CHAPTER 1 Knowing Philippine History 1. Understanding History It is by the possession and transmission transmission of a !lt!re that man di"ers from the other other anima animals# ls# and the $rst $rst !lt!r !lt!re e began began with with the the $rst $rst !lt! !lt!re re began began with with ht habit!al !se of tools arti!late speeh %P!lmer# ed.1&'()1'*. +or some writers li,e -i, oa/!in# History as !lt!re is not merely a hronologial reonstr!tion of the past nor an analytial interpretation of past e0ents# b!t a proess of reation or a formation of !lt!re# spei$ally a national !lt!re.2 In its broad broadest est meanin meaning# g# histor history y is the st!dy of past past e0ents e0ents.. It genera generally lly presents the ,nown past. 3hat is !n,nown is yet to be retrie0ed. The reording and analysis of e4perienes of a soiety omprise the totally of a people5s history. In analy6 analy6ing ing histor history# y# the !se !se of orre orrela lated ted dis disip iplin lines es is nees neessar sary y to !nders !nderstan tand d the reaso reasons ns and onse/ onse/!en !enes es of h!man h!man ation ations. s. 7y refer referrin ring g to philosophies philosophies of history# the theories of some great thin,ers sho!ld be onsidered. In the in0estigation and interpretation of the past# these theories o!ld e4plain how and why e0ents happen in soieties. Arnold Toynbee5s Toynbee5s challenge and response theory is base8d on the idea that man responds to the sit!ation plaed before him. His ations are based on his tho!gh tho!ghts ts.. Th!s# Th!s# the soiet soiety5s y5s way of fain faing g the hall halleng enges es depend depending ing !pon !pon its apabili apabilities ties !no0ers !no0ers the pattern pattern of the soiety5s soiety5s history. history. 9an,ind5 9an,ind5s s approah approah in oping with hallenges determines history. The 1:;0ol!me series of A st!dy of history %1&<8;'1* is based on the Toynbee5s Toynbee5s thesis that history re=ets the progress progress of i0ili6ations and soieties. He 0iewed the past as a s!ession of i0ili6ations rather than politial entities. +or him# there were patterns in the histories of 0ario!s i0ili6ation for w> he ame to the the on onl! l!si sion on that that ther there e appe appear ars s to be laws laws go0e go0errning ning the the li0e li0es s of h!ma h!man n i0ili i0ili6at 6ation ion.. The The genera generall patter pattern n shows shows the growt growth# h# brea, brea,dow down# n# And e0ent! e0ent!al al dissol!tion of a parti!lar i0ili6ation leading to the formation of a new one. 7ased on his hypothesis# the fail!re of a i0ili6ation to s!r0i0e was the res!lt of its inability to respond to hallenges. Under 0ario!s ir!mstanes. A power will wish to e4tend its in=!ene at the e4pense of another. The threatened power will then ree0al!ate the hallenge and adopt the o!rse of ation to !rb the strategy of the opposing power. To To ill!strate# the prehistori prehistori men had shown their ability to respond respond to the hallenges of s!r0i0ing amidst the onditions of the en0ironment. The !se of r!de stone tools# then later# highly polished ones# and those made8 from metal and the other raw materials li,e lay soil# shows the apaity of h!man beings to de0ise material e/!ipment for s!bsistene. s!bsistene.
The preser0ation of the man5s material e/!ipment is another hallenge that people ha0e to fae. C!lt!ral artifats made of wood# bar,s of trees# and other organi materials deompose more rapidly in hot in h!mid regions. 9any of the ob?ets behind 0y anient soieties are no lo@nger e4isting as part of arheoligioal reord bea!se they ha0e disintegrated o0er time. This prediament gi0es an inomplete 0iew of the past. The rersponse inl!de 0ario!s ,inds of information and tehni/!es on how to preser0e the material legay of anient past. ome of them are best ,ept in their original sites li,e a0es that wre !sed for habitation in the past. 3hile# items s!h as potsherds %small fragments of pottery*# de0ies made of the stone# metal# bones# and teeth %o0ered with hard enamel* an most li,ely s!r0i0e and be presently ,nown and retrie0ed thro!gh the !ntiring e"orts of arhaeologists. In the str!ggle of da!ntless +ilipinos to regain the lost rights and freedom d!ring the panish era# the propagandists and re0ol!tionaries responded to olonial oppression by resisting. The hallenge was posed by the olonial s!b?!gation of the +ilipinos# generally harateri6ed by in?!stie and orr!ption. The response was de$ane to the pre0ailing r!le. 9an5s ations are notr ?!st in0ol!ntary mo0ements espeially when time allows himto plan his ne4t ation. These responses pass thro!gh the proess of reasoning and analysis. Bften# he deals with other people to dis!ss on how to answer a ertain sit!ation. Assoiated with the aforementioned premises# the e4hanged theory of Al0in a" may be aref!lly tho!gh abo!t. His e4hange theory refers to the systemati statement of priniples that go0ern the e4hange of goods %tangible goods li,e property or money and tangible gods li,e peae or prestige* between indi0id!als# between gro!ps# between organi6ations# and e0en between nations. This is based on thwe idea of reiproaity. Allianes of people# omm!nitiesa as well as nations are rooted in the idea of interhange. There are some moti0ational fores fo!nd in the soiety a"eting the ations of people in0ol0ed in the sit!ation . A ase in point is the barter system# !sed in b!siness transations bea!se there was no !rreny d!ring those days. Aside from domesti trading e4isting amongt the barangays and the islands# early +ilipinos also engaged in foreign trade with China# apan# iam%now Thailand*#7orneo !matra#Cambodia# and other islands of old 9alaysia. Another e4ample in relation to this theory# 9rs. Cora6on Cory5 A/!ino# wife of the slain opposition leader# was hosen as the presidential standard bearer amidst high e4petations that she wo!ld free all politial prisoners# abolish ensorship of the media# and instit!te legal proeedings to reo0er ill;gotten wealth ta,en by orr!pt p!bli ser0ants one eleted into oDe.
+or eorg 3ilhelm Hegel %1FF@;1G<1*# an idea is the mo0ing fore of History. Howe0er# man has tas,s to do so that e0ents may happen. Hegel5s role of historical man follows a priniple# whih he alled Weltgiest or world spirit# whih embodies ideals li,e patriotism# heroism# and !nity. ine historial indi0id!als are ideals and man follows his ideal# this tho!ght# whih is g!ided by a parti!lar ideal beomes what Hegel alled as Geisteswissenchaften or the world of spirit of tho!ght. This area of tho!ght is the thesis. This ombines with a parti!lar sit!ation or matter alled Naturwissenchafen, the antithesis or the omplete opposite of the Geisteswissenchaten. 7y the ombination of the thesis and antithesis# man ahie0es the synthesis# whih is the historial reality. Applying this theory in history# there were g!erilla $ghters in 3orld 3ar II who were g!ided by their sense of d!ty and responsibility to lead the people d!ring the warfare. The sit!ation was the apanese in0asion. The ombination of their tho!ghts li,e patriotism and heroism res!lted to their historial ats# manifested thro!gh their deeds and e4ploits in the battles that were fo!ght against the apanese fores d!ring the war era. In !nderstanding history# another theory to be onsidered is the materialist concept of history or economic theory by Karl 9ar4# another erman philosopher. He asserts that the pre0ailing eonomi system determines the form of soietal organi6ation and the politial and intellet!al history to eonomi moti0es. +or him# h!man interrelations depend on the material onditions of their prod!tion. The str!ggle to maintain life is the most end!ring moti0ation for any h!man ati0ity. To ite an instane# the intensi$ation of inter;island ontats and the inreasing speiali6ation in raftsmanship by early dwellers were bro!ght abo!t by eonomi onsideration. Cent!ries of trade and personal relations with o!theast Asian neighbors led to the enrihment of +ilipino life and !lt!re. As more dwellers traded with foreign merhants# in=!enes in the $eld of ommere# siene# religion# lang!age# and the arts beame more e0ident as they were transmitted to other members of the soiety. Another e4ample is the panish olonial era. It has been said that the three primary moti0es for 0ast e4ploration of lands were for od# gold# and glory# b!t the main inenti0e was for eonomi reasons. Colonies are the important so!res of raw materials and opport!nities for in0estment. pain was at the height of its power in the 1'th ent!ry sine it e4erised politial and eonomi ontrol in its se0eral olonies. Another approah to historial st!dies is the method of historiography de0eloped by +erdinand 7ra!del %1&@:;1&G(*# onsidered the father of historial str!t!ralism. Aording to 7ra!del# h!man ations are not only based on h!man deisions b!t also on str!t!res5 that may be nat!ral %li,e topography and nat!ral reso!res* or man;made %li,e e4isting laws and tehnologial de0ies*. +or e4ample# men b!ild
ho!ses for shelter. E0en if they want to onsider the a0ailability of reso!res# the b!dget of the lients# and the b!ilding site# to name a few. +!rthermore# the introd!tion of new tehnology literally transforms soieties and thereby# history. In the 7ra!dellian approah# to ahie0e total hisytory2 is to integrate all aspets of man5s past. This in0ol0es the st!dy of history in its total 0iew made possible by e4amining the ir!mstanes !nderlying s!h politial# eonomi# soial# and !lt!ral e0ents. The pioneers of Philippine nationalist historiography generally wrote in panish# and oasionally# in Tagalog. The gro!p in pain inl!ded the +ilipino propagandists ose P. Ri6al# 9arelo H. del Pilar# raiano ope6 aena# as well as Pedro Paterno# TJHJ Pardo de Ta0era# regorio aniano y o6on# and among others. +or Ri6al# history o"ers the ,ey to national identity and the basis for f!t!re de0elopment. In his writings# he !sed history to show !ni/!ely +ilipino !lt!re# one whih e0ol0ed thro!gh ent!ries of ontat with other Asians. He edited r. Antonio de 9orga5s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. His annotations of Sucesos was his ma?or historial wor,. He depited the destr!ti0e e"ets of western oloni6ation on early +ilipino soieties. Teodoro Agonillo %1&1:;1&G(* is onsidered as the father of +ilipino nationalist historiography. He wrote the onditions of the Philippine past by analy6ing the onditions of the masses. His e"orts in rewriting history li,e other ontemporary historians were reations to the traditional presentations of Philippine history# being olonial and elitist. Philippine history is a people5s history. As de$ned by Renato Constantino# history is the reorded str!ggle of people for e0er inreasing freedom and for newer and higher reali6ation of the h!man person.2 It is not abo!t the story of man as the indi0id!al# b!t man as the assoiated man. 9an interats with nat!re and with other men# th!s# onsio!sly hanging his own perspeti0e and to some e4tent# the system of en0ironment. 7ased on Constantino5s s!pposition that Philippine history is a story of str!ggle#2 the st!dy has to be reassessed with a nationalist perspeti0e in the interest of ob?eti0ity. This is to allow the modern +ilipino to form a lear pit!re of his anestors5 onditions and sentiments form the point of 0iew of +ilipino writers to orret some historial impressions made by olonial historiography tending to raial bias. History is not merely the wor, of heroes and great men as el!idated by Constantino in his boo,# The Philippines: A Past Reisited . He pointed o!t that the masses of indi0id!als as well as the soial fores generated by olleti0e li0es and str!ggles ha0e to be inl!ded. 9en m!st str!ggle together to s!r0i0e the e4igenies
of nat!ral or soial fores inter0ening their de0elopment. The assoiated man# as part the soiety ma,es history thro!gh his olleti0e li0es. Constantino f!rther mentioned that history is not neessarily presenting a long# !nbro,en hain of e0ents. It ill!strates mo0ement of people and ideas o0er time and spae. They may e0en be in on=it with one another. It is now the tas, of the historian to wea0e parti!lar e0ents into a total 0iew so that these e4perienes an be s!mmed !p and analy6ed. Howe0er# for 3ilhelm ilthey %1GG<;1&11*# absol!te ob?eti0ity is inonei0able. ine people grow !p in !lt!ral en0ironments# they ha0e imbibed the pre0ailing world0iew in addition to their own nat!re. The world0iew that they ha0e de0eloped are olored with perspeti0e from whih people !nderstand their en0ironments and the e0ents that happen. Clearly# this res!lts to s!b?eti0ity aording to ilthey. In onl!sion# history an ser0e as g!ide to present and s!eeding generations in faing the hallenges of the times. 7y pro?eting the people5s aspirations# a people5s history will enable !s to grasp the diretion of the o!ntry5s de0elopment and identify the fators that impede real progress. Tr!ly# the need for a real people5s history beomes more !rgent as we +ilipinos searh for tr!ly +ilipino sol!tions to the problems besetting o!r o!ntry. :. o!res of History
