A Trip Down History Lane

A wise man once told me that history is about understanding context, and that entails trying to
view something from another persons point of view. When looking at a certain historical event
or situation in retrospect, we tend to find a lot of things unusual and strange. But upon
understanding its context in relation the time and place in which it occurred, we move one step
closer to unraveling its true essence.
This was my mindset when I visited the Ayala Museum in Makati. An array of dioramas greeted
me as I entered the museum. They usually depicted the classic image of what we know today as
indigenous Filipinos. In my Fil 14 class under Dr. Jerry Respeto, I learned that there were 5
defining characteristics of the life of the katutubo: nomadic, simple, communal, tribal and
animistic. These characteristics, although not at the same time, were all illustrated in the
dioramas. It was to my advantage that I learned the context of the indigenous Filipino culture
beforehand. That is why it was easy having to relate to the dioramas. In relation to the rest of the
world, technological advancements arrived late in the Philippines. But what the Philippines
lacked in technology back then, it exceeded in culture. Their clothing, albeit simple and limited,
were works of art, per se. Pieces of clothing usually featured elements of nature; staying true to
their animistic ways. Although the indigenous Filipinos mostly worked with what they had in
fabricating their clothing, pre-Spanish Filipinos were already active in trade with their neighbors,
most notably China. Chinese merchants brought silk and ornaments made from different
materials to the Philippines ever since the Ming dynasty, as it is believed. The wide variety of
commodities preserved from pre-Spanish times, such as ceramics and various metals speaks
volumes of the early involvement of the Filipinos in commerce. The most notable commodity
displayed in the museum are the gold items. Its quite baffling that the Philippines once had such
a surplus in gold that they wouldnt mind burying a dead person with a mask made of gold.
Describing them simple one moment and then saying that they had an abundance in gold in
another may be counterintuitive, but looking at it in the context of the indigenous Filipinos, gold
was not as valuable as it is today. Gold didnt even have a customary value, as it was traded for
various products that the trader just wanted at that moment. That is where their simplicity lies.
The Spanish era, and everything beyond that may have effectively changed the culture in the
Philippines, but it is to our convenience, as Filipinos of today, that museums such as the Ayala

Museum provides us with a golden opportunity to look back and even relive the culture of preSpanish Philippines. The experience wont be as fulfilling, though, without gaining a grasp of the
context in which these displays existed in. Mere displays as they may seem, they hold such great
history that is more precious than diamonds and more costly than gold.