MONKAYO COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

Poblacion, Monkayo, Davao de Oro

HAND OUTS
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
GEN.ED 2

WHAT IS HISTORY?
HISTORY-
 It deals with past events (Barnes, 1963)
 It deals with the records of such events such as chronicle, annals, official records, etc.
 History as an academic discipline
-derived from the Greek word historia means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation.”
-As a DISCIPLINE, it started/existed for around 2,400 years and as old as Mathematics and Philosophy.
-To CLASSICAL LATIN, historia became known as the account of the past of a person or of a group of
people through written document and historical evidences.
Thus, it became an important ACADEMIC DESCIPLINE

It became the historian’s duty to write about the lives of important

individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints and nobilities. It focused on writing
about wars, revolution, and other important breakthroughs.

History as a NARRATIVE

History that has been taught and written is always intended for a certain group of
audience.
Example:
 When illustrados, like Rizal and Paterno wrote history, they intend it for the
Spaniards (for them to realize that Filipinos are people of their own intellect
and culture).
 When American historians depicted the Filipino people as uncivilized in their
publications, they intend it for their fellow Americans (to justify their
colonization of the islands and fulfill what they called as the “white man’s
burden)

MEANINGF OF HISTORY FROM VARIOUS HISTORIANS:

1. Dr. Zeus Zalazar (2000), defined history as “mga pangyayari na may saysay para sa grupo ng taong
sinasaysayan nito”.
2. “… is the record of what one age finds worthy of note in another” – foreign scholar
3. For Carr, history is a study of human achievements.

IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY IN THE PAST AND EVEN IN THE PRESENT

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

WHAT COUNTS 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.
Example: government records, chronicler’s accounts, or personal letters

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 document in order to write a particular historical
narrative. Positivists historians are also expected to be objective and impartial not just in their
arguments but also on their conduct of historical research.

BUT!!!
Some civilization were keener on passing their history by word of mouth (no written document) others
got their historical documents burned or destroyed because of war or colonization.

THEREFORE, (positivism) was a discrimination against other social classes who were not recorded in
paper. Nobilities and elites would have their birth, education, marriage, and deaths as a 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 means 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 written but were just as valid. Example:
oral traditions (epic and songs), folklore, artifacts, indigeneous materials,
architecture, and memory.

NEW HISTORICISM- It seeks the interpretation of facts from all perspectives, including those that do
not concern history before. THUS, history became more INCLUSIVE and started collaborating with other
disciples and auxiliary disciplines.
 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- 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.
 Biologist and Biochemist- can help with the study of the past through analyzing genetic and DNA patterns
of human societies.

QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY

(Since writing history turned into a complex and dynamic discipline, questions like What is history? Why
Study History? And History for whom? emerged).
 HISTORIOGRAPHY

HISTORY HISTORIOGRAPHY
 Study of the past  History of history
 Events that happened in the past  The art of writing.
 Causes of the events in the past  The scientific way of writing history.
(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?)

 Thus, historiography lets the students have a better understanding of history. They do not get only to
learn historical facts, but they are also provided with the understanding of the facts’ and the historian’s
contexts. The methods employed by the historian and the theory and perspective, which guided him, will
also be analyzed.

PROBLEM IN HISTORY

The narratives of the past is always written from the bias of

There was an the powerful and more dominant player (Spanish, American,
accusation that Third Republic Historians, and the Japanese).
HISTORY IS Ex.
ALWAYS WRITTEN History of the Second World War in the Philippines always
BY THE VICTORS. depicts the United States as the HERO and the Imperial Japanese
Army were the as the OPPRESSORS. Filipinos who collaborated with
the Japanese were lumped as the TRAITORS OR COLLABORATORS.

HISTORY AND THE HISTORIAN

HISTORIAN- The one who wrote history.
HISTORIAN’S JOB IN WRITING HISTORIES

 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.
 Not just to seek historical evidences and facts but also to interpret these facts since “Facts cannot
speak for themselves”.
 To give meaning to these facts and organize them into a timeline, establish causes, and write history.

HISTORIAN is a person of his own who is influenced by his own context,

environment, ideology, education, and influences, among others. Therefore, his
interpretations 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.

HOWEVER!!
Thus, in one way or another, HISTORY IS ALWAYS SUBJECTIVE. So, if history is written with agenda or is
heavily influenced by the historian, is it possible to come up with an absolute historical truth? Can history still
be considered as an academic and scientific inquiry? YES!

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

HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY comprises certain techniques and rules that historian 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
evidences. 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.
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
informants through comparing and corroborating it with written sources.

HISTORY AND PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY

In the Philippines, the dominance of the colonial discourse has challenged Filipino historians to write the
history of the Philippines using discourse that will privilege the Filipinos. Filipino historians worked hard to
counter the colonial historiography that dominated Philippine historiography for a long time.

POSTCOLONIALISM- is a school of thought that emerged in the early twentieth century when formerly
colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating their identities and understanding their societies
against the shadows of their colonial past. Postcolonial history looks at two things in writing history: first
is to tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free from that of colonial discourse
and knowledge, and second is to criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism. Postcolonial
history is therefore a reaction and an alternative to the colonial history that colonial powers created and
taught to their subjects.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE HISTORIOGRAPHY

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
from 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 history of the islands, until they brought light through Western
thought and Christianity.

Early nationalist refuted this perspective and argued the tripartite

view (they saw the precolonial society as a luminous age that ended
with darkness when the colonizers captured their freedom. They
believed that the light would come again once the colonizers were
evicted from the Philippines.

Filipino historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new guiding

philosophy for writing and teaching history: pantayong pananw
(for us- from us perspective). This perspective highlights the
importance of facilitating an internal conversation and discourse
among Filipinos about our own history, using the language
(Filipino) that is understood by everyone.

The post-EDSA period gave a new direction for Filipino historians. The move to use Filipino as medium of
instruction had gained support from different historians. Using Filipono as medium, they defined history as
ang kasaysayan ay isang salaysay tungkol sa nakalipas na may saysay sa isang grupo ng tao. With this
definition, the study of Philippine history is redirected to what the people believe to be importantto them.
This is the reason for the study of oral traditions, culture and local history which are privileged in the
discourse of the pantayong pananaw.

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