The Geological Foundation and the Beginnings of the Filipino Society and Culture During the Pre-Spanish Period in the

Philippines

The beginnings of the Filipino society and culture can be viewed from the geological and paleontological studies conducted by Jocano in his book Philippines Pre- History: An Anthropological overview of the Beginnings of the Filipino Society and Culture provided comprehensive discussion along these areas. He viewed that tracing the emergence of man and the development of his culture in the Philippines is a complex task.It requires an inter-disciplinary approach. That is, data from disciplines other than archaeology are also important in shedding light on the intricate problem of reconstructing pre-historic lifeways. Furthermore, he mentioned that prehistoric cultures were as much products adaptation to specific ecological niches as contemporary cultures are. This eventually led the structuring of the Filipino society and culture until finally made contacts with the Asian neighbors. The natural setting he presented also provided a comprehensive background about the geological foundation of the Philippines.1

The Comparative Geologic Time Scale in the Study of Geological Foundation of the Philippines

1. Archeozoic Period ( 1,500- 925 million years) – First traces of life form.

2. Proterozoic Period ( 925-570 million years)-Few simple life forms.

3. Paleozoic Period ( 570-225 milion years)

3.1 Cambrian ( 570-500 million years) - First abundant record of marine life.

3.2 Ordovician(500- 440 million years)- First fishes; invertebrates dominant

3.3 Silurian ( 440 – 395 million years) –First terrestrial plants and animals.

3.4 Devonian ( 395-345 million years) – First amphibians; fish abundant.

3.5 Carboniferous ( 345 – 280 million years)

3.5.1 Mississipian ( 345-320 million years) –Sharks and amphibians abundant; large scale trees and ferns.

3.5.2 Pennsylvanian (320-280 million years) – Great coal forests; conifers first reptiles.

3.6 Permian ( 280-225 million years) – Extinction of many kinds of marine animals.

3.7

4. Mesozoic Period

4.1 Triassic ( 225-190 million years) – First dinossaurs; abundant conifers.

4.2 Jurassic( 190-136 million years) – Fist birds, first mammals; dinossaurs abundant.

4.3 Cretaceous ( 136-53 million years)

4.3.1 Lower Cretaceous ( 136-110 million years) – First flowering plants; climax of dinosaurs.

4.3.2 Upper Cretaceous ( 110- 85 million years) – First placental mammals

4.3.3 Maestrichian (100- 65 million years ) First Primates

4.3.4 Paleocene ( 65-53 million years) Diversified hoofed mammal

5. Cenozoic Period

5.1 Tertiary ( 53 – 2 million years)

5.1.1 Eocene ( 53 –37 million years) – many modern types of mammals

5.1.2 Oligocene ( 37- 26 million years)- Large running mammals

5.1.3 Miocene ( 26-7 million years) First abundant grazing animals

5.1.4 Pliocene ( 7-2 million years) Large carnivoress

6. Pleistocene Period ( 500,000-9,000 years)

6.1 Lower Pleistocene( 2 million –500,000 years )

6.1.1 Villa Franchian ( Europe/ North America)

6.1.2 Gunz Glacial ( Europe)/ Jerseyan Glacial ( North America)

6.1.3 First Interglacial

6.1.4 Kanjeran Pluvial – for South and East Africa

6.2 Middle Pleistocene (500,000-105,000 years)

6.2.1 Mindel Glacial ( Europe) Kansan Glacial( North America) Interpluvial/ Kamasian Interfluvial for South and East Africa)

6.2.2 Second Interglacial

6.2.3 Riss Glacial ( Europe)/ Illinoian- Iowan Glacial ( North America) Interpluvial for South and East Africa

6.3 Upper Pleistocene ( 105,000 – 9.000 years)

6.3.1 Third Interglacial

6.3.2 Wurm Glacial for Europe and North America

6.3.3 Gamblian Pluvial for South and East Africa

6.4 Holocene ( 9,000 years and below)

6.4.1 Post Glacial for Europe and North America

6.4.2 Postpluvial for South and East Africa

The overview of the geological and paleontological studies presented by Jocano in relation to the geologic time scale as presented in natural science to identify the era and epoch of development specifically on the land formation until finally to the migration and the structuring of Filipino. Geological and paleontological studies suggest that living things appeared on earth as early as 1,500 million years ago, during the era known in geology as Archeozoic period. This was followed by Proterozoic Period, the time when early life forms abounded on earth. The Proteozoic , as is known today, is estimated to have extended from 925 to 505 million years.Other scientists have lumped all of these eras in geological history into one generalized time-scale as preCambiran.The most important materials on the evolution of man and his culture are

found in the Cenozoic era or the age of more advanced forms of animals.2

The Tertiary is the period in the geological history of the earth when mammals, including primates became dominant. The two major events in the tertiary periods.

a) The earth surface underwent tremendous changes known to geologists as land uplift.

b) Land uplift was brought about radical changes in climatic and other ecological conditions favorable to mammalian adaptation

According to Jagor before the Tertiary uplift most of such Asiatic areas as the Iranian plateau, Turkestan, Indian subcontinent, and Tibet were submerged under a sea known geologically as the Tethys sea. When the great uplift occurred as a result of such phenomena as volcanic eruptions and faulting due to crustal deformation, this ancient sea receded and shrank in size, part of which is now known as the Mediterranean. The scope of the movement of land in Asia is well – documented by the Eocene sediments of the tethys sea found about 20,000 feet above sea level in Tibet. One can form a good mental image of the world-wide elevation of the land that resulted form this massive uplift by referring to the present heights of the Alps, the Rockies, Andes, and the Everest mountain ranges. The high mountain ranges were formed during the tertiary.3

Basic Land Formation and Structure in the Philippines

Geologically, it was during the tertiary period that basic land structure of the Phillippines was defined, especially during the Eocene and Oligocene periods. Some scientists suggest that it was at the terminals period of the mesozoic. This suggestion is based on the presence of cherts and slates in many parts of the archipelago which contian unicellular forms belonging to the radiolarian fauna, which appeared probably during the Jurassic, middle Mesozoic Age.4

Basically, the framework of the Philippines was the same as it appears today, with slight modification as readjustment of island forms occurred in various phases of their geologic evolution. The causes of these readjustments are many; the best known are faulting and folding of the earth’s crust, volcanic activities and erosion.5

The probable connection of the Philippines with Taiwan was presented as to the similar basement rock deposits, some fossil-bearing guide markers as various horizons and paleobotanical

materials on floral affinities that appeared during the early tertiary period. Specifically, Jocano explained this probable connection of the Philippines in the following: 6

1. Sedimentary deposits containing species of Viscarya callosa Jenkins and Lepido cyclina which can be encountered in the Philippines can also be encountered in Formosa. These materials could have not been transported at great distance , which fact attests to the existence of a land connection. This is reinforced by similar species of pine trees found in the highlands of Central Cordillera in Luzon.

2. Although the Formosan “bridge” was totally lost about the middle of the Tertiary, the southern links of the archipelago with other areas remained. These links were neither continuous nor direct stretches of land ;at most, they were a series of isthmuses, cut through by shallow waters.The western connection, particularly the one which linked Palwana to Borneo become dry land during the Pleistocene which followed the Pliocene period. The eastern connection which linked eastern Mindanao to northern Celebes and New Guinea remained as series of islet.

3. As the connection with other areas changed the internal structure of the archipelago also underwent changes. During the Pliocene, extensive coral reefs and their associated marls and sandstones were laid. Geologists refer to this time scale as the period of subsidence. It was characterized by the flattening of the crustal surface of the existing higher grounds.The greater part of the archipelago was covered by water. The central plains of Luzon, Cagayan Valley, and the central region of Mindanao, which were lowlands, became completely submerged until the Pleistocene times.

4. Small islands and narrow strips of land masses started to appear in other parts of the country. Land above the sea at this time included that of eastern Davao, Samar, Leyte, and the eastern coast of Luzon ( starting from Bundoc Peninsula), the Sulu archipelago, the portion of Westen Zamboanga, western Panay, Tablas and Masbate. These were all narrow strips of coral reefs,as were the eastern Zambales part of the Lingayen area and the northern ilocos coast.

5. Asia, the exposed shelf known as the Sunda became vast dryland of considerable importance. It covered an area of 1,800,000 square kilometers and extended from the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, to Palawan. On the Australian side, the continental bank known as Sahul was also

exposed. It covered the islands of New Guinea, part of Celebes, and the outlying groups close to Timor Islands.

Waves of Migration in the Philippines

The most widely known version of the peopling of the Philippines during the prehistoric times is the theory of Prof. H. Otley Meyer. The theories of Prof. Beyer about Philippine prehistory on the waves of migration are now under attack by the new breeds of historians and anthropologists. Indeed the migration of ancient Filipinos cannot now be held tenable due to many questions about the manner in which this theory was postulated, and the be archeological evidence which challenge many of Dr. Beyer’s hypotheses . These are presented below on the ancestors of the Filipinos came in different” waves of migration.7

1) The Cave-man ”Dawn Man” Group

This type was similar to the Java Man, Peking Man, and other Asian homo sapiens of 250,000 years ago. Beyer called the first Filipino the “ Dawn Man,” for he appeared at the dawn time. It is claimed that he reached the Philippines through land bridges.

a) Thickly haired and brawny had no knowledge in agriculture.

b) He lived by means of gathering wild plants, by fishing and hunting.

c) Hunting, for that time many Pleistocene animals such as boars, deer, rhinoceros, small and giant elephants.

2) Negritos Group

The aboriginal pygmy group, who came between 25,0000 and 30,000 years ago. Again they walked across the land bridges from the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and the Australian connection. Hence they looked like the aborigines. After their arrival, the land bridges became submerged under the seas, and the Negritos lived permanently in the archipelago and became its first settlers. They are also known as Aeta, Ati or Ita.The negritos are among the smallest people on earth. They are usually 5 feet tall, with black skin, dark kinky hair, round eyes,a nd flat noses. The Aetas are primitive people with culture belonging to the Old Stone Age. ( Paleolitic)

a) They had no permanent dwelling but wandered in the forests, living by hunting, fishing, and foraging for wild plants.

b) Their homes consisted of temporary sheds made of tree branches and jungle leaves.

c) They wore little clothing.

d) They had no community life and only practiced the crudest religion, with a belief in charms, amulets, fetishes, or even animal and human sacrifices.

e) They were among the world’s best archers and herbalists.

3. Indonesion Group

These were the maritime Indonesians, who belonged to the Mongoloid race with Caucasian feature, who came about 5,000 -6,00 years ago. They were the first immigrants to reach the Philippines by sea. They were tall, with height ranging from 5’6” to 6’2”.According to Beyer, the Indonesian came in two waves of migration, with type “A” arriving about 3,000 to 4,000 BC and the second about 1,500 to 500 BC.

3.1 Indonesian” A” was tall and slender with light complexion, thin lips and high aquiline nose

3.2 Indonesian “B” was shorter, with bulky body, dark complexion, thick lips, and large nose.

It is said that the descendants of the Indonesians are the terrace-building tribes of Northern Luzon ( Ifugao), and also Igorots, Apayaos, Gaddangs, Kanlinga and Ibanags; the Mangyans of Mindoro; the Tagbanuas of Palawan; and the Bagobos, Bilaans, Bukidnons, Manobos, Mandaya, Subanuns, Tirurays, and other tribes of Mindanao.

a)They brought a more advanced culture than the Negritos, for they belonged to the New Stone ( Neolithic) Age, and they displaced the Negritos who moved to the mountains.

b)They had permanent dwellings, wore clothing and personal ornaments, and knew agriculture, mining and copper tools

4. Malay Group

The Malays migrated from 300 BC to as late as the 14th and 15th centuries AD.There were several waves of Malay migration to these islands: (1) The first group representing the Bontoks, Ilongots and Tinggian of Northern Luzon,;(2) The second group representing the alphabet-using Malays who became the Tagalogs, Bicolanos, Pampangenous, Visayans and other

Christian Filipinos; and (3) The Third group representing the Muslim Malays who were descendants of the present day Muslim

a) The seafaring, more civilized Malays who brought the Iron Age culture and introduced new industries like iron metal-smithing, pottery-making, cloth-weaving by loom and jewelry making.

b) They were the real colonizers and dominant cultural group in prehispanic Philippines.

c) They had organized settlements and better weapons, clothes and ornaments than the two previous groups.

The presentation of the waves of migration was further provided by Beyer Table of Philippine Ancestry in its result of population in 1942.8

A. Primitive Types ( Land- Migrating)

1. Australoid -Sakai ¾ percent : Paleolithic 2. Negrito – ¾ percent Paleolithic

3. Proto-Malay ( or short Mongoloid) 9 ¼ MesolithicTotal Population…….1,750,000 ( 10 percent)

4. Indonesian A – 12 percent 5.Indonesian B – 17 percent 6. Papuan ( or Melanesoid) – 1 percent

Total Population…….5,250,000 ( 30 percent)

B. Early Iron Age Type ( Sea-migrating)

7. Northern Malay – 6 Percent: (Copper - Bronze Age) 8. Southern Malay – 30 percent ( True Iron Age) 9. Jar- burial People – 4 percent ( Proto- Chinese)

Total Population….. 7,000,000 ( 40 percent)

C.Historic or Proto-historic Type ( Ship-Migrating)

10. Hindu ( Indian) – 5 percent 11. Arab ( or Persian) – 2 percent

12. Chinese ( and other East-Asians) – 10 percent 13. European and American – 3 percent

Total Population …. 3,500,000

However popular and systematic may be this “migration theory unfortunately it must now be dismissed, because there is on definite evidence- archeological or historical evidence- to support it. On the contrary, there are sufficient evidence for doubting it, as

presented by Dr. Sonia Zaide in her book,The Philippines: A Unique Nation.9

(1) Prof. Beyer used the 19th century scientific methods of progressive evolution and migratory diffusion as the basis for his hypothesis, which have now been proven to be too simple and unreliable to explain the prehistoric peopling of the Philippines.

(2) The empirical archeological data for this theory was based on surface finds and mere conjecture, with a lot of imagination and unproven data included. For example, there is no relic of the so-called “ Dawn Man,” so how could have existed? Beyer differentiates two types of Indonesian immigrants, describing them in vivid details as to include fair complexion, thin lips, aquiline, nose, etc. Again, there are no skeletal remains to prove this theory, and even if there were, the “ thinness of lips” can never be determined. Beyer also postulated that about 12 percent of the contemporary 20th century Filipinos descended from the Indonesian “ A” group and 3 percent from the “ B” group.

(3) New findings contradict the waves of migration theory and the existence of the “ Dawn Man” as the first Filipino. We have no evidence of there having been a “ Dawn Man,” who came to the Philippines about 250,000 years ago. Until today his skeletal remains or artifacts have not been discovered. So far the oldest human fossil found in the Philippines is the skull cap of a Stone_Age Filipino, about 22,000 years ago. This human relic was found by Dr. Robert B. Fow, American anthropologist of the National Musuem, inside Tabon Cave, in Palawan, on May 28, 1962. Hence the first Filipino may really be the “Tabon Man” or the “ Palawan Man:”

(4) Undue credit is given to the Malays as the original settlers of the lowland regions and the dominant cultural transmitter. The migration theory may be nice story, especially when it seems supported by some legends as the Ten Bornean Datus but in reality, the Malays, Indonesians, and Filipinos are co-equal ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, without being racially or culturally dominant. It was the Western colonizers who divided the Asian population into ethnic groups. In scholarship, the British popularized the term “ Malay” to mean the group of people whom hey encountered in the Malay Peninsula. The Portuguese, Germans, and the Dutch introduced the term “ Indonesians” for their colonials.

Finally, the Spaniards and the Americans differentiated the Filipinos from their Southeast Asian cousins. In reality, we are one race with many shared customs and traditions. Thus, the migration theory is a figment of the colonial imagination.

(5) Finally, the migration theory does not agree with the real character of Filipinos, who are adaptive and highly creative people, because it suggests that we were only passive receptors of outside cultures. The migration theory shows a people whose total culture seems to have been “ imported” from outside, and each group maintained a more or less distinct personality form the other groups. The truth is that, although there are variations due to the islands’ geography, ancient peoples in the Philippines held many things in common and inter-acted dynamically.

There were interesting findings of Prof. Landa F. Jocano as to the prehistory studies of the fossil evidence of the early men in Southeast Asia including the peopling of the Philippines that Filipinos are Malays or that Filipino culture is derived from the Malays is to create a myth of origin which has no basis in fact. It is doubtful whether once can safely recognize Malay characteristics in the Java, Solo, Wadjak, Niah and Tabon fossil men – a population so widespread in the area prior to any prehistoric or proto-historic movement of people. In addition, influences of external cultures and local responses to them show recognizable differences during historic times, even if there was a common prehistoric culture which linked these ethnic groups. 10

Fossil Evidence of Early Men in Southeast Asia including the Peopling of the Philippines 11

1. Java – the oldest human fossils found in Island Southeast Asia come from the central region of Java, particularly in sites close to the Solo and Brantas rivers. Credit goes to Eugene Dubois, a Dutch geologist, for having discovered the first relic of the ancient Javanese in 1891.Technically, the Java men ( i.e the Djetis and the Trinil specimens) are known as Pithecanthropus erectus or “ erect ape-men.”The term accepted was accepted by the other paleontologists with additional subspecific labels, javanesis and pekinensis, in order to indicate the place where they were recovered. As to the comparative physical features on the cranial capacity the Java men had 900 cubic centimeters and 1,075 cubic centimers of the peking men. Today, most

scientists refer to the Homo erectus group as the pithecanthropines.

2.Solo and Wadjak- the Solo finds are advanced enough to be classified with modern men, they show some skeletal characteristics of earlier forms. They possessed large brow ridges, sloping foreheads and thick skulls .According to J.B Birdsell the men of Solo can be judged to be evolved descendants of the pihthcanthropines found in the earliest deposits of Java and China.The other advanced form of early men found in Java is known as the Wadjak men, named after the site where the fossil remains were recovered.The skulls of this type of humans were discovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891 were not reported until 1920. Physically, Wadjak men appear to be more advanced than Solo.The cranial capacity, as suggested by the size of the skull, is 1,500 cubic centimeters for Wadjak I and 1,600 cubic centimeters for Wadjak II. This grow in cranial capacity show advances in the evolution of man’s ability to handle growing complexity of his adaptation to the environment.The fossils of the Wadjak were also taken form Oceania, New Guinea, and Austalia

3. Niah – In 1958, while digging inside the huge Niah Cave in Sarawak, Borneo, Tom Harrison and his associates recovered a skull of a young individual probably 15 to 17 years old. The date by carbon-14 for the stratigraphic layer from where it was excavated is 40,000 BP.It has a receding forehead,shallow palate, rounded skull side bones, and a fairly deep nasal root. It shows certain morphological resemblance with earlier specimen of Java and also with the modern population of Southeast Asia, suggesting some continuity in the evolution of men in the region.

4. Tabon- The discovery of fragments of hominid skull in Tabon cave in Palawan, Philippines in 1962 by Robert B./ Fox and his associates working for the National Museum of the Philippines, documents further the existence of man in the region during the Pleistocene period.

The fossil evidence suggests that the people in Island Southeast Asia – Indonesians, Malays, and Filipinos- are the products of both the long process of human evolution and the latter events of movements of people. They stand co-equal as ethnic groups, without any one being dominant group, racially or culturally.

Pre-Spanish Period: The Structuring of Filipino Society and Culture 12

Jocano (1973) identified 3 structures in the development of Filipino Society and culture namely: (1) Formative Period - the stone tradition;(2) Incipient Period – pottery and metal traditions; and(3) The Emergent Period- Contacts with Other Asians.

I. Formative Period: The Stone Traditions

This is the earliest period in the development of Philippine society and culture which refers to the level of technological development during which a discernible pattern of cultural adaptation to post-Pleistocene environment began to take shake. There were two main trends in the development during this period:

a) The stone-tool technology characterized by roughly-made ,unpolished, and more generalized ( i.e. multi-purpose) implements.This refers to the” Old Stone Age”. This may be viewed as human activities associated with manufacture of tool types than in terms of shapes and sizes of tools.

b) A later technological development characterized by highly developed. Polished, and more specialized tools. This refers to the “ New Stone Age”. Our prehistoric ancestors, in response to the demands of precarious living in a post-pleistocene environment fashioned more implements than what thet already possesed.Instead of fracturing large nodules for tools, the people during this time achieved a method of cutting stones, generally river pebbles, to a desired shape. The implements were carefully grounded,pecked, rubbed, and polished. Through this process, they developed a more effective technology.

b) Pottery traditions. The appearance of pottery during the New Stone Age ushered in more changes in the lives of ancient Filipinos.Pottery is possible only through kilning, and implies that fire must have been put into full use in pottery-making. The use of fire and pottery meant radical changes in the lifestlyles of the people, particularly their diet. It is possible to infer that they learned to broil and boil their food instead of eating them raw.In the process, new cultural preferences, attitudes, and beliefs could have also been developed and practised. Social behavior became more complex.

2. Incipient Period: Pottery and Metal Traditions

This period was beginning of the general levelling off of local and regional socio-cultural differences and an uneven breakdown of isolation the throughout the archipelago. The widespread

distribution of similarity fashioned tools and other cultural artifacts throughout the archipelago attests to this qualitatively distinct configuration of culture.There were two important technological traditions:

2.1 Metal Tradition. A new system of handling the raw materials had to be devised once it was discovered that these could be fashioned into tools more effective than stones.The only way to achieve this was smelting.

2.1.1 Early Metal Age. The initial appearance of metal and its utilization as implements for food production and for protection.The tools as this stage were crudely manufactured . The phases was brief, in fact so brief, that scholars call it the transitional phase between stone and metal implements.

2.1.2 Developed Metal Age.It was characterized by the predominant use of iron as the materials for tools.Other metals like gold, copper, and bronze were used primarily for ornaments and ritual paraphernalia.

2.2 Pottery Tradition.Pottery-making highlighted , in many ways, the creative genius of ancient Filipinos. It enabled them to develop a radically efficient technology and to find a medium to express their artistic potentials.Prehistoric pottery reveals the combination of human impulses to meet adaptive needs and to give meaning to human tendencies for aesthetic creation.

3. The Emergent Period: Contacts with Other Asians

By emergent is meant the appearance of a definable Filipino social organization ( political, economic, religious, and so forth) and patterns of cultural behavior.The following features of emergent period identified by Jocano (1973) in this period:

3.2 The major impetus for this dramatic event was the development of a relatively efficient maritime transportation. Traders from other parts of Asia like India and the MIddle East came to do business with local entrepreneurs.In turn, local merchants followed the maritime trade routes of these foreigners. This led to the intensification of inter-island contacts and commerce.The result of thses series of events was the transformation of small villages of slash-and-burn agriculturists into commercial centers with big population of traders,

3.1 Community life throughout the archipelago was dominantly founded on extensive trade and by increasing specialization in craftmanship as technology became more complex. Along side with these economic development cultural homogeneity among the people from north to south emerged.

3.2 Filipino society showed homogeneity in cultural orientationit remained politically fragmented. Each community its political independence.Leadership was laergely based on kinship and the leaders were usually the older and able members of the kin group.

The emergent period also identified the contacts with other Asians and other neighboring groups particularly the Indian-Indonesian Contacts ,Chinese and Arab Traders.It must be noted that the contact of the Asian neighbors were concentrated on commerce and trade that eventually influence the development of culture in the early communities in the Philippines.

A. Indian- Indonesian and Malayan Contacts

Indian-indonesian Contacts.one of the great traditions believed to have extended broad cultural influence in Southeast Asia, including Philippines , was India.Jocano(1973) explained that Indian influence filtered into the Philippines only indirectly. However, the Indian contact may have been connected with the following generalizations about historical facts in this period:

The Philippines is geographically outside the direct line of early commerce between India and the rest of Asia and Southeat Asia.Moreover, the island world of Indonesia with Sumatra and Java controlling the traffic of trade, functioned as a sieve to whatever influence ( cultural, social and commercial) India might have had to offer beyond the Indonesian archipelago). As Rasul ( 1979) pointed out that the advent of Islam the first wave to come in contact with these early practices were the Indian, Chinese, and primitive Arab cultures. The neighboring Sumatran, Javanese, and Malayan cultural strain combined to form the cultural world of the Philippines at the time Islam was introduced.

One theory holds that Indian influences reached the Philippines from the Pallava kingdom in Southern India through the Srivijayan, Madjapahit, and Macaccan empires. When islamic principalities were established in the South Asian region beginning 1214, these areas again served as the bridges for proselyting Islam. Of course Islam did not escape local Indian influences as it traveled to the Southern Philippines through this route. 13

There were two powerful empires that dominated the commercial and political power in Indonesia:

1. Srivijayan Empire. By the end of the 7th century AD, Srivijaya was unquestionably the foremost commercial power relations with India and china, and later with the peoples of the Middle East were regulated in terms of volume and products sold or exchanged.In 7th

century,Srivijaya became the center of Mahayana Buddhism and it remained to be so until its decline towards the end of the 8th century. The Philippines was also in contact with this empire mainly commercial in nature which started an exchange of cultural ideas that might influence communities in the Philippines.

2. Madjapahit Empire. Philippine- Indonesian relations during this period became intensified and the indian cultural influences reached the Philippines through Indonesia.

B. Chinese Traders

The Chinese Traders were able to reach the Philippines during the Ta’ng Dynasty ( 619-906 AD);Sung Dynasty ( 960-1279 AD); Yuan and Ming Dynasty ( 1260-1364) which was identified by Jocano ( 1973) that the Chinese were among the early group of Asian traders who had contacts with our ancestors and who contributed to the enrichment of ancient culture even up to contemporary times.

1. The appearance of T’ang wares in the archipelago,as well as in Bornean indicates extensive contacts between the Chinese and the peoples of Southeast Asia as early as the 9 th

century.Beyer states that the Ta’ng wares were brought to the Philippines by Arab traders, who at the time carried a very flourishing business with the Chinese.There are several archaeological sites throughout the country which yielded T’ang items: Babuyan islands, Ilocos and Pangasinan coasts, Manila and the neighboring area ; Mindoro, Bohol, and Cebu in the Bisayas; and Jolo and Cagayan de Sulu in the south. Jocano identified that most of these sites are located close to the coast or near the riverbanks, indicating the configuration of settlements along areas where community life could be sustained through trade.

2. A comparative analysis of archaelogical materials recovered from various parts of the country suggest the nature of trading activities pursued by early Filipinos with Sung merchants as well as generally with other foreign traders.

2.1The trade was carried out wholesale. The items were loaded in junks which were easily from one coastal community to another.

2.2Internal trade, particularly with those communities which were outside the direct line of commerce, followed the initial wholesale deals.Even today such activities are carried out in exactly the same way. Thus ,it is interesting to note that many contemporary cultural groups in remote mountain and coastal areas still possess magnificent Sung pieces, mostly jars, which they use for ritual purposes.

2.3Aside from porcelain, the Sung merchants also traded with the ancient Filipinos non-ceramic items such as mirrors, scales, coins, jade, projectile and so forth. Many of these items have been recovered in Sung sites.

2.4The quality of porcelain wares brought in by the Sung traders were of superior quality than those reaching during the later dynastic periods, starting with the Yuan and Ming times.

2.5It was during the Sung period that big jars were brought into the Philippines. These jars were later used as burial coffins and part of the paraphernalia used during magico-religious ceremonies, apractice which continues to be dominant among the contemporary mountain peoples in different parts of the country.

3. With the donwfall of the Sung emperors, the Yuan leaders took over the dynastic control. It was a short-lived rule, however, lasting only 86 years. During this time, Yuan potter exported a tremendous number of porcelain wares.

The Advent of Islam and Arab Traders in the Philippines

The Arabs came in the Philippines to trade then to do missionary work and finally, to establish a political foothold in the archipelago.Jocano expounded that the Arab Traders had a more direct intrusion into the Philippines by the Arab traders began in the 9th century, after they were prevented from entering South china seaports by the authorities of the T’ang Dynasty. This difficulty made them turn to neighboring places. The most convenient port of call in entering the region of Island Southeast was Kalah in Malaya. From here, the traders expanded their

activities to other products which commanded high prices in the Middle East markets.

Historically, the islamization of the Philippines started during the time of Sharif Makdum who came in Sulu about 1380 as a Muslim missionary from Mallacca where he propagated Islam. Later about 1390, Raha Baginda carried on Makdum’s work which was followed by Abuk Bakr where he married Princess Paramisuli. This was the daughter of Raja Baginda who founded the Sulu sultante in 1450.

The introduction of Islam is best explained by the various stages of Islamization in the Southern part of the Philippines through the work of Rasul (1979) which necessitates further research, for serious study on the account of Makdum shows that the ‘ Seven Brothers” reportedly responsible for the introduction of Islam in the Philippines:

1. The first Muslims to visit the Philippines South were the ninth century Arab traders bound for china to get products in Formosa needed in Arabia. Since they could not go directly to China from Arabia due to the Chinese Prohibition Act of 878 A.D. their successors, the Gujerat zealots, continued convering the natives to Islam.

2. Beginning in 1214, Muslim principalities were established in early Malaysia including the Philippines. When the Spaniards arrived in Manila 1571, that muslim principally was under Raja Ahmad, whose ancestors came from Brunei sometime in 1258. The inhabitants of the Manila area were mostly Muslims. The inhabitants of Cavite, Batangas, Tarlac, and Pampanga at the time also showed such marked Muslim influences as the avoidance of eating pork and drinking hard liquor, the performance of prayer rituals, and other Muslim practices.

Arab Makdumin ( sg. Makdum) or missionaries were among the first to propagate Islam in the tenth century.But prior to then came three “ brothers,” siad to be sons of Sultan Jainal Abirin of Johore.They were Ahmad Timhar, Alaw Balbaki, and Kabungsuhan. Ahmad went to Sulu, Alawi to Tawi-Tawi, and Kabungsuhan to Mindanao ( perhaps Magindanao, in present-day Cotabato)

The arrival of the famous Arab traveler Ibn Batuta at Tawi-Tawi in the twelfth century, followed by Karimul Makdum some time in 1380 , undoubtedly shows that Islam came to the Philippines slowly and

gradually through traders, adventurers and missionaries from the 9th and 15th centuries.

3. The advent of Islam in the Philippines was thus part of a gradual process in the context of Indo-Malaysian Islamization lasting from the 9th to the 15th centuries. No single figure, such as Makdum, can thus be given the exclusive honor of having introduced Islam in the Philippines.

The Early Filipino Culture, Society and Community 14

The ancient Filipinos were living in big settlement clustered along sheltered bays, coastal areas and mouths of big rivers.In the interior, the settlement were located at the headwaters and banks of big rivers and their tributaries. These villages were of various sizes, ranging from 50 to 2,000 people.(Loarca, 1582)The lineal arrangement was characterized by houses constructed close to each other in a single file, along the river banks or along seashore. Economic needs appear to be the most important motivating reason underlying this residential pattern. The sea, river. Lake and stream were, as they still are today major sources of protein food such as fish, shrimps,edible shells, eels and others. The ease of transportation in the coastal and riverine areas also favored this type of settlement. The river and the sea provided the people with the most convenient and effective means of travel.In the interior, the movement of people and goods was up and down big river systems . Even trails were often blazed along river-banks, following the course of the water. Hauling was done by sleds, the wheeled-vehicle being a late development. In the coast, water such as outriggers, biniray,paraos and others provided the most common and effective means of transportation. 15

The Historical Events of the Philippine Island written by Morga ( 1609) and annotated by Jose Rizal provided a comprehensive discussions as to the political, social, cultural and economic activities of the early Filipino society. 16

The Culture and Traditions of the Filipino Society27

The discussions of the culture, tradition and the Filipino society during the Pre-Spanish Period that was presented by Morga ( 1609) on his book The Historical Events of the Philippine Island annotated by Jose Rizal provides us an interesting primary insights as to the genuine identity of the Filipinos. Let the student of history reflect their identity that had been throughout the colonial history of the Philippines guided by the insights and thought of Jose Rizal when he annotated this book. . It is interesting to note that the intangible

characters of the Filipinos are well reflected during the Pre-Spanish Period.

A. Cultural Practices and Early Life of the Filipinos

1. Personal Hygiene and Bathing

Both men and women ,particularly the prominent people, were very clean and neat in their persons, and dress gracefully, and were of good demeanor. They dyed their hair and pride themselves with keeping it quite black.They shampooed it with the boiled bark of a tree called gogo and anointed it with oil of sesame, perfumed with must and other sweet-smelling substances. Rizal commented “ rather than the bark it is the body it self of a shrub that is crushed but not cooked. It is strange that father Buzeta and Bravo, in speaking of the gogo, mention its use in mines and washing clothes and not its most common use, which is for washing the hair, as it is used until now by almost all Indios.” They were all careful of their teeth with grinders and other implements of stone,etc.and give them a permanent black color which is preserved.

The young and the old ordinarily bathe their entire bodies in the rivers and streams without regard to whether their may be injurious to their health, because they found it to be one of the best remedies to be healthy. When a child is born, they immediately bathe it and likewise the mother. Rizal provided an interesting insight about this that the Spaniards think so but they were mistaken. The Indios are very careful not to take a bath during siesta, after luncheon, the first two days of a catarrh, when they have herpes, some women during menstruation, etc. Fr. Chirino says : “ They take bath with the body bent and almost seated for modestly immersed in the water until the throat, with the greatest care not to be seen, though there may not be anybody who can see them. The most common and most general bathing-hour is sunset after the days work and to carry water home. After a funeral they bathe.” This hygienic custom of the inhabitants of the tropics has been preserved in Japan, like many other things that prove the southern origin of some of her inhabitants.

2. Occupation and Pastime

As matter of pastime and occupation, the women worked with the needle with which they were proficient and they engaged in all kinds of needle work. They also weaved blankets and spin cotton and kept house for their husbands and parents. They pound rice which was to be cooked for their meals and prepared the rest of the food. Rizal ( Chapter 8: 246) explained ”though this work is not very hard, for the pestle is light, it is now done generally by men, leaving to the women the cleaning of the rice.” They raise chickens and pigs

and do the house chores while their men-folk engage in the work of the fields, fishing, boating and farming.

3. Clothing

The dress which natives of Luzon wore before the advent of the Spaniards in the land, consisted of the following:

a) Kangan – For men, this clothes made of fabric without collar, sewn in front with short sleeves extending down to beyond the waist some blue and some black, while the headmen used red one which they called chiminas.According to Colin,the chiefs used the red color and the cloths is fine gauze form India.This fondness for red which already found among

b) Bahag - They wore this in the middle of the legs being bare, the rich colored cloth and quite often with gold stripes among the chiefs.

c) Potong –The head uncovered, with narrow kerchief tied around it tightly over he forehead and temples. It was not proper. They put it different ways, sometimes in Moro style like a turban, sometimes wrapped around the head-dress. Those who took pride in being let fall the end of the cloth, elaborately decorated, and so long they reach until the legs. And on it display achievement . It was not proper for any one to use red potong until he has killed at least one man. And wear certain stripes on it, like a crown, he must have killed seven men. ( Colin, book I: 59)

d) Baro – The women throughout the province of Zambales wear sayas or dresses with sleeves of the same cloth or of different color, without any chemise except around their bodies as shawls, with much gracefulness.

4. Native Food

Their regular daily food was rice, crushed by wooden pilons or pounders, which was cooked and was then called morisqueta (kanin), and this constituted the daily mainstay for the entire country, together with boiled fish of which there was an abundance, and pork or venison, likewise meat of wild buffalo or carabao. They preferred meat and, fish, saltfish which begun to decompose and smell. Rizal ( Chapter 8: 248) explained this is another preoccupation of the Spaniards who like any other nation, in the matter of food , loathe that to which they are not accustomed or is unknown to them. The English, for example, is horrified on seeing a Spaniard eating snails; to the Spaniard beefsteak is repugnant and he can’t understand how raw beefsteak is repugnant and he can’t

understand how raw beefsteak can be eaten; the Chinese who eat tahuri and shark cannot stand Roquefortcheese and etc.The fish that Morga mentions does not taste better when it is beginning to rot; all on the contrary; it is bagoong and all who have eaten it and tasted it know that it is not ought not to be rotten.Bagoong is fish or fish eggs preserved with plenty of salt, Filipino serve it as relish or sauce.They also ate boiled sweet-potatoes which resembled the ordinary potatoes, kidney-bean,quilitis, and other vegetables, all kinds of bananas, guavas, pineapples, anonas or custard-apples, oranges and other citruses, and other various kinds of fruit and vegetables which abound in the land.

5. Local Wine

They drink that which dripped out of the tender flowers of the coconut -trees and the nipa-palms which were abundant and which were raised like vineyard-grapes although with less care and difficulty. Upon taking the tuba’ juice from the palms, they distilled the same in their container, stoves and other utensils, and when it was fermented it becomes strong or light which is drunk throughout the Islands. It became a clear fluid like water but very strong and dry. When used moderately, it was medicinal for the stomach and good for phlegms and other kinds of rheums. When mixed with Spanish wine, it becomes a pleasant liquor which is tasteful and wholesome.

The natives drink liquor in the day and night without end in their meetings, weddings, feasts and circles, accompanied by singing by a few who were so inclined and who come to drink and have a good time, although this habit does not carry with it, according to their estimation, any dishonor or infamy. Rizal ( Chapter 8:.248)commented that drunkenness, however, was not dangerous for Colin says: “ But rarely do they become furious or wild; rather, after drinking, they preserve proper respect and circumspection. They only become more gay and talkative and say some amusing things. But it is known that none of them after leaving a banquet, even at a late hour of the night, fail to reach their home. And if they offer buy and sell, and touch and weigh gild or silver, they do it with so much circumspection that neither does their hand tremble nor do they make a mistake’ ( Book I,61)

6. Vessels and Craft

The weapons consisted of bows and arrows but generally throughout the Islands, the arms were medium spears with well-made iron spearheads, shields of light wood with their “coats-of-wood” which were smooth inside, which cover them from head to foot and which they called carasas ( kalasag) On their waist they wore a four-inch wide dagger, with a sharp-point a foot long, the

handle being uncovered and made of gold or ivory with two plain double edges, and they called it Bararaos and had two edges with wooden scabbarbs or finely engraved buffalo horns. “They are very dexterous when they go after their adversary, by holding him by the hair and with the other hand, they cut his head off with a single blow of the balaraw, and carry it away in order to hang it in their house to show it off, so that people will consider them brave and vengeful of their enemies and the evildoers.”

In the river and streams inland they used one-mast large canoes or bancas made of boards attached to the keels. There were also viceroy type and the barangay craft which were straight and light craft, with low body held together with wooden tress-nails, as strong in the prow as in the stern, accommodating many rowers on both sides, which craft, likewise, had paddles who propelled the same in unison, thanks to the chanting of their singers of natives heroes and their deeds, in their native tongue, for the purpose of quickening or slowing down the rowing of the vessel. Above the rowers’ seat, there was a passage-deck made of bamboo where as many fighting-men as the size of the craft requires, pass to and fro, without disturbing the rowers’ post. From there was handled the sail which was square and of canvas through a lift made of two thick bamboos, which serves as mast, and when the vessel was large, it also had a foremast of the same kind with their pulleys to lower the sail when the wind was adverse, also its helmsman at the stern to steer the vessel.

The vessel also carried another compartment made of bamboo on the same passage-deck on which, when the sun was hot, was placed a cover made of palm-leaves woven together closely to make a thick roof named Cayanos, under which was covered the entire personnel and vessel. There was also a cage-like devise made of thick bamboos on both extremes of the vessel, which was strongly attached to it and which barely touched the water but did not interfere with the rowing but served to balance and prevent the craft from turning over, however rough the sea may get or howsoever strong the wind may hit the sails. It often happened that the uncovered vessel gets filled with water and capsizes and was destroyed yet it did not sunk to the bottom in view of the bamboo balancing devise which served as a buoy, and also prevented drifting away.

This kind of vessels were used throughout the Islands since ancient times, likewise larger vessels were used throughout the Islands since ancient times, likewise larger vessels known as bancas or vintas uncovered rowing-craft, lapis and tapakes. They were used to transport the merchandise and were very appropriate for the purpose because they were roomy and could float on shallow water and can float on shallow water and could be beached at the mouth

of rivers and canals on which they often navigated without going out to sea or far from the land. All natives were able to handle and navigate them. Some were so large that they could carry on hundred rowers sitting on the border and thirty soldiers to top, but the common draft were the barangays and the viceroy-type vessels using smaller sails and fewer crew. Many of them no longer used the wooden tree-nails but assorted metal nails, and their ruddlers and bows used fender-beams and so forth, Spanish style.

The land was covered with shadows everywhere from trees of various kinds and fruit-bearing ones which beautify the country throughout the year, both along the coastline and the meadows and mountains. It was full of large and small rivers giving good drinking-water which flowed down to the sea and were navigable and abound in tasteful fishes of all species. There was also an abundance of timber which was cut down and taken to the saw-mills and many logs were floated down the rivers which were mostly navigable. The timber was good for building houses and edifices and for making large and small vessels. Many trees were straight and thick, fit for used as masts foe galleys and galleons, both light and flexible, so that any vessel could be equipped with a single mast without need of dovetailing or cutting it into pieces. There was likewise an abundance of timber for hulls of vessels, for their keels, framework, toptimber and any futtock-timbers, breast-hooks, knees and small-knees, upper works and good timber for decks and sides.

7. Fruit Trees

There are many fruit-trees in the land such as santol, mabolo, tamarind, nanca or jack-fruit, anonas, papayas, guayaba and various kinds or oranges both small and large, sweet and sour, citrus and lemons, about ten or twelve varieties of bananas very tasteful and wholesome, many kinds of coconuts with good-taste, from which liquor and common oil was made, very useful for wounds, and other wild palm-trees of the mountain which yielded no nuts but which, however, gave good trunks, and from the husks of which oakum was obtained, very useful for calking vessels. Efforts had been made to raise olives and quince and other European fruits but so far, they had not succeeded excepting pomegranates and grapes which yielded excellent fruits after two years, and quite abundantly and three times a year; likewise figs. Vegetables of all kinds thrived in abundance but they did not seed well, and it was necessary to bring seeds from Castile, China or Japan.

a) There were chestnut-trees that produce nuts, and in other places there were pine trees and other kinds of trees which produced large kernels and strong good – tasting nuts which were known by the names piles. ( Pili nut)

b) There is abundance of cedar which is called calanta and also fine red timber called asana, also ebony, a variety of

which is better that the rest, and other much esteemed woods fit for every elaborate purpose.

8.Animals, Birds, Snakes and Crocodiles

There is an abundance of cattle that Fr. Gaspar de San Agustin says, speaking about Dumangas ( Rizal, Chapter 8:.252) “ This convent has an extensive farm for cattle, of so many cows that there was a time when they were over 30,000… and this farm also has many and very fine horses.” The cattle from China, and they taste well and make good capons. There were no horses, mares or donkeys in the Islands until thee Spaniards had them brought over form China and from New Spain ( Mexico). Likewise ,sheep have been imported several times from New Spain, they have never multiplied. So that they are scarce in the land now as it seems that both the climate and pasture lands are not quite appropriate for them. The other domesticated animals as explained by Morga during this period.

Domesticated Animals, Monkeys and Birds

a) Goats are also raised although owing to the dampness of the land, their flesh does not taste good and they easily get sick and die on this account, also because they eat certain poisonous plants.

b) There are many turtle-doves or pigeons, said green ones having very red feet and bills while some pigeons are white with a red spot on the breast like pelican..

c) In the place of quails, there are fowl resembling them although smaller known as ponos ( pogos) and some small maya birds.

d) There are likewise some wild cocks and chickens… they have also royal herons both white and brown also fly cathers and sea-birds, ducks, lauancos, egrets, sea-crows, eagles, buharros ( Buhos, a species of owl) and other birds of prey, although one of them are used like falcons for hunting.

e) They either eat or destroy the wild, destructive animals living in the mountains and fields such as wild cats, foxes, badgers,large and small rats which abound, also other land –animals.

f) An infinite number of small and large monkeys thrive and sometimes bend the branches of the trees, throughout the Islands.

g) There are likewise green and white parakeets but they are poor talkers, also very small parrots bearing green and red colors, called kulasisi which also do not talk.

Snakes, Scorpio and Crocodiles

In the rivers and streams there are very large and small scorpions and great number of very fierce and small scorpions and a great number of very fierce and cruel crocodiles which frequently get the natives from their bancas on which they ride. They work a great havoc on the cattle and horses in the ranches when they go to the river to drink water. However, the people may trap, catch and kill them, these reptiles hardly diminish in number.

For this reason, the natives build on the border of their rivers and streams in their settlements where they bathe,-traps and fences with thick enclosures and bars of bamboo and timber within which they do their bathing and washing, secure from these monsters which they fear and respect to the degree of veneration, as if they were somehow superior to them. Rizal ( Chapter 8:255) reacted that perhaps reason, other nations have great esteem for the lion and bear, putting them on their shields and giving them honorable epithets. The mysterious life of the crocodile, the enormous size that it sometimes reaches, its fatidical aspect, without counting any more its voraciousness, must have influenced greatly the imagination of the Malayan Filipino.

Morga further explained on the veneration of the crocodiles that these are involved or mentioned in their oaths, execrations, etc. hurled to their important hated people- even among Christians-in the Buhayan Moro Language, thus: “May the crocodiles kill him!” and there have been cases where God has permitted those who have sworn falsely or broken their promise, to become victims of the crocodiles, in view of their violation of the authority and purity of the truth or promise.

B. Marriage and Women

The women both married and otherwise, were not so chaste, while the husbands, parents and brothers were scarcely jealous or careful regarding this matter. Man and women were covetous and money-loving, so that when there was price, they easily yielded and when the husband caught his wife committing infidelity, he is appeased and satisfied without difficulty. Rizal ( Chapter 8:.247) defended this observation about the early Filipinos that this weakness of Indio women that historians relate, it seems, can be attributed not only to the sincerity with which they obey nature and their own instincts but also to a religious belief that Fr. Chirino tells us about. “ A doctrine planted the devil in some women of these islands and I believe in all who cannot be saved, be they married or marriageable, is the woman who does not have some lover.

Because say he will help them in the next life by leading them by the hand in crossing a very dangerous river that has no bridge but a very narrow piece of timber which must be crossed to reach what he call Kalualhatian.” (Chirino, Chapter XIX)

Rizal further explained “as to the rest, the priest-historians relating the missions in the first years of Christianization, give numerous examples of the chastity of young women who resisted and preferred death to surrendering to the violence and threats of the soldiers and encomenderos. This weakness for the “pay”, we believe, is not a defect monopolized by Filipino men and women. We find it everywhere in the world, in Europe itself so satisfied with its morality and throughout its history, many times connected with crimes, scandals, et. The cult of Venus, Priapus, Bacchus, etc. and above all in the Rome of the popes, prove that this matter there is no nation that can be throw the first stone. At any rate, today the Filipino, women have no reason in blush before the women of the most chaste nation. When both men and women, especially the prominent people, go out for a walk along the streets or to church, they walk with slow measured dignified step, well accompanied by male and female slaves who carry silk-parasols which they always carry with them for protection from sun and rain. The ladies walk ahead followed by their female servants and slaves, their husbands, fathers and brothers walking behind them, followed in their turn by their male servants and slave.”

Marriages among natives are generally between the principals or nobles. Likewise timawas( Common Class) marry among those of their own station, and the regular slaves also marry their fellow-slaves, but sometimes they intermarry among different castes. Rizal ( Chapter 8:282) noted “ this proves that the relations of these classes among themselves are not only far from resembling those of the masters of the West and their servants but that they were even more cordial than those of the patricians and the Roman people among whom at the beginning it was forbidden to establish family ties through weddings. If the chiefs and timawa Filipinos has been so tyrannical towards their inferior as they are depicted to us, there would not have been such unions. Hatred and contempt would have separated the classes.” Let me cite marriage tradition that had been practiced in the early Filipino society:

1. The natives have one wife each with whom a man may wed and she is called the Inasawa but behind here are other women as friends. The children of the first wife were held to be the legitimate ones and full heirs of their parents, but the children of the other women were not so considered, but some provision was usually made for them, but they never inherited.

2. The groom was the one who contributed a dowry, given by his parents, while the bride did not bring anything to the marriage community until she inherited in hr own right from her parents.

“ This custom continued the union between the parents and the children, a wiser practice than that which is followed in many parts of Europe where cases are found of children neglecting their parents once they have taken possession of their patrimony, or of parents who do not consent to the marriages of their children in order not to part with their property. In Europe can be seen sons who are richer and in more comfortable circumstances than their parents who prefer their sons to be conscripted than to be married, which does not happen in the Philippines, not even now, because this customs survives. We say that is always taken for granted, this affection in many people bordering veneration. While the father or mother lives, the home continues even though all the children are married and live apart. Dowry in the Philippines. Naturally the woman did not and does not carry a dowry. The character of the Filipino woman, to be help rather than a burden to the husband, reject this custom, necessary to the European woman because is she is not a burden, in general she increases the husbands’ budget. In the Philippines the woman does not fish for a husband, but she chooses a husband; the husband does not take heavy burden or the matrimonial yoke, but a companion to help him and to introduce economy in the irregular of a bachelor.” ( Rizal, Chapter 8: 282)

3. The solemnization of marriage consisted in the mutual agreement between the parents and kinsmen of the contracting parties, the paying of the concerted dowry to the father of the bride’s parents for the purpose of celebrating with eating and drinking the whole day until sunset.

“This dowry, if it can be called thus, represented a compensation for the parents of the bride for the care and education of their daughter. The Filipino woman, never being a burden on any one, neither on her parents nor on her husband but all on the contrary, represents a value for whose loss the possessor must be compensated. And this is so true that even in our times parents consent with great difficulty to part from heir daughters. It is almost never seen in the Philippines the sad spectacle that many European families present who seem to be in a hurry to get rid their marriageable daughters, not infrequently the mothers playing ridiculous role. As it will be seen, neither is there a

sale or purchase in this custom. The Tagalog wife is free and respected, she manages and contracts, almost with the husband’s approval, who consults her about all this acts. She is the keeper of the money, she educates the children, half of whom belong to her. She is not a Chinese woman or a Muslim slave who is bought, sometimes from the parents, sometimes at the bazaar, in order to look her up for the pleasure of the husband or master. She is not the European woman who marries, purchases the husband’s liberty with her dowry, and loses her name, rights, liberty, initiative, her true dominion being limited to reign over the salon, to entertain guests, and to sit at the right of her husband.” (Rizal, Chapter 8:283)

4. The spouses could separate and dissolve their marriage ties owing to trivial cause and upon proper hearings had before the relatives of both parties and some elders who participated therein, and who rendered judgment, upon which the dowry received was returned to the husband, and it was called vigadicaya ( Bigay-kaya) as a voluntary offering, except in cases where the separation was caused by said husband’s fault, when it was retained for the parents of the wife to keep.

“Bigay-kaya means to give what one can, a voluntary offering, a gift of goodwill. This confirms further that in the case of marriage there was no sale, unlike in the already known ‘ alms: for scapulars, rosaries, belt, etc. in which one does not give what one can be altered notwithstanding, by increasing it. This Bigay-kaya, according to Colin, was returned intact to the spouses if the son-in-law was obedient to his parents-in-law and if not, it was divided among all the heirs.” “ Besides the dowry members of the principal class used to give some gifts to the parents and relatives and even to the slaves according to the rank of the newly married.” ( Colin, Book I, Chap.XIV / Rizal, Chapter 8: 284)

5. Their property which had been acquired in common by both spouses, was divided between them in equal shares, and each disposed of his part as best he or she desired. If any of the spouses had any gain or income unknown to and not participated in by the other spouse, it became the property of the said spouse, to own by himself or herself.

6. People could adopt any person in the presence of the relatives; and the adopted child or person would then deliver whatever he or she possessed, as a present to the adopting party, upon which the adopted person remained in his house and under his protection, thereby acquiring the right to inherit together with the children of the foster.

7. Adultery was not punished physically but instead, the guilty spouse would pay to the aggrieved spouse such indemnity as the elders adjudged to be right, and which said parties agreed among themselves. The grievance was thus forgiven and the husband acknowledged to be satisfied, and he retained his honor and resumed his married life with his wife, and no mention would hereafter be made of the matter.

8.In the matter of inheritance, all legitimate children inherited equally all the property which the parents had acquired. However, if there was any personal or real property left by the parents, in the absence of legitimate children and by asawa, they were inherited by the nearest relatives from the collateral branches of the main family-tree. This was effected either by will or testament or, in the making of a will aside from simply leaving it in written form, or by stating the wish verbally in the presence of well-known persons.

“ And there was no need for more. The memory of the parents, so sacred and revered, the belief that the spirits of ancestors came to live among their descendants, punishing them or protecting them according to their later behavior, prevented any violation of the wills or disobedience on the part of the heirs. Only since the missionaries convined the Indios that their ancestors remained toasted and burned in Purgatory or Hell did they have a need for notaries for notaries, stamped paper, and to engage in lawsuits and intrigues forever and ever.” ( Rizal, Chapter 8:285)

On the other hand, the marriages practices and succession of office of the nobleman during the early Filipino society were done in this way ,if any principal or nobleman was chief of a barangai or clan, he was succeeded in the office or dignity, by his eldest son had by his asawa or married wife, and in his default, by the second son had by her. In the absence of male children, by his daughters in the same order. In absence of legitimate children, the succession reverted to the nearest of kin belonging to the same lineage and family of the principal who last possessed it. Rizal ( Chapter 8:285) noted that the same law of succession was now followed by the royal families of Spain, England, Austria, etc.

In the event that any native having female slaves, should have had intercourse with any of them and come to have children as a result thereof, her child as well as herself became free thereby, but if she failed to have any, she remained a slave.

The children of slave-mothers and those females slaves, should have had another man’s wife, were considered children of ill-repute, and they did not succeed like the legitimate heirs to the

estate, neither were their parents bound to bequeath any property to them; and even if they were children of dignity or nobility or to the privileges of their fathers, and only remained in their station and were considered ordinary timawa-plebeians like the rest of them.

All these distinction between legitimate children who inherited, the children of free concubines who did not inherit, but received.

C. Local Economy and Foreign Trade of the Early Filipinos

Jocano pointed out that available documents do not treat in detail the economic subsistence of the people. What the chroniclers narrated at length were the economic subsistence of the people. What the chroniclers narrated at length were the kinds of products-like rice and gold- which they obtained in great abundance or which they did not get at all. However, even from this sketchy reports, it is clear that the most important sources of economic subsistence were agriculture, fishing, poultry, and swine raising, gold mining, and trade .

According to Morga the contract and negotiations with the natives were generally considered illegal, so that each of them had to take care of himself or see how he could best attend to his business. Loans made for profit were very common, and they bore excessive interest, thus doubling or increasing the more their settlement was being delayed, until the creditors would take everything their debtors had, together with their persons and their children, if they had any, in capacity of slaves.

Morga enumerated the common way of doing business was the trading of certain things for others, such as supplies, blankets, cattle, fowl, lands, houses, fields, slaves, fisheries, palm trees, nipa swamps and forests; and sometimes when there was a price fixed, it was apid in gold as might be agreed upon, also in metal bells coming from China, which articles are considered precious jewels. The latter look like large pots giving very good sound, and are much used in their festivals, and are usually taken in their vessels in going to war and expeditions, and used in the place of drums and other metal instruments. There were often delays and extensions given for the payments of debts, needing bondsmen who participated elements of profit and very usurious interest.

On the other hand most of the foreign trade was carried out with neighboring countries. From the Asia mainland, Chinese merchants who brought into porcelain, mirrors, jade, and other materials dominated the commerce. In return, they acquired Filipino

goods ranging from almaciga gums, honey and fowls to gold and so forth.

1. Agriculture

Agriculture in the archipelago began at about the end of the Formative Period. It continued to be the dominant means of livelihood during the Incipient Period and became even more developed during the later periods. There were two types of agriculture- the slash-and-burn type found in the interior and in the higher coastal places, and the wet-rice agriculture found in the lower sections of the countrysides except in the highland area of central Cordillerra where rice terracing was already practiced ( Jocano, 1973 :166-167)

The technique for slash-and-burn agriculture resembled what could still be observed among mountain peoples today. The area cleared for cultivation was small and generally on the shoulders of rolling hills. Rituals were involved in selecting working and planting the field. The prospective cultivator, before starting his kaingin, looked for a good site. A good site consisted of a primary forest where no thickets or tall grasses abound. As soon as this was done, the farmer performed a ritual to appease the spirits and to ask their permission to allow him clear the area. If no bad omens were noted after the ceremony, the cutting of the trees followed. Then the felled trees were left for sometime. As soon as the leaves and branches dried, these were burned and the entire are scraped of the remaining roots and shrubs. After the site was cleared, the crops like rice or corn were planted , either by sowing the seeds or by dropping these into “ hills” dug by the use of dibble sticks.

Preparation of seedlings for planting resembled the practices in many rural areas. That is, the seeds were selected and placed inside a basket. These were soaked in the river for a few days, and the bad seeds ( those which did not sprout) were removed and thrown away. The rest were placed on a bamboo mat and covered with earth. The container was drenched with water to keep it moist. As soon as the grains sprouted and germinated sufficiently, they were transplanted one by one.

Aside from rice, other agricultural products consisted of millet, barona, cropisa ( a tuber which looked liked sweet potato ( camote ), areca nuts, oil, cotton, wine and vinegar from cultivated palms like coconut, and many others . Abaca fiber from plants having the same name were also gathered and used either for making ropes or fabrics.

2. Fishing and Hunting

Fishing of all kinds of fish in the sea or in fresh waters of rivers and streams, is very greatly indulged in and is quite productive; in fact, this industry is quite general in the entire country and is considered a natural activity for the self-support of all the people. There is an abundance of good sardines, bass, sea breams called bacocos, dace ells, bicuda, tanguigue, flounders,plantanos and tarakitos, pin pointed fish, golden fish, eels, large and small oysters, mollusks, crabs, shrimps, sea-spiders, marine crabs and all kinds of mollusks, etc. also shad and white fish. The seas are full of large fishes such as whales, sharks, caellas, bufeo cetaceans, and other unknown species having unusual size and shape.

There is another lake in the province of Bonbon ( Batangas) bearing the same name, and although it is not so large, it abounds with fish. The method of fishing used by the natives is that of making corrals or traps made of rattan vines which are very flexible, strong, thin and solid, made into strong cables for their vessels and other purposes. These traps are attached posts stuck into the bottom of the lake and they gather the fish caught from said traps through wicker and bamboo baskets and smaller and various fishing-nets besides other contrivances and also fishing – rods. The ordinary food of the natives is a very small fish which is netted, dried in the sunb or air, then cooked in various ways; and they enjoy them better than the larger fishes.Among them they call this fish laulau. The Tawilis of Batangas, or dilis, which is smaller and a large quantity of it is eaten by the natives. 3. Jar Industry

The provinces of Manila, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Ilocos, there are to be found earthen tabors or jars, brown in color and not so beautiful to look at. Some are of middle size and others are smaller, bearing certain marks and seals, and they cannot explain where they got them from or in what period. At present they are no longer obtainable neither are they manufactured in these islands, and they are in great demand on the part of the Japanese who prize them very much for the reason that they have discovered that these are the only receptacles in which to properly keep and preserve the roots and leaves of a plant called cha ( tea), the beverage of which they drink hot and which the Japanese so highly esteem; so that they constitute their most precious and valuable possession, which they keep in their stores and chambers.

A jar is worth a great deal of money, and is adorned on the outside with fine gold-plating with brocade cloth, so that there are vases which are worth or sold for two eleven-reales ( pieces of eleven) taels each, or less, as the case may be, even if it is slightly dented or has a flaw, for them for this purpose; and as a matter of

fact, these bases have become very scarce owing to the great demand there is for them

4. Mining Industry

The ancient Filipinos were also engaged in domestic and foreign trade. The most common items for trade were foodstuffs and gold. Many chroniclers were impressed by the manner in which Filipinos handled their business. Sande noted that they were shrewd businessmen and trusted no “ reckoning” but their own. Local merchants also knew the value and qualities of gold as a medium of trade.The natives had a system of classifying goods. There was a base gold for which they did not have any name and which they used to cheat customers. Second-class gold was known as malubai ,bielu,and linguigui. The best kind of gold was the oregeras, known as penica among the Chinese traders.Jewelry were also traded, although these placed second to gold. Sande noted” the best gold obtained is another grade called guinogulan, which means ‘ the lord of gold’; it weighs about twenty-carats. From this is made they never part; and even when they wish to sell these ornaments

D.Religion

The pre-Hispanic belief system of Filipinos consisted of a pantheon of gods, spirits, creatures, and men that guarded the streams, fields, trees, mountains, forests, and houses. Bathala, who created earth and man, was superior to these other gods and spirits. Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate these deities and spirits--some of which were benevolent, some malevolent. Wood and metal images represented ancestral spirits, and no distinction was made between the spirits and their physical symbol. Reward or punishment after death was dependent upon behavior in this life. Anyone who had reputed power over the supernatural and natural was automatically elevated to a position of prominence. Every village had its share of shamans and priests who competitively plied their talents and carried on ritual curing. Many gained renown for their ability to develop anting-anting, a charm guaranteed to make a person invincible in the face of human enemies. Other sorcerers concocted love potions or produced amulets that made their owners invisible. ( Miller)

In matters of religion, Morga expounded that they proceeded in primitive fashion, and with more blindness than in other matters, for the reason that aside from being Gentiles, without any knowledge of the true God, they did not take pains to reason out how to find Him, neither did they envision particular one at all. Rizal (Chapter 8:291) reacted this idea ” In this matter of the true God, every people believe what is their own, and as until now there has not yet been found a reagent for the discovery of the true God and

distinguish Him from the false ones, Morga, who was a person of superior judgment to many of his contemporaries, can only be forgiven for such pretension for the sake of the dominant ideas …”Furthermore, Morga describes the devil ordinarily deceived them with a thousand and one errors and blind practices. He appeared to them in various from as horrible and fearful as ferocious animals which held them in dread making them tremble, and very often they worshipped him through images representing him, kept in caves and in private houses, where they offered to him sweet-smelling perfumes, food and fruits, calling them Anitos.

Pigafetta describes in the following manner, the idols he saw in Sebu:” These idols are wood, hollow or concave, without, without parts behind; the arms are open and the legs part, with the legs turned upward. The face is rather large with four enormous teeth similar to the fangs of the wild boar; all are covered with paint.” Some historians following speak of idols of silver, gold ,ivory, stone, bone,etc., that they found in Luzon, some in the possession of the Babaylanas. The Tagalog had anitos for mountains and country, for the planted fields, the sea, to whom they entrusted their fisheries and sea voyages, anitos for the house among whom they put their ancestors, they called their images. (Colin: 54). These idols do not always have the shape that Pigafetta attributes to them. Sometimes they are seated with their arms crossed, their elbows resting on their knees. Sometimes the arms are stuck to the sides with the hands above the abdomen or crossed over the breast and the hands over the clavicles, etc.They are not always found with teeth or fangs and those which have them are probably the images of malevolent gennii. ( Rizal: 291)

Plasencia explained that the most powerful deity of Tagalog was Bathala or Abba.

(1)He was the sustainer, keeper, nourisher and protector of mankind.

(2)He welcomed gifts form the people with deep appreciation.

(3)He was pleased when men were helpful and obedient to his morals

(4)He was lavish in his love towards those who kept his commandments and those who paid him homage.

(5)He was Compassionate and understanding, equally exacting in his punishment to those who trespass his rules.

(6)He did not hesitate to send thunder and lighting to strike the transgressors of his laws.

(7)He presided over the lesser divinities who cared for the needs of the people and guarded the general welfare of the reverent families.

(8)His power and goodness were showered on the people to whom he was likewise the ultimate protector.

(9)He was represented by a turtle-dove called tigma-manuquin.

It followed by the other divinities working closely with him:;Kaluwalhatian ( the eternal space);Indianale ( labor and good deeds);Dimangan ( good harvest);Amanikabli ( sea);Mayaari( the caretaker of moon);Hana ( morning);Tala (stars);Ikapati (agriculture);Mapulon ( changes of season);Apolaki (patron of fighters and the keeper of the sun) and Dian Masalanta ( lovers). It is believed that the activities of these divinities gave order and regularity to the Tagalog world. However, as life became more complex as a result of expanding social relationships among the worshippers, Bathala sent down to earth the ancestral spirits to help these spirits had a special office. Some of them were given the task of protecting men from illness; others of making those who were neglected of their duties suffer. Each divinity interceded for the men in relation to the other gods. 28

The early Tagalogs also believed in life after death. In fact, belief in transmigration of the soul was one of the chief reasons why sacrifices were offered and rituals were performed during interment. The early belongings of the deceased were buried with him because it was believed that the spirits of the said person would need these things during his journey to the other world. In some groups, the favorite alipin were said to be buried with their masters, and in others, the dead man’s wife or captured enemies.

Belief in the final judgment- i.e. rewarding of the good and punishment of the evil-was also a dominant feature of the prehistoric belief system. The soul of the good men were said to be brought to a village of rest called Maca where they enjoyed eternal peace and happiness. However, those who deserved punishment were brought to Karanaan, the village of grief and affliction where they were tortured forever. The souls were kept then by the deity name, Sitan.He was assisted by many lesser divinities:

1) Mangangaway – the most feared among them who was responsible for the disease on earth. She wore a necklace of skulls, and her girdle was made of severed human hands and feet. Sometimes, she would change herself into an old woman, an animal, or abird and roam the countryside. Anyone who crossed her path or incurred her ire was severely punished, either with bad luck or with prolonged illness. If she wished to kill someone, she did so by her magic wand. She could also extend the agony of dying even for a number of months, by simply encircling the

waist of her patient with a live snake which was believed to be her real self or at least her substitute.

2) Manisilat – The second agent of Sitan sometimes known as the deity of broken homes. She was said to be restless and mad whenever was a happy home within sight. Dtermined to destroy every home, she would disguise herself as a healer or an old beggar, enter the dwelling of her unsuspecting victims, and then proceed with her diabolical aims. With the aid of her charms and magic powers she would turn the husband and wife against each other. She was most happy when the couple quarreled and she would dance with glee when one of them left their home.

3. Mankukulam – The third agent of Sitan, his duty was to emit a ball of fire at night, especially during dark nights’ and bad weather.Like his fellow agents, he often assumed human form and went around the villages, pretending to be a folk healer. Then he would allow in the filth beneath the house and emit fire.

4. Huklaban – The fourth agent of Sitan, she had the power to change herself into any form she desired. In fact, some people said that she had greater power than Mangangaway. She could kill anyone by simply raising her hand. However, id she wanted to heal those whom she had made ill, she could do so without any difficulty. It was also said that she could destroy a house by the power of her word.

Rituals and ceremonies either to appease or to propitiate the different divinities were celebrated regularly by the people. These celebrations ranged from simple to complex performance of rites appropriate to the occasion. Simple ritual involved only food offering while the complex ones included animals, as well as human sacrifices. They performed in connection with important events in the family or in the community. Specifically, religious ceremonies were done for the following reasons: (1) to prevent and cure diseases; (2) to insure safety in voyages; (3) to achieve a good harvest; (4) to attain success in raids and wars; (5) to have a happy and prosperous married life; (6) to insure the safety of the mother and the child during childbirth; and (7) to acquire protective powers against witchcraft and other sources of evil.

Social Classes Constituting the Commonwealth19

The term social class may not be the right term, by present standards, to describe the social stratifications system of pre-colonial Filipino community organization. Some writers argue that there were the datu group ( or principales) and the commoners.. However, the chroniclers such as Loarca noted that and

characterized four subgroupings based on wealth, “ political” influence , and social privileges enjoyed. These were: (1) the datu class or chiefly group;(2) the maharlika or the free men; (3) the timagua or the common class; and (4) the alipin ( also known as ayuey) or the dependent class. ( Jocano:176)

Morga identified three social classes among the natives of these islands constituting the common to wit: Principal people( and the Datu); timawas which was equivalent to plebeians; and slaves both of the principals and of the Timaguas.

1. Principalias and Datus

The datu class was looked upon by the people for leadership in economic, military, social, and religious activities. The headman of this group acted as the leader of the community . He represented the group in dealing with outsiders and in making important decisions. He worked for the general welfare of the community and participated in almost all of its activities. For example, he acted as go-between in the marriage preparations of the maharlika, attended funeral rites, and performed other social and religious functions. He was both a paternal protector and a political leader. This affinity with the people may be best be appreciated if is recalled that most of the chiefs and leaders ‘ ruled” over but few families, sometimes as many hundred houses, at other times even less than thirty. Nevertheless , the relationship between the people and their leader was characterized by reciprocal rights and obligations, with authoritarian responsibility and power to impose accepted rules of conduct in the community ( Jocano: 176-177)

Morga explained the presence of the Principalias that there were neither kings nor lords to rule them in the same manner as in kingdoms and provinces. Elsewhere instead, in every island and province many principals were known among the natives, some being more important and outstanding than others, each having his own followers and henchmen, forming barrios and families who obeyed and respected them. Those principal men used to have friendship and relationship with each other, and sometimes even wars and difference with each other.

These principalia or high social status were inherited by succession form father to sons and heirs and in their default, to brethren and lateral kinsmen.The descendants of these prinicipales or nobles and their kinsmen were esteemed and respected, even if they had not inherited their distinction, and the former were considered and treated as noblemen, and as exempt from rendering service which was demanded from the Timaguas ( Timawa).The

privileges of a principalship were also enjoyed by women of noble birth on a par with the men. Rizal ( Chapter 8, p.276) conformed the privilege of noble women“ In this regard the Filipinos acted very much in conformity with natural laws, being ahead of the Europeans, whose women lose their nobility when they marry plebeian and among the descent is along the male line which offers the least guarantee. This proves besides the high consideration that the women in these Islands had enjoyed since antiquity.

When any of these principal men became more outstanding than others in war and in other matters, he thereby acquired ( illegaba) more privileges and a greater following hencemen, and he governed other people even principals themselves, while retaining for himself his own authority over his particular Barangai or clan with datus and other particular leaders who attended directly to the needs of the Barangai.” From the Tagalog balangay, name of a vessel on which it is supposed the Indios who now inhabit the Philippine came.” ( Rizal Chapter 8:276)

Their duty was to govern and rule their subjects and henchmen, and attend to their needs. In exchange for this, they received the peoples’ respect and esteem, together with their support and help in their wars, expeditions, general work in farming, fishing, building houses and structures whenever they should be called upon to perform the same by their principals, upon which they would respond with punctuality. They also paid their tribute with the fruits of their toil which they called buis, some paying more than others. The authority which these principal men or leaders that they considered its components as their subjects, to treat well or mistreat, disposing of their persons, children and possessions at their will and pleasure without any opposition from the latter, nor duty on their part to account for the principals’ action. Upon committing any slight offense or fault, these henchmen were either punished, made slaves or killed.” These slaves were no always in such dismal condition. Argensola says that they ate with their master at the same table and afterward they married members of the family…” ( Rizal Chapter 8: 276)

Whenever any native had any controversies or differences with others on pecuniary matters, on property or regarding insults and physical injuries to their persons there were appointed elders among the same clan or group, who heard them in the presence of parties, and their witnesses whenever evidence was necessary, and then decided the matter on their findings, thus following the same procedure used by their forefathers in similar cases. Thus, their decision was respected and executed without any further process or delay.” This is very simple and crude but it was more speedy, and

the judges were persons of the locality, forming jury, elected by both parties who knew the case the customs and usages…” ( Rizal Chapter 8:277)

Their laws along similar lines following the tradition and customs of their ancients in accordance with the unwritten statutes. In some provinces, there were different customs in certain things, although generally speaking, they had uniform usages and procedure throughout the islands. Rizal ( Chapter 8, p. 278-279) explained “which is no way affected the peace of the people because many times a custom has more force than a written or printed law, especially when the written laws are a dead letter to those who know how to evade them or who abuse of their high position. The force of law is not that it is written on a piece of paper but if it is engraved in the memory of those for whom it is made, if they know it since their tender age, if it is in harmony with their customs and above all if it has stability. The Indio, since childhood learned by heart the tradition of his people, live and was nourished in the atmosphere of his customs and however imperfect those laws might be, he at least knew them, and not as it happens today that wise laws are written, but the people neither know nor understand them, and many times they are changed or become extinct at the whim of persons entirely alien to them…This agreement of the laws at bottom and this general uniformity prove that the relations of the islands among themselves were very strong and the bonds of friendship were common than wars and differences. Perhaps a confederation existed…”

2. Maharlika

The Maharlika ranked next in the social stratification of precolonial Philippine society. Although earlier writers referred to this group as the nobility, it is doubtful whether this concept, developed from feudal Europe would fit the Philippines system. The maharlika may best be conceived as the group of “ free men.” This group did “ not pay taxes or tributes to the datu,” but accompanied him in “war” at their own expense. From the maharlika group came the men who assisted the leader every endeavor he undertook- be it in building a house, rowing the boat, raiding the enemies’ territory, and so forth.(Plasencia:179)

3. The Timagua ( or Timawa)

The timagua or the common masses was lower than the maharlika in social ranking and constituted the greater bulk of the population. They neither chiefs or servile debtors. If a timagua desired to live in a certain village, he simply joined one of the chiefs in any community of his own choice.(Loarca: 147)There are, however, certain rules based on group consensus, regarding the

shifting of village residence and of attaching oneself to another chieftain. For example, should a man desire to align himself with another chief, he must be present by all means at the feasts given for other chiefs because does so.( Plasencia: 179)

For these services the chief reciprocated by assisting the timagua economically and by defending him and his family against anyone who would cause them harm. For example , if the timagua was attacked while visiting another village, it was the obligation of the chief to avenge the offense committed to him at all cost. Thus, the timagua lived in security and were free to move out of their service of one chief to another whenever they desired.( Loarca:123)

4. Alipin ( Saguiguilir and Namamahay)

The least privileged group in the social groupings of ancient Philippine society was the alipin. Among the Tagalogs, there were two kinds of alipin. They were the saguigguilir and the namamahay. ( Jocano:178-179)

a) Saguiguilir – It resided in the master’s” house and did all kinds of work. Their children inherited their status, remained in the same household and performed the same tasks as their parents.

b) Namamahay – It lived in their own houses. They came only to assist the master in planting and harvesting crops, constructing houses, traveling to far places, and in times of emergency. The were likewise summoned to assist in the house of the village headman when he had guest.

Notes

1 Jocano, F. Landa . Philippine Prehistory: An Anthropological Overview of the Beginnings of Filipino Society and Culture. Philippine Center for Advanced Studies. University of the Philippines System. Diliman Quezon City. 1975

2 Ibid.,p. 223 Jagor, Travels in the Philippines.1873( A Reprint).Manila: Filipinia

Book Guild, p.1965. For Translation, Antonio de Morga, “ Successos de las Islas Filipinas” in Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands.1903. Vol.XVI,p 104.

4 Solhelm. W.G. II, “ Potsherds and Potholes: Philippines Archaeology in 1974”Asia Perspective. Vol XII ( 1969), pp. 97-104

5 Ibid.,p.24 6 Ibid., pp. 25-27 7 Zaide, Sonia M. The Philippines: A Unique Nation: With Dr.

Gregorio Zaide History of the Republic of the Philippines. All Nations Publishing Co. Inc. 1994,p.32

8 Hartendorp. A.V.H. The Contributions of the Foreign Communities to Philippine. Culture through the Beyer Table of Philippine Racial Ancestry. 1942

9 Loc. cit.,pp.32-35 10 Jocano, op.cit. p. 70 11 Ibid., pp 53-70 12 Ibid., pp 73-160 13 Rasul, Jainal D. Muslim- Christian land: Ours to Share.Alemar-

Phoenix Publishing House. 1979. pp 70-17 14 Taken from the publications of the National Historical Institute

(1990), Writings of Josel Rizal, Volume VI on the Historical Events of the Philippine Islands by Dr. Antonio De Morga published in Mexico in 1609 recently brought to light and annotated by Jose Rizal.

15 Jocano,op. cit., pp160-161 16 Rizal, loc.cit. chapter 8,p.244 17 Based on the annotated work of Rizal in Chapter 8 on the

Historical Events of the Philippines Islands by Antonio De Morga .1609

18 Plasencia, Juan de” Custom of the Tagalogs” in Blair and Robertson. Philippine Islands, pp.185-189 19 Jocano op.cit, pp 176-179