Name: Cherry Mae Baring SOCSCI031 TTH 1:30 -3:00

SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS

The book “Sucesos de Las Islas Filipinas” portrays the Filipinos from the views of the
Spaniards that talks about the circumstances of the Philippines, specifically, the history of our
nation. It describes the condition of the country when under the occupation of the Spaniards.
This book was written by Dr. Antonio de Morga, a Spanish lawyer and historian. The value of
Antonio de Morga's Sucesos de las Islas has long been recognized. It is a first-hand account of
the early Spanish colonial venture into Asia; it was published in Mexico in 1609 and has since
been re-edited on a number of occasions. It serves as an account of his observations about the
Filipinos and the Philippines during his stay in Manila (since 1593) as lieutenant governor – the
second in the highest rank of position.

The Sucesos is the work of an honest observer, himself a major actor in the drama of his
time, a versatile bureaucrat, who knew the workings of the administration from the inside. It is
also the first history of the Spanish Philippines to be written by a layman, as opposed to the
religious chroniclers. It contains eight chapters that talks about the circumstances of the
Philippines, specifically, the history of our nation. It also depicts the condition of the country
when under the occupation of the Spaniards. He wrote the book “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas”
because of his interest in the Philippines and the people. The first seventh chapter basically
contains about the events in politics in the colony of eleven governors of the Philippines
starting from Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. The eighth chapter of the book was the most
sensational part because he described how Indies are treated during the Spanish period.
However, there are loads of errors found in the book according to Jose Rizal, our Philippine
National Hero. In Rizal’s annotation, he includes the understanding and enlightenment about
the details of the book and also, he gave an extra knowledge of the stated information of de
Morga about the Philippines or the Filipinos.

The book is praised for its truthful, straightforward, and fair account of the early colonial
period from the perspective of a Spanish colonist. It gives information that focuses the
similarities of the values of different places, and the values then was developed because of the
collaboration and friendships that formed by the people from different places of the country.