Transcription of The Age ofDiscovery: Impact on Philippine Culture and Society
1 ,UniversityofHawaiiatManoaandco-sponsore dbytheFilipinoHistoricalSocietyofHawaii. Copyright1992 FIRSTEDmON1992 SECONDEDmON1993 CENTERFORPHILIPPINESTUDlESSchoolofAsian, HawaiianandPacificStudiesUniversityofHaw aiiatManoaPrintedby:HawaiiCorrectionalIn dustriesTheCenterforPhilippineStudieswas originallyestablishedas aProgramin1975toofferaninterdiscipli-nar yacademiccwriculumonPhilippineStudies,pr omotescholarlyresearchandprofessionalint erestinthePhilippinesandFilipinosoversea s,provideinfonnationandeducationalresour cestogroups,individuals,andinstitutionsi nterestedinthePhilippinesorFilipinos,mai ntaina comprehensivehbrarycollectionofPhilippin ematerial, Hawaiian, , ,CenterforPhilippineStudies,Moore415,Uni versityofHawaiiatManoa,Honolulu,Hawaii96 822.
2 (808)956-2686-Fax:(808)956-2682. ' ,Discoveries, :ImpactonPhilippineCultureandSocietySECO NDEDITIONEcUtec1byBELINDA.' ' ' ' ' " (Magellan).aimedathimsomuchthattwicethey shotarrowsrightbyhishead." " ,nowallofasudden, ,thecomfort,andourtrueguide."( ) ., theUniversityofHawaiiat Manoain1992embarkedonanambitiousprogramt oexaminecriticallythemeaningandimpactoft he"AgeofDiscovery"onPhilippinecultureand societyfollowingColumbus' "Columbianlegacy" , :ImpactonPhilippineCultureandSociety,pro vedsosuccessfulthatitwassoonoutofprinLIn responsetothedemandforcopies,particularl yamongschoolteacherswhohavelittleavailab leresourcesonthetopic, , 'smissionistopromoteandassistteachingand researchofthePhilippinesattheUniversitya ndtofoste!
3 'sprojectonthe"AgeofDiscovery"wastheHawa iiCommitteeforHumanities(HCH), , grantof$25, OnOctober12,1992variouspartsoftheworld,n otablyNorthAmerica,ledinthecelebra-tiono robservanceoftheColumbusQuincentenniaLTh ismarkedtheSOOthanniver-saryoftheso-call ed"AgeofDiscovery,"whichwassetin motionbyChristopherColumbus'fatefulvoyag ein1492leadingto the"discovery"ofwhatwastobecomethe"NewWo rld." 'achievementcaughttheimagina-tionofhisco ntemporariesin nowbeingreferredtoasthe"ageofdiscovery"w asactuallya seriesofinvasionsbeginningin the15thcenturyofterritoriesou "cosmographicalknowledge" 'sthrustintothe''NewWorld" ,orroughlynineteenyearsafterCo-lumbus'la ndingontheislandofHispaniolaintheCaribbe an,theCrownofPortugallaidclaimtoMalaccah alfwayaroundtheglobe,in whatis Europeanexpansionintheregion, "thegreatsprawlingcentreofAsiaticcommerc e,legendaryChersonese,empo-riumofmultitu deofnations,Chinese,Arab,Hindu,Japanese, Siamese,andtheislandracesofthesoutheasta rchipelago.
4 "Malaccawastheprinci-paldistributingcent erforcloves,cinnamon,pepperandnutmeggrow nintheMoluccas, ,in1509,LisbondispatchedDiegoLopezdeSequ ieratosurveyMalacca,onthebeliefthattheSp iceIslandswereinthevicin-ity, ,captainedbya certaindeSousa,includedamongitsofficersF erdinandMagellan,whohadbeenanofficerinth ePortuguesepossessionsinIndiaandMalacca, andhisfriendFrancisco ,forthisgreatentrepotwasthekeyto"thewhol efareastemtrade."ThesoldieroffortuneMage llanswitchedhisloyaltiestoSpain,assemble da ,1519fromSanLucar, ,1521,Magellan andhisepoch-makingexpeditionsightedgroun don"theArchipelagoofSanLazaro,"inwhatis nowtheislandofSamarin the , (Felipe) ,theirfirstintroductiontoPhilippinehisto rywasthatthePhilippineswasdiscoveredbyFe rdinandMagellanandthatthefirstCatholicma sswasheldonLimasawa,a "Magellanmyth"wouldliveonforcentu-riesan deveryPhilippinehistorybookwouldin-varia blybeginin1521withthe"discovery.
5 "Magellan' today,the"MagellanHotel"is a 'spredecessorintheAmericas,ChristopherCo lumbus, ,theintrepidnativeleaderonMactanIslandin Cebu,Lapu-lapu,whokilledtheinterferingMa gellanin battle,is ,Lapu-lapuis thenameofa fish(redsnapper).Heis notseenortreatedasa "discovery"oftheislands,an-otherconquist ador,MiguelLopezdeLegazpi,effectivelyann exedforSpainthenewfoundterri-tory,creati ngintheprocesstheprimatecityofManilain15 71asthecenterofconquest,consoli-dation,g overnment,colonialculture,andconver-sion oftheindios(nativepopulation) ,accordingtoSpanishchroniclerAntoniodeMo rga,subjectedto"thesovereignlightoftheho lyGospel,"andthecon-questwasseenasthe"ha ndiworkofHis[KingPhilip's]Royalhands.
6 "Fotthenextthreehundredyears,this"sover- eignlight" brutalizedtheindios,makingthemworkasforc edlaborinthegovernment'svariousprojects, ,theSpaniardsim-posedanalienreligion,Cat holicism, , ,theFilipinonationalherowhowasexecutedby theSpanishauthoritiesinDecember1896forhi sinvolvementintheFilipinonational-istmov ement,exposedthebrutalityandrepres-siono ftheregimeinhistwonovelsNoliMeTangere("S ocialCancer"or"TheLostEden")and 1 Filibusterismo("TheSubversive"or"Reignof Greed").RizalunmaskedtheSpanishhypocrisy which,"underthecloakofreligion,hascometo impoverishandtobrutalizeus." 'ssufferingundertheSpan-ishyokeissymboli zedbythefemalecharacterSisa,wholosesherm indsearchingforhertwosons, , ' 'snovelsalsodepictwomenbeingviolatedbySp anishfriarsandsoldiers,basedonwhatwasact uallyhappeningat ' ,theFilipinoswereprison-ersandslavesinth eirowncountry, , ,whichoriginallyreferredtoSpaniardsborni nthePhilippines(todistinguishthemfromtho sebornin Spain,thepeninsulares,)
7 Thiswaswhatthe"AgeofDiscovery"meanttoFil ipinosinthe16th, 17th, ,followingmorethan200rebellionsinseveral partsofthecountry, , , "bought"thePhilippinesfromSpainfor$20mil -lion, ,essentiallycontinuedthepatternofsocio-e conomicexploitationofthePhilippineswitht hecollaborationofa "democracy"is seenastheAmericanlegacyin ,theColum-busQuincentennialwasobservedwi thvariousactivities,whichsoughttolookint otheimpactofthe"AgeofDiscovery" ,thehighlyinde-pendentbarangays(nativese ttlements) deeperunderstandingoftheconse-quencesoft heEuropeanconquestofthePhilip-pines, a , processcalled"culturalimperialism,"inwhi ch , is "colonialmentality" I',J;I' hasresultedfromthisphenomenonthatFilipin osocialcriticRenatoConstantinocalls"them iseducationoftheFilipino.
8 "Wedonotwanttoromanticizethenativesand"d emonize"theforeignconquerors,asit ,thereisnothingmorethatcanbedonetochange thepastButwecancertainlylearnfromitAndju stasthegroupsinAmericacur-rentlyrethinki ngColumbuswanttodispelthebiasesandmisrep resentationsabouttheWesternconquestthath avebeeninstitutionalized,weontheothersid eoftheglobewhounderwenta similar"culturalencounter"(usuallya euphemismforconquestanddomination) is , , ,Bil~BarbaraMinerandBobPeterson, thinkingColumbus--TeachingAboutthe500thA nniversaryofColumbus' ,Massachusetts:RethinkingSchools, , [thePhilippineIs-lands(SueesosdelasIslas Filipinas). [thePhilippines:TheDiscoveryandConquesto fthePhilippines(/521 I581). , (TheLostEden).]]
9 TranslatedbyLeonMaGuerrero.( ) )(TheSubversive).TranslatedbyLeonMaGuerr ero.( )Scon, , [theIgorors:SpanishConractswiththePagans o[ , , , (1900-1901). partofthemainlandofChinaTheythenwouldhav emovedsouthtonorthernLuzonbywayofa ,some-timebefore40, thattheyenteredPalawanduringtheLatePleis tocenewhenit wasjoinedtoBorneoandthelatterwasa partoftheSoutheastAsiamainlandasa ,000yearsagowithconsiderablehumandeposit sbelow, ,000yearsago,usingsimplestonetoolsandliv inga ,000yearsagoto7000yearsago(Solheim1981:2 2-25).About8,000yearsago,a wayoflifeorientedtotheseabegantodevelopi nsouthernMindanaoandnortheasternIndonesi aThepeoplewhode-velopedthisculture,whomI ,currents,andcoastlinestothenorthandexte ndedtheirexplorationstoTaiwan, ,withneighboringislandsinIndonesiaand,to a havecalledthistimeinthePhilippinestheInc ipientFilipinoPeriodanddatedit from7000to3000yearsago(Solheim1981:25-37 ).]]
10 I havedividedtheIncipientFilipinoPeriodint othreeparts:" , , [my] , , marginofthePhilippinesbecausetheseareeas ierto < ,water-<> :forMiddleIncipient,thespreadofgroundand polishedshellandearlyfOImsofpolishedston etoolsandplain,red-slippedandpaddle-mark edpottery; "(Solheim1981:26).TheNusantaodevelopeda maritimetradingandcommunicationnetworkth roughoutthePhilippineislands,alongthecoa stofChinaandVietNam, ,eastfromeasternIndonesiaandMindanaointo thePacificatthesametime, ,sirnilarculruralelementswereappearingin westernPalawanandlaterintheVisayanIsland s, thesedevelopingFilipinoculturesbutwerebr oughtaboutthroughtheinforma1ionlcommunic ationnetworksoftheNusantao, :"DevelopmenttrendsstanedduringtheIncipi -entPeriodcontinuedduringtbeFormativePe~ ; 'suggesrsincreasingceremonial(atleastinc on~nectionwiththedead),increasingwealth, "imported,fortheyweremadefrommaterialsth ~ , , ; ; , , ;tuseof7ironartifactsinthePbilippines.
