PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY underwent several changes since the precolonial period until the present. Ancient Filipinos narrated their history through communal songs and epics that they passed orally form a generation to another.
When the Spaniards came, their chroniclers started recording their observations through written accounts. The perspective of historical writing and inquiry also shifted. The Spanish colonizers narrated the history of their colony in a bipartite view .
They saw the age before colonization as a dark period in the history of the islands, until they brought light through Western thought and Christianity. Early nationalists refuted this perspective and argued the tripartite view. They saw the precolonial society as luminous age that ended with darkness when the colonizers captured their freedom.
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD BY MAGELLAN BY ANTONIO PIGAFETTA
Antonio Pigafetta an Italian scholar and explorer. joined the expedition to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the flag of the emperor Charles V and after Magellan's death in the Philippine Islands, the subsequent voyage around the world.
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 precolonial Philippines. His account was also a major referent to the events leading to Magellan’s 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 precolonial 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 century.
Students of history need to realize that primary sources used in Pigafetta’s account was also written from the perspective of Pigafetta himself and was a product of the context of its production. The First Voyage Around the World by Magellan was published after Pigafetta returned to Italy.
For this chapter, we will focus on the chronicles of Antonio Pigafetta as he wrote his firsthand observation and general impression of the Far East including their experiences in the Visayas. In Pigafetta’s account, their fleet reached what he called the Ladrones Islands or the “Islands of the Thieves.” He recounted:
EXCERPT FROM “Islands of the Thieves.” What can you say about the summary you have read? What implications it will give to the history of Filipinos?
ANALYSIS OF PIGAFETTA’S CHRONICLE
ANALYSIS OF PIGAFETTA’S CHRONICLE he chronicle of Pigafetta was one of the most cited documents by historians who wished to study the precolonial Philippines. As one of the earliest written accounts, Pigafetta was seen as a credible source for a period, which was prior unchronicled and undocumented.
Moreover, being the earliest detailed documentation, it was believed that Pigafetta’s writings account for the “purest” precolonial society. Indeed, Pigafetta’s work is of great importance in the study and writing of Philippine history. Nevertheless, there needs to have a more nuanced reading of the source within a contextual backdrop.
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.
In reading Pigafetta’s description of the people, one has to keep in mind that he was coming from a 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 of 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 illiteracy to the European artillery, merchandise, and other goods, in the same way that Pigafetta repeatedly mentioned the abundance of spices like ginger, and of precious metals like gold.
His observations and assessments of the indigenous cultures employed the European standards. Hence, when they saw the indigenous attires of the natives, Pigafetta saw them as being naked because from the European standpoint, they were wearing fewer clothes indeed.
It should be understood that such observations were rooted from the context of Pigafetta and of 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 was mercantilist. Such 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 the Spain would indeed search for new lands where they could acquire more gold and wealth to be on top of all the 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 the control of Spice Islands because it would have led to a certain increase in wealth, influence, and power. These contexts should be used and understood in order to have a more qualified reading of Pigafetta’s account.
THE KKK AND THE ‘KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN’
What is ‘KKK?’ The Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) or Katipunan is arguably the most important organization formed in the Philippine history .
While anti-colonial movements, efforts, and organizations had already been established centuries prior to the foundation of the Katipunan, it was only this organization that envisioned (1) a united Filipino nation that would revolt against the Spaniards for (2) the total independence of the country from Spain.
Previous armed revolts had already occurred before the foundation of the Katipunan, but none of them envisioned a unified Filipino nation revolting against the colonizers. For example, Diego Silang was known as an Ilocano who took up his arms and led one of the longest running revolts in the country.
Silang, however, was mainly concerned about his locality and referred to himself as El Rey de Ilocos (The King of Ilocos).
On the other hand, the propaganda movements led by the ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and Jose Rizal did not envision a total separation of the Philippines from Spain, but only demanded equal rights, representation, and protection from the abuses of the friars.
“Manga Aral Nang Katipunan ng mga A.N.B.” “Lessons of the Organization of the Sons of Country.”
In the conduct of their struggle, Katipunan created a complex structure and a defined value system that would guide the organization as a collective aspiring for a single goal. One of the most important Katipunan documents was the Kartilya ng Katipunan.
Emilio Jacinto
The document was written by Emilio Jacinto in the 1896. Jacinto was only 18 years old when he joined the movement. He was a law student at the Unibersidad de Santo Tomas.
Despite his youth, Bonifacio recognized the value and intellect of Jacinto that upon seeing that Jacinto’s Kartilya was much better than the Decalogue he wrote, he willingly favored that the Kartilya 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 15 April 1897, Bonifacio appointed Jacinto as a commander of the Katipunan in Northern Luzon. Jacinto was 22 years old. He died of Malaria at a young age of 24 in the town of Magdalena, Laguna.
The Kartilya can be treated as the Katipunan’s code of conduct. It contains fourteen rules that instruct the way a Katipunero should behave, and which specific values should he uphold.
Generally, the rules stated in the Kartilya can be classified into two. The first group contains the rules that will make the member an upright individual and the second group contains the rules that will guide the way he treats his fellow men.
“Manga Aral Nang Katipunan ng mga A.N.B.” “Lessons of the Organization of the Sons of Country.”
Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya: The life that is not consecrated to a lofty and reasonable purpose is a tree without a shade, if not a poisonous weed. To do good for personal gain and not or its own sake is not virtue. 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. 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.
Below is the translated version of the rules in Kartilya: 5. The honorable man prefers honor to personal gain; the scoundrel, gain to honor. 6. To the honorable man, his word is sacred. 7. Do not waste thy time: wealth can be recovered but not time lost. 8. Defend the oppressed and fight the oppressor before the law or in the field.
9. The prudent man is sparing in words and faithful in keeping secrets. 10. 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. 11.Thou must not look upon woman as 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 there and reared thee. 12. 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.
13. 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 rea value, who does good, keep 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.
14. 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 properly understanding the Kartilya will thus help in understanding the values, ideals, aspirations, and even the ideology of the organization.
ANALYSIS OF THE ‘KARTILYA NG KATIPUNAN”
La Patria Adorada: The Development of Nationalism in the Philippines from Rizal to Revolution - Sean Solis https://youtu.be/kEfQYOfuhttps://youtu.be/kEfQYOfu9A09A0