Readings in Phil History Final Modules
Readings in Phil History Final Modules
Readings in Phil History Final Modules
READINGS IN
PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
FINALS
Prepared By:
DELAILA MAE L. LAGARTEJA
Instructor
FINALS
RIZAL’S RETRACTION
Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the revolution for his writing s 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 ad El Filibusterismo. His essays vilify not
the Catholic religion, but the friars, the main agents of injustice in the Philippine
society.
Primary source: Rizal’s Retraction
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 moments after the execution, 14 February 1897, from an anonymous writer
who was later revealed to be Fr. Vicente Balaguer. However, the “original” text was
only found in the archdiocesan archives on 18 May 1935, after the most four
decades of disappearance.
The Balaguer Testimony
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 Cuerpo de Vigilancia.
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 to continue the revolution,
which eventually resulted in independence in 1898.
We now proceed to show the significant differences between the "original" and the
Manila newspapers texts of the retraction on the one hand and the text s of the
copies of Fr. Balaguer and F5r. Pio Pi on the other hand.
First, instead of the words "mi cualidad" (with "u") which appear in the original and
the newspaper texts, the Jesuits’ copies have "mi calidad" (with "u").
Second, the Jesuits’ copies of the retraction omit the word "Catolica" after the first
"Iglesias" which are found in the original and the newspaper texts.
Third, the Jesuits’ copies of the retraction add before the third "Iglesias" the word
"misma" which is not found in the original and the newspaper texts of the retraction.
Fourth, with regards to paragraphing which immediately strikes the eye of the critical
reader, Fr. Balaguer’s text does not begin the second paragraph until the fifth
sentences while the original and the newspaper copies start the second paragraph
immediately with the second sentences.
Fifth, whereas the texts of the retraction in the original and in the manila newspapers
have only four commas, the text of Fr. Balaguer’s copy has eleven commas.
Sixth, the most important of all, Fr. Balaguer’s copy did not have the names of the
witnesses from the texts of the newspapers in Manila.
In his notarized testimony twenty years later, Fr. Balaguer finally named the
witnesses. He said "This . . . retraction was signed together with Dr. Rizal by Señor
Fresno, Chief of the Picket, and Señor Moure, Adjutant of the Plaza." However, the
proceeding quotation only proves itself to be an addition to the original. Moreover, in
his letter to Fr. Pi in 1910, Fr. Balaguer said that he had the "exact" copy of the
retraction, which was signed by Rizal, but she made no mention of the witnesses. In
his accounts too, no witnesses signed the retraction.
How did Fr. Balaguer obtain his copy of Rizal’s retraction? Fr. Balaguer never
alluded to having himself made a copy of the retraction although he claimed that the
Archbishop prepared a long formula of the retraction and Fr. Pi a short formula. In Fr.
Balaguer’s earliest account, it is not yet clear whether Fr. Balaguer was using the
long formula of nor no formula in dictating to Rizal what to write. According to Fr. Pi,
in his own account of Rizal’s conversion in 1909, Fr. Balaguer dictated from Fr. Pi’s
short formula previously approved by the Archbishop. In his letter to Fr. Pi in 1910,
Fr. Balaguer admitted that he dictated to Rizal the short formula prepared by Fr. Pi;
however; he contradicts himself when he revealed that the "exact" copy came from
the Archbishop. The only copy, which Fr. Balaguer wrote, is the one that appeared
ion his earliest account of Rizal’s retraction.
Where did Fr. Balaguer’s "exact" copy come from? We do not need long arguments
to answer this question, because Fr. Balaguer himself has unwittingly answered this
question. He said in his letter to Fr. Pi in 1910:
"…I preserved in my keeping and am sending to you the original texts of the two
formulas of retraction, which they (You) gave me; that from you and that of the
Archbishop, and the first with the changes which they (that is, you) made; and the
other the exact copy of the retraction written and signed by Rizal. The handwriting of
this copy I don’t know nor do I remember whose it is, and I even suspect that it might
have been written by Rizal himself."
In his own word quoted above, Fr. Balaguer said that he received two original texts
of the retraction. The first, which came from Fr. Pi, contained "the changes which
You (Fr. Pi) made"; the other, which is "that of the Archbishop" was "the exact copy
of the retraction written and signed by Rizal" (underscoring supplied). Fr. Balaguer
said that the "exact copy" was "written and signed by Rizal" but he did not say
"written and signed by Rizal and himself" (the absence of the reflexive pronoun
"himself" could mean that another person-the copyist-did not). He only "suspected"
that "Rizal himself" much as Fr. Balaguer did "not know nor ... remember" whose
handwriting it was.
Thus, according to Fr. Balaguer, the "exact copy" came from the Archbishop! He
called it "exact" because, not having seen the original himself, he was made to
believe that it was the one that faithfully reproduced the original in comparison to that
of Fr. Pi in which "changes" (that is, where deviated from the "exact" copy) had been
made. Actually, the difference between that of the Archbishop (the "exact" copy) and
that of Fr. Pi (with "changes") is that the latter was "shorter" be cause it omitted
certain phrases found in the former so that, as Fr. Pi had fervently hoped, Rizal
would sign it.
According to Fr. Pi, Rizal rejected the long formula so that Fr. Balaguer had to
dictate from the short formula of Fr. Pi. Allegedly, Rizal wrote down what was
dictated to him but he insisted on adding the phrases "in which I was born and
educated" and "[Masonary]" as the enemy that is of the Church" – the first of which
Rizal would have regarded as unnecessary and the second as downright contrary to
his spirit. However, what actually would have happened, if we are to believe the
fictitious account, was that Rizal’s addition of the phrases was the retoration of the
phrases found in the original which had been omitted in Fr. Pi’s short formula.
The "exact" copy was shown to the military men guarding in Fort Santiago to
convince them that Rizal had retracted. Someone read it aloud in the hearing of
Capt. Dominguez, who claimed in his "Notes’ that Rizal read aloud his retraction.
However, his copy of the retraction proved him wrong because its text (with "u") and
omits the word "Catolica" as in Fr. Balaguer’s copy but which are not the case in the
original. Capt. Dominguez never claimed to have seen the retraction: he only
"heard".
The truth is that, almost two years before his execution, Rizal had written a retraction
in Dapitan. Very early in 1895, Josephine Bracken came to Dapitan with her adopted
father who wanted to be cured of his blindness by Dr. Rizal; their guide was Manuela
Orlac, who was agent and a mistress of a friar. Rizal fell in love with Josephine and
wanted to marry her canonically but he was required to sign a profession of faith and
to write retraction, which had to be approved by the Bishop of Cebu. "Spanish law
had established civil marriage in the Philippines," Prof. Craig wrote, but the local
government had not provided any way for people to avail themselves of the right..."
In order to marry Josephine, Rizal wrote with the help of a priest a form of retraction
to be approved by the Bishop of Cebu. This incident was revealed by Fr. Antonio
Obach to his friend Prof. Austin Craig who wrote down in 1912 what the priest had
told him; "The document (the retraction), inclosed with the priest’s letter, was ready
for the mail when Rizal came hurrying I to reclaim it." Rizal realized (perhaps, rather
late) that he had written and given to a priest what the friars had been trying by all
means to get from him.
Neither the Archbishop nor Fr. Pi saw the original document of retraction. What they
was saw a copy done by one who could imitate Rizal’s handwriting while the original
(almost eaten by termites) was kept by some friars. Both the Archbishop and Fr. Pi
acted innocently because they did not distinguish between the genuine and the
imitation of Rizal’s handwriting.
Exercise. My Side.
Choose your side between Pugad Lawin and Balintawak. Make your consolidated
statements on which side you will defend. You may use ideas, facts, concrete
evidences cited in the internet to supplement your statements. Place you works on a
clean sheet of paper.
Exercise. My Scrapbook
The Filipino people’s resistance against colonial oppression was indeed
admirable. They organized their ranks and offered their time, talents and lives in
defense of our country.
How do Filipinos express their bravery and love of country today?
Make a scrapbook that shows the Filipino’s sense bravery, unity and
nationalism. Identify several historical and current issues that show steadfast
Filipinos are fighting for people’s rights and welfare. Put also your picture as a
student who always face the challenges of education everyday.
February 8, 1935
- the draft of the constitution was approved by the constitution convention.
March 25, 1935
- it was ratified by US President Franklin Roosevelt
Manuel L. Quezon was elected President of the Commonwealth.
1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism
1965
- Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected president
1965
- Philippine Congress passed a resolution calling for a constitutional convention
to change the 1935 Constitution
November 20 1970
- the elections of the delegates to the constitutional convention were held and
Carlos P. Garcia was elected as convention president.
November 29, 1972
- the convention approved its proposed constitution.
After all the amendments introduced, the 1973 Constitution was merely a way for
the President to keep executive powers, abolish the Senate, and by any means,
never 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.
March 1986
- President Aquino proclaimed a transitional constitution and was called
“Freedom Constitution”
February 2, 1987
- a new constitution was officially adopted
The Philippine Court system is vested with the power of the judiciary, and
composed of a Supreme Court and lower courts.
The Supreme Court is a 15-member court appointed by the president and
the list of nominees are provided by the Judicial and Bar Council.
The Supreme Court Justices may hear, on appeal, any cases dealing with
constitutionally of any of law, treaty or decree of the government.
Presently, with the changing political landscape in the country, there are calls
for as constitutional convention that aims to change the form of the government from
unitary to federal. Other proposals espouse for a change from presidential to
parliamentary form.
Our current system is that of a unitary form, where administrative powers and
resources are concentrated in the national government. Mayors and governors
would have to rely on allocation provided to them through a proposed budget that
is also approved by the national government, a system prone to abuse.
There are many pros to a federal form of government. Each region may custom fit
solutions to problems brought about by their distinct geographic, cultural, social
and economic concepts. Regions also have more power over their finances, since
they handle majority of their income and only contributes to a small portion to the
national government. They can choose to directly fund their own development
projects without asking for the national government’s go signal. A federal system
could also promote specialization, since the national government could focus on
nationwide concerns while regional governments can take care of administrative
issues.
A federal form of government could also solve a lot of decade-old problems of the
country. It may be a solution to the conflict in Mindanao, since a separate
Bangsamoro region could be established for Muslim Mindanao. it could address
the inequality in wealth distribution and lessen the dependence to Metro Manila,
since regions can proceed with what they have to do without needing to consider
the situation in the capital.
There are also cons to federalism. While it creates competition among regions, it
could be a challenge to achieving unity in the country. There might be regions
which are not ready to govern themselves, or have lesser resources, which could
mire them deeper in poverty and make development uneven in the country. There
could be issues regarding overlaps in jurisdiction, since ambiguities may arise
where national ends and regional begins, or vice versa. As a proposed solution to
the conflict in the Mindanao, we must also remember that the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has already been created and the conflicts still
continues. Federalism may not be enough for those who clamor separation.
Any effort to shift the system of government also entails costs, and it would not be
cheap. It would cost billions to dismantle the current system and would take a long
time before the system normalizes and irons out it kinks.
Exercise.
A. Instructions: Answer the following questions.
1. What does it take to be a perfect leader? You may use online resources to
enrich your answer.
2. Using the leadership criterion you discussed in the first question, in 100-500
words justify who among the following three Filipino heroes deserves to be
called the “true” Philippine national hero
a. Dr. Jose P. Rizal
b. Gat. Andres Bonifacio
c. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
B. Song Analysis
Bayan Ko
Ang Bayan kong Pilipinas
Pilipinas ang pangalan
Perlas ng Silanganan sa taglay niyang kariktan
Ngunit sawimplad sa minimithing paglaya
Laging lumuluha sa pagdaralita
Families were not allowed town their land – the King of Spain owned the land,
and Filipinos were assigned to these lands to cultivate them, and paid their colonial
tributes to the Spanish authorities in the form of agricultural products.a
Later on, through Law of the Indies, the Spanish crown awarded tracts of
land to (1) religious orders; (2) repartamientos of Spanish military as reward for their
service; (3) Spanish encomienderos, those mandated to manage the encomienda of
the lands given to them, were Filipinos worked paid their tributes to the
encomendero. Filipinos were 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 “comras y vandallas” became the norm of the
Filipino farmers working the land – they were made to sell their products at a very
low price or surrender their products to the enecomenderos , who resold this as a
profit.
This is primary reason why revolts in the Philippines were often agrarian in
nature. Before the colonization, Filipinos had communal ownership of land. The
system introduced by the Spaniards became a bitter source of hatred and discontent
for the Filipinos. Religious orders, the biggest landowners in the Philippines also
became a main source of abuse and exploitation for the Filipinos, increasing the rent
paid by the Filipinos in a whim.
Landownership did not improve during the American period; in fact, it even
worsened, because there was no limit to the size of landholding people could
possess and the accessibility of possession was limited to those who could afford to
buy, register, and acquire fixed property titles. Not all friar lands acquired by the
Americans were given to the landless peasant farmers. Some lands were sold or
leased to American and Filipino business interest. This early land reform program
was also implemented without support mechanisms – if a landless peasant farmer
receive land, he only receive land, nothing more. Many were forced to return to
tenancy and wealthy Filipino hacienderos purchased or forcefully took over lands
from the farmers who could not afford to pay their debts. The system introduced by
the Americans enabled more lands to be placed under tenancy, which led to
widespread peasant uprisings, such as Colorum and Sakdal Uprising in Luzon.
Peasants and workers found refuge from millenarian movements that gave them
hope that change could still happen through militancy.
Declaration of Policy under RA No. 3844 or Agricultural Land Reform Code (D.
Macapagal)
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 be
deemed owner of a portion constituting a family-size farm of five (5) hectares if not
irrigated and three (3) hectares if irrigated;
In all cases, the landowner may retain an area of not more than seven (7) hectares if
such landowner is cultivating such area or will now cultivate it;
For the purpose of determining the cost of the land to be transferred to the tenant-
farmer pursuant to this Decree, the value of the land shall be equivalent to two and
one half (2 ½) times the average harvest of three normal crop years immediately
preceding the promulgation of this Decree;
The total cost of the land, including interest at the rate of six (6) per centum per
annum, shall be paid by the tenant in 15 years of 15 equal annual amortizations;
In case of default the amortization due shall be paid by the farmers’ cooperative in
which the defaulting tenant-farmer is a member, with the cooperative having a right
of recourse against him;
No title to the land owned by the tenant-farmers under this Decree shall be actually
issued to a tenant-farmer unless and until the tenant-farmer has become a full-fledge
member a duly recognized farmer’s cooperative.
Title to the land acquired pursuant to this Decree or the Land Reform Program of the
Government shall not be transferable except b hereditary succession or to the
Government in accordance with the provisions of this Decree, the Code of Agrarian
Reforms and other existing laws and regulations;
Currently, in 2018, agrarian issues continuously plague the country and the
implementation of genuine agrarian reform program is still a dream for Filipino
farmers. Administrations after Aquino promised to facilitate and speed up actual land
distribution programs but to no avail.
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 citizen’s 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.
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. The difficulty faced by the Spaniards in revenue collection
through the tribute was the dispersed nature of the settlements, which they solved by
the introducing the system of reduccion by creating pueblos, where Filipinos where
gathered and awarded plots of land to till. Exempted from payment of tributos were
the principales: alacaldes, gobernadores, cabezas de barangay, soldiers, members
of the civil guard, government officials, and vagrant.
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 cedula personal. This is
required from every resident and must be carried while travelling. Unlike the tribute,
the payment of cedulas is by person, not by family. Payment of cedula is progressive
and according to income categories. This system, however, was a heavy burden for
the peasants and was easy for the wealthy. 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 cedula 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. These taxes were universal and affected all kinds of
economic activity except to encourage growth.
Indirect taxes such as customs duties were imposed on exports and imports
to further raise revenue, especially during the 19 th century when economic growth
increased exponentially. There were no excise taxes collected by the Spaniards
throughout the years of colonialism.
Forced labor was a character of Spanish colonial taxation in the Philippines
and was required from the 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. Male
were required to provide labor for 40 days a year (reduced to 15 days a year in
1884).
The Internal Revenue Law of 1904 was passed as a reaction to the problems
collecting land tax. It prescribed ten major sources of sources of revenue:
The cedula 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 cedula 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.
1. The normal tax of three percent and the surtax on income was replaced by a
single tax at progressive rate.
4. The cumulative sales tax was replaced by a single turnover tax of 10% on
luxuries.
Fiscal Policies
A major reform in the tax system introduced under the term of Corazon
Aquino was the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT), with the following
features:
1. uniform rate of 10% on sale of domestic and imported goods and services and
zero percent on exports and foreign-currency denominated sales;
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 ax, contractor’s tax, broker’s tax, film lessors and
distributor’s tax excise tax on solvents and matches, and excise tax on
processed video tapes;
The VAT law was signed in 1986 and put to effect in 1988. While it was a
reliable source of revenue for the government, new tax laws would reduce its
reliability as legislated exemptions grew.
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. As to the purpose:
a. Revenue – to raise money for the government
b. Regulatory – to regulate an act or practice
3. As to scope:
a. Local/Municipal – based on a certain locality
b. National – national in nature
Instruction. The world is severely affected by this present pandemic. Many of us still
surviving and hoping for a miracle for this disease to disappear in a blink of an eye.
Our lives instantly change because of this and embracing the so-called new normal
of our lives. In a clean sheet of paper, write an essay describing the effects of this
COVID-19 pandemic to you and your family in terms of:
a. education
b. financial matters
The history subjects and courses usually taught the students in schools are
Philippine history world history, and history of Asia. The coverage is always
expansive and taught in broad strokes of historical periods, of large spaces, of
prominent personalities. Little is known about the subdiscipline of local history. Local
history is the study of the history of a particular community or a smaller unit of
geography. Debates, however, continuously persist on the definition of this
subdiscipline, particularly in the subject of its study. Does local history study local
communities? Local institutions? Local groups? Local heroes? In recent studies,
local history tends to cover all of these topics. Local historians study the local
economies, local heroes, and local events. Local history, thus is also a broad and
dynamic field of inquiry that aims to have an in-depth understanding of a certain
locale.
Doing local history, however, is not an easy task. Despite the seemingly
smaller scope of study, historians are often faced with challenges in locating sources
for local and specific objects of study. For example, it is much easier to study the life
of national heroes than that of a local hero. Sources abound on subjects of national
importance but tend to be scarce on local subjects. Nevertheless, this limitation
should encourage historians to innovate and recreate local historical methodology.
Local and oral history are important endeavors in the development and
enrichment in the discipline of history. These efforts fill the gaps in the discipline by
highlighting alternative areas of study and methodology toward a more holistic,
inclusive, and progressives study of our past.
We have been discussing ways to study the past through variety of sources
available to us. While research is valuable tool to learn more about the experiences
of the nation and our history, there exists venues where we can experience history,
and these are through historical shrines and museums.
These venues are for living history provide us a certain level of authority and
trustworthiness that could impact the way we view the past. Through interacting with
artifacts such as a World War II rifle or the clothes of a Filipino hero, we can better
imagine the past beyond the mere letters and words we read and painstakingly
memorize. These tangible objects are reconstruction of past; experiencing these
artifacts directly is the best thing to actually being there when a particular event
happened or a when a historical personality lived. These firsthand experiences make
historical events more real for us; and research shows that learning by experiencing
aids with retention of the learning later in life.
Exercises