William Henry Scott “Barangay”
process.
The Visayas
Physical Appearance
ᴥ Homonhon, Limasawa, Butuan – the first Filipinos
observed by the Spaniards
ᴥ Were describe as medium stature and dark-skinned
ᴥ Olivastri (in Italian) – olive-skinned or tanned
ᴥ English corsair Tomas Cavendish called Capul
Islanders tawny.
ᴥ Father Alcina said that natives of Leyte and Samar
were lighter than those of Davao.
ᴥ Mentrida defined Visaayan mailum as a color a bit
darker than the natural to the Visayans though not
black like the Ate (Negroes or Negritos)
ᴥ Cebu: Juan de la Isla reported that the nativeess
were darker than the indios of the Mexico.
ᴥ Loarca said the Visayans were well-built, good-
looking and not very dark.
ᴥ Chirino said that Boholanos were not only lighter
and more handsome than other Visayans but
braver and more spirited.
ᴥ Women were generally lighter than men due to
occupations like weaving which kept them less
exposed to the sun.
ᴥ The secluded daughters of ranking datus were said
to be as light as European ladies and so were the
slave girls who danced naked to entertain royal
visitors.
ᴥ Children were also light at birth and when men
stripped, they reveal a pale area under their G-
strings.
ᴥ Iberian invaders were perceived not as maputi,
white but as mapuraw, natural or undyed – that is
untattooed.
Decorative Dentistry
ᴥ Only wild animals had white teeth was widespread
in southeastern asia: English businessman Ralph
Fitch noted it in Burma
ᴥ Human beings were thought to be distinguished by
cosmetic refinements like filed and stained teeth.
ᴥ The Visayan called tooth filling sangka, levelling and
it was done by an expert with a slender stone file,
who sometimes removed half the tooth in the
ᴥ Variations included opening the space between
teeth, or grinding them to saw-toothed points, but
the desired effect was always to render them even
and symmetrical.
ᴥ This involved the correcting obviating natural
misalignment and the reduction of those eye teeth
so suggestive of fangs and teeth.
ᴥ Once filed, the teeth were colored in different
ways.
ᴥ Regular chewing of Anipay root made them black,
or the application of a tar-based coating called
tapul gave them the appearance of polished ebony,
and probably had a preservative effect.
ᴥ Red lakha ant eggs were used to color teeth – amd
kaso flower, both teeth and fingernails – a deep
red, an effect heightened and preserved by
habitual betel nut chewing.
ᴥ The most impressive examples of Visayan dentistry
were its goldwork.
ᴥ Gold-pegged incisors were noted by Pigafetta in
Limasawa and by Urdaneta in Lianga Bay.
ᴥ Pusad was the general term of teeth goldwork,
whether they were inlays, crowns, or plating.
ᴥ The Mananusad was the dental worker, a
professional who got paid for his services.
ᴥ Halop, covering, included both plating held on by
little gold rivets run through the tooth and actual
caps extending beyond the gum line, also secured
by pegs.
ᴥ Bansil were gold pegs inserted in holes drilled with
an awl called ulok, usually in a thumbnail-shaped
field into the surface of thee incisors beforehand.
ᴥ Si Awi, king of Butuan, had three in each tooth.
Tattooing
ᴥ The Spaniards called the Visayans “Pintados”
because they were painted (tattooed).
ᴥ Batuk was the general term for tattoos.
ᴥ Patik meant the marking of snakes or lizards, or any
design printed or stamped on.
ᴥ Tattoos were symbols of male valor: applied only
after a man had performed in battle with fitting
 ccourage. Any applied on one who had not killed or
captured an enemy as scorned as counterfeit.
ᴥ A tattooed man who is considered cowardly was
compared to a halo lizard, a large black and yellow
reptile tattooed all over but extremely timid.
ᴥ Warfare itself was seen as a kind of initiation rite
into manhood: tigma was a youth’s first taste of
war or sex. Tiklad was his first conquest either in
battle or love.
ᴥ Celibate transvestites were socially acceptable
mapuraw, natural colored.
ᴥ Kulmat – to strut around showing off new tattoos
ᴥ Hundawas – stripped to the waist for bravado.
ᴥ The designs on the body is done with ink made
from pitch soot, them pricked them into the skin
with a small tool set with a number of short
needles like the teeth of a comb then rubbed the
soot into the fresh wounds.
ᴥ Biro was both the soot and the ink and the
Spaniards mistakenly thought the reason tattoos
were permanent was because the biro mixed with
the blood.
ᴥ Baug or Binogok was the healing period when the
wounds were still swollen and if infection caused
the designs to be muddied they were called as mud
or lusak.
ᴥ The first tattoos were applied on the legs beginning
at the ankles ending at the waist. Chest tattoos
looked like breast plates