GEd 105

Readings in Philippine History

Batangas State University

READINGS IN
PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
Module in GEd 105
Prepared by:

CONRADO DM REYES
AMIEL ABACAN
FERDINAND AGENA

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|1

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Introduction
This module is intended for all freshmen student, enrolled during the first semester AY 2020-
2021. This is divided into five topics, and further sub-divided into lessons. Each Lesson will
have objectives, lesson proper, learning task and unit activity.

Learning Tasks
Objectives

Lesson Proper Unit Activity

Course Rationale
This course analyzes Philippine history from multiple perspectives through the lens of selected
primary sources. Students are expected to do content and context analysis such as author's
background and main arguments, compare different point of view, identify biases and examine
the evidences presented in the document. The discussion will tackle traditional topics in history
and other interdisciplinary themes that will deepen and broaden the students understanding of
Philippine political, economic, cultural, social, scientific religious history. The end goal is to
develop the historical and critical consciousness of the students so that they will become
versatile, articulate, broadminded, morally upright and responsible citizens.

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Analyze the context, content and perspective of different kinds of sources.

Main Topic I: Introduction to History

Objectives

1. Understand the meaning of history as an academic discipline and to be familiar with the
underlying philosophy and methodology of the discipline.
2. Know the difference between primary and secondary sources
3. Examine and assess critically the value of historical evidences and sources
4. Appreciate research method in history

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|2

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Lesson Proper

Lesson 1
History: Introduction and Historical Sources

A. Definition
History refers to the study and interpretation by a historian on the data and other source
of the past human activity, people, societies and civilizations leading to the present day. There
are three important concepts in the definition. First history as we all know is based on past
events. Second it is interpreted by someone usually by historian. They gather, discard and
interpret the sources that they encounter. And finally and the most important history rely on data
and documents which historian call as historical sources.

Like other social science the subject matter of history is the life of people and humanity.
But history has always been known as the study of the past. While this definition of history is not
wrong, it is incomplete. Etymologically, the word history came from the Greek word Historia
which means inquiry. Clearly the word Historia does not mean past events. It denotes asking
question or investigation of the past done by person trained to do so or by persons who are
interested in human past. We can say that historical account must be based on all available
relevant evidence. Therefore a version of the past that cannot be supported by the evidence is
worthless.
Ever heard the taong-ahas story? The half human, half snake creature that supposedly
stalked the ladies room of one of the department store in Manila. The most famous victim of this
creature was supposedly the actress Alice Dixson. It happened three decades ago when Alice
Dixson was only 21 years old. Because it happened in the past, would that story qualify as
history? Or would that story classify as gossip or urban legend?
C. History and the Historian
Historian is an expert or student of history, especially that of a particular period,
geographical region or social phenomenon. There are many duties of a historian. These
historians seek not only historical evidence and facts but also to interpret these facts. He also
gives meaning to these facts and organizes them chronologically. A person who must be able to
recognize the evidence, decide how useful it is and come to conclusion based on what he has
found out. The historian therefore is responsible for reconstructing the past. According to
Gottschalk, historian is many times removed from the events under investigation. He added that
only a part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those who observed it, only a
part of what was remembered was recorded; only a part of what was recorded has survived, only
a part of what was survive has come to the historian attention Moreover only a part of what is
credible has been grasped, and only a part of what has been grasped can expounded or narrated
by the historian.

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|3

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Some authors define history as a study of historical perspective. In reconstructing the

past, a historian can be subjective; after all he is human, fallib
memories are filled with bias, self righteousness, pride, vanity, spinning, obstruction and outright
lies. Each has his own frame of reference or a set of interlocking values, loyalties assumptions
interest and principle of action. The historian is influenced by his own environment, ideology,
education and influence. His interpretation of the historical fact is affected by his context and
an elephant and the blind men, historians have
different historical perspective.

Because certain events happened so long ago and because sometimes the evidence is
incomplete, historians have different approaches and views about what happened in the past.
This is the subjective nature of history, one historian claims an event happened a certain way,
while another disagree completely. The best approach is to do all we can to reconstruct as fully
as possible our picture of the past. To do this, most scholars use historiography or what they call
history of history. Historiography is the study of how history was written, by whom and why it
was recorded as such. It is concerned with how historians have presented history. Interpretation
about the past can be objective or true as long as they are free of inherent contradictions, are not
contrary to the laws of nature and are based on actual remains from the time period referred to.
There should also a scientific discourse among historians on a particular controversial event. If
an idea that say Jose Rizal retracted on being a mason stand up to the critique of historian who
are the skeptical of his retraction then the idea must be true. One big advantage of historiography
is that the liars of history are usually quite transparent.
Another way for a historian to be objective is to follow the historical method. It is the
ces. An agreed ground rules for researching and
writing academic research or professional history. An objective historian must verify sources, to
date them, locate the place of origin and identify their intended functions. It is important for a
historian to base their accounts on source materials.

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|4

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

D. Sources of History
Historical sources are tangible remains of the past. It is an object from the past or
testimony concerning the past on which historians depend in order to create their own depiction
of the past. There are three kinds of sources namely: primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.
Primary sources
A primary source is a testimony of an individual who was a participant in or a direct
witness to the event that is being described. It is a document or physical object which was written
or created during the time under a study. Those sources were present during an experience or
time period and offer an inside view of a particular event. Primary sources are characterized by
their content, regardless of whether they are available in original format, in microfilm, in digital
format or in published format.
There are five main categories of primary sources. It includes written sources, numerical
records, oral statements, relics, and images. The most common are written sources or documents.
They are written or printed materials that have been produced in one form or another sometime
in the past. They may be published materials such as travelogue, transcription of speech,
autobiographies, journals or newspapers (La Solidaridad). They can be also in manuscript form
or any handwritten or type record that has not been printed. Example of these is archival
materials, memoirs, diary, personal letter or correspondence. The next category is the numerical
records which include any type of numerical data in printed or handwritten form. The third
category is oral statements which include any form of statement made orally by an eyewitness. It
maybe through video recordings, audio recordings, or transcribed. Another category is the relics
or any objects whose physical or visual characteristics can provide some information about the
past. These include artifacts, ruins and fossils. The last category of primary sources is the
images. It includes photograph, posters, paintings, drawing cartoons and maps.
Primary sources: Written sources

Travelogue

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|5

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Newspaper

Archival material

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|6

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Memoir

Primary source: Numerical Records

Printed numerical graph

Primary source: Oral statements

“My first day was a scary one. There was a patient whose earlobes were so long…he had no
nose, only two holes on his face, and no fingers, only the palm of his hands…the other
patients were in different stages of deformity.”
Sr. Maria Luisa Montenegro, SPC 1940
Oral statement of an eyewitness to the Culion Leper Colony

A person interviewing an eyewitness

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|7

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Primary source: Relics

Artifacts (Balanginga Bells)

Ruins

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|8

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Fossil (Callao man)

Primary sources: Images

Photograph (Bud Dajo Massacre)

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 Page|9

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

Painting

Cartoon

Map (Murillo Velarde map c.1734)

Secondary Sources
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or
more steps removed from the event. It is prepared by an individual who was not direct witness to
an event, but not who obtained his or her description of the event from someone else. Secondary
sources may have pictures, votes or graphics of primary sources in them. Some types of
secondary sources are history textbook, printed materials (serials or periodicals which interpret
previews research), biographies, nonfiction text such as newspaper, magazine, journals, works of
criticism and interpretation.
Tertiary Source
The last kind of sources is the tertiary source. It provides third hand information by
reporting ideas and details from secondary source. An eyewitness is more reliable than testimony

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 P a g e | 10

 GEd 105
Readings in Philippine History
Batangas State University

at second hand, which is more reliable than hearsay or tertiary sources. This does not mean that
tertiary sources have no value, merely that they include potential for an additional layer of bias.
Some examples of this kind of source are encyclopedia, almanac, Wikipedia, YouTube,
dictionaries, message boards, social media sites and other search sites.

Learning Tasks

Severino and answer the following questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54R1nWALZFw&t=601s
.1. What are the primary sources you encountered in the documentary? Secondary sources?
Tertiary sources?
2. Why did Constancio Ongpin and Mara Pardo de Tavera had different interpretation about the
same event? Based on the sources they presented who is more convincing among the two?
Why?
3. Did Howie Severino presented the documentary objectively? Explain your answer.
References
A. Textbook
Candelaria Jhon Lee P. and Veronica C. Alphorha. Readings in Philippine history -
Rex Book Store 2018
Solmerano, Ernesto Thaddeus et. al. Readings in Philippine History. Fast Books
Educational Supply Inc. 2018
Torres, Jose Victor, Batis; Sources in Philippine History. C&E Publishing, Inc. 2018

B. Other References
Gottschalk, Louis. A Primer of Historical Method. Alfred A. Knopf 1950
Howell, Martha and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to
Historical Method. Cornell University Press 2001
Navarro, Atoy M. Ang Bagong Kasaysayan sa Wikang Filipino. Palimbagan ng Lahi.
2000
Orillos-Juan, Florina. Historical Method. Commission on Higher Education. Aug. 12,
2016. De La Salle University -Manila
Severino, Howie (Feb.27, 2016) Savage: Juan Luna in Paris. I-Witness, GMA 7 retrieved
Aug.10, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54R1nWALZFw&t=706s
Scott, William Henry. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History.
New Day Publication 1984

Module|Technical Working Committee | 2020 P a g e | 11