LEARNING MODULE SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Learning Module in GE Rizal 1- Life and Works of Rizal

I. Title: ANNOTATION OF DR. MORGA’S BOOK “SUCESOSDELAS ISLAS FILIPINAS”

II. Topics:

1. Valuing Dr. Antonio Morga’s Book

2. Dr. Reinhold Rost

III. Time Frame: 6 hours

IV. Introduction

Upon reaching London on May 24, 1888, Rizal at once secured a card permitting him
to work in the British Museum Library. He plunged into study and writing, which occupied his
time for the next ten months. He found here one of the few remaining volumes of Antonio
Morga’s book Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas which had been published in 1609.

He discovered that history and anthropology were the best friends of the Philippines,
for these sciences were exposing the lies which the Spaniards had hold for generations. He
had nothing to fear and everything to gain by exploring every corner of the past, as he enlisted
his friends in scouring all the libraries of Europe for ancient documents and abstruse
knowledge concerning his country.

Thus, in this chapter, learners are able to determine how great the Philippines before
Spanish colonization period as described by Dr. Antonio de Morga. Learners are able to
determine also Rizal’s new edition of annotation from Dr. Morga’s book that was intended for
the Filipino people.

V. Objectives:

At the end of this module, the students should be able to:

1. Identify the different discoveries of the hero in annotating Dr. Morga’s book prior to the
colonization period; and
2. Analyze the impact of the Dr. Morga’s book which was annotated by Rizal to the
Filipino people as well as globally.

VI. Pre-Test: Answer the following questions below

1. What do you think is the greatest contribution of Rizal’s annotation to Morga’s book to
Philippine history?

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VII. Learning Activities:

Researching extensively on his land

and people copied and annotated one book
which fascinated him most, the original
1609 edition of Dr. Antonio de Morga’s
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Historical
events of the Philippine Islands). He saw
the value of the book as an effective
medium with which he could draw attention
to the pre-colonial civilization of the Filipino
and the ruinous effect of Spanish.

By patiently copying the whole text and

adding his own notations he aimed to show
that our forefathers possessed a developed
culture. This was to be seen from their
religious beliefs, language, system of
writing, literature, songs, dances and other
forms of artistic expressions, agriculture, domestic and foreign trade, industry, manufacture
including the production of implements for warfare, government and laws, and above all, a
keen sense of morality. Rizal strongly believed that this priceless historical document would
not only disprove erroneous claims but would awaken a sense of pride and national
consciousness among his people. The annotated edition, a critique of Spain’s rule, was
published in Paris, France in 1890.

The publication of the new edition of Morga’s book was well received not only in the
Philippines, but also in some European countries. German scholars, especially Ferdinand
Blumentritt, Dr. Jagor, Dr. Adolf B. Meyer and Hofrath Meyer praised the book for its scholarly,
presentation of useful annotations numbering no less than 639 items. Blumentritt asked Rizal
to send copies of the book to Leipzig and Amsterdam.
Ferdinand Blumentritt

Rizal’s Edition of Morga is a Perennial Monument

to His Intellectual Leadership. Blumentritt warmly
praised patriotic scholarly work and fervently
wished that Spain would ponder well her sacred
duties as a Mother Country.

Blumentritt wrote to Rizal:

The new edition of the Sucesos is dedicated to

scholars and patriots. Both will be grateful to you. I
have no doubt that your notes, so scholarly and
well-thought will stir the European world.

It is the desire of my soul that your book will find in

Spain a circle of readers who will not burst into
imprecations but will knowhow to deduce from its
perusal that the Filipinos in reality are not like those in the disfigured picture painted by your
enemies, I they, they do not attend to the Filipinos, the Philippines will lost, but through their
fault.

Finally, I reiterate my expressions of gratitude for the precious gift with which you have

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favored your Mother Country and the whole civilized world. I hope that you will continue your
studies that honor Spain and the Philippines and glorify your name and with it the name of
Tagalog.
My purpose is to thank you in the name of the international republic of scholars, in
the name of the Philippines, in the name of Spain, for the publication of this most important
chronicle of the dear country in which you were born and whose adopted son I consider
myself to be. With this reprinting you have erected a monument to the name of Rizal.

Rizal’s Annotation of Morga’s Sucesos de las

Islas Filipinas- Morga’s Sucesos of Historical
Events of the Philippine Islands was published in
Mexico in 1605 to provide European readers
information about the Philippines.
There were basically three purposes for Rizal’s
annotation of the Sucesos (Guerrero, 1998):

1. To awaken the consciousness of the Filipinos

of their glorious or dignified ways of the past;
2. To correct what has been distorted and
falsified about the Philippines prior to Spanish
conquest; and
3. To prove that the Filipinos were civilized, even
before the coming of the Spaniards.

Rizal spent four months for research and writing and one year to have his manuscript
printed. Ferdinand Blumentritt wrote the preface of the annotation. The salient points
emphasized by Blumentritt were the following:

1. That the Spaniards have to correct their erroneous conception of the Filipinos
as children of limited intelligence;
2. That Rizal’s comments on Spanish government were unique as they were
given from the point of view of the victims of colonialism.

That there existed three kinds of Spanish delusions about the

Philippines:

1. That the Filipinos were an inferior race;

2. That the Filipinos were not ready for parliamentary representation and
other reforms; and
3. That denial of equal rights can be compensated by strict dispensation of
justice.
4. That Spain had to learn Philippines realities from Rizal’s new edition of
Morga’s Sucesos; and
5. That if Spanish authorities will not listen to the Filipinos, the Philippines
will be lost through her own fault.

Rizals’ annotation consisted of 8 chapters (Guerrero, 1998). The first seven chapters
delved on the events during the time of the forest 11 governors-generals in the Philippines,
particularly from Legaspi to Acuña. The last chapter was focused on custom and usages of
the Filipinos. His notes were of three categories, namely: anti-clerical, sociological; and
historical. Through his annotation, Rizal hoped that he could equal Blumentritt.

There were three main propositions in Rizal’s new edition of Morga’s

Sucesos, namely (Guerrero, 1998):

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1. That the people of the Philippines had a culture of their own before the
coming of the Spaniards;

2. That the Filipinos were decimated, demoralized, exploited and ruined by

Spanish colonization;

3. The present state of the Philippines was not necessary superior to its
past.

With this new edition of Morga’s Sucesos, Rizal was able to produce the first history book of
the Philippines, written for the Filipinos.

Activity 1
(Provide your answer on the given box)
1. If you were present at the time of Rizal and tend to read the book of Dr. Morga, how would
it impact your understanding about your identity as Filipino at the same time valuing your
dignity as person?

Antonio de Morga
The value of Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas has
long been recognized. A first-hand account of the early
Spanish colonial venture into Asia, it was published in
Mexico in 1609 and has since been re-edited on a number
of occasions. It attracted the attention of the Hakluyt
Society in 1851, although the edition prepared for the
Society by H. E. J. Stanley was not published until 1868.
Morga's work is based on personal experiences, or on
documentation from eye-witnesses of the events
described. Moreover, as he tells us himself, survivors from
Legaspi’s expedition were still alive while he was
preparing his book in Manila, and these too he could consult. As a lawyer, it is obvious
that he would hardly fail to seek such evidence. The Sucesos is the work of an honest
observer, himself a major actor in the drama of his time, a versatile bureaucrat, who
knew the workings of the administration from the inside. It is also the first history of the

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Spanish Philippines to be written by a layman, as opposed to the religious chroniclers.

Morga's book was praised, quoted, and plagiarized, by contemporaries or successors.
Filipinos have found it a useful account of the state of their native culture upon the
coming of the conquistadors; Spaniards have regarded it as a work to admire or
condemn, according to their views and the context of their times; some other
Europeans, such as Stanley, found it full of lessons and examples.

Dr. Reinhold Rost.

Rizal’s amazing linguistic
accomplishments drew
him to other linguists. He
became a lifelong friend
of the eminent Sanskrit
scholar of Dr. Reinhold
Rost, who was librarian of
the India Office and
consider the greatest
linguist of that century.

VIII. Self-Evaluation: Provide your answer on the following table below

1. How was he able to have access to the historical materials and documents at the British
museum?

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2. What insights about Spain and Philippines were drawn by Ferdinand Blumentritt from
Rizal’s new edition of Sucesos?

IX. Review of Concept

La Liga Filipina- an organization established by Jose Rizal in lieu to the failure of the
Propaganda Movement in Europe, a crusade for reforms.

X. Post-Test: With your knowledge in this chapter, answer question below.

1. How did Dr. Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas influence Rizal’s mission in uplifting
Filipinos and breaking from the oppression of Spanish government?

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11. References:

Zaide, Gregorio et. al (2002). Philippine History & Gov’t 5th ed. Quezon City: All Nations
Publishing Co., Inc.

Abeleda, A.S Jr (2003).Philippine History. Manila: Saint Bernadette Pub. Inc.

Capino, Diosdado G. et.al (2005).Rizal, Life, Works and Writings-their impact on our National
Identity. Quezon City: Bookman Inc.

Guerrero, Leon Ma. (2010). The First Filipino. Quezon City: National Historical Institute;

Montemayor, T. H. Rizal pictorial calendar. Manila: National Historical Institute

Ocampo, A. R. Rizal without the Overcoat. Metro Manila: Anvil Publishing, Inc.

Romero, Ma. C. et al. Rizal and the Development of National Consciousness. Quezon City:
JMC Press, Inc.

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