Rotten Beef And Stinking Fish

ROTTEN BEEF AND STINKING
FISH: RIZAL AND THE WRITING
OF PHILIPPINES HISTORY
Ambeth R. Ocampo

3 Stages on Writing Philippine History
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Colonizers’ History
Elites’ History
People’s History

History
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Three concepts
1) history-as-activity
-past human activities and events
2) history-as-record
-records of such past human events
3) history-as-historiography
-process or technique of making or writing such records

History
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Estoria – Greek
Historia – Latin
Historie – French
History – English
Distinction Between Fossils and
Artifacts

Historiography
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Historiography means “to write history”
Historia (history) + graphus (to write)
Oral Historiography

History
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[written] records of past human events definite in time and place, social in nature and socially significant
Social-causal relations and development of people and society

3 Stages of Culture
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Paleolithic Culture
Transition Period: Discovery of Fire and
Planting
Mesolithic Culture
Transition Period: Formation of a village Neolithic Culture
Use of Metals in agriculture, weaponry and household tools

Civilization – “advanced” culture Factors/Elements of Civilization
 Political Organization
 Social Structure/Stratification
 Economic surplus/trading
 System of Writing
 Intellectual advancement/progress
(inventions, technology)
 Common Language
 One Belief
 Metallurgy and Metalworking

Historical Assertions of Rizal on Philippine
Early Civilization
Jose Rizal asserts that the Philippine archipelago already housed a sophisticated civilization even before the arrival of the Spniards.
 Ancient Syllabary (system of writing)
 Metallurgy and Metalworking
 Shipbuilding
 Trading with China and other neighboring islands in Southeast Asia

Why did Rizal choose Morga’s Work?
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Antonio de Morga was the governor-general in the
Philippines (1593-1603). He was not only an eyewitness but also a leading actor in the happenings in the islands at the time.
He recorded his observations and happenings in the islands in a civilian point of view not those of religious’ in his work “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas”
(Happenings in the Philippine Islands).
Morga was the most objective in his writings about early Philippine culture, people and society than
Spanish priests who wrote only the history of their religion in the islands, with deus ex machina and miracle stories.

For your self-study questions: 
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Who is Antonio de Morga?
How did the critics, including his friend Ferdinand
Blumentritt, responded to Pepe’s historical assertions? Do you agree that Rizal’s annotation of Morga’s work was a breakthrough in the writing of Philippine history from a Filipino point of view?
Are you convinced that there was a civilization in the Philippines before the coming of the Spaniards?
(Note: Please watch the documentary film, “Gintong
Pamana” by the program, Probe, hosted by Cheche
Lazaro at youtube.com for your reference)