak for themselves."

• It is the job of the historian to give meaning to these facts and organize them into a timeline, establish causes, and
write history.
• meanwhile, the historian is not a blank paper who mechanically interprets and analyzes present historical fact.
• He is a person of his own who is influenced by his own context, environment. ideology, education, and influences,
among others.

• In that sense, his interpretation of the historical fact is affected by his context and circumstances.
• His subjectivity will inevitably influence the process of his historical research: the methodology that he will use, the
facts that he shall select and deem relevant. his interpretation, and even the form of his writings.
• Thus, in one way or another, history is always subjective. If that is so, can history still be considered as an academic
and scientific inquiry?

• Historical research requires rigor.

• Despite the fact that historians cannot ascertain absolute objectivity, the study of history remains scientific because
of the rigor of research and methodology that historians employ.
• Historical methodology comprises certain techniques and rules that historians follow in order to properly utilize
sources and historical evidences in writing history. Certain rules apply in cases of conflicting accounts in different
sources, and on how to properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence.

• In doing so, historical claims done by historians and the arguments that they forward in their historical writings.
while may be influenced by the historian's inclinations. can still be validated by using reliable evidences and
employing correct and meticulous historical methodology.
• For example, if a historian chooses to use an oral account as his data in studying the ethnic history of the Ifugaos in
the Cordilleras during the American Occupation, he needs to validate the claims of his informant through comparing
and corroborating it with written sources.

• Therefore, while bias is inevitable, the historian can balance this out by relying to evidences that back up his claim.
In this sense, the historian need not let his bias blind his judgment and such bias is only acceptable if he maintains his
rigor as a researcher.

Historical Sources

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•With the past as history's subject matter, the historian's most important research tools are historical Material
sources. In
general, historical sources can be classified between primary and secondary sources. The classification of sources
between these two categories depends on the historical subject being studied.
• Primary sources are those sources produced at the same time as the event, period, or subject being studied.

• For example, if a historian wishes to study the Commonwealth Constitution Convention of 1935, his primary sources
can include:
• the minutes of the convention, newspaper clippings, Philippine Commission reports of the U.S. Commissioners,
records of the convention, the draft of the Constitution, and even photographs of the event. Eyewitness accounts
of convention delegates and their memoirs can also be used as primary sources.
• The same goes with other subjects of historical study. Archival documents, artifacts memorabilia, letters, census,
and government records, among others are the most common examples of primary sources.

• On the other hand, secondary sources are those sources, which were produced by an author who used primary
sources to produce the material.
• In other words, secondary sources are historical sources, which studied a certain historical subject.

• For example, on the subject of the Philippine Revolution of 1896, students can read Teodoro Agoncillo's Revolt of
the Masses: The Story of Bonifacio and the Katipunan published originally in 1956.
• The Philippine Revolution happened in the last years of the nineteenth century while Agoncillo published his work
in 1956, which makes the Revolt of the Masses a secondary source.
• More than this, in writing the book, Agoncillo used primary sources with his research like documents of the
Katipunan, interview with the veterans of the Revolution, and correspondence between and among Katipuneros.

• However, a student should not be confused about mentioned above, the classification of sources what counts as
a primary or a secondary source. As between primary and secondary depends not on the period when the source
was produced or the type of the source but on the subject of the historical research.
• For example, a textbook is usually classified as a secondary source, a tertiary source even. However. this
classification is usual but not automatic.
• If a historian chooses to write the history of education in the 1980s, he can utilize textbooks used in that period as a
primary source.

• If a historian wishes to study the historiography of the Filipino-American War for example, he can use works of
different authors on the topic as his primary source as well.

• Both primary and secondary sources are useful in writing and learning history. However, historians and students of
history need to thoroughly scrutinize these historical sources to avoid deception and to come up with the historical
truth.
• The historian should be able to conduct an external and internal criticism of the source, especially primary sources
which can age in centuries.

• External criticism is the practice of verifying the characteristics: consistency with the historical characteristic of the
time when it was produced; and the materials used for the evidence.
•Examples of the things that will be examined when conducting external criticism of a document include the quality
of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used in the material, among others.

• Internal criticism, on the other hand, is the examination of the truthfulness of the evidence. It looks at the content
of the source and examines the circumstance of its production.

• Internal criticism looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of the source, its
context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed it, and its intended purpose, among
others.

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•For example, Japanese reports and declarations during the period of the war should not be taken Material
as a historical fact
hastily.
• Internal criticism entails that the historian acknowledge and analyze how such reports can be manipulated to be
used as war propaganda.
• Validating historical sources is important because the use of unverified, falsified, and untruthful historical sources
can lead to equally false conclusions. Without thorough criticisms of historical evidences, historical deceptions and
lies will be highly probable.

• One of the most scandalous cases of deception in Philippine history is the hoax Code of Kalantiaw. The code was a
set of rules contained in an epic. Maragtas, which was allegedly written by a certain Datu Kalantiaw.
•The document was sold to the National Library and was regarded as an important precolonial document until 1968,
when American historian William Henry Scott debunked the authenticity of the code due to anachronism and lack of
evidence to prove that the code existed in the precolonial Philippine society.

• Ferdinand Marcos also claimed that he was a decorated World War II soldier who led a guerilla unit called Ang
Maharlika.
• This was widely believed by students of history and Marcos had war medals to show. This claim, however, was
disproven when historians counterchecked Marcos's claims with the war records of the United States.
• These cases prove how deceptions can propagate without rigorous historical research.

• The task of the historian is to look at the available historical sources and select the most relevant and meaningful
for history and for the subject matter that he is studying.
• History, like other academic discipline, has come a long way but still has a lot of remaining tasks to do. It does not
claim to render absolute and exact judgment because as long as questions are continuously asked, and as long as
time unfolds, the study of history can never be complete.

• The task of the historian is to organize the past that is being created so that it can offer lessons for nations,
societies, and civilization.
• t is the historian's job to seek for the meaning of recovering the past to let the people see the continuing relevance
of provenance, memory, remembering, and historical understanding for both the present and the future.

Antonio Pigafetta's First Voyage Around the World by Magellan

This book was taken from the chronicles of contemporary voyagers and navigators of the
sixteenth century. One of them was Italian nobleman Antonio Pigafetta, who accompanied
Ferdinand Magellan in his fateful circumnavigation of the world. Pigafetta's work instantly
became a classic that prominent literary men in the West, like William Shakespeare, Michel de
Montaigne, and Giambattista Vico, referred to the book in their interpretation of the new world.
Pigafetta's travelogue is one of the most important primary sources in the study of the pre-
colonial Philippines. His account became a major reference to the events leading to Magellan's

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arrival in the Philippines, his encounter with local leaders, his death in the hands of Lapulapu's
forces in the Battle of Mactan, and in the departure of what was left of Magellan's fleet from the
islands.

Examining the document reveals several insights not just in the character of the Philippines
during the pre-colonial period, but also on how the fresh eyes of the Europeans regard a deeply
unfamiliar terrain, environment, people, and culture. Locating Pigafetta's account in the context
of its writing warrants a familiarity on the dominant frame of mind in the age of exploration,
which pervaded Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Students of history need to
realize that primary sources used in the subsequent written histories depart from certain
perspectives Thus, Pigafetta's account was a product of the context of its production. The First
Voyage Around the World by Magellan was published after Pigafetta returned to Italy. We will
focus on the chronicles of Antonio Pigafetta as he wrote his firsthand observation and general
impression of the Philippines, and their experiences in the Visayas.

In Pigafetta's account, their fleet reached what he called the Ladrone Island of the Island of
Thieves. He recounted:
These people have no arms, but use sticks, which have a fishbone at the end. They are
poor, but ingenious, and great thieves, and for the sake of that we called these three
islands the Ladrone Islands.

The Ladrone Islands are presently known as the Marianas Islands. These islands are located
South- southeast of Japan, West-southwest of Hawaii, North of New Guinea, and East of the
Philippines.

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Ten days after they reached Ladrone Islands, Pigafetta reported that they reached what Pigafetta
called the isle of Zamal, now Samar, but Magellan decided to land in another uninhabited island
for greater security where they can rest for a few days. Pigafetta recounted that after two days, 18
March 1521, nine men came to them and showed joy and eagerness in seeing them. Magellan
realized that the men were reasonable and welcomed them with food, drinks, and gifts. In turn,
the natives gave them fish, palm wine (uraca), figs, and two cochos. The natives also gave them
rice (umai), cocos, and other food supplies. Pigafetta detailed in amazement and fascination the
palm tree, which bore fruits called cocho, and wine. He also described what seemed like a
coconut. His description reads:

This palm produces a fruit named cocho, which is as large as the head, or thereabouts: its
first husk is green, and two fingers in thickness, in it they find certain threads, with which
they make the cords for fastening their boats. Under this husk there is another very hard,
and thicker than that of a walnut. They burn this second rind, and make with it a powder
which is useful to them. Under this rind there is a white marrow of a finger's thickness,
which they eat fresh with meat and fish, as we do bread, and it has the taste of an almond,
and if anyone dried it he might make bread of it.

Pigafetta characterized the people as "very familiar and friendly" and willingly showed them
different islands and the names of these islands. The fleet went to Humunu island (Homonhon),
and there they found what Pigafetta referred to as the Watering Place of Good Signs. It is in this
place where Pigafetta wrote that they found the first signs of gold on the island. They named the
island with the nearby islands as the archipelago of St. Lazarus. They left the island, then on 25
March, Pigafetta recounted that they saw two Ballanghai (balangay), a longboat full of people in
Mazzava/Mazaua. The leader, whom Pigafetta referred to as the king of the Ballanghai
(balangay), sent his men to the ship of Magellan. The Europeans entertained these men and gave
them gifts. When the king of the balangay offered to provide Magellan with a bar of gold and a
chest of ginger, Magellan declined. Magellan sent the interpreter to the king and asked for money
for the needs of his ships and expressed that he came into the islands as a friend and not as an
enemy. The king responded by giving Magellan the needed provisions of food in chinaware.
Magellan exchanged gifts of robes in Turkish. fashion, red cap, and gave the people knives and
mirrors. The two then
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expressed their desire to become brothers. Magellan also boasted of his men in armor who
cannot be struck with swords and daggers. The king was fascinated and remarked that men in
such armor could be worth 100 of his men.. Magellan also showed the king his other weapons
and artillery. Magellan also shared with the king his charts and maps and shared how they found
the islands.

After a few days, Magellan was introduced to the king's brother, who was also a king of another
island. They went to this island, and Pigafetta reported that they saw mines of gold. The gold was
so abundant that parts of the ship and the house of the second king were made of gold. Pigafetta
described this king as the most handsome of all the men that he saw in this place. He was also
adorned with silk and gold accessories like a golden dagger, which he carries with him in a
polished wooden sheath. This king is named Raia Calambu, king of Zuluan and Calagan (Butuan
and Caragua), and the first king was Raia Siagu. On 31 March, which happened to be Easter
Sunday, Magellan ordered the chaplain to say a Mass by the shore. The king heard of this plan
and sent two dead pigs and attended the Mass with the other king. Pigafetta reported that both
kings participated in the Mass. He wrote:

...when the offertory of the mass came, the two kings, went to kiss the cross like us, but
they offered nothing, and at the elevation of the body of our Lord they were kneeling like
us, and adored our Lord with joined hands.

After the Mass, Magellan ordered that the cross be brought, with nails and crown in place.
Magellan explained that the cross, the nail, and the crown were the signs of his emperor and that
he was ordered to plant it in the places that he will reach. Magellan further explained that the
cross would be beneficial for their people because once other Spaniards saw this cross, then they
would know that they have been in this land and would not cause them troubles, and any person
who might be held captives by them will be released. The king concurred and allowed for the
cross to be planted. This Mass will go down in history as the first Mass in the Philippines, and
the cross will be the famed Magellan's cross still preserved in the present day.

After seven days, Magellan and his men decided to move and look for islands where they can
acquire more supplies and provisions. They learned of the islands of Ceylon (Leyte), Bohol, and
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Zubu (Cebu) and intended to go there. Raia Calambu offered to pilot them in going to Cebu, the
largest and the richest of the islands. By 7 April, Magellan and his men reached Cebu. The king
of Cebu, through Magellan's interpreter, demanded that they pay tribute as it was customary, but
Magellan refused. Magellan said that he was a captain of a king himself and, thus, would not pay
tribute to other kings. Magellan's interpreter explained to the king of Cebu that Magellan's king
led a vast empire and that it would do them better to make friends with them. The king of Cebu
consulted his council. The next day, Magellan's men and the king of Cebu, together with other
principal men of Cebu, met in an open space. There, the king offered a bit of his blood and
demanded that Magellan do the same. Pigafetta recounts:

Then the king said that he was content, and as a greater sign of affection he sent him a
little of his blood from his right arm, and wished he should do the like. Our people
answered that he would do it. Besides that, he said that all the captains who came to his
country had been accustomed to make a present to him, and he to them, and therefore
they should ask their captain if he would observe the custom. Our people answered that
he would, but as the king wished to keep up the custom, let him begin and make a
present, and then the captain would do his duty.

The following day, Magellan spoke before the people of Cebu about peace and God. Pigafetta
reported that the people took pleasure in Magellan's speech.. Magellan then asked the people
who would succeed the king after his reign, and the people responded that the eldest child of the
king, who happened to be a daughter, would be the next in line. Pigafetta also related how the
people talked about, how at old age, parents are no longer taken into account and had to follow
the orders of their children as the new leaders of the land. Magellan responded to this by saying
that his faith entailed children to render honor and obedience to their mother and father.
Magellan preached about their faith further, and people were reportedly convinced. Pigafetta
wrote that their men were thrilled, seeing that the people wished to become Christians through
their free will and not because they were forced or intimidated.

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On 14 April, the people gathered with the king and other principal men of the islands. Magellan
encouraged the king to be a good Christian by burning all of the idols and worship the cross
instead. The king of Cebu was then baptized as a Christian. Pigafetta wrote:

To that the king and all his people answered that they would obey the commands of the
captain and do all that he told them. The captain took the king by the hand, and they
walked about on the scaffolding, and when he was baptized he said that he would name
him Don Carlos, as the emperor his sovereign was named; and he named the prince Don
Fernando Fernando, after the brother of the emperor, and the King of Mazavva, Jehan: to
the Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and to the others each a name of his fancy.

After eight days, Pigafetta counted that all of the island's inhabitants were already baptized. He
admitted that they burned a village down for obeying neither the king nor Magellan. The Mass
started to be conducted by the shore every day. When the queen came to Mass one day, Magellan
gave her an image of the Infant Jesus Pigafetta carved himself. The king of Cebu swore that he
would always be faithful to Magellan. Magellan reiterated that all of the newly baptized
Christians needed to burn their idols, but the natives gave excuses telling Magellan that they
required the idols to heal a sick man who was a relative to the king. Magellan insisted that they
should instead put their faith in Jesus Christ. They went to the sick man and baptized him, and
Pigafetta recorded that the man was able to speak again. He called this a miracle.

On 26 April, Zula, a principal man from the island of Matan (Mactan), went to see Magellan and
asked him for a boat full of men so that he could fight the chief named Silapulapu (Lapulapu).
Such chief, according to Zula, refused to obey the king and was also preventing him from doing
so. Magellan offered three boats instead and expressed his desire to go to Mactan himself to fight
the said chief. Magellan's forces arrived in Mactan in daylight. They numbered 49 in total, and
the islanders of Mactan were estimated to number 1500. The battle began. Pigafetta recounted:

When we reached land, we found the islanders fifteen hundred in number, drawn up in
three squadrons; they came down upon us with terrible shouts, two squadrons attacking
us on the flanks, and the third in front. The captain then divided his men in two bands.
Our
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musketeers and crossbowmen fired for half an hour from a distance, but did nothing,
since the bullets and arrows, though they passed through their shields made of thin wood,
and perhaps wounded their arms, yet did not stop them. The captain shouted not to fire,
but he was not listened to. The islanders seeing that the shots of our guns did them little
or no harm would not retire, but shouted more loudly, and springing from one side to the
other to avoid our shots, they at the same time drew nearer to us, throwing arrows,
javelins, spears hardened in fire, stones, and even mud, so that we could hardly defend
ourselves. Some of them cast lances pointed with iron at the captain general.

Magellan died in that battle. The natives, perceiving that the bodies of the enemies were
protected with armors, aimed for their legs instead. Magellan was pierced with a poisoned arrow
in his right leg. A few of their men charged at the natives and tried to intimidate them by burning
an entire village, but this only enraged the natives further. Magellan was specifically targeted
because the natives knew that he was the captain general. Magellan was hit with a lance in the
face. Magellan retaliated and pierced the same native with his lance in the breast and tried to
draw his sword but could not lift it because of his wounded arm. Seeing that the captain has
already deteriorated, more natives came to attack him. One native with a great sword delivered a
blow in Magellan's left leg, brought him face down, and the natives ceaselessly attacked
Magellan with lances, swords, and even with their bare hands. Pigafetta recounted the last
moments of Magellan:

Whilst the Indians were thus overpowering him, several times he turned around towards
us to see if we were all in safety, as though his obstinate fight had no other object than to
give an opportunity for the retreat of his men.

Pigafetta also said that the king of Cebu who was baptized could have sent help, but Magellan
instructed him not to join the battle and stay in the balangay to see them fight. The king offered
the people of Mactan gifts of any value and amount in exchange for Magellan's body, but the
chief refused. They wanted to keep Magellan's body as a memento of their victory.

Magellan's men elected Duarte Barbosa as the new captain. Pigafetta also described how
Magellan's slave and an interpreter named Henry betrayed them and told the king of Cebu that
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they intend to leave as quickly as possible. Pigafetta alleged that the slave told the king that if he
followed the slave's advice, then the king could acquire the ships and the goods of Magellan's
fleet. The two conspired and betrayed what was left of Magellan's men. The king invited these
men to a gathering where he said he would present the jewels that he would send for the king of
Spain. Pigafetta was not able to join the 24 men who attended because he was nursing his battle
wounds. It was only a short time when they heard cries. The natives had slain all of the men
except the interpreter and Juan Serrano, who were already wounded. Serrano was presented and
shouted at the men in the ship, asking them to pay the ransom so he would be spared. However,
they refused, and the fleet departed and abandoned Serrano. They left Cebu to continue their
journey around the world.

Antonio Pigafetta's First Voyage around the World

As analysis

Analysis of Pigafetta's Chronicle

• The chronicle of Pigafetta was one of the most cited documents by historians who wished to study the pre colonial
Philippines.
•As one of the earliest written accounts. Pigafetta was seen as a credible source for a period, which was unchronicled
and undocumented.
•Moreover, being the earliest detailed documentation, it was believed that Pigafetta's writings account for the
"purest" pre-colonial society.

• Indeed, Pigafetta's work is of great importance in the study and writing of Philippine history. However, there. needs
to be a more nuanced reading of the source within a contextual backdrop.
•Students of history should recognize certain biases accompanying the authors and their identities, loyalties, and
circumstances, and how these affected the text that they produced.
• In the case of Pigafetta, the reader needs to understand that he was a chronicler commissioned by the king of Spain
to accompany and document a voyage intended to expand the Spanish empire.

•He was also of noble descent who came from a wealthy family in Italy. These attributes influenced his narrative, his
selection of details to be included in the text, his characterization of the people that he encountered. and his
interpretation and retelling of the events.
• With his cartography and geography background. Pigafetta wrote a detailed geography and climate conditions of
the places their voyage reached

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• In reading Pigafetta's description of the people, one has to keep in mind that he was coming from the sixteenth
century European perspective. Hence, the reader might notice how Pigafetta, whether implicitly or explicitly,
regarded the indigenous belief systems and way of life as inferior to that of Christianity and the Europeans.
• He would always remark on the nakedness of the natives or how he was fascinated by their exotic culture. Pigafetta
also noticeably emphasized the natives amazement and ignorance of European artillery, merchandise, and other
goods.

• In the same way. Pigafetta repeatedly mentioned thel abundance of spices like ginger and precious metals like gold.
His observations on indigenous cultures employed European standards.
• Hence, when they saw the indigenous attires of the natives, Pigafetta saw them as being naked because, from a
European standpoint, they were wearing fewer clothes indeed. Pigafetta's perspective was too narrow to realize that
such attire was appropriate for the tropical climate of the islands.
• The same was true for materials that the natives used for their houses like palm and bamboo. These materials
would let more air come through the house and compensate for the hot climate.

• Such observations were rooted in the context of Pigafetta and his era. Europe, for example, was dominated by the
Holy Roman Empire, whose loyalty and purpose was the domination of the Catholic Church all over the world.
• Hence, other belief systems different from that of Christianity were perceived to be blasphemous and barbaric,
even demonic. Aside from this, the sixteenth century European economy I was mercantilist. Such a system measures
the wealth of kingdoms based on their accumulation of bullions or precious metals like gold and silver.

• It was not surprising, therefore, that Pigafetta would always mention the abundance of gold in the islands as shown
in his description of leaders wearing gold rings and golden daggers, and of the rich gold mines.
• An empire like that of Spain would need new lands where they could acquire more gold and wealth to be on top of
all other European nations.
• The obsession with spices might be odd for Filipinos because of its ordinariness in the Philippines, but
understanding the context would reveal that spices were scarce in Europe and hence, were seen as prestige goods.

• In that era, Spain and Portugal coveted control of the spice islands because it would have led to a certain increase in
wealth, influence, and power. These contexts should be used and understood to have a more qualified reading of
Pigafetta's account.

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Juan de Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalog

Upon the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521, colonization in 1565, and establishment by Miguel
Lopez de Legazpi, the Manila area as the capital of the Spanish colony in the Philippines, the
practical move was to study the subjects of this new colony. Hence, several Spanish writers
wrote about the Filipinos during that mid-millennium. Foremost of them belonged to religious
orders such as the Franciscan missionary Juan de Plasencia. This same priest authored the first
book ever printed in the archipelago in 1593, the Doctrina Cristiana. He was known to have lived
modestly and was concerned with the welfare of the Filipino, even suggesting that aside from the
Christian doctrine, reading and writing Spanish should also be taught to Filipinos. Plasencia
asserted that in the process of compiling the Customs, he had to "obtain the simple truth by
weeding out much of the foolishness, in regard to their government, administration of justice,
inheritances, slaves, and dowries."

Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalog (1589) was the earliest descriptive written work on early
Filipino society, giving us the witness view of our ancestors'customs and traditions. He used
"Tagalog" because Tagalogs inhabited Manila, the established capital. His work had no particular
order elaborating on certain aspects of early Filipino life. The socio-political structure of early
Tagalogs, according to Plasencia, was led by revered chiefs referred to as dato, who served as
war captains. They ruled as many as a hundred houses, a "tribal" gathering called a barangay.
Plasencia also identified three "castes" or classes: the nobles or the maharlica; the commoners or
the aliping namamahay who served their master; and the slaves called aliping sa guiguilir
(saguiguilid) who also served their master, but they could be sold. We have to understand that
Plasencia was writing from a Spaniard's view and assigned terms to the Filipinos that were
otherwise actually foreign such as "knights" and "castes." Springing from the previous lesson on
the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, we read that Plasencia also mentions in a frustrating voice
his distress regarding loans:

In what concerns loans, there was formerly, and is today, an excess of usury, which is a great
hindrance to baptism as well as to confession; for it turns. out in the same way as I have showed
in the case of the one under judgment, who gives half of his cultivated lands and profits until he
pays the debt. The debtor is condemned to a life of toil; and thus borrowers become slaves, and
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after the death of the father the children pay the debt. Not doing so, double the amount must be
paid. This system should and can be reformed. Plasencia continues with paragraphs on marriage
and constitution of the family. giving scenarios of couples who divorced and matters concerning
inheritance and dowry. He also relates how disputes in the community were settled:

Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place in the presence of
those of his barangay. If any of the litigants felt himself aggrieved, an arbiter was
unanimously named from another village or barangay, whether he were a dato or not;
since they had for this purpose some persons, known as fair and just men, who were said
to give true judgment according to their customs. If the controversy lay between two
chiefs, when they wished to avoid war, they also convoked judges to act as arbiters; they
did the same if the disputants belonged to two different barangays. In this ceremony they
always had to drink, the plaintiff inviting the others.

Regarding the elaborate belief system of the Filipinos, Plasencia explained:

In all the villages, or in other parts of the Filipinas Islands, there are no temples
consecrated to the performing of sacrifices, the adoration of their idols, or the general
practice of idolatry. It is true that they have the name simbahan, which means a temple or
place of adoration; but this is because, formerly, when they wished to celebrate a festival,
which they called pandot, or "worship," they celebrated it in the large house of a chief.
During
this time the whole barangay, or family, united and joined in the worship which they call
nagaanitos Among their many idols there was one called Badhala, whom they
especially
worshiped. The title seems to signify "all powerful," or "maker of all things." They also
worshiped the sun, which, on account of its beauty, is almost universally respected and
honored by heathens. They worshiped, too, the moon, especially when it was new, at
which time they held great rejoicings, adoring it and bidding it welcome. Some of them
also adored the stars, although they did not know them by their names, as the Spaniards
and other nations know the planets-with the one exception of the morning star, which
they called Tala. They knew, too, the "seven little goats" [the Pleiades]-as we call them-

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and, consequently, the change of seasons, which they call Mapolon; and Balatic, which
is our

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Greater Bear. They possessed many idols called lic-ha, which were images with different
shapes; and at times they worshiped any little trifle, in which they adored....

These infidels said that they knew that there was another life of rest which they called
maca, just as if we should say "paradise," or, in other words, "village of rest." They say
that those who go to this place are the just, and the valiant, and those who lived without
doing harm, or who possessed other moral virtues. They said also that in the other life and
mortality, there was a place of punishment, grief, and affliction, called casanaan, which
was "a place of anguish;" they said that all the wicked went to that place, and there dwelt
the demons, whom they called sitan.

He closed his letter with the following:

Others, perchance, may offer a more extended narrative, but leaving aside irrelevant
matters concerning government and justice among them, a summary of the whole truth is
contained in the above. I am sending the account in this clear and concise form because I
had received no orders to pursue the work further. Whatever may be decided upon, it is
certainly important that it should be given to the alcaldes-mayor, accompanied by an
explanation....
Customs of the Tagalogs
Analysis of the Customs of the Tagalogs

• The Spanish government commissioned Plasencia's work to identify the best strategy to organize their newly founded
colony.
• Compared with the Chinese annals that spoke mostly of trade matters, the Spanish were more interested in the soci-
political structure of the early Filipinos (whom they called Indios).
• Although recognizing the datus, the Spanish looked at the structures as weak and segmented, reflecting other
Southeast Asian forms of political organization based on alliance networks over territorial expansion.

•The title holds that Plasencia's work is a lengthy treatise on Tagalog customs covering several topics, from marriage to
burial.
• It was evidence that the early Filipinos had a system of governance, customs, and beliefs. Notably, Plasencia
narrated that Filipinos would enslave each other because of unpaid debts and how this created a slave status that is
inherited by children unless the debt is paid. But he looked at these systems from the European perspective.

•For example, referring to Filipino astrology, he said. "they adore the stars although they don't know their names
(only a few)." He labeled spiritual practitioners as "priests of the devil" to include the catalonan, mangcocolam, etc.,
but acknowledged that they did believe in a special being called Badhala and that there was an afterlife.
• His presentation of these both gives us a glimpse of but at the same time obscures us from understanding the true
nature of these cultural practices.

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• Through the centuries under Spanish rule, these practices were inherited, combining them with Catholic beliefs-
labeled folk Catholicism. A simple example would be the crucifix being used by the Filipinos as a form of the indigenous
concept of anting-anting.

• One of the most formative concepts that stemmed from Plasencia was the idea of the "barangay." An authority on
pre-sixteenth century Philippines, William Henry Scott wrote that the word was misused to refer to the smallest social
structure of the society as it merely meant a boat.
• But as the Spanish continued to write about the Filipinos, they replicated Plasencia's error. Plasencia, as well as those
who succeeded him, may have chosen the wrong concept and construct, but more than a mistake, it was also an
attempt to impose a Western structure to explain the Filipino political units.

• Scott said that in his studies, what appears to refer to early Filipino political structure was the word bayan.
Unfortunately, Plasencia's work became the seed of scholarship on Filipino political structure that writers after him,
whether Spanish, American, or Filipino, had enabled the concept of "barangay" to persist.

• The barangay is so embedded in Philippine history that probably all textbooks begin the discussion on pre sixteenth
century Philippines using this construct, a testimony to how the foreign lens or perspective shaped realities using
misconstrued concepts in history.
• Imagine other indigenous concepts that had the same fate. Revisiting and reanalyzing primary sources allow us to
contextualize the same concepts we use today.

• Ultimately, we have to understand that Plasencia's work was just a fraction of the whole and was not in any way
representative of all the other indigenous peoples of the Philippine pre-sixteenth century.
The KKK and the “Kartilya ng Katipunan”

The Philippine Revolution is one of the most important nodal points in Philippine History. It
signaled the end of the long Spanish era and served as the climax of the occasional revolts that
occurred in the centuries of Spanish colonization The revolution started in August 1896, upon the
discovery of the Katipunan. This erstwhile secret organization led the revolution through Andres
Bonifacio in its early stages. Later, internal conflict in the movement escalated to the tragic
execution of Bonifacio in May 1897 and the leadership takeover by Emilio Aguinaldo.

The Kataastaasan, Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK), or Katipunan,

is arguably the most crucial organization formed in Philippine history. While anti-colonial
movements, efforts, and organizations have already been formed centuries before the foundation
of the Katipunan, it was only this organization that envisioned a united Filipino nation that would
revolt against the Spaniards for the total independence of the country from Spain. None before
the Katipunan envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. On the one
hand, the imagination of the nation was mostly absent in the aspirations of the local revolts
before Katipunan. On the other hand, the propaganda movement led by the ilustrados such as

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Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of
the Philippines from Spain. They only demanded equal rights, representation, and protection
from the abuses of the friars.

In the conduct of their struggle, the Katipunan created a complex structure and a defined value
system that would guide the organization as a collective, which aspired for a single goal. One of
the essential Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng Katipunan. The original title of the text
was Manga Aral Nang Katipunan ng mga Anak Nang Bayan or "Lessons of the Organization of
the Sons of Country." Emilio Jacinto wrote the document in 1896. Jacinto was only 18 years old
when he joined the movement. He was a law student at the University of Santo Tomas. Despite
his youth, Jacinto exhibited valuable intellect that upon seeing that his Kartilya was much better
than Bonifacio's Decalogue, Bonifacio willingly favored the Kartilya to be distributed to their
fellow Katipuneros. Jacinto became the secretary of the organization and took charge of the
short- lived printing press of the Katipunan. On April 15, 1897, Bonifacio appointed
Jacinto as a

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commander of the Katipunan in Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a
young age of 24 in Magdalena, Laguna.

The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan's code of conduct. It contained 14 rules that instruct
the way a Katipunero should behave and the values that he should uphold. Generally, the rules
that are listed in the Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group are rules that will make
the member an upright individual The second includes rules that will guide the way they treat
their fellow. Below is th translated version of the regulations in the Kartilya:

I. The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade,
if not a poisonous weed.

II. To do good for personal gain and not for its own sake is not virtue.

III. It is rational to be charitable and love one's fellow creature, and to adjust one's conduct,
acts and words to what is in itself reasonable.

IV. Whether our skin be black or white, we are all born equal: superiority in knowledge,
wealth and beauty are to be understood, but not superiority by nature.

V. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor.

VI. To the honorable man, his word is sacred.

VII. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost.

VIII. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.

IX. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets.

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X. On the thorny path of life, man is the guide of woman and the children, and if the guide
leads to the precipice, those whom he guides will also go there.

XI. Thou must not look upon woman as a mere plaything, but as a faithful companion who
will share with thee the penalties of life: her (physical) weakness will increase thy
interest in her and she will remind thee of the mother who bore thee and reared thee.

XII. What thou dost not desire done unto thy wife, children, brothers and sisters, that do not
unto the wife, children, brothers and sisters of thy neighbor.

XIII. Man is not worth more because he is a king, because his nose is aquiline, and his color
white, not because he is a priest, a servant of God, nor because of the high prerogative
that he enjoys upon earth, but he is worth most who is a man of proven and real value,
who does good, keeps his words, is worthy and honest; he who does not oppress nor
consent to being oppressed, he who loves and cherishes his fatherland, though he be
born in the wilderness and know no tongue but his own.

XIV. When these rules of conduct shall be known to all, the longed-for sun of Liberty shall
rise brilliant over this most unhappy portion of the globe and its rays shall diffuse
everlasting joy among the confederated brethren of the same rays, the lives of those who
have gone before, the fatigues and the well-paid sufferings will remain. If he who
desires to enter has informed himself of all this and believes he will be able to perform
what will be his duties, he may fill out the application for admission.

As the primary governing document, which determines the rules of conduct in the Katipunan,
the Kartilya will, thus, help us in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even the
ideology of the organization.
The KKK and the Kartilya ng Katipunan

Analysis of the Kartilya ng Katipunan

• it is worthwhile to read the Kartilya in terms of content and context.

• As a document written for a fraternity whose primary purpose was to overthrow a colonial regime, we can explain
the content and provisions of the Kartilya as a reaction and response to certain value systems that they found
despicable in the state of things that wanted to fight.
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• For example, the fourth and 13th rule in the Kartilya is an invocation of the inherent equality between and among
men regardless of race, occupation, or status.
• In the context of the Spanish colonial era, when the indios were treated as inferior to Europeans, the Katipunan saw
to it that the alternative order that they wished to promulgate through their revolution necessarily destroys this kind
of unjust hierarchy.

• Moreover, one can analyze the values upheld in the document as consistent with the burgeoning rational and
liberal ideals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• Equality, tolerance, freedom, and liberty were values that first emerged in the French Revolution, which spread
throughout Europe and reached the educated class of the colonies.
• Jacinto, an ilustrado himself, certainly got an understanding of these values. Aside from the liberal values that can
be dissected in the document, we can also decipher indigenous values like dangal.

• For example, various provisions in the Kartilya repeatedly emphasized the importance of honor in words and
actions.
•The teaching of the Katipunan on how women should be treated with honor and respect, while positive in many
respects and certainly a significant stride from the practice of raping and physically abusing women, is still telling of
the Katipunan's secondary regard for women in relation to men.

• For example, in the 10th rule, the document explicitly stated that men should be the guide of women and children
and that he should set a good example. Otherwise, women and children would proceed to a path of evil.
• This pronouncement assumes that women are subordinate to men and are predisposed toward committing
wrongdoing.
• Nevertheless, the same document stated that women should be treated as companions of men and not as
playthings that can be exploited for their pleasure. In the contemporary eyes, the Katipunan can be criticized because
of it can be perceived as patronizing of women.
• However, one must not forget the context of when the organization was born. Not even in Europe or in the whole
of the West in that period, that the problem of gender inequality was recognized.

• Indeed, it can be argued that Katipunan's recognition of women as essential partners in the struggle, as reflected
not just in the Kartilya, but also in the organizational structure of the fraternity, in which a women's unit was
established, is an endeavor advanced for its time.
• Aside from Rizal's known Letter to the Women of Malolos, no same effort by the supposed cosmopolitan
Propaganda Movement was achieved until the movement's eventual disintegration in the latter part of the 1890s.

• Aside from this, the Kartilya was instructive not just of the Katipunan's conduct toward other people, but also for
the members' development as individuals in their own right.
• Generally speaking, the rules in the Kartilya can be classified as either directed to how one should treat his neighbor
or how one should develop and conduct one's self.
• Both are essential to the success and fulfillment of the Katipunan's ideals.

• For example, the Kartilya's teachings on honoring one's word and on not wasting time are teachings directed
toward self-development, while the rules on treating the neighbor's wife, children, and brothers the way that you
want yours to be treated is an instruction on how Katipuneros should treat and regard their neighbors.

• The Kartilya embodied the ideals of the Katipunan upon its foundation in 1892. In a few years, the organization
would be confronted with the more pragmatic aspect of the revolution. After its discovery, it expanded more rapidly
and engaged in more crucial and intense battles.
Proclamation of Philippine Independence on 12 June 1898 in
Cavite.

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The country commemorates this every year as the Philippine Independence Day. Indeed, such an
event is significant because it was perceived to have signaled the end of the 333 years of Spanish
colonization. There have been numerous studies done on the events leading to the independence
of the country. Still, very few students have had the chance to read the actual document of the
declaration, despite the essential details it reveals on the rationale and circumstances of that
historical day in Cavite. Interestingly, reading the details of the said document in hindsight is
telling of the kind of government that was created under Aguinaldo, and the forthcoming hand of
the United States in the next few years of the newly formed republic. The declaration was a short
2,000-word document written by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, which summarized the reason
behind the revolution against Spain, the war for independence, and the future of the new republic
under Emilio Aguinaldo.

The proclamation commenced with a characterization of the conditions in the Philippines during
the Spanish colonial period. The document specifically mentioned abuses and inequalities in the
colony. The declaration says:

...taking into consideration, that their inhabitants being already weary of bearing the
ominous yoke of Spanish domination, on account of the arbitrary arrests and harsh
treatment practiced by the Civil Guard to the extent of causing death with the connivance
and even with the express orders of their commanders, who sometimes went to the
extreme of ordering the shooting of prisoners under the pretext that they were attempting
to escape, in violation of the provisions of the Regulations of their Corps, which abuses
were unpunished and on account of the unjust deportations, especially those decreed by
General Blanco, of eminent personages and of high social position, at the instigation of
the Archbishop and friars interested in keeping them out of the way for their own selfish
and avaricious purpose, deportations which are quickly brought about by a method of
procedure more execrable than that of the Inquisition and which every civilized nation
rejects on account of a decision being rendered without a hearing of the persons accused.

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The above passage demonstrated the justifications behind the revolution against Spain.
Specifically cited were the abuses by the civil guards and the unlawful shooting of prisoners
whom they alleged as attempting to escape. The passage also condemned the unequal protection
of the law between the Filipino people and the "eminent personages." Moreover, the line
mentioned the avarice and greed of the clergy like the friars and the Archbishop himself. Lastly,
the passage also condemned what they saw as the unjust deportation and rendering of some
decisions without a proper hearing, expected of any civilized nation.

From here, the proclamation proceeded with a brief historical overview of the Spanish
occupation since Magellan's arrival in the Visayas until the Philippine revolution, with specific
details about the latter, especially after the Pact of Biak na-Bato had collapsed. The document
narrated the spread of the movement "like an electric spark" through different towns and
provinces like Bataan, Pampanga, Batangas, Bulacan, Laguna, and Morong, and the quick
decline of Spanish forces in the same provinces. The revolution also reached the Visayas,
ensuring the independence of the country. The document also made mention of Rizal's execution,
calling it unjust. The execution, as written in the text, was done to "please the greedy body of
friars in their insatiable desire to seek revenge upon and exterminate all those who are opposed to
their Machiavellian purposes, which tramples upon the penal code prescribed for these islands."
The document also narrated the Cavite Mutiny of January 1872 that caused the infamous
execution of the martyred native priests Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora,
"whose innocent blood was shed through the intrigues of those so-called religious orders" that
incited the three secular priests in the said mutiny.

The proclamation of independence also invoked that the established republic would be under a
dictatorship led by Emilio Aguinaldo. The first mention was at the very beginning of the
declaration. It stated:

In the town of Cavite Viejo, in this province of Cavite, on the twelfth day of June
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, before me, Don Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista,
Auditor of War and Special Commissioner appointed to proclaim and solemnize this act
by the Dictatorial Government of these Philippine Islands, for the purposes and by virtue

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of the circular addressed by the Eminent Dictator of the same Don Emilio Aguinaldo y
Famy.

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The same was repeated toward the last part of the proclamation:

We acknowledge, approve and confirm together with the orders that have been issued
therefrom, the Dictatorship established by Don Emilio Aguinaldo, whom we honor as the
Supreme Chief of this Nation, which this day commences to have a life of its own, in the
belief that he is the instrument selected by God, in spite of his humble origin, to effect the
redemption of this unfortunate people, as foretold by Doctor Jose Rizal in the magnificent
verses which he composed when he was preparing to be shot, liberating them from the
yoke of Spanish domination in punishment of the impunity with which their Government
allowed the commission of abuses by its subordinates.

Another detail in the proclamation that is worth looking at is its explanation on the Philippine flag
that was first waved on the same day. The document

And finally, it was unanimously resolved that this Nation, independent from this day,
must use the same flag used heretofore, whose design and colors and described in the
accompanying drawing, with design representing in natural colors the three arms referred
to. The white triangle represents the distinctive emblem of the famous Katipunan Society,
which by means of its compact of blood urged on the masses of the people to
insurrection; the three stars represent the three principal Islands of this Archipelago,
Luzon, Mindanao and Panay, in which this insurrectionary movement broke out; the sun
represents the gigantic strides that have been made by the sons of this land on the road of
progress and civilization, its eight rays symbolizing the eight provinces of Manila, Cavite,
Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna and Batangas, which were declared in
a state of war almost as soon as the first insurrectionary movement was initiated; and the
colors blue, red and white, commemorate those of the flag of the United States of North
America, in manifestation of our profound gratitude towards that Great Nation for the
disinterested protection she is extending to us and will continue to extend to us.

This often-overlooked detail reveals much about the historically accurate meaning behind the most
widely known national symbol in the Philippines. It is not known by many, for example, that the

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white triangle was derived from the symbol of the Katipunan. The red and blue colors of the flag
are often associated with courage and peace, respectively. Our basic education omits the fact that
those colors were taken from the flag of the United States. While it can always be argued that
symbolic meaning can always change and be reinterpreted, the original symbolic meaning of
something presents us several historical truths that can explain the subsequent events, which
unfolded after the declaration of independence on the 12th day of June 1898.
Proclamation of the Philippine Independence

Analysis of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence

• A re-examination of the document on the declaration of independence can reveal some often-overlooked historical
truths about this important event in Philippine history.
• Aside from this, the text reflects revolutionary sentiment of that period.

• For example, the abuses mentioned explicitly in the proclamation, such as friar abuse. racial discrimination, and
inequality before the law, reflect the most compelling sentiments represented by the revolutionary leadership.
• However, no mention was made about the more serious problem that affected the masses more profoundly (i.e..
the land and agrarian crisis felt by the numerous Filipino peasants in the nineteenth century).

• This silence is ironic, especially when renowned Philippine Revolution historian Teodoro Agoncillo stated that the
Philippine Revolution was an agrarian revolution.
• The ordinary revolutionary soldiers fought in the revolution for the hope of owning the lands that they were tilling
once the friar estates in different provinces like Batangas and Laguna dissolve once the revolution succeeds.
• Such aspects and realities of the revolutionary struggle were either unfamiliar to the middle-class revolutionary
leaders like Emilio Aguinaldo, Ambrosio Rianzares-Bautista, and Felipe Buencamino, or were intentionally left out
because they were landholders themselves.

• The proclamation also gives us the impression that the victorious revolutionary government of Aguinaldo
historicized the struggle for independence.
• There were mentions of past events that were seen as significant turning points of the movement against Spain.
The execution of GOMBURZA, for example, as well as the failed Cavite Mutiny of 1872. were narrated in detail.
• The inclusion of these events shows that they saw them as significant in awakening the Filipinos to the real
conditions of the nation under Spain.

• Jose Rizal's legacy and martyrdom were also mentioned in the text. However, the Katipunan, as the pioneer of the
revolutionary movement. was only mentioned once toward the end of the document. There was no mention of the
Katipunan's foundation.
• Bonifacio and his co-founders were also left out. It can be argued, thus, that the historical narration found in the
document also reflects the politics of the victors. The enmity between Aguinaldo's Magdalo and Bonifacio's
Magdiwang in the Katipunan is no secret in the pages of our history. On the contrary, the war led by Aguinaldo's men
with the forces of the United States was discussed in detail.

• The point is, official records and documents such as the proclamation of independence, while truthful most of the
time, still exude the politics and biases of whoever is in power, which manifested in the selectiveness of information
that can be found in these records.
• Thus, it is the task of the historian to analyze the content of these documents to the dominant politics and the
contexts of people and institutions surrounding it.

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• We should, therefore, always examine the circumstance behind the production context of primary sources such as
official government records.
• Studying one historical subject entails looking at multiple primary sources and pieces of historical evidence to have
a more nuanced and contextual analysis of our past.
Leon O. Ty's "It's Up to You Now" and the Magsaysay Myth

Mainstream Philippine history textbooks always paint Ramon Magsaysay as the People's
President. His humble beginnings and educational background were placed in stark contrast to
his predecessors'. Indeed, the presidents before him were all lawyers who came from the old
landed elite families and were prominent figures in Philippine politics for many generations of
the American period. Magsaysay, however, did not enjoy the same advantages. He was not a
lawyer, did not come from the national elite, was former employee of a bus company in his
province, and a hardened guerrilla during the war. He was a governor of Zambales, elected as a
legislator, and was appointed as secretary of National Defense under President Quirino. As
defense secretary, Magsaysay gained popularity in his successful campaign against the Huks.

For all intents and purposes, Magsaysay was painted as a self-made president who rose from the
ranks of the masses through sheer ability and patriotism. He was celebrated as an anti-communist
hero who broke the growing momentum of the Huk rebellion as a defense secretary. He was
beholden to no one because he had no significant business interest and was perceived and
portrayed as a "man of action" who would put an end to the corruption and inefficiency of the
government led by an oligarchy. U.S. newspapers and magazines supported this image, and so
did the Philippine press.

Journalist Leon O. Ty penned an article "It's Up to You Now" for the Philippine Free Press three
days before the November 1953 presidential election. This article is an illustration of
Magsaysay's portrayal in the press. The article started with an anecdote where defense secretary
Magsaysay called a newsman to express his worries in the way things were run in the Quirino
cabinet. The article narrated how Magsaysay worried about having earned the ire of the president
when he contradicted a particular shady deal about sugar importation that involved a certain
compadre to the president. The article read:
I have my doubts, Magsaysay answered rather gloomily. The Apo [pertaining to the
president] seems to dislike me now."
"But why should he dislike you? the newsman queried. 'Didn't you restore peace and
order for him? You gave him prestige when you kept the 1951 elections clean. The
President has repeatedly said he is proud of you."
Magsaysay said Quirino began to be indifferent to him when articles about his success in
combating the Huks were published in leading American magazines like Time, Life,
Saturday Evening Post, Newsweek, and Collier's.

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Leon Ty's write-up craftily narrated the history of Magsaysay's political career, from his days as
a war veteran to his days as the defense secretary, until he resigned from the Quirino cabinet and
immediately transferred from the Liberal Party to the Nacionalista Party where he was drafted as
the standard-bearer. Ty's article also described Magsaysay's initial plan to resign from the
Nacionalista Party and to run for senator under a third party:
'What do you plan to do now?' Magsaysay was asked toward the end of the conversation.
“Resign from the Cabinet and join a third party. I can't join the Opposition. I don't think
the Nacionalistas will accept me, knowing I'm a Liberal."
But what will you do in a third party? inquired the newsman.
I'll run for senator, he said.
Useless for you to join a third party and run for a Senate post. You can't win. Not as a third
party candidate....

The foregoing story is related to show that Ramon Magsaysay at the time never dreamed of
becoming a candidate for president of the Liberal Party, much less of the Opposition.
The article also described the confidence of hardcore nationalists to Magsaysay. These include
Jose P. Laurel, Claro M. Recto, and Lorenzo Tañada. This confidence demonstrated that
Magsaysay had the trust of leaders known for their anti-Americanism. Supporting Magsaysay,
according to Ty, was how the Nacionalista leaders such as Laurel showed patriotism:
Many people are still wondering why Dr. Laurel was willing to sacrifice his personal
ambition in favor of the former LP defense secretary. They still believe that in a clean
election, Laurel could win against any Liberal as shown in 1951. With victory practically
in sight, why did Dr. Laurel decide to invite Magsaysay to be the NP standard-bearer?
Senator Laurel had his reasons for this action..
"If I run and lose through frauds and violence as in 1949, he is said to have told close
friends, "I will surely be driven to desperation. I may even have to resort to drastic
measures. In which case, might have to go to the mountains and lead a band of rebels,
guerrillas. That I cannot do now on account of my age. I'm tired.

And if I win, could I get as much aid from the United States as Magsaysay could? I don't
think so. I know pretty well how I stand in the eyes of the American people. Because of
my collaboration record during the Occupation, many Americans who still don't know
what actually happened here during the war will stand in the way of material aid to our
country. I have no choice. The welfare of our people is more important to me than my
personal ambition. But if Magsaysay wins, I think America will go out of her way to help
us because he is a friend, a great friend. To the American people, and for that matter, to
the people of
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the world, Magsaysay is the physical embodiment of Democracy's

courageous stand against Communism in the Far East....

The rest of the article painted a picture of the Liberal regime in the Philippines for
the past eight years. Ty casually stated, "In this article, we feel there is no need to
enumerate what President Quirino has done for the country during the years he has
been in office. The Filipino people know what he has accomplished. They also
know what he failed to do." After a hefty narrative of Magsaysay's career that
included depictions of his accomplishments, character, and frustrations, the article
ended with a challenge for its readers: "The hectic political campaign is over. You,
fellow voters, have heard the pros and cons of the issues involved in this election.
It's up to you
now!"
Leon Tys Is Up to You Now and the Magsaysay Myth

Analysis of Philippine Free Press' Pitch for Magsaysay

• Magsaysay's campaign was a staggering success. For the first time in the history of elections in the
Philippines, the president won a landslide victory.
• Magsaysay defeated Liberal Party's standard-bearer and incumbent Philippine President Elpidio
Quirino with 68.9 percent ballots cast electing Magsaysay as president. Indeed, the unpopular and
reputedly corrupt and aging Quirino was no match to the younger, energetic, and populist Ramon
Magsaysay,

• The buildup of Magsaysay's presidential campaign, however, was appraised by many historians like
Stephen Shalom, William Pomeroy. and Renato Constantino as a U.S. project.
• Indeed, Magsaysay was avidly supported by the U.S. government. U.S. media such as Time and
Reader's Digest created fantastic myths about his humble beginnings.
• They painted him as a fierce anti-communist, a relentless reformer of the corrupt Philippine state,
and a loyal supporter of the United States.

•Indeed. CIA documents and former agents testified how CIA's Edward Lansdale orchestrated
Magsaysay's journey to the presidency since the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG)
persuaded President Quirino to appoint Magsaysay as defense secretary.
•The image of Magsaysay as a humble politician was a packaging covertly manufactured by the CIA.
They knew that Quirino and his party were highly unpopular. and they wanted to ensure that the next
president would serve U.S. interests well.

•The CIA was behind Magsaysay's campaign. They choreographed how the media would portray him.
The very image that Lansdale wanted for Magsaysay was well captured by the Philippine Free Press
article summarized previously.
• Ty wrote about Magsaysay's rise from the masses and painted him as a humble and patriotic
politician who despaired with what he witnessed in the Quirino government. The article was, at times,
contradictory.

• On the one hand, it painted Magsaysay as a relatively low-profile Liberal Party member who would
never be considered as a presidential candidate. On the other hand, it also claimed that "Magsaysay
easily stood out as the strongest pillar in the LP edifice,"
• At the same time, while the article tried to distance Magsaysay from the image of being a U.S.
puppet by having hardcore nationalists such as Laurel and Recto speak of his worthiness, it also
highlighted the advantages of keeping the United Page 4 of
States as 3allies, as depicted in the words of Recto
quoted previously.

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• Thus, while the article avoided giving Magsaysay the image of a U.S. bet, it was still able to place the
United States as a valuable friend to the Philippine government and economy.

• The unconcealed and historically documented support of the United States to Magsaysay's
presidency is another indicator of the continued and unbridled U.S. influence on the Philippines'
national affairs, years after the official end of U.S. colonization. Magsaysay is just a representation of
how Philippine presidents of the postwar period continuously led the country according to the
framework set by the United States.

Philippine History: Spaces for Conflicts and Controversies

Learning Objectives
• To interpret historical events using primary sources.
• To recognize the multiplicity of interpretation than can be
read from a historical text.
• To identify the advantages and disadvantages of employing
critical tools in interpreting historical events through primary
sources.
• To demonstrate ability to argue for or against a particular
issue using primary sources.
Making Sense of the Past: Historical Interpretation
• History is the study of the past, but a more contemporary
definition is centered on how it impacts the present through
its consequences. Geoffrey Barraclough defines history as
"the attempt to discover, on the basis of fragmentary
evidence, the significant things about the past.”
• He also notes "the history we read, though based on
facts, is strictly speaking, not factual at all, but a
series of accepted judgments." Such judgments of
historians on how the past should be seen make the
foundation of historical interpretation.
• Historians utilize facts collected from primary sources of
history and then draw their own reading so that their intended
audience may understand the historical event, a process that
in essence, "makes sense of the past."
• The premise is that not all primary sources are accessible to a
general audience, and without the proper training and
background, a non-historian interpreting a primary source
may do more harm than good-a primary source may even
cause misunderstandings; sometimes, even resulting in more
problems.
• Interpretations of the past, therefore, vary according to who
reads the primary source, when it was read, and how it was
read. As students of history, we must be well equipped to
recognize different types of interpretations, why these may
differ from each other, and how to critically sift these
interpretations through historical evaluation. Interpretations of
historical events changePage over5 of
time;
3 thus, it is an important
skill for a student of history to track these changes in an
attempt to understand the past.

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• Many of the things we accept as "true" about the past might

not be the case anymore; just because these were taught to
us as "facts" when we were younger does not mean that it is
set in stone-history is, after all, a construct.
• And as a construct, it is open for interpretation. There might
be conflicting and competing accounts of the past that need
one's attention, and can impact the way we view our country's
history and identity.
• It is important, therefore, to subject to evaluation not only the
primary source, but also the historical interpretation of the
same, to ensure that the current interpretation is reliable to
support our acceptance of events of the past.
Multiperspectivity
• With several possibilities of interpreting the past, another
important concept that we must note is multiperspectivity.
This can be defined as a way of looking at historical events,
personalities, developments, cultures, and societies from
different perspectives. This means that there is a multitude of
ways by which we can view the world, and each could be
equally valid, and at the same time, equally partial as well.
• Historical writing is, by definition, biased, partial, and contains
preconceptions. The historian decides on what sources to use,
what interpretation to make more apparent, depending on
what his end is.
• Historians may misinterpret evidence, attending to those that
suggest that a certain event happened, and then ignore the
rest that goes against the evidence.
• Historians may omit significant facts about their subject,
which makes the interpretation unbalanced. Historians may
impose a certain ideology to their subject, which may not be
appropriate to the period the subject was from. Historians
may also provide a single cause for an event without
considering other possible causal explanations of said event.
• These are just many of the ways a historian may fail in his
historical inference, description, and interpretation.
• With multiperspectivity as an approach in history, we must
understand that historical interpretations contain
discrepancies, contradictions, ambiguities, and are often the
focus of dissent.
• Exploring multiple perspectives in history requires
incorporating source materials that reflect different views of
an event in history, because singular historical narratives do
not provide for space to inquire and investigate.
• Different sources that counter each other may create space
for more investigation and research, while providing more
evidence for those truths that these sources agree on.
• Different kinds of sources also provide different historical
truths an official documentPagemay
6 of note
3 different aspects of the
past than, say, a memoir of an ordinary person on the same

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event. Different historical agents create different historical

truths, and while this may be a burdensome work for the
historian, it also renders more validity to the historical
scholarship.
• Taking these in close regard in the reading of historical
interpretations, it provides for the audience a more complex,
but also a more complete and richer understanding of the
past.

Case Study 1: Where Did the First Catholic Mass Take Place
in the Philippines?
• The popularity of knowing where the "firsts" happened in
history has been an easy way to trivialize history, but this
case study will not focus on the significance (or lack thereof)
of the site of the First Catholic Mass in the Philippines, but
rather, use it as a historiographical exercise in the utilization
of evidence and interpretation in reading historical events.
• Butuan has long been believed as the site of the first Mass. In
fact, this has been the case for three centuries, culminating in
the erection of a monument in 1872 near Agusan River, which
commemorates the expedition's arrival and celebration of
Mass on 8 April 1521.
• The Butuan claim has been based on a rather elementary
reading of primary sources from the event. Toward the end of
the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth. century,
together with the increasing scholarship on the history of the
Philippines, a more nuanced reading of the available evidence
was made, which brought to light more considerations in
going against the more accepted interpretation of the first
Mass in the Philippines, made both by Spanish and Filipino
scholars.
• It must be noted that there are only two primary sources that
historians refer to in identifying
Page 7 ofthe
3 site of the first Mass. One
is the log kept by Francisco Albo, a pilot of one of Magellan's

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ship, Trinidad. He was one of the 18 survivors who returned

with Sebastian Elcano on the ship Victoria after they
circumnavigated the world.
• The other, and the more complete, was the account by
Antonio Pigafetta, Primo viaggio intorno al mondo (First
Voyage Around the World). Pigafetta, like Albo, was a member
of the Magellan expedition and an eyewitness of the events,
particularly, of the first Mass.
Primary Source: Albo's Log Source:
• "Diario 6 derotero del viage de Magallanes desde el cabo se S.
Agustín en el Brazil hasta el regreso a Espana de la nao
Victoria, escrito por Frandsco Albo," Document no. xxii in
Colleción de viages y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar
los Españoles desde fines del siglo XV, Ed. Martin Fernandez
de Navarrete (reprinted Buenos Aires 1945, 5 Vols.) IV, 191-
225. As cited in Miguel A. Bernad "Butuan or Limasawa? The
Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of
Evidence" 1981, Kinaadman: A Journal of Southern Philippines,
Vol. III, 1-35.
• 1. On the 16th of March (1521) as they sailed in a westerly
course from Ladrones, they saw land towards the northwest;
but owing to many shallow places they did not approach it.
They found later that its name was Yunagan.
• 2. They went instead that same day southwards to another
small island named Suluan, and there they anchored. There
they saw some canoes but these fled at the Spaniards'
approach. This island was at 9 and two-thirds degrees North
latitude.
• 3. Departing from those two islands, they sailed westward to
an uninhabited island of "Gada" where they took in a supply of
wood and water. The sea around that island was free from
shallows. (Albo does not give the latitude of this island, but
from Pigafetta's testimony, this seems to be the "Acquada" or
Homonhon, at 10 degrees North latitude.)
• 4. From that island they sailed westwards towards a large
island names Seilani that was inhabited and was known to
have gold. (Seilani or, as Pigafetta calls it, "Ceylon" was the
island of Leyte.)
• 5. Sailing southwards along the coast of that large island of
Seilani, they turned southwest to a small island called
"Mazava." That island is also at a latitude of 9 and two-thirds
degrees North.
• 6. The people of that island of Mazava were very good. There
the Spaniards planted a cross upon a mountain-top, and from
there they were shown three islands to the west and
southwest, where they were told there was much gold. "They
showed us how the gold was gathered, which came in small
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pieces like peas and lentils.“

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• 7. From Mazava they sailed northwards again towards Seilani.

They followed the coast of Seilani in a northwesterly direction,
ascending up to 10 degrees of latitude where they saw three
small islands.
• 8. From there they sailed westwards some ten leagues, and
there they saw three islets, where they dropped anchor for the
night. In the morning they sailed southwest some 12 leagues,
down to a latitude of 10 and one-third degree. There they
entered a channel between two islands, one of which was
called "Matan" and the other "Subu."
• 9. They sailed down that channel and then turned westward
and anchored at the town (la villa) of Subu where they stayed
many days and obtained provisions and entered into a peace-
pact with the local king.
• 10. The town of Subu was on an east-west direction with the
islands of Suluan and Mazava. But between Mazava and Subu,
there were so many shallows that the boats could not go
westward directly but has to go (as they did) in a round-about
way.
• It must be noted that in Albo's account, the location of Mazava
fits the location of the island of Limasawa, at the southern tip
of Leyte, 9°54'N. Also, Albo does not mention the first Mass,
but only the planting of the cross upon a mountain-top from
which could be seen three islands to the west and southwest,
which also fits the southern end of Limasawa.
Primary Source: Pigafetta's Testimony on the Route of
Magellan's Expedition Source:
• Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine
Islands, Vols. 33 and 34, as cited in Miguel A. Bernad, "Butuan
or Limasawa? The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A
Reexamination of Evidence" 1981, Kinaadman: A Journal of
Southern Philippines, Vol. III, 1-35.
• 1. Saturday, 16 March 1521 - Magellan's expedition sighted a
"high land" named "Zamal" which was some 300 leagues
westward of Ladrones (now the Marianas) Islands.
• 2. Sunday, March 17 "The following day" after sighting Zamal
Island, they landed on "another island which was uninhabited"
and which lay "to the right" of the above-mentioned island of
"Zamal." (To the "right" here would mean on their starboard
going south or southwest.) There they set up two tents for the
sick members of the crew and had a sow killed for them. The
name of this island as "Humunu" (Homonhon). This island was
located at 10 degrees. North latitude.
• 3. On that same day (Sunday, March 17), Magellan named the
entire archipelago the "Islands of Saint Lazarus," the reason
being that it was Sunday in the Lenten season when the
Gospel assigned for the Mass and the liturgical Office was the
eleventh chapter of [Link] 9 ofwhich
John, 3 tells of the raising of
Lazarus from the dead.

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• 4. Monday, March 18- In the afternoon of their second day on

that island, they saw a boat coming towards them with nine
men in it. An exchange of gifts was effected. Magellan asked
for food supplies, and the men went away, promising to bring
rice and other supplies in "four days."
• 5. There were two springs of water on that island of
Homonhon. Also they saw there some indications that there
was gold in these islands. Consequently Magellan renamed
the island and called it the "Watering Place of Good Omen"
(Acquada la di bouni segnialli).
• 6. Friday, March 22 - At noon the natives returned. This time
they were in two boats, and they brought food supplies.
• 7. Magellan's expedition stayed eight days at Homonhon: from
Sunday, March 17, to the Monday of the following week,
March 25.
• 8. Monday, March 25- In the afternoon, the expedition
weighed anchor and left the island of Homonhon. In the
ecclesiastical calendar, this day (March 25) was the feast-day
of the Incarnation, also called the feast of the Annunciation
and therefore "Our Lady's Day." On this day, as they were
about to weigh anchor, an accident happened to Pigafetta: he
fell into the water but was rescued. He attributed his narrow
escape from death as grace obtained through the intercession
of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast-day.
• 9. The route taken by the expedition after leaving Homonhon
was "toward the west southwest, between four islands:
namely, Cenalo, Hiunanghan, Ibusson and Albarien." Very
probably "Cenalo" is a misspelling in the Italian manuscript for
what Pigafetta in his map calls "Ceilon" and Albo calls
"Seilani": namely the island of Leyte. "Hiunanghan" (a
misspelling of Hinunangan) seemed to Pigafetta to be a
separate island, but is actually on the mainland of Leyte (i.e.,
"Ceylon"). On the other hand, Hibuson (Pigafetta's Ibusson) is
an island east of Leyte's southern tip.
• Thus, it is easy to see what Pigafetta meant by sailing "toward
the west southwest" past those islands. They left Homonhon
sailing westward towards Leyte, then followed the Leyte const
southward, passing between the island of Hibuson on their
portside and Hiunangan Bay on their starboard, and then
continued southward, then turning westward to "Mazaua."
• 10. Thursday, March 28- In the morning of Holy Thursday,
March 28, they anchored off an island where the previous
night they had seen a light or a bonfire. That island "lies in a
latitude of nine and two-thirds towards the Arctic Pole (i.e.,
North) and in a longitude of one hundred and sixty-two
degrees from the line of demarcation. It is twenty-five leagues
from the Acquada, and is called Mazaua."
• 11. They remained sevenPage of Mazaua Island.
days10on
3

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• 12. Thursday, April 4 - They left Mazaua, bound for Cebu. They
were guided thither by the king of Mazaua who sailed in his
own boat. Their route took them past five "islands" namely:
"Ceylon, Bohol, Canighan, Baibai, and Gatighan."
• 13. At Gatighan, they sailed westward to the three islands of
the Camotes Group, namely, Poro, Pasihan and Ponson. Here
the Spanish ships stopped to allow the king of Mazaua to
catch up with them, since the Spanish ships were much faster
than the native balanghai-a thing that excited the admiration
of the king of Mazaua.
• 14. From the Camotes Islands they sailed southwards towards
"Zubu."
• 15. Sunday, April 7 - At noon they entered the harbor of
"Zubu” (Cebu). It had taken them three days to negotiate the
journey from Mazaua northwards to the Camotes Islands and
then southwards to Cebu.
• It must be pointed out that both Albo and Pigafetta's
testimonies coincide and corroborate each other. Pigafetta
gave more details on what they did during their weeklong stay
at Mazaua.
Primary Source: Pigafetta and Seven Days in Mazaua
Source:
• Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson, The Philippine
Islands, Vols. 33 and 34, as cited in Miguel A. Bernad, "Butuan
or Limasawa? The Site of the First Mass in the Philippines: A
Reexamination of Evidence" 1981, Kinaadman: A Journal of
Southern Philippines, Vol. III, 1-35.
• 1. Thursday, March 28- In the morning they anchored near an
island where they had seen a light the night before a small
boat (boloto) came with eight natives, to whom Magellan
threw some trinkets as presents. The natives paddled away,
but two hours later two larger boats (balanghai) came, in one
of which the native king sat under an awning of mats. At
Magellan's invitation some of the natives went up the Spanish
ship, but the native king remained seated in his boat. An
exchange of gifts was effected. In the afternoon that day, the
Spanish ships weighed anchor and came closer to shore,
anchoring near the native king's village. This Thursday, March
28, was Thursday in Holy Week, i.e., Holy Thursday.
• 2. Friday, March 29- "Next day. Holy Friday," Magellan sent his
slave interpreter ashore in a small boat to ask the king if he
could provide the expedition with food supplies, and to say
that they had come as friends and not as enemies. In reply
the king himself came a boat with six or eight men, and this
time went up Magellan's ship and the two men embraced.
Another exchange. of gifts was made. The native king and his
companions returned ashore, bringing with them two
Page 11 of as guests for the night. One
members of Magellan's expedition
of the two was Pigafetta.3

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• 3. Saturday, March 30 - Pigafetta and his companion had

spent the previous evening feasting and drinking with the
native king and his son. Pigafetta deplored the fact that,
although it was Good Friday, they had to eat meat. The
following morning (Saturday) Pigafetta and his companion
took leave of their hosts and returned to the ships.
• 4. Sunday, March 31- "Early in the morning of Sunday, the last
of March and Easter day," Magellan sent the priest ashore with
some men to prepare for the Mass. Later in the morning
Magellan landed with some fifty men and Mass was
celebrated, after which a cross was venerated. Magellan and
the Spaniards returned to the ship for the noon-day meal, but
in the afternoon they returned ashore to plant the cross on
the summit of the highest hill. In attendance both at the Mass
and at the planting of the cross were the king of Mazaua and
the king of Butuan.
• 5. Sunday, March 31 - On that same afternoon, while on the
summit of the highest hill, Magellan asked the two kings which
ports he should go to in order to obtain more abundant
supplies of food than were available in that island. They
replied that there were three ports to choose from: Ceylon,
Zubu, and Calagan. Of the three, Zubu was the port with the
most trade. Magellan then said that he wished to go to Zubu
and to depart the following morning. He asked for someone to
guide him thither.
• The kings replied that the pilots would be available "any
time." But later that evening the king of Mazaua changed his
mind and said that he would himself conduct Magellan to
Zubu but that he would first have to bring the harvest in. He
asked Magellan to send him men to help with the harvest.
• 6. Monday, April 1 - Magellan sent men ashore to help with the
harvest, but no work was done that day because the two kings
were sleeping off their drinking bout the night before.
• 7. Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3 - Work on the
harvest during the "next to days," i.e., Tuesday and
Wednesday, the 2nd and 3rd of April.
• 8. Thursday, April 4 - They leave Mazaua, bound for Cebu.
• Using the primary sources available, Jesuit priest Miguel A.
Bernad in his work Butuan or Limasawa: The Site of the First
Mass in the Philippines: A Reexamination of Evidence (1981)
lays down the argument that in the Pigafetta account, a
crucial aspect of Butuan was not mentioned-the river. Butuan
is a riverine settlement, situated on the Agusan River. The
beach of Masao is in the delta of said river. It is a curious
omission in the account of the river, which makes part of a
distinct characteristic of Butuan's geography that seemed to
be too important to be missed.
• It must also be pointedPage of later on, after Magellan's
out 12that
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death, the survivors of his expedition went to Mindanao, and

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seemingly went to Butuan, In this instance, Pigafetta vividly

describes a trip in a river. But note that this account already
happened after Magellan's death.

Case Study 2: Where Did the Cry of Rebellion Happen?

• Momentous events swept the Spanish colonies in the late
nineteenth century, including the Philippines. Journalists of the
time referred to the phrase "El Grito de Rebelion" or "Cry of
Rebellion" to mark the start of these revolutionary events,
identifying the places where it happened.
• In the Philippines, this happened in August 1896, northeast of
Manila, where they declared rebellion against the Spanish
colonial government. These events are important markers in
the history of colonies that struggled for their independence
against their colonizers. The controversy regarding this event
stems from the identification of the date and place where the
Cry happened.
• Prominent Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo emphasizes the
event when Bonifacio tore the cedula or tax receipt before the
Katipuneros who also did the same. Some writers identified
the first military event with the Spaniards as the moment of
the Cry, for which, Emilio Aguinaldo commissioned an "Himno
de Balintawak to inspire the renewed struggle after the Pact of
the Biak-na-Bato failed.
• A monument to the Heroes of 1896 was erected in what is
now the intersection of Epifanio de los Santos (EDSA) Avenue
and Andres Bonifacio Drive-North Diversion road, and from
then on until 1962, the Cry of Balintawak was celebrated
every 26th of August. The site of the monument was chosen
for an unknown reason.
Different Dates and Places of the Cry
• Various accounts of the Cry give different dates and places. A
guardia civil, Lt. Olegario Diaz, identified the Cry to have
happened in Balintawak on 25 August 1896.
• Teodoro Kalaw, Filipino historian, marks the place to be in
Kangkong, Balintawak, on the last week of August 1896.
Santiago Alvarez, a Katipunero and son of Mariano Alvarez,
leader of the Magdiwang faction in Cavite, put the Cry in
Bahay Toro in Quezon City on 24 August 1896.
• Pio Valenzuela, known Katipunero and privy to many events
concerning the Katipunan stated that the Cry happened in
Pugad Lawin on 23 August 1896. Historian Gregorio Zaide
identified the Cry to have happened in Balintawak on 26
August 1896, while Teodoro Agoncillo put it at Pugad Lawin on
23 August 1896, according to statements by Pio Valenzuela.
• Research by historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel
Encarnacion, and Ramon Villegas claimed that the event took
place in Tandang Sora's Page 13 ofin Gulod, Barangay Banlat,
barn
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Primary Source: Accounts of the Cry Guillermo Masangkay

• Source: Guillermo Masangkay, "Cry of Balintawak" in Gregorio
Zaide and Sonia Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine
History, Volume 8 (Manila: National Book Store, 1990), 307-
309.
• On August 26th, a big meeting was held in Balintawak, at the
house of Apolonio Samson, then cabeza of that barrio of
Caloocan. Among those who attended, I remember, were
Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio,
Briccio Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique
Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all leaders of the
Katipunan and composed the board of directors of the
organization. Delegates from Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite,
and Morong were also present.
• At about nine o'clock in the morning of August 26, the
meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio presiding and
Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss
when the uprising was to take place. Teodoro Plata, Briccio
Pantas, and Pio Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the
revolution too early...
• Andres Bonifacio, sensing that he would lose in the discussion
then, left the session hall and talked to the people, who were
waiting outside for the result of the meeting of the leaders. He
told the people that the leaders were arguing against starting
the revolution early, and appealed to them in a fiery speech in
which he said: "You remember the fate of our countrymen
who were shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the
towns, the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our organization has
been discovered and we are all marked men. If we don't start
the uprising, the Spaniards will get us anyway. What then, do
you say?"
• "Revolt!" the people shouted as one.
• Bonifacio then asked the people to give a pledge that they
were to revolt. He told them that the sign of slavery of the
Filipinos were (sic) the cedula tax charged each citizen. "If it is
true that you are ready to revolt... I want to see you destroy
your cedulas. It will be a sign that all of us have declared our
severance from the Spaniards."
Primary Source: Accounts of the Cry Pio Valenzuela
• Source: Pio Valenzuela, "Cry of Pugad Lawin," in Gregorio
Zaide and Sonia Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine
History, Volume 8 (Manila: National Book Store, 1990), 301-
302.
• The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto,
Procopio Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo del Rosario, and
myself was Balintawak, the first five arriving there on August
19, and I, on August 20, 1896. The first place where some 500
members of the Katipunan Page 14 of
met on August 22, 1896, was the
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house and yard of Apolonio Samson at Kangkong. Aside from

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the persons mentioned above, among those who were there

were Briccio Pantas, Alejandro Santiago, Ramon Bernardo,
Apolonio Samson, and others.
• Here, views were only exchanged, and no resolution was
debated or adopted. It was at Pugad Lawin, the house, store-
house, and yard of Juan Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino,
where over 1,000 members of the Katipunan met and carried
out considerable debate and discussion on August 23, 1896.
• The discussion was on whether or not the revolution against
the Spanish government should be started on August 29,
1896... After the tumultuous meeting, many of those present
tore their cedula certificates and shouted "Long live the
Philippines! Long live the Philippines!"
• From the eyewitness accounts presented, there is indeed
marked disagreement among historical witnesses as to
occurrence of the Cry. Using primary and secondary sources,
four places place and time of the have been identified:
Balintawak, Kangkong, Pugad Lawin, and Bahay Toro, while
the dates vary: 23, 24, 25, or 26 August 1896.
• Valenzuela's account should be read with caution: He once
told a Spanish investigator that the "Cry" happened in
Balintawak on Wednesday, 26 August 1896. Much later, he
wrote in his Memoirs of the Revolution that it happened at
Pugad Lawin on 23 August 1896. Such inconsistencies in
accounts should always be seen as a red flag when dealing
with primary sources.
• According to Guerrero, Encarnacion, and Villegas, all these
places are in Balintawak, then part of Caloocan, now, in
Quezon City. As for the dates, Bonifacio and his troops may
have been moving from one place to another to avoid being
located by the Spanish government, which could explain why
there are several accounts of the Cry.

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Case Study 3: Did Rizal Retract?

• Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the revolution for his
writings that center on ending colonialism and liberating
Filipino minds to contribute to creating the Filipino nation. The
great volume of Rizal's lifework was committed to this end,
particularly the more influential ones, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo.
• His essays vilify not the Catholic religion, but the friars, the
main agents of injustice in the Philippine society. It is
understandable, therefore, that any piece of writing from Rizal
that recants everything he wrote against the friars and the
Catholic Church in the Philippines could deal heavy damage to
his image as a prominent Filipino revolutionary. Such
document purportedly exists, allegedly signed by Rizal a few
hours before his execution. This document, referred to as "The
Retraction," declares Rizal's belief in the Catholic faith, and
retracts everything he wrote against the Church.
Primary Source: Rizal's Retraction
• Source: Translated from the document found by Fr.
Manuel Garcia,
• C.M. on 18 May 1935
• I declare myself a catholic and in this Religion in which I was
born and educated I wish to live and die.
• I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings,
publications and conduct has been contrary to my character
as son of the Catholic Church, I believe and I confess whatever
she teaches and I submit to whatever she demands. I
abominate Masonry, as the enemy which is of the Church, and
as a Society prohibited by the Church. The Diocesan Prelate
may, as the Superior Ecclesiastical Authority, make public this
spontaneous manifestation of mine in order to repair the
scandal which my acts may have caused and so that God and
people may pardon me.
• Manila 29 of December of 1896
• Jose Rizal
• There are four iterations of the texts of this retraction: the first
was published in La Voz Española and Diario de Manila on the
day of the execution, 30 December 1896. The second text
appeared in Barcelona, Spain, in the magazine La Juventud, a
few months after the execution, 14 February 1897, from an
anonymous writer who was later on revealed to be Fr. Vicente
Balaguer. However, the "original" text was only found in the
archdiocesan archives on 18 May 1935, after almost four
decades of disappearance.
The Balaguer Testimony Page 16 of
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• Doubts on the retraction document abound, especially

because only one eyewitness account of the writing of the
document exists-that of the Jesuit friar Fr. Vicente Balaguer.
According to his testimony, Rizal woke up several times,
confessed four times, attended a Mass, received communion,
and prayed the rosary, all of which seemed out of character.
But since it is the only testimony of allegedly a "primary"
account that Rizal ever wrote a retraction document, it has
been used to argue the authenticity of the document.
The Testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia
• Another eyewitness account surfaced in 2016, through the
research of Professor Rene R. Escalante. In his research,
documents of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia included a report on
the last hours of Rizal, written by Federico Moreno. The report
details the statement of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia to Moreno.
Primary Source: Eyewitness Account of the Last Hours of
Rizal
• Source: Michael Charleston Chua, "Retraction ni Jose Rizal:
Mga Bagong Dokumento at Pananaw." GMA News Online,
published 29 December 2016.
• Most Illustrious Sir, the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia
stationed in Fort Santiago to report on the events during the
[illegible] day in prison of the accused Jose Rizal, informs me
on this date of the following:
• At 7:50 yesterday morning, Jose Rizal entered death row
accompanied by his counsel, Señor Taviel de Andrade, and the
Jesuit priest [Jose] Vilaclara. At the urgings of the former and
moments after entering, he was served a light breakfast. At
approximately 9, the Adjutant of the Garrison, Señor [Eloy]
Maure, asked Rizal if he wanted anything. He replied that at
the moment he only wanted a prayer book which was brought
to him shortly by Father [Estanislao] March.
• Señor Andrade left death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for a long
while with the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara, regarding
religious matters, it seems. It appears that these two
presented him with a prepared retraction on his life and deeds
that he refused to sign. They argued about the matter until
12:30 when Rizal ate some poached egg and a little chicken.
Afterwards he asked to leave to write and wrote for a long
time by himself.
• At 3 in the afternoon, Father March entered the chapel and
Rizal handed him what he had written. Immediately the chief
of the firing squad, Señor [Juan] del Fresno and the Assistant
of the Plaza, Señor Maure, were informed. They entered death
row and together with Rizal signed the document that the
accused had written. It seems this was the retraction. From 3
to 5:30 in the afternoon, Rizal read his prayer book several
Page 17the
times, prayed kneeling before of altar and in the company of
3
Fathers Vilaclara and March, read the Acts of Faith, Hope and

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Charity repeatedly as well as the Prayers for the Departing

Soul.
• At 6 in the afternoon the following persons arrived and
entered the chapel; Teodora Alonzo, mother of Rizal, and his
sisters, Lucia, Maria, Olimpia, Josefa, Trinidad and Dolores.
Embracing them, the accused bade them farewell with great
strength of character and without shedding a tear. The mother
of Rizal left the chapel weeping and carrying two bundles of
several utensils belonging to her son who had used them
while in prison.
• A little after 8 in the evening, at the urgings of Señor Andrade,
the accused was served a plate of tinola, his last meal on
earth. The Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure and Fathers
March and Vilaclara visited him at 9 in the evening. He rested
until 4 in the morning and again resumed praying before the
altar.
• At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at the
prison accompanied by his sister Pilar, both dressed in
mourning. Only the former entered the chapel, followed by a
military chaplain whose name I cannot ascertain. Donning his
formal clothes and aided by a soldier of the artillery, the
nuptials of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were
performed at the point of death (in articulo mortis). After
embracing him she left, flooded with tears.
• Rizal heard mass and confessed to Father March. Afterwards
he heard another mass where he received communion. At
7:30, a European artilleryman handcuffed him and he left for
the place of execution accompanied by various Jesuits, his
counsel and the Assistant of the Plaza. Father March gave him
a holy picture of the Virgin that Rizal kissed repeatedly.
• When the accused left, I noticed he was very pale but I am
very certain that all the time he was imprisoned he
demonstrated great strength of character and composure.
God grant Your Excellency.
• Manila 30 December 1896.
• This account corroborates the existence of the retraction
document, giving it credence. However, nowhere in the
account was Fr. Balaguer mentioned, which makes the friar a
mere secondary source to the writing of the document.
• The retraction of Rizal remains to this day, a controversy;
many scholars, however, agree that the document does not
tarnish the heroism of Rizal. His relevance remained solidified
to Filipinos and pushed them to continue the revolution, which
eventually resulted in independence in 1898.

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• Case Study 4: What Happened in the Cavite Mutiny?

• The year 1872 is a historic year of two events: the Cavite
Mutiny and the martyrdom of the three priests; Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, later on
immortalized as GOMBURZA.
• These events are very important milestones in Philippine
history and have caused ripples throughout time, directly
influencing the decisive events of the Philippine Revolution
toward the end of the century.
• While the significance is unquestioned, what made this year
controversial are the different sides to the story, a battle of
perspectives supported by primary sources. In this case
study, we zoom in to the events of the Cavite Mutiny, a
major factor in the awakening of nationalism among
the Filipinos of that time.
Spanish Accounts of the Cavite Mutiny
• The documentation of Spanish historian Jose Montero y Vidal
centered on how the event was an attempt in overthrowing
the Spanish government in the Philippines. Although regarded
as a historian, his account of the mutiny was criticized as
woefully biased and rabid for a scholar.
• Another account from the official report written by then
Governor General Rafael Izquierdo implicated the native
clergy, who were then, active in the movement toward
secularization of parishes. These two accounts corroborated
each other.
Primary Source: Excerpts from Montero's Account of the
Cavite Mutiny
• Source: Jose Montero y Vidal, "Spanish Version of the Cavite
Mutiny of 1872," in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide,
Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila:
National Book Store, 1990), 269
Page 273.
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• The abolition of privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the

Cavite arsenal of exemption from the tribute was, according to
some, the cause of the insurrection. There were, however,
other causes.
• The Spanish revolution which overthrew a secular throne; the
propaganda carried on by an unbridled press against
monarchical principles, attentatory [sic] of the most sacred
respects towards the dethroned majesty; the democratic and
republican books and pamphlets; the speeches and
preachings of the apostles of these new ideas in Spain; the
outbursts of the American publicists and the criminal policy of
the senseless Governor whom the Revolutionary government
sent to govern the Philippines, and who put into practice these
ideas were the determining circumstances which gave rise,
among certain Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their
independence.
• It was towards this goal that they started to work, with the
powerful assistance of a certain section of the native clergy,
who out of spite toward friars, made common cause with the
enemies of the mother country. At various times but
especially in the beginning of year 1872, the authorities
received anonymous communications with the information
that a great uprising would break out against the Spaniards,
the minute the fleet at Cavite left for the South, and that all
would be assassinated, including the friars. But gave
importance to these notices.
• The conspiracy had been going on since the days of La Torre
with utmost secrecy. At times, the principal leaders met either
in the house of Filipino Spaniard, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera,
or in that of the native priest, Jacinto Zamora, and these
meetings were usually attended by the curate of Bacoor, the
soul of the movement, whose energetic character and
immense wealth enabled him to exercise a strong influence.
Primary Source: Excerpts from the Official Report of
Governor Izquierdo on the Cavite Mutiny of 1872
• Source: Rafael Izquierdo, "Official Report on the Cavite
Mutiny," in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide, Documentary
Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila: National Book
Store, 1990), 281-286.
• ..It seems definite that the insurrection was motivated and
prepared by the native clergy, by the mestizos and native
lawyers, and by those known here as abogadillos....
• The instigators, to carry out their criminal project, protested
against the injustice of the government in not paying the
provinces for their tobacco crop, and against the usury that
some practice in documents that the Finance department
gives crop owners who have to sell them at a loss. They
encouraged the rebellionPageby 20 of
protesting what they called the
3 the workers in the Cavite arsenal to
injustice of having obliged

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pay ribute starting January 1 and to render personal service,

from which they were formerly exempted...
• Up to now it has not been clearly determined if they planned
to establish a monarchy or a republic, because the Indios have
no word in their language to describe this different form of
government, whose head in Filipino would be called hari; but it
turns out that they would place at the head of the government
a priest... that the head selected would be D. Jose Burgos, or
D. Jacinto Zamora.....
• Such is... the plan of the rebels, those who guided them, and
the means they counted upon for its realization.
• It is apparent that the accounts underscore the reason for the
"revolution": the abolition of privileges enjoyed by the workers
of the Cavite arsenal such as exemption from payment of
tribute and being employed in polos y servicios, or force labor.
They also identified other reasons which seemingly made the
issue a lot more serious, which included the presence of the
native clergy, who, out of spite against the Spanish friars,
"conspired and supported" the rebels.
• Izquierdo, in an obviously biased report, highlighted that
attempt to overthrow the Spanish government in the
Philippines to install a new "hari" in the persons of Fathers
Burgos and Zamora. According to him, native clergy attracted
supporters by giving them charismatic assurance that their
fight would not fail because they had God's support, aside
from promises of lofty rewards such as employment, wealth,
and ranks in the army.
• In the Spaniard's accounts, the event of 1872 was
premeditated, and was part of a big conspiracy among the
educated leaders, mestizos, lawyers, and residents of Manila
and Cavite. They allegedly plan to liquidate high ranking
Spanish officers, then kill the friars. The signal they identified
among these conspirators of Manila and Cavite was the
rockets fired from Intramuros.
• The accounts detail that on 20 January 1872, the district of
Sampaloc celebrated the feast of the Virgin of Loreto, and
came with it were some fireworks display.
• The Caviteños allegedly mistook this as the signal to
commence with the attack. The 200-men contingent led by
Sergeant Lamadrid attacked Spanish officers at sight and
seized the arsenal. Izquierdo, upon earning of the attack,
ordered the reinforcement of the Spanish forces in Cavite to
quell the revolt.
• The "revolution" was easily crushed, when the Manileños who
were expected to aid the Caviteños did not arrive. Leaders of
he plot were killed in the resulting skirmish, while Fathers
Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora were tried by a court-martial and
sentenced to be executed. Page 21 of
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• Others who were implicated such as Joaquin Pardo de Tavera,

Antonio Ma Regidor, Jose and Pio Basa, and other Filipino
lawyers were suspended from the practice of law, arrested,
and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Marianas Island.
Izquierdo dissolved the native regiments of artillery and
ordered the creation of an artillery force composed exclusively
by Peninsulares.
• On 17 February 1872, the GOMBURZA were executed to serve
as a threat to Filipinos never to attempt to fight the Spaniards
again.
Differing Accounts of the Events of 1872
• Two other primary accounts exist that seem to counter the
accounts: of Izquierdo and Montero. First, the account of Dr.
Trinidad Hermenegildo Pardo de Tavera, a Filipino scholar and
researcher, who wrote a Filipino version of the bloody incident
in Cavite
Primary Source: Excerpts from Pardo de Tavera's Account of
the Cavite Mutiny
• Source: Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, "Filipino Version of the
Cavite Mutiny," in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide,
Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila:
National Book Store, 1990), 274 280.
• This uprising among the soldiers in Cavite was used as a
powerful level by the Spanish residents and by the friars... the
Central Government in Madrid had announced its intention to
deprive the friars in these islands of powers of intervention in
matters of civil government and of the direction and
management of the university... it was due to these facts and
promises that the Filipinos had great hopes of an
improvement in the affairs of their country, while the friars, on
the other hand, feared that their power in the colony would
soon be complete a thing of the past.
• ...Up to that time there had been no intention of secession
from Spain, and the only aspiration of the people was to
secure the material and education advancement of the
country...
• According to this account, the incident was merely a mutiny
by Filipino soldiers and laborers of the Cavite arsenal to the
dissatisfaction arising from the draconian policies of Izquierdo,
such as the abolition of privileges and the prohibition of the
founding of the school of arts and trades for Filipinos, which
the General saw as a smokescreen to creating a political club.
• Tavera is of the opinion that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo
used the Cavite Mutiny as a way to address other issues by
blowing out of proportion the isolated mutiny attempt. During
this time, the Central Government in Madrid was planning to
deprive the friars of all the powers of intervention in matters
of civil government and Page direction
22 of and management of
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educational institutions. The friars needed something to justify

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their continuing dominance in the country, and the mutiny

provided such opportunity.
• However, the Central Spanish Government introduced an
educational decree fusing sectarian schools run by the friars
into a school called the Philippine Institute. The decree aimed
to improve the standard of education in the Philippines by
requiring teaching positions in these schools to be filled by
competitive examinations, an improvement welcomed by
most Filipinos.
• Another account, this time by French writer Edmund Plauchut.
complemented Tavera's account and analyzed the motivations
of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.
Primary Source: Excerpts from Plauchut's Account of the
Cavite Mutiny
• Source: Edmund Plauchut, "The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and the
Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za," in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia
Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7
(Manila: National Book Store, 1990), 251-268.
• General La Torre... created a junta composed of high
officials... including some friars and six Spanish officials.... At
the same time there was created by the government in Madrid
a committee to investigate the same problems submitted to
the Manila committee. When the two finished work, it was
found that they came to the same conclusions. Here is the
summary of the reforms they considered necessary to
introduce:
• 1. Changes in tariff rates at customs, and the methods of
collection.
• 2. Removal of surcharges on foreign importations.
• 3. Reduction of export fees.
• 4. Permission for foreigners to reside in the Philippines, buy
real estate, enjoy freedom of worship; and operate
commercial transports flying the Spanish flag
• 5. Establishment of an advisory council to inform the Minister
of Overseas Affairs in Madrid on the necessary reforms to be
implemented.
• 6. Changes in primary and secondary education.
• 7. Establishment of an Institute of Civil Administration in the
Philippines, rendering unnecessary the sending home of short
term civil officials every time there is a change of ministry.
• 8. Study of direct-tax system.
• 9. Abolition of the tobacco monopoly.
• ...The arrival in Manila of General Izquierdo... put a sudden
end to all dreams of reforms... the prosecutions instituted by
the new Governor General were probably expected as a result
of the bitter disputes between the Filipino clerics and the
friars. Such a policy must really end in a strong desire on the
part of the other to repressPage 23 of
cruelly.
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• In regard to schools, it was previously decreed that there

should be in Manila a Society of Arts and Trades to be opened
in March of 1871... to repress the growth of liberal teachings,
General Izquierdo suspended the opening of the school... the
day previous to the scheduled inauguration....
• The Filipinos had a duty to render service on public roads
construction and pay taxes every year. But those who were
employed at the maestranza of the artillery, in the
engineering shops and arsenal of Cavite, were exempted from
this obligation from time immemorial.... Without preliminaries
of any kind, a decree by the Governor withdrew from such old
employees their retirement privileges and declassified them
into the ranks of those who worked on public roads.
• The friars used the incident as a part of a larger conspiracy to
cement their dominance, which had started to show cracks
because of the discontent of the Filipinos, They showcased the
mutiny as part of a greater conspiracy in the Philippines by
Filipinos to overthrow the Spanish Government.
Unintentionally, and more so, prophetically, the Cavite Mutiny
of 1872 resulted in the martyrdom of GOMBURZA, and paved
the way to the revolution culminating in 1898.
Social Political, Economic, and Cultural Issues in the Philippine History

THE EVOLUTION OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTE

Constitution
- a set of fundamental principle or established precedents according to which a state or
other organization is governed.
The constitution of the Philippines, the supreme law of the Republic of the
Philippines, has been in effect since 1987.

3 other Constitutions that governed the Philippines

1935 Commonwealth Constitution
1973 Constitution
1986 Freedom Constitution

1887 CONSTITUTION OF BIAK-NA-BATA

The provisionary Constitution of the Philippine Republic during the Philippine
Revolution, and was promulgated by the Philippine Revolutionary Government on 1
November 1897.
The Constitution, borrowed from Cuba, was written by Isabelo Artacho and Felix
Ferrer in Spanish, and later on, translated into Tagalog.

The organs of the government under the constitution:

1. The Supreme Council

- vested with the power of the Republic, headed by the president and four
department secretaries: the interior, foreign affairs,
Page 24 of treasury, and war.
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2. Consejo Supremo de Garcia Y Justicia( Supreme Council of Grace and Justice)

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- Given the authority to make decisions and affirm or disprove the sentences rendered
by other courts and to dictate rules for the administration of justice.

3. Asamblea de Representantes(Assembly of Representatives)

- Convened after the revolution to create a new Constitution and to elect a new
Council of Government and Representatives of the people.

1899 MALOLOS CONSTITUTION

Upon the defeat of the Spanish to the Americans in the Battle of Manila Bay on 1
May 1898, the United States Navy transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.

The newly reformed Philippine revolutionary forces reverted to the control of

Aguinaldo, and the Philippine Declaration of Independence was issued on 12 June
1898, together with several decrees that formed the First Philippine Republic.

The Malolos Congress was elected, which selected a commission to draw up a draft
constitution on 17 September 1898, which was composed of wealthy and educated
men.

The document they came up with, approved by the Congress on 29 November 1898,
and promulgated by Aguinaldo on 21 January 1899, was titled “The Political
Constitution of 1899” and written in Spanish.

The constitution has 39 articles divided into 14 titles, with eight articles of transitory
provisions, and a final additional article.

The document was patterned after the Spanish Constitution of 1812, with influences
from the charters of Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and
Guatemala, and the French Constitution of 1793.

According to Felipe Calderon, main author of the constitution, these countries were
studied because they shared similar social, political, ethnological, and governance
conditions with the Philippines.

Prior constitutional projects in the Philippines also influenced the Malolos

Constitution, namely, the Kartilya and the Sanggunian Hukuman, the charter of laws
and morals of the Katipunan written by Emilio Jacinto in 1896; the Biak-na-Bato
Constitution of 1897 planned by Isabelo Artacho; Mabini's Constitutional
Program of the Philippine Republic of 1898; the provisional constitution of
Mariano Ponce in 1898 that followed the Spanish constitutions, and the autonomy
projects of Paterno in 1898.

Primary Source Preamble of the Political Constitution of 1899

We, the Representatives of the Filipino People. lawfully convened. in order to
establish justice, provide for common defense, promote the general welfare and insure
the benefits of liberty, imploring the aid of the Sovereign Legislator of the Universe
for the attainment of these ends, have voted, decreed, and sanctioned the following
political constitution. Page 25 of
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The 27 articles of Title IV detail the natural rights and popular sovereignty of
Filipinos, the enumeration of which does not imply the prohibition of any other rights
not expressly stated.

• Title III, Article V also declares that the State recognizes the freedom and equality
of all beliefs, as well as the separation of Church and State. These are direct reactions
to features of the Spanish government in the Philippines, where the friars were
dominant agents of the state.

The form of government, according to Title II, Article 4 is to be popular,

representative, alternative, and responsible, and shall exercise three distinct powers-
legislative, executive, and judicial.

The legislative power was vested in a unicameral body called the Assembly of
Representatives, members of which are elected for terms of four years. Secretaries of
the government were given seats in the assembly, which meet annually for a period of
at least three months.

Executive power was vested in the president, and elected by a constituent assembly
of the Assembly of Representatives and special representatives. The president will
serve a term of four years without re-election. There was no vice president, and in
case of a vacancy, a president was to be selected by the constituent assembly.

The 1899 Malolos Constitution was never enforced due to the ongoing war. The
Philippines was effectively a territory of the United States upon the signing of the
Treaty of Paris between Spain and the united transferring sovereignty of the
Philippines on 10 December 1888.

1935: the commonwealth constitution

It is worth mentioning that after the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines was subject to the
power of the United States of America, effectively the new colonizers of the country.

From 1898 to 1901, the Philippines would be placed under a military government
until a civil government would be put into place.

First was the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, the first organic law for the Philippine
Islands that provided for the creation of a popularly elected Philippine Assembly.

The second act that functioned as a constitution was the Philippine Autonomy Act
of 1916, commonly referred to as "Jones Law." which modified the structure of the
Philippine government through the removal of the Philippine Commission, replacing
it with a Senate that served as the upper house and its members elected by the Filipino
voters, the first truly elected national legislature.

In 1932, with the efforts of the Filipino independence mission led by Sergio Osmeña
and Manuel Roxas, the United States Congress passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
Page 26 of
with the promise of granting Filipinos independence. The bill was opposed by then
3
Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and consequently, rejected by the Philippine

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Senate. By 1934, another law, the Tydings-McDuffie Act, also known as the
Philippine Independence Act, was passed by the United States Congress that
provided authority and defined mechanisms for the establishment of a formal
constitution by a constitutional convention. The members of the convention were
elected and held their first meeting on 30 July 1934, with Claro M. Recto
unanimously elected as president.

Preamble of the 1935 Commonwealth

The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence, in order to establish a
government that shall embody their ideals, conserve and develop the patrimony of the
nation, promote the general welfare, and secure to themselves and their posterity the
blessings of independence under a regime of justice, liberty, and democracy, do
ordain and promulgate this constitution.

The constitution created the Commonwealth of the Philippines, an administrative

body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946. It is a transitional
administration to prepare the country toward its full achievement of independence.

It originally provided for a unicameral National Assembly with a president and vice
president elected to a six year term without re- election.

It was amended in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed of a Senate and a

House of Representatives, as well as the creation of an independent electoral
commission, and limited the term of office of the president and vice president to four
years, with one re-election.

Rights to suffrage were originally afforded to male citizens of the Philippines who
are twenty-one years of age or over and are able to read and write this was later on
extended to women within two years after the adoption of the constitution.

While the dominant influence in the constitution was American, it also bears traces of
the Malolos Constitution, the German, Spanish, and Mexican constitutions,
constitutions of several South American countries, and the unwritten English
Constitution.

The draft of the constitution was approved by the constitutional convention on 8

February 1935, and ratified by then U.S. President Franklin B. Roosevelt on 25
March 1935, Elections were held in September 1935 and Manuel L. Quezon was
elected President of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth was briefly interrupted by the events of the World War II, with
the Japanese occupying the Philippines. Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippines
was declared an independent republic on 4 July 1946.

1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

Page president,
In 1965, Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected 27 of and in 1967, Philippine
3
Congress passed a resolution calling for a constitutional convention to change the

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1935 Constitution. Marcos won the re- election in 1969, in a bid boosted by campaign
overspending and use of government funds.

Elections of the delegates to the constitutional convention were held on 20 November

1970, and the convention began formally on 1 June 1971, with former President
Carlos P. Garcia being elected as convention president. Unfortunately, he died, and
was succeeded by another former president, Diosdado Macapagal Before the
convention finished its work, Martial Law was declared.

With Marcos as dictator, the direction of the convention turned, with accounts that the
president himself dictated some provisions of the constitution, manipulating the
document to be able to hold on to power for as long as he could. On 29 November
1972, the convention approved its proposed constitution.

The constitution was supposed to introduce a parliamentary- style government, where

legislative power was vested in a unicameral National Assembly, with members being
elected to a six-year term.

The president would serve a six-year term and could be re- elected to an unlimited
number of terms. Executive power was relegated to the Prime Minister, who was also
the head of government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces who was also
to be elected from the National Assembly.

President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 73 setting the date of the plebiscite
to ratify or reject the proposed constitution on 30 November 1972.

The President, on 17 January 1973, issued a proclamation announcing that the

proposed constitution had been ratified by an overwhelming vote of the members of
the highly irregular Citizen Assemblies.

In 1976, Citizen Assemblies, once again, decided to allow the continuation of Martial
Law, as well as approved the amendments: an Interim Batasang Pambansa to
substitute for the Interim National Assembly, the president to also become the Prime
Minister and continue to exercise legislative powers until Martial Law was lifted and
authorized the President to legislate on his own on an emergency basis.

• In 1980, the retirement age of members of the judiciary was extended to 70 years.

In 1981, the parliamentary system was formally modified to a French-style, semi-

presidential system where executive power was restored to the president, who was,
once again, to be directly elected; an Executive Committee was to be created,
composed of the Prime Minister and 14 others, that served as the president's Cabinet;
and some electoral reforms were instituted.

In 1984, the Executive Committee was abolished and the position of the vice
president was restored.
Page
After all the amendments introduced, the 1973 of
28 Constitution was merely a way for the
3
President to keep executive powers, abolish the Senate, and by any means, never

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acted as a parliamentary system, instead functioned as an authoritarian presidential

system, with all the real power concentrated in the hands of the president, with the
backing of the constitution.

The tide turned swiftly when in August 1983, Benigno Aquino Jr., opposition leader
and regarded as the most credible alternative to President Marcos, was assassinated
while under military escort immediately after his return from exile in the United
States.

His opponent in the snap elections, Benigno Aquino Jr.'s widow, Corazon Aquino,
was installed as president on 25 February 1986.

1987 Constitution After Martial Law

President Corazon Aquino's government had three options regarding the constitution:
revert to the 1935 Constitution, retain the 1973 Constitution and be granted the
power to make reforms, or start anew and break from the "vestiges of a
disgraced dictatorship." They decided to make a new constitution that, according to
the president herself, should be truly reflective of the aspirations and ideals of the
Filipino people.

In March 1986, President Aquino proclaimed a transitional constitution to last for a

year while a Constitutional Commission drafted a permanent constitution. This
transitional constitution, called the Freedom Constitution, maintained many
provisions of the old one, including in rewritten form the presidential right to rule by
decree.

In 1986, a constitutional convention was created, composed of 48 members appointed

by President Aquino from varied backgrounds and representations. The convention
drew up a permanent constitution, largely restoring the setup abolished by Marcos in
1972, but with new ways to keep the president in check, a reaction to the experience
of Marcos's rule.

The new constitution was officially adopted on 2 February 1987 The Constitution
begins with a preamble and eighteen self-contained articles. It established the
Philippines as a "democratic republican State" where "sovereignty resides in the
people and all government authority emanates from them." It allocates governmental
powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.

The Executive branch is headed by the president and his cabinet, whom he
appoints. The president is the head of the state and the chief executive, but his power
is limited by significant checks from the two other co-equal branches of government,
especially during times of emergency.

Congress, through a majority vote, can revoke this decision, or extend it for a period
that they determine. Page 29 of
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The Supreme Court may also review the declaration of martial law and decide if
there were sufficient justifying facts for the act. The president and the vice president
are elected at large by a direct vote, serving a single six-year term.

The legislative power resides in a Congress divided into two Houses: the Senate and
the House of Representatives.

The 24 senators are elected at large by popular vote, and can serve no more than two
consecutive six year terms.

The House is composed of district representatives representing a particular

geographic area and makes up around 80% of the total number of representatives.

There are 234 legislative districts in the Philippines that elect their representatives to
serve three-year terms.

The 1987 Constitution created a party-list system to provide spaces for the
participation of underrepresented community sectors or groups.

Party-list representatives may fill up not more than 20% of the seats in the House.
Aside from the exclusive power of legislation, Congress may also declare War,
through a two-thirds vote in both upper and lower houses.

The power of legislation, however, is also subject to an executive check, as the

president retains the power to veto or stop a bill from becoming a law. Congress may
only override this power with a two- thirds vote in both houses.

The Philippine Court system is vested with the power of the judiciary. and is
composed of a Supreme Court and lower courts as created by law

The Supreme Court is a 15-member court appointed by the president without the
need to be confirmed by Congress. The appointment the president makes, however, is
limited to a list of nominees provided by a constitutionally specified Judicial and Bar
Council.

The Constitution also established three independent Constitutional Commissions,

namely, the Civil Service Commission, a central agency in charge of government
personnel; the Commission on Elections, mandated to enforce and administer all
election laws and regulations; and the Commission on Audit, which examines all
funds, transactions, and property accounts of the government and its agencies.

To further promote the ethical and lawful conduct of the government, the Office of
the Ombudsman was created to investigate complaints that pertain to public
corruption, unlawful behavior of public officials, and other public misconduct. The
Ombudsman can charge public officials before the Sandiganbayan, a special court
created for this purpose.

Preamble of the 1897 Constitution

Page 30
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring theofaid of Almighty God, in order to
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ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our
patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence
and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love,
equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

Changing the Constitution is a perennial issue that crops up, and terms such as
"Cha-Cha," "Con-Ass," and "Con-Con" are regularly thrown around. Article XVII
of the 1987 Constitution provides for three ways by which the Constitution can be
changed.

• Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) may convene as a

Constituent Assembly (or Con-Ass) to propose amendments to the Constitution.

Another method is through the Constitutional Convention (or Con-Con), where

Congress, upon a vote of two-thirds of all its members, calls for a constitutional
convention.

The third method is called the "People's Initiative" (or Pl).

In this method, amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by the people upon
a petition of at least 12% of the total number of registered voters.

All legislative districts must be represented by at least 12% of the registered votes
therein. No amendment is allowed more than once every five years since a successful
Pl.

Attempts to Amend or Change the 1987 Constitution

The 1987 Constitution provided for three methods by which the Constitution can be
amended, all requiring ratification by a majority vote in a national referendum.

These methods were Constituent Assembly, Constitutional Convention, and

People's Initiative.

Using these modes, there were efforts to amend or change the 1987 Constitution,
starting with the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos who succeeded Corazon Aquino.

The first attempt was in 1995, when then Secretary of National Security Council Jose
Almonte drafted a constitution, but it was exposed to the media and it never
prospered.

The second effort happened in 1997, when a group called PIRMA hoped to gather
signatures from voters to change the constitution through a people's initiative.

Many were against this, including then Senator Miriam Defensor- Santiago, who
brought the issue to court and won with the Supreme Court judging that a people's
initiative cannot push through without Page 31 of law.
an enabling
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The succeeding president, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, formed a study commission to

investigate the issues surrounding charter change focusing on the economic and
judiciary provisions of the constitution. This effort was also blocked by different
entities.

After President Estrada was replaced by another People Power and succeeded by his
Vice President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, then House Speaker Jose de Venecia
endorsed constitutional change through a Constituent Assembly, which entails a two-
thirds vote of the House to propose amendments or revision to the Constitution.

This initiative was also not successful since the term of President Arroyo was mired in
controversy and scandal, including the possibility of Arroyo extending her term as
president, which the Constitution does not allow.

The administration of the succeeding President Benigno Aquino II had no marked

interest in charter change, except those emanating from different members of
Congress, including the Speaker of the House, Feliciano Belmonte Jr., who
attempted to introduce amendments to the Constitution that concern economic
provisions that aim toward liberalization.

In an upsurge of populism, President Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 presidential

elections in a campaign centering on law and order, proposing to reduce crime by
killing tens of thousands of criminals.

He is also a known advocate of federalism, a compound mode of government

combining a central or federal government with regional governments in a single
political system.

On 7 December 2016, President Duterte signed an executive order creating a

consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution.

POLICIES ON AGRARIAN REFORM

Agrarian reform is essentially the rectification of the whole system of agriculture, an

important aspect of the Philippine economy because nearly half of the population is
employed in the agricultural sector, and most citizens live in rural areas.

Agrarian reform is centered on the relationship between production and the

distribution of land among farmers. It is also focused on the political and economic
class character of the relations of production and distribution in farming and related
Page
enterprises, and how these connect to the 32 of
wider class structure
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Landownership in the Philippines under Spain

Orded tracts of land to (1) religious orders; (2) repartamientos for Spanish
military as reward for their service; and (3) Spanish encomenderos, those
mandated to manage the encomienda or the lands given to them, where Filipinos
worked and paid their tributes to the encomendero.

Filipinos were not given the right to own land, and only worked in them so that they
might have a share of the crops and pay tribute. The encomienda system was an unfair
and abusive system as "compras y vandalas" became the norm for the Filipino
farmers working the land-they were made to sell their products at a very low price or
surrender their products to the encomenderos, who resold this at a profit.

In the 1860s, Spain enacted a law ordering landholders to register their landholdings,
and only those who knew benefitted from this.

Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans

The Americans were aware that the main cause of social unrest in the Philippines was
landlessness, and they attempted to put an end to the deplorable conditions of the
tenant farmers by passing several land policies to increase the small landholders and
distribute ownership to a bigger number of Filipino tenants and farmers.

The Philippine Bill of 1902 provided regulations on the disposal of public lands. A
private individual may own hectares of land while corporate landholders may have
1,024 hectares. Americans were also given rights to own agricultural lands in the
country.

The Philippine Commission also enacted Act No. 496 or the Land Registration
Act, which introduced the Torrens system to address the absence of earlier records of
issued land titles and conduct accurate land surveys.

In 1903, the homestead program was introduced, allowing a tenant to enter into an
agricultural business by acquiring a farm of at least 16 hectares.

During the years of the Commonwealth government, the situation further worsened
as peasant uprisings increased and landlord-tenant relationship became more and
more disparate.

President Quezon laid down a social justice program focused on the purchase of
haciendas, which were to be divided and sold to tenants. His administration also
created the National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC) to assign public
defenders to assist peasants in court battles for their rights to the land, and the Court
of Industrial Relations to exercise jurisdiction over disagreements arising from
landowner-tenant relationship.

The homestead program also continued through the National Land Settlement
Administration (NLSA). Efforts toward agrarian reform by the Commonwealth
failed because of many problems such Page 33 of
as budget allocation for the settlement program
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and widespread peasant uprisings. World War II put a halt to all interventions to
solve these problems as the Japanese occupied the country.

Post-War Interventions toward Agrarian Reform

• Rehabilitation and rebuilding after the war were focused on providing. solutions to
the problems of the past. The administration of President Roxas passed Republic
Act No. 34 to establish a 70-30 sharing arrangement between tenant and landlord,
respectively, which reduced the interest of landowners' loans to tenants at six percent
or less.

Under the term of President Elpidio Quirino, the Land Settlement Development
Corporation (LASEDECO) was established to accelerate and expand the
resettlement program for peasants. This agency later on became the National
Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) under the
administration of President Ramon Magsaysay

Republic Act No. 1199 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act was passed to govern the
relationship between landholders and tenant farmers, protecting the tenurial rights of
tenants and enforced tenancy practices.

Through this law, the Court of Agricultural Relations was created in 1955 to improve
tenancy security, fix land rentals of tenanted farms, and resolve land disputes filed by
the landowners and peasant organizations. The Agricultural Tenancy Commission
was also established to administer problems created by tenancy.

The Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA)

was also created mainly to provide warehouse facilities and assist farmers in
marketing their products. The administration spearheaded the establishment of the
Agricultural and Industrial Bank to provide easier terms in applying for homestead
and other farmlands

• NARRA accelerated the government's resettlement program and distribution of

agricultural lands to landless tenants and farmers. It also aimed to convince members
of the Huks, a movement of rebels in Central Luzon, to resettle in areas where they
could restart their lives as peaceful citizens.

A major stride in land reform arrived during the term of President Diosdado
Macapagal through the Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844)

Primary Source: Declaration of Policy under RA No. 3844 or Agricultural Land

Reform Code Source:

Section 2. Declaration of Policy-It is the policy of the State:

(1) To establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-size farm as the basis
of Philippine agriculture and, as a consequence, divert landlord capital in agriculture
to industrial development,
(2) To achieve a dignified existence for the small farmers free from. pernicious
institutional restraints and practices; Page 34 of
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(3) To create a truly viable social and economic structure in agriculture conducive to
greater productivity and higher farm incomes;
(4) To apply all labor laws equally and without discrimination to both industrial and
agricultural wage earners:
(5) To provide a more vigorous and systematic land resettlement program and public
land distribution; and
(6) To make the small farmers more independent, self-reliant and responsible citizens,
and a source of genuine strength in our democratic society.

Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos

President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, enabling him to essentially wipe
out the landlord-dominated Congress. Through his "technocrats," he was able to
expand executive power to start a "fundamental. restructuring" of government,
including its efforts in solving the deep structural problems of the countryside.
Presidential Decree No. 27 or the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines
became the core of agrarian reform during Marcos regime.

Primary Source: Presidential Decree No. 27, 21 October 1972

This shall apply to tenant farmers of private agricultural lands primarily devoted to
rice and corn under a system of sharecrop or lease-tenancy, whether classified as
landed estate or not,

The tenant farmer, whether in land classified as landed estate or not, shall deemed
owner of a portion constituting a family-size farm of five (5) hectares if not irrigated
and three (3) hectares if irrigated.

The Department of Agrarian Reform through its Secretary is hereby empowered to

promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of this Decree

"Operation Land Transfer on lands occupied by tenants of more than seven hectares
on rice and com lands commenced, and through legal compulsion and an improved
delivery of support services to small farmers, agrarian reform seemed to be finally
achievable.
Under the rice self-sufficiency program "Masagana '99," farmers were able to
borrow from banks and purchase three-hectare plots of lands and agricultural inputs.

Pest-1986 Agrarian Reform

The overthrow of Marcos and the 1987 Constitution resulted in a renewed interest and
attention to agrarian reform as President Corazon Aquino envisioned agrarian reform
to be the centerpiece of her administration's social legislation, which proved difficult
because her background betrayed her-she came from a family of a wealthy and landed
clan that owned the Hacienda Luisita.

On 22 July 1987, Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive

Order 229, which outlined her land reform program. In 1988, the Congress passed
Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL),
which introduced the program with thePage
same 35 of (Comprehensive Agrarian
name
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Reform Program or CARP)

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CARP was limited because it accomplished very little during the administration of
Aquino. It only accomplished 22.5% of land distribution in six years owing to the fact
that Congress, dominated by the landed elite, was unwilling to fund the high
compensation costs of the program. Hacienda Luisita reorganized itself into a
corporation and distributed stocks to farmers.

Under the term of President Ramos, CARP implementation was speeded in order to
meet the ten-year time frame, despite limitations and constraints. in funding, logistics,
and participation of involved sectors. By 1996, the Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) distributed only 58,25% of the total area target to be covered, by the program.
To address the lacking funding and the dwindling time for the implementation of
CARP, Ramos signed. Republic Act No. 8532 in 1998 to amend CARL and extend
the program to ten years

CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines

The new deadline of CARP expired in 2008, leaving 1.2 million farmer beneficiaries
and 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to farmers. In 2009,
President Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), the amendatory law that
extended the deadline to five more years. Section 30 of the law also mandates that
any case and/or proceeding involving the implementation of the provisions of CARP,
as amended, which may remain pending on 30 June 2014 shall be allowed to proceed
to its finality and executed even beyond such date.

From 2009 to 2014, CARPER has distributed a total of 1 million hectares of land to
900,000 farmer beneficiaries. After 27 years of land reform and two Aquino
administrations, 500,000 hectares of lands remain undistributed.

The DAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
are the government agencies mandated to fulfill CARP and CARPER, but even the
combined effort and resources of the two agencies have proved incapable of fully
achieving the goal of agrarian reform in the Philippines.

EVOLUTION OF THE PHILIPPINEPage 36 of

TAXATION
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In today's world, taxation is a reality that all citizens must contend with for the
primary reason that governments raise revenue from the people they govern to be able
to function fully.

In exchange for the taxes that people pay, the government promises to improve the
citizens' lives through good governance.

Taxation, as a government mechanism to raise funds, developed and evolved through

time, and in the context of the Philippines, we must understand that it came with our
colonial experience.

Taxation in Spanish Philippines

The Philippines may have abundant natural resources even before the encroachment
of the Spaniards, but our ancestors were mainly involved in a subsistence economy,
and while the payment of tribute or taxes (buhis/ buwis/handug) or the obligation
to provide labor services to the datus in some early Filipino communities in the
Philippines may resemble taxation, it is essentially different from the contemporary
meaning of the concept.

The arrival of the Spaniards altered this subsistence system because they imposed the
payment of tributos (tributes) from the Filipinos, similar to what had been practiced in
all colonies in America.

The purpose is to generate resources to finance the maintenance of the islands, such
as salaries of government officials and expenses of the clergy.

Later on the settlements will be handled by encomenderos who received rewards

from the Spanish crown for their services. Exempted from payment of tributos were
the principales: alcaldes, gobernadores, cabeza de barangay, soldiers, and
members of the civil guard, government officials, and vagrants.

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, the Manila- Acapulco trade was
established through the galleons, a way by which the Spaniards could make sure that
European presence would be sustained.

Once a year, the galleon would be loaded up with merchandise from Asia and sent to
New Spain (Mexico), and back. This improved the economy of the Philippines and
reinforced the control of the Spaniards all over the country.

Tax collection was still very poor and subsidy from the Spain would be needed
through the situado real delivered from the Mexican treasury to the Philippines
through the galleons. This subsidy stopped as Mexico became independent in 1820.

In 1884, the payment of tribute was put to a stop and was replaced by a poll tax
collected through a certificate of identification called the cédula personal. This is
required from every resident and must be carried while traveling. Unlike the tribute,
the payment of cédulas is by person, Page of
not by37family.
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Payment of the cédula is progressive and according to income categories. But

because of this, revenue collection greatly increased and became the main source of
government income.

The Chinese in the Philippines were also made to pay their discriminatory cédula
which was bigger than what the Filipinos paid.

Two direct taxes were added in 1878 and imposed on urban incomes.

Urbana is a tax on the annual rental value of an urban real estate and industria is a
tax on salaries, dividends, and profits.

The colonial government also gained income from monopolies, such as the sale of
stamped paper, D manufacture and sale of liquor, cockpits, and opium, but the biggest
of the state monopolies was tobacco, which began in 1781 and halted in 1882.

Only certain areas were assigned to cultivate tobacco, which the government
purchased at a price dictated to the grower This monopoly made it possible for the
colony to create a surplus of income that made it self-sufficient without the need for
the situado real and even contributed to the Treasury of Spain.

Forced labor was a character of Spanish colonial taxation in the Philippines and was
required from the D Filipinos.

It proved useful in defending the territory of the colony and augmenting the labor
required by woodcutting and shipbuilding especially during the time of the galleon
trade.

Through the polo system, male Filipinos were obliged to serve, a burden that resulted
in an increase in death rate and flight to the mountains, which led to a decrease in
population in the seventeenth century.

This changed later on, as polos and servicios became lighter, and was organized at
the municipal level. Labor provided was used in public works, such as the building of
roads and bridges. Some were made to serve the municipal office or as night guards.

Males were required to provide labor for 40 days a year (reduced to 16 days a year in
1884). They may opt out by paying the fallas of three pesos per annum, which was
usually lost to corruption because it was collected at the municipal level and were
known as caidas or droppings. The polos would be called prestación personal
(personal services) by the second half of the nineteenth century.

The principales who were given positions such as cabezas de barangay or alcaldes
in the local government were able to enrich themselves by pocketing tributos and/or
fallas, while the peasants were left to be abused.

Taxation under the Americans

The Americans who acquired the Philippines aimed to make the economy self-
Page
sufficient by running the government with of
the38smallest possible sum of revenue and
3
create surplus in the budget.

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From 1898 to 1903, the Americans followed the Spanish system of taxation with
some modifications, noting that the system introduced by the Spaniards were outdated
and regressive.

The military government suspended the contracts for the sale of opium, lottery, and
mint charges for coinage of money.

Later on, the urbana would be replaced by tax on real estate, which became known as
the land tax. The land tax was levied on both urban and rural real estates.

The problem with land tax was that land titling in the rural area was very disorderly:
the appraising of land value was influenced by political and familial factors and the
introduction of a taxation system on agricultural land faced objections from the landed
elite.

Tax evasion was prevalent especially among the elites.

The Internal Revenue Law of 1904 was passed as a reaction to the problems of
collecting land tax. It prescribed ten major sources of revenue!

(1) licensed taxes on firms dealing in alcoholic beverages and tobacco,

(2) excise taxes on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products,
(3) taxes on banks and bankers,
(4) document stamp taxes,
(5) the cédula,
(6) taxes on insurance and insurance companies,
(7) taxes on forest products,
(8) mining concessions,
(9) taxes on business and manufacturing, and
(10) occupational licenses.

The cédula went through changes in the new law as the rate was fixed per adult male,
which resulted in a great decline in revenues. In 1907, some provinces were
authorized to double the fee for the cédula to support the construction and
maintenance of roads.

The industria tax was levied on the business community and became a highly
complex system that assigned a certain tax to an industrial or commercial activity
according to their profitability. The new act also imposed a percentage tax on sales
payable quarterly.

In 1913, the Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act was passed, resulting in a reduction in

the revenue of the government as export taxes levied on sugar, tobacco, hemp, and
copra were lifted.

To make up for the loss, then Governor General Francis Burton Harrison urged
that, tax receipts be increased to make up for the loss.

Minor changes were made Revenue Act Page asof

such39 the imposition of taxes on mines,
3
petroleum products, and dealers of petroleum products and tobacco the 1904 Internal

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Revenue Act such as the imposition of taxes on mines, petroleum products, and
dealers of petroleum products and tobacco.

In 1914, an income tax was introduced; in 1919, an inheritance tax was created, and in
1932, a national lottery was established to create more revenue for the government.
However, new creations were not enough to increase government revenues.

Taxation during the Commonwealth Period

New measures and legislation were introduced to make the taxation system appear
more equitable during the Commonwealth. Income tax rates were increased in 1936,
adding a surtax rate on individual net incomes in excess of 10,000 pesos. Income tax
rates of corporations were also increased. In 1937, the cédula tax was abolished,
which appeared to be a progressive move; but in 1940, a residence tax was imposed
on every citizen aged 18 years old and on every corporation.

In 1939, the Commonwealth government drafted the National Internal Revenue

Code, introducing major changes in the new tax system, as follows:
1. The normal tax of three percent and the surtax on income was replaced by a single
tax at a progressive rate.

2. Personal exemptions were reduced,

3. Corporation income tax was introducing taxes on inherited estates or gifts donated
in the name of dead persons.

4. The cumulative sales tax was replaced by a single turnover tax of slightly increased
by

5. 10% on luxuries. Taxes on liquors, cigarettes, forestry products, and mining were
increased.
6. Dividends were made taxable.

As World War II reached the Philippine shores, economic activity was put to a stop
and the Philippines bowed to a new set of administrators, the Japanese.

The Japanese military administration in the Philippines during World War II

immediately continued the system of tax collection introduced during the
Commonwealth, but exempted the articles belonging to the Japanese armed forces.

Foreign trade fell and the main sources of taxation came from amusements,
manufactures, professions, and business licenses.

Fiscal Policy from 1946 to Present

The impact of the war on the Philippine economy was effectively disparate, as
Manila, the capital, was razed to the ground while the rest of the Philippines was
relatively untouched. But the highly agriculture based economy was disrupted.

The United States may have declared Page 40 of

the Philippines independent, but as country
3
needed rehabilitation funds from the United States, the dependency of the Philippines

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to the Americans was an opportunity to be taken advantage of by the former colonial

administrators.

•The economic situation was so problematic that by 1949, there was a severe lack of
funds in many aspects of governance, such as the military and education sectors. No
efforts were made to improve tax collection and the United States advised the
adoption of direct taxation.

The administration of President Manuel Roxas declined the proposal because it did
not want to alienate its allies in Congress. The impetus for economic growth came
during the time of President Elpidio Quirino through the implementation of import
and exchange controls that led to import substitution development.

New tax measures were also passed, which included higher corporate tax rates that
increased government revenues-tax revenue in 1953 increased twofold compared to
1948, the year when Quirino first assumed presidency.

•While the succeeding presidencies of Magsaysay, Garcia, and Macapagal

promised to study the tax structure and policy of the country (through the creation of
a Tax Commission in 1959 by means of Republic Act No. 2211) to make way for a
more robust and efficient tax collection scheme, post-war fiscal policy remained
regressive, characterized by the overburdening of the lowest classes while the landed
elite who held business interests were in Congress to ensure that taxes would not be
levied to them who belonged to the higher classes of society.

The period of the post-war republic also saw a rise in corruption. From 1959 to 1968,
Congress did not pass any tax legislation despite important changes in the economy
and the vested interests of Filipino businessmen in Congress would manifest in many
instances such as the rejection of taxes on imports.

•Indirect taxation still contributed to three quarters of tax revenues and the Omnibus
Tax Law of 1969 did not increase the ratio of income tax to general tax revenue.

Under the Marcos authoritarian regime, the tax system remained regressive. During
the latter part of the Marcos's years (1981-1985), the tax system was still heavily
dependent on indirect taxes, which made up 70% of total tax collection. The tax
system also remained unresponsive.

Taxes grew at an average annual rate of 15% and generated a low tax yield. Tax
effort, defined as the ratio between the share of the actual tax collection in gross
domestic product and predictable taxable capacity, was at a low 10.7%.

As Corazon Aquino took the helm of the government after the EDSA Revolution,
she reformed the tax system through the 1986 Tax Reform Program.

A major reform in the tax system introduced under the term of Aquino A was the
introduction of the value-added tax (VAT), with the following features:
Pageand
1. uniform rate of 10% on sale of domestic of
41 imported goods and services and zero
3
percent on exports and foreign- currency denominated sales;

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2. ten (10) percent in lieu of varied rates applicable to fixed taxes (60 nominal rates),
advance sales tax, tax on original sale, subsequent sales tax, compensating tax,
miller's tax, contractor's tax, brokers tax, film lessors and distributor's tax, excise tax
on solvents and matches, and excise tax on processed videotapes;
3. two percent tax on entities with annual sales or receipts of less than 5,200,000;
4. adoption of tax credit method of calculating tax by subtracting tax on inputs from
tax on gross sales;
5. exemption of the sale of basic commodities such as agriculture and marine food
products in their original state, price-regulated petroleum products and fertilizers; and
6. additional 20% tax on non-essential articles such jewelry, perfumes, toilet waters,
yacht, and other vessels for pleasure and sports.

The VAT law was signed in 1986 and put to effect in 1988. While it with a reliable
source of revenue for the government, new tax laws would reduce its reliability as
legislated exemptions grew.
As a result of the tax reform of the Aquino administration, both tax and revenue
effort rose, increasing from 10.7% in 1985 to 15.4% in 1992.

Greater political stability during the administration of Fidel Ramos in 1992 allowed
for continued economic growth. The Ramos administration ventured into its own tax
reform program in 1997 through the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, which was
implemented to (1) make the tax system broad-based, simple, and with reasonable tax
rates; (2) minimize toss avoidance allowed by existing flaws and loopholes in the
system, (3) encourage payments by increasing tax exemptions levels, lowering the
highest tax rates, and simplifying procedure: and (4) rationalize the grant of tax
incentives, which was estimated to be worth 531.7 billion pesos in 1994.

The VAT base was also broadened in 1997 to include services, through Republic Act
7716. The features of the improved VAT law were as follows:

1. Restored the VAT exemptions for all cooperatives (agricultural, electric, credit or
multipurpose, and others) provided that the share capital of each member does not
exceed 515,000 pesos.
2. Expanded the coverage of the term "simple processes" by including broiling and
roasting, effectively narrowing the tax base for food products.
3. Expanded the coverage of the term "original state" by including molasses.
4. Exempted from the VAT are the following:Importation of meat
Sale or importation of coal and natural gas in whatever form or state

Educational services rendered by private educational institutions duly accredited

by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)

House and lot and other residential dwellings valued at 51 million and below,
subject to adjustment using the Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Lease of residential units with monthly rental per unit of not more than 58,000,
subject to adjustment using CPI
Page 42ofofbooks and any newspaper
Sale, importation, printing, or publication
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The succeeding term of President Joseph Estrada in 1998 was too short to constitute
any change in the tax system.

Then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was swept to power through

another EDSA Revolution As president, she undertook increased government
spending without adjusting tax collections. This resulted in large deficits from 2002 to
2004.

The government had to look for additional sources of revenue, and in 2005 the
Expanded Value Added Tax (E VAT) was signed into law as Republic Act 9337.

This expanded the VAT base, subjecting to VAT energy products such as coal and
petroleum products and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution Select
professional services were also taxed. In February 2006, the VAT tax rate was also
increased from 10% to 12%.

As President Benigno Aquino III succeeded President Arroyo in 2010, he

promised that no new taxes would be imposed and additional revenue would have to
come from adjusting existing taxes.

The administration ventured into the adjustment of excise tax on liquor and cigarettes
or the Sin Tax Reform, motivations for which was primarily fiscal, public health, and
social order. related considerations.

Republic Act 10351 was passed, and government revenues from alcohol and tobacco
excise taxes increased. Collections from tobacco and alcohol in 2015 made up 1.1%
of the Gross Domestic Product and the improvement in tax collection resulted in the
Philippines receiving a credit rating upgrade into investment grade status.

•The Sin Tax Reform was an exemplar on how tax reform could impact social
services as it allowed for the increase of the Department of Health budget (triple in
2015) and free health insurance premiums for the poor people enrolled in PhilHealth
increased (from 55.2 million in 2012 to 515.4 million in 2015).

The administration of the new President Rodrigo Duterte promised tax reform,
particularly in income taxes as it vowed to lower income tax rates shouldered by
working Filipinos.

The present income tax scheme of the country is the second highest in Southeast Asia
and the current laws on income taxes were outdated as they were drafted two decades
ago.

On December 19, 2017, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Package 1 of
the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) also known as the Tax Reform
for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) as Republic Act (RA) No. 10963. The
Law took effect on January 1, 2018.

The TRAIN aims to make the Philippine Page of

Tax43System simpler, fairer, and more
3
efficient to promote investments, create jobs and reduce poverty. Along with this

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objective, the CTRP also aims to raise revenues that will fund the President's Build,
Build, Build Project that will sustain high and inclusive growth of the country, and
finance investments in our people through enhanced education, health and social
services.

To help inform the public about the changes in the tax system, this booklet presents
the highlights of RA 10963 which includes amendments to several provisions of the
National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 on personal income taxation, passive
income for both individuals and corporations, estate tax, donor's tax, value-added tax
(VAT), excise tax, documentary stamp tax (DST), and tax administration, among
others. It likewise introduced new taxes such as the excise tax on cosmetic surgery
and sugar sweetened beverages.

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