GEC 2

Readings in
Philippine History
An Introduction
History
 Historywas derived from the Greek word “historia”,
which means knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation.”
 History
became known as the account of the past of a
person or of a group of people through written
documents and historical evidences.
 Historywas focused on writing about wars, revolutions
and other important individuals like monarchs, heroes,
saints, and nobilities.
 Importance of History
it is important to draw insights from
the ideas and realities that have
shaped the lives of men and women
and the society.
 Why study history?

To learn about the past. To

understand the present. And, to
prepare for the future!
Historical Sources
Primary sources

 Sourcesthat are produces at the same time as the

event, period, or subject being studied.
 Theyare materials produced by people or groups
directly involved in the event or topic being studied.
 Thesepeople are either participants or eyewitness to
the event.
 These sources range from eyewitness accounts, diaries,
letters, legal documents , official documents
(government or private), and even photographs.
Secondary sources

 Gottchalk simply defines secondary sources as “the

testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness—that
is of one who was not present at the event of which
he tells”.
 These are books, articles, and scholarly journals that
had interpreted primary sources or had used them to
discuss certain subjects of history.
 The best way to appreciate a country is to live in it and to learn
about its history and culture.
 In our study of Philippine History, we will correct an impression held
by most Filipinos who have only studied their country’s heritage
partially.
 Filipinos have been held for “three hundred years in the convent,
fifty years in “Hollywood”, and perhaps three years in the
“Kempeitai”- which refer to the eras when Spanish, American, and
Japanese colonizers respectively.
 Patriotism, or the love of country, comes from a balanced
appreciation of all the factors which make the history of the
country, and that includes both the good and the bad aspects of the
past.
Philippines
 The Philippines is a tropical and archipelagic country found in Southeast Asia.

Endowed with rich natural resources and a warm hospitable people, it has its

own share of political and economic challenges to meet.

 Geographically, the Philippines is in Asia, but by race and culture, the Filipinos

are a harmonious blend of the East and the West.

 Our western heritage , largely acquired from Spain and America, has made us

distinctly different from other Asian nations. Because of Christianity and

Islam, our Eurasian and American education and customs, and our intelligent

assimilation of Asian, Latin, European and American civilizations, we are

eminently qualified to bridge the East and the West.

Geography

 The Philippine is an archipelago lying southeast of the coast of the

mainland of Asia. It is located above the equator and thus, belongs to
the northern hemisphere. Of approximately, 7,107 islands and islets
that compose the archipelago, some 4,000 have no names. Luzon,
Mindanao, Negros, Samar, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu and
Bohol are the ten biggest islands.

 The northernmost island is Luzon is just 100 kilometers away from the
island of Taiwan, formerly called Formosa. North and West of the
archipelago lies the disputed South China Sea/West Philippine Sea, to
the East is the Pacific Ocean; and to the South are the Celebes Sea and
the waters of Borneo.
Climate

 The Philippines has a TROPICAL and MARITIME CLIMATE

which is tempered by the breeze from the Pacific Ocean on
the east and the China Sea on the west.
 Based on rainfall and temperature, there are two major
seasons: the dry season which extends from December to
May, and the wet seasons which extends from June to
November. The period from the late November to February
is usually cool. May is often the hottest month of the year
and January is the coldest.
Customs
 The family has a very close family ties. The family has been the unit of
society and everything revolves around it.
 Respects for the Elders- is one Filipino trait that has remained in the
book of unwritten laws. The Filipino parent exercises almost the absolute
powers over the children.
 The Filipino is naturally fatalistic. No amount of expostulation on the
virtues of science or logic can dislodge him from his idea of fatalism. He
believes that whatever happens to the phrase “Bahala Na”, a phrase
that defies translation but which may rendered loosely as “come what
may”.
 Loyalty to a friend or to a benefactor is one trait that is very strong to
the Filipino. Do him a little favor and he remembers you to the end of his
days.
 The American, then, suspects that the Filipino is sensitive. He
would not tolerate anyone berating his countryman. He is easily
piqued when a foreigner, for instance, makes a sweeping
generalization that is not flattering to the Filipinos, no matter how
true the observation may be.
 The tendency to be indolent is certainly a trait of the Filipino.
Rizal explained this tendency as the result of the tropical climate
which makes even the Westerner indolent in these parts of
Paradise.
 Lack of Initiative. This trait is explained by a natural fear of
competition, for Filipino society is cooperative, not competitive.
 Hiya or Kahihiyan is another value. It means a
means of shame. To the Filipino, just other Asian
people, hiya is something that a person must
possess to a high degree. A person without hiya is
called walang hiya or shameless.
Government

 The Philippines is a constitutional republic with three co-equal branches: the

executive, legislative and judiciary.
 The executive branch was headed by the President and Vice President,
administers the functions of the government through the cabinet that is made
up of departments and headed by department secretaries.
 Early Settlers
 Some theories on Philippine prehistory suggest that the
Philippines and the rest of the Islands in Southeast Asia
may have been sites of human evolution between
200,000 and 300,000 years ago.
 IceAge- a period in the Earth’s history when ice sheets
covered the surface of the earth causing the sea level
to drop to 200 meters, to the level lower than they are
today.
 Because of Ice age, large areas of land came to the
surface and formed “land bridges” to mainland Asia .
 In 1962, a skull cap of man was discovered in the Tabon Caves of Palawan.
From this skull, archeologists learned that man had been in the Philippines for
at least 22,000 years. The cave where the Tabon Man was found was dated
back to half million years old and had been occupied for more or less 50,000
years.