Rizal’s interpretation of history with regards to his annotations on Morga’s book makes both a boon and a bane to Philippine nationalism. There were necessary historical assertions being made in his time and purposes but recent educators refuse to see Rizal’s work in the context of modern scholarship. Although most of his historical assertions were being validated by recent research, however, there were eminent flaws as seen in his reconstruction of pre-Hispanic Philippine civilization. Rizal may seem to write the Philippine pre-Hispanic history as an imperative to understand history and culture as crucial components in advancing “national emancipation”, but his annotations which, though historically based, did not have the benefit of late twentieth century research.
Rizal’s view that the pre-Hispanic Filipinos had an advanced knowledge in metallurgy, the evidence being the fine cannons made by an indio named Panday Pira (Clemente 119). Although Morga made only a passing reference to this indio artillery-maker, Rizal elaborated in his annotation, stressing that
That is, an indio who already knew how to found cannons even before the
arrival of the Spaniards, hence the epithet 'old.' In this difficult branch
of metallurgy, as in others, the presentday Filipinos or the new indios
are very much behind the old indios (italics mine; 23).
However, in Retana’s edition of Morga, his long footnotes on Panday Pira contain transcriptions of sixteenth century archival documents from Seville which refutes Rizal’s assertions that cannon-making was a flourishing indigenous industry (Retana 406). Historical evidence provided by Retana is supported by recent archaeological research. Dr. Eusebio Quezon, Chief of the Archaeology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines, showed that the indios were metal-using people, but did not possess the metallurgical knowledge attributed to them by Rizal or the subsequent historians who drew on Rizal’s work. Although it is possible that the indios were capable of forging the small cannons but it was not meant for warfare but of ornamental designs (Ocampo 199).
Another is pertaining to the literary works of early indios. Using Morga, Chirino and other early chronicles that mention the pre-Hispanic Philippine syllabary, Rizal goes one step further in assuming that there was a great volume of written literature at the time the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. However, at present, there is no extant body, not even a fragment, of this pre-Hispanic written literature. The Jesuit Chirino mentions that he burned a "book" which was condemned as the "work of the devil." From this small reference has sprung the general view that the missionaries destroyed all pre-Hispanic "books" and manuscripts (Craig 1929). However, it is higly improbable. The missionaries are blamed for a long-lost pre-Hispanic literature which probably did not exist. Recent anthropological research has yielded a wealth of oral literature, which is .believed to go back to pre-Hispanic times. The Philippines has a large body of complex literature, such as that in Palawan, which has a complete cosmology and mythology. But this is an oral literature, and is only now being recorded and transcribed, to be preserved in printed form (Ocampo 201).
It may be argued that Rizal did not have the benefit of late twentieth century research. His work, no doubt, was commendable for its time. He even wanted to share the past of the Philippines before unrolling the present state of our native land (during Spanish colonization) to better judge and estimate how much progress has been made during the three centuries of Spanish rule and to rectify what was falsified (Rizal 1962), but in his zeal to recreate the greatness of the lost pre-Hispanic Philippine civilization, he sometimes drew on imagination more than evidence. Thus, making his annotations both a boon and a bane in some context. Rizal's historical annotations have to be seen in this light.
References:
Clemente, Tina S., Rizal’s Morga and insights into pre-Hispanic institutions and trade, The PhiliPPine Review of economics Vol. XlVIII No. 2 December 2011 pp. 117-150.
Ocampo, Ambeth R., Rizal’s Morga and Views of Philippine History, Philippine Studies vol. 46, no. 2 (1998): 184–214, Copyright © Ateneo de Manila University.
Austin Craig, 1929, Rizal's Life and Minor Writtings, pp 310-331.
Retana, W.E. ed. 1909. Succsos dc las Islas Filipinas. Madrid: Libreria General de Victoriano Suarez, Retrieved at Ocampo, Ambeth R., Philippine Studies vol. 46, no. 2 (1998).