Tan - A History of the Philippines

Copyright Samuel K. Tan 2008

First published in print by University of the Philippines Press 2008

Cover Design by Zenaida N. Ebalan

ePub design and production by Flipside team

eISBN 978-971-9922-30-8

This e-book edition published 2011
by University of the Philippines Press
and Flipside Digital Content Company, Inc.
Quezon City, Philippines

www.uppress.com

www.flipsidecontent.com

Foreword

There is a wealth of published literature on Philippine history, and the boundaries of Philippine historiography have expanded considerably since the postwar period. However, a major deficiency in Philippine historiography is still the dearth of historical works that deal with the totality of Filipino culture and the Filipino nation. Consequently misinformation, prejudices, and biases between and among the different communities of Filipinos have continued to separate and isolate many of us. There are those, for instance, who would articulate the need to search for a Filipino identity (as if we do not really know who or what we are) or who would even question the very existence of the Filipino nation. A serious study of our history and culture would very easily settle these doubts and questions about our identity as a people and a nation.

A History of the Philippines, herein offered by Dr. Samuel K. Tan, former chairman and professor in the Department of History of the University of the Philippines and presently chairman and executive director of the National Historical Institute, offers a conceptual framework of what he calls the story of man in the Philippines in the context of the specific ecological system and distinctive historical experience that have shaped his particular character and identity. Dr. Tan provides in this slim volume a picture of Philippine culture which, he writes, ought to be understood from the totality of the ethnolinguistic varieties which constitute the fabric of Filipino society. Hence he divides Filipino cultural communities into three main groupsthe Moros, the Indios, the Infielescolonial categories, but nevertheless reflective of what evolved in the Philippines as a result of the historical processes that have transpired in the island world of the Filipinos.

A very vital and relevant aspect of the Filipino national experience, in Dr. Tans consideration, is the struggle of the Filipino toward nationhood, identity, and destinya struggle against nature, man, and himself. To underline this theme of history, Dr. Tan explains thus:

in seeking to understand Philippine culture through the cultures of the cultural communities it is imperative to see the interaction between the diversity and the unity of cultural elements and features. It is not practical to merely view Philippine culture from the frameworks of Islamic and Christian civilizations although both have become parts of the Filipino way of life. In effect, one has to go beyond Islam and Christianity to appreciate the values and aspirations of the numerous ethnolinguistic groups which form the fabric of Filipino society. To do this, we have to adopt certain basic assumptions which are particularly crucial to the Filipino struggle for identity and independence: first, that, however plagued by conflicts and unrest the Philippines is, Philippine society is governed by a distinct geo-historical process which resists fragmentation; second, that the imperatives of Christian and Islamic traditions in Filipino culture are not as crucial to unity as the indigenous foundations of Filipino heritage; and finally, that the secular nature of Philippine realities presents the only meaningful basis for the ultimate fusion of the otherwise disintegrative factors in Philippine history, culture, and society.

This seems a most sensible framework that can be used to rewrite Philippine history that will fill in the gaps in Philippine historiography and heal some of the wounds that have festered among the various cultural communities of Filipinos. Thus, Dr. Tans book is a timely addition to the literature that will mark the commemoration of the Philippine Centennial in 1998.

It is in line with this writing of a new Philippine history that the Manila Studies Association and the Philippine National Historical Society offer the publication of this book as the initial step toward the realization of that project.

Bernardita Reyes Churchill

President

Manila Studies Association, Inc.

Philippine National Historical Society, Inc.

October 15, 1997

Preface

This small volume is more of an approach to the study of Philippine history rather than a classroom text. Consequently, details such as dates, events, persons, etc. usually found in standard texts are not as emphasized as concepts or interpretation. The reason is simply to just present my own interpretation of history extracted from lectures delivered in classes and seminars. The encouragement to put the lectures in such a compressed form as this publication came from students, friends, and associates.

One concern I have tried to fulfill in this modest offering is to give the cultural communities, the other Filipinos, a space they deserve in Philippine history. They have lost practically all the wherewithal for social, political, and economic progress to the process of modernization whose erosive impact on traditional rights to resources has resulted in social marginalization. Unless a new spirit of nationalism and Filipinism changes the neocolonial tendency to ignore the legitimate cries of the cultural communities, the foundation of national unity and peace will remain fragile. The least that can be done by those in the academic and intellectual community is to give equal importance to their history and culture. I hope I have contributed in a small measure to this aim.

S.K.T.

Introduction

What fundamentally separates man from any other in the animal world is the intellect Nature or God has given him whose creative potential and capacity are limitless. It is a gift that allows him to transcend what is ordinarily impossible. It is the only singular tool which helps him overcome the challenges of man and nature and attain progress, which is the essence of culture and the subject of history.

In effect, what distinguishes one stage of human society from another is the uniqueness of its culture, the expression or evidence of its creativity. In fact, it is the cultural dimension of civilization that should be the focus of historical inquiry. Consequently, even the geography, economy, politics, and social affairs of people find true meaning in this dimension. Without this mark of his development, man ceases to be human. He becomes like other living forms that react to stimuli from instincts and follow the struggle for survival of the species.

Thus, the story of man in the Philippines is in a way a glimpse of a global pattern where human societies have emerged. Only a specificity of the ecological system and distinctiveness of historical experience give the Filipino process its own particular character and identity.

The story of man on the planet Earth has been told through the ages in various ways and by all sorts of people. Their creations have come down to us first as myths, legends, epics, short narratives, and other forms which are called oral literature. Then, as man began to appreciate his own worth for posterity, he started to put in written or concrete forms the important activities, thoughts, and sentiments that constitute what he hoped to pass on to the next generation. Written history thus became one of the most enduring, albeit controversial, contributions of man to the development of knowledge. Today, when we talk of history we usually think of the written legacies that have become a very vital part of human heritage.