LIFE, WORKS, AND WRITINGS OF RIZAL

WEEK 15
GROUP REVIEWER

MEMBERS:

Pabricio, AJ – PART I

Padilla, Dianne Carel – PART II

Palmes, Honey Jezreel – PART II

Ponla, Hyza Lyn – PART I

Paquibot, Mary Grace – PART III

Pring, Angel Ann – PART I

Pastrana, Gabrielle – PART III

Rataban, Jihan Ashanti – PART II

PART I

RIZAL’S ANNOTATION OF SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

The importance of Rizal's annotations to Morga

- He tried to use history and historical revision, not just to express his personal
views on historiography, but to create a sense of national consciousness
orientated. Historical revision is always met with varying degrees of opposition,
and Rizal's first attempt at writing a Philippine story was no exception. That the
Spaniards would object was visible, and Rizal was prepared for this. When the
Morga was officially banned in the Philippines, Rizal was not surprised.

Successos De Las Islas Filipinas

it is one of the important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the
Philippines published in Mexico in 1609 by Antonio de Morga.

- Sucesos is one Annotated by Jose Rizal with a prologue by Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt.

- Morgan wrote that the purpose for writing Sucesos was so he could chronicle "the deeds
achieved by our Spaniards to the discovery, conquest, and conversion of the Filipinas Islands - as
well as various fortunes that they have from time to time in the great kingdoms and among the
pagan peoples surrounding the islands."

- He is a Spanish Conquistador, a government official, and is also a historical Anthropologist. He

is also the author of Succesos De Las Islas Filipinas.

Purpose of Morga’s Writing in Successos

- In Jose Rizal's dedication, he explained among other things, the purpose of the new edition of
Morga's Sucesos;

• if the book succeeds in awakening in you the consciousness of our past which has
been obliterated from memory and in rectifying what has been falsified and
calumniated, 1 shall not have labored in vain, and on such basis, little though it
may be, we can all devote ourselves to studying the future
What leads Jose Rizal to Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas?

- Rizal was an earnest seeker of truth, marking him as a historian. He had a burning desire to
know exactly the conditions of the Philippines when the Spaniards came ashore to the islands,
Rizal’s purpose of the Morga’s succesos.

3 Main Propositions in Rizal's New Edition of Morga's Sucesos

-The people of the Philippines had a culture on their own, before the coming of the Spaniard -
Filipinos were decimated, demoralized, exploited, and ruined by the Spanish colonization

- The present state of the Philippines was not necessarily superior to its past. -The people of the
Philippines had a culture on their own, before the coming of the Spaniard - Filipinos were
decimated, demoralized, exploited, and ruined by the Spanish colonization

- The present state of the Philippines was not necessarily superior to its past.

The people of the Philippines had a culture on their own, before the coming of the Spaniards

Filipinos were decimated, demoralized, exploited, and ruined by the Spanish colonization

• The present state of the Philippines was not necessarily superior to its past.

Rizal’s Annotation

- In his historical essay, which includes the narration of Philippine colonial history, punctuated as
it was with incidences of agony, tensions, tragedies and prolonged periods of suffering that many
of people had been subjected to. He correctly observed that as a colony of Spain, "The
Philippines was depopulated, impoverished and retarded, astounded by metaphor sis, with no
confidence in her past, still without faith in her present and without faltering hope in the future."

Rizal's annotations of Morga's Sucesos

To the Filipinos: "In my "NOLI ME TANGERE" I commenced to sketch the present conditions
obtaining in our country. The effect produced by my efforts gave me to understand - before
proceeding to develop before your eyes other successive scenes - that is necessary to first lay
bare the past, in order the better to judge the present and to survey the road trodden during three
centuries. "
The "SUCESOS" as annotated by Rizal, appeared for the first time in the Philippines sixty eight
years later when a publisher in Manila, published the new work in 1958, to contribute his bit to
the national effort to honor Rizal. The present work is the sixth volume of the Series of Writings
of Jose Rizal which the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission has no published in
commemoration of his birth.

He tried to use history and historical revision, not just to express his personal views on
historiography, but to create a sense of national consciousness or identity. Historical revision is
always met with varying degrees of opposition, and Rizal's first attempt at writing Philippine
history was no exception. That the Spaniards would object was inevitable, and Rizal was
prepared for this. When the Morga was officially banned in the Philippines, Rizal was not
surprised.

PART II

Other annotations

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT ANNOTATIONS OF RIZAL

Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas
• SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPNAS, one of the most important works on the early history of Spanish
colonization of the Philippines, was published in Mexico in 1609 by Antonio de Morga

•Annotated by Jose Rizal with a prologue by Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt.

ANTONIO DE MORGA

• Antonio de Morga Sanchez Garay (November 29, 1559- July 21, 1636)
• A Spanish soldier, a historical anthropologist, a lawyer and a high rank colonial official for 43 years, in
the Philippines from 1594-1604, New Spain and Peru, where he was the president of the Real Audiencia
for 20 years.

• Doctrine in canon and civil law

• He published the book Sucesos de Las Islas Filipinas in 1609.

• The book tells the history of wars, conspiracies, diplomacy and evangelization of the Philippines in a
cohesive way.
WHY RIZAL CHOSE MORGA’S WORK?

• Antonio Pigafetta's account of the Magellan expedition was more detailed, and closer to the point of
first contact between the Philippines and Spain.

• Rizal's choice of reprinting Morga rather than other contemporary historical accounts of the
Philippines was due to the following reasons:

➢ The original book was rare;

➢ Morga was a layman not a religious chronicler;
➢ Rizal felt Morga to be more "objective" than the religious writers whose accounts included many
miracle stories;
➢ Morga, compared to religious chroniclers, was more sympathetic to the indios;
➢ Morga was not only an eyewitness but a major actor in the events he narrates.

PURPOSE OF RIZAL’S ANNOTATION

• To shatter the myth of the so-called “indolence of the filipinos”

•To prove that filipinos are civilized and had a culture on their own, prior to colonization of the
Spaniards.

• Awaken the consciousness of the Filipinos of their glorious ways of the past.

• By publishing his annotated version of morga’s sucesos de las islas filipinas, rizal’s intent was not only
to provide the filipino their early history, a pre-spanish history, but to present them their own authentic
culture and identity.

DR. FERDINAND BLUMENTRITT (1853 – 1913)

• An Austrian teacher, secondary school principal in Leitmeritz, lecturer, and author of articles and
books in the Philippines and its ethnography.

• He is a close friend of José Rizal.

• Encouraged Rizal to write about the Philippines’ pre-colonial History.

FERDINAND BLUEMENTRITT’S PROLOGUE TO SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

• He wrote it in Spanish even though German is his native language.

• He praised Rizal’s works as “Scholarly and well-thought out”.

• At the same time, he criticized Rizal’s work in the prologue.

• Noted that the book is so rare that very few libraries have it and guarded it like a treasure.

• Writing from Paris on 19 November 1889, Rizal thanked Blumentritt for writing the introduction to his
edition of Morga. He liked it very much, and praised it for being written "both with head and heart."

• He first observed that Rizal had committed the mistake of many modern historians who judged events
in the past in the context of contemporary ideas and mores.

RIZAL’S ANNOTATION OF MORGA’S SUCESOS

• His extensive annotations on Morga's work amounts to “at least 639 entries, or almost two notes on
each page”.

• Rizal also annotated on Morga's typographical errors.

Rizal's footnote: " This is another preoccupation of the Spaniards who, like any other nation in that
matter of food, loathe that to which they are not accustomed or is unknown to them...” The fish Morga
refers to begins to rot: "It is a bagoong, and all those who have eaten it and tasted it know it is not or
ought not to be rotten"
• Ferdianand Blumentritt also wrote a preface highlighting some important points:

- Spaniards must correct their misperception of Filipinos as children of limited intelligence

- There were three types of Spanish delusions about the Philippine:

➢ Filipinos were an inferior race

➢ Filipinos were not ready for parliamentary representation and other reforms
➢ Denial of equal rights can be compensated for by rigorous jurisprudence

WHAT LEADS JOSE RIZAL TO SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS?

• His theory was that the country was economically self-sufficient and prosperous. Entertained the idea
of it being lively and having a strong community.

• He believed that the Spanish conquest partially contributed to the decline of the Philipp ines' rich
traditions and culture.

• A personal friendship with Ferdinand Blumentritt resulted in a new edition of Morgas Sucesos.

PART III
 Rizal’s Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

Letter to the Young Women of Malolos

- Mga kababayang dalaga ng Malolos, sa ingles, “To the Young Women of Malolos”

- is a letter written by Dr. Jose Rizal on February 22, 1889

- written in Tagalog to address the young women of Malolos, Bulacan who successfully lobbied
the Spanish colonial government to allow them to open a school so that they could study the
Spanish language

- signed and presented to Governor-General Valeriano Weyler on December 12, 1888

Young Women

– they are the twenty women from prominent Chinese-Filipino families in Malolos, Bulacan

- they requested to open a night school where they could be taught the Spanish language

Marcelo H. del Pilar – he asked Rizal (who is in London) to write a letter in Tagalog to those
young women

Rizal’s Message to Filipino Women

• Jose Rizal was greatly impressed by the fighting spirit that the young women of Malolos
had shown.
• He expresses great joy and satisfaction over the battle they had fought.
• His ultimate desire was for women to be offered the same opportunities as those received
by men in terms of education.

Salient Points Contained in the Letter:

• The rejection of the spiritual authority of the friars

• The defense of the private judgment
• Qualities Filipino mothers need to possess
• Duties and responsibilities of Filipino mothers to their children
• Duties and responsibilities of a wife to her husband
• Counsel young women on their choice of a lifetime partner
Qualities of Filipino Mothers must Possess according to Rizal:

• Be a noble wife.
• Rear her children in the service of the state
• Set standards of behavior for men around her

Salient Points that Center “To the Young Women of Malolos”:

- Rizal stipulates several important points in this portion of his letter

• Filipino mothers should teach their children the love of God, country, and fellow men.
• Filipino mothers should be glad and honored, like Spartan mothers, to offer their sons in
defense of their country.
• Filipino women should know how to protect their dignity and honor.
• Filipino women should educate themselves aside from retaining their good racial values.
• Faith is not merely reciting prayers and wearing religious pictures. It is living the real
Christian way with good morals and manners.

Rizal’s Advice to Unmarried Men and Women:

- Rizal points out three things that a young woman must look for in a man she intends to be her
husband

• A noble and honored name

• A manly heart
• A high spirit incapable of being satisfied with engendering slaves.

Purpose of Rizal’s Letter

• Urge women to rise up

• Help them recognize their role he society through his message
• Empower them to stand for their rights
• Encourage them to refuse to submit to oppressors