Chapter 2

PRE-COLONIAL LIFE AND CULTURE

“-The advance state of human society in which a high level of culture, science, industry and
government has been achieved.”
Did our pre-Spanish ancestors reach such level od culture so as to classify their
achievements as a civilization? Contemporary writers claim that ancient Filipinos were just
“borrowers” or inheritors of the cultures of the successive waves of Asian setters who came to
our shores. Some even argue that the best evidence of the non-existence of a pre-colonial
Filipino civilization is the absence of megalithic monuments to corroborate such cultural
advancement.
Indigenous culture.
“The Filipinos possessed an elaborate civilization in the past. This achievement did not
become part the Filipino consciousness. Even today because the advent of colonization during
which a systematic distortion of our perspectives about ourselves was carried out.”
Pre-Spanish Philippines did not have big population centers due to its archipelagic
nature. The fragmental nature of its territory limited the concentration of population. Pre-
colonial Filipino also did not produce highly developed art like the Greeks and Chinese. But had
developed simply the practical arts. There were no megalithic public monuments as generally
found in ancient civilizations because our ancestors had not established empires or powerful
kingdoms supported by slave labor, who would have been utilized to build such structures to
satisfy the caprices or vanities of the rulers.

HOUSES
-The typical ancient Filipino house was made of bamboo, wood, nipa palm, cogon, or
whatever native materials found in the area.)

*BAHAY KUBO (nipa hut) was suited to the climate-bamboo or wood stakes (haligi) help the but
above the ground. To ascend the house, one had to climb to a bamboo ladder, which could be
drawn up at night. The ancient Filipino house had always the batalan where washing and
bathing were done.
-The kalingas and Igorots of Norther Luzon built their houses on tree tops for protection
from their enemies.
-The badjaus (sea gypsies) of sulu lived in boat-houses. This was so because these people
mainly derived their living from the resources of the sea.

MODE OF DRESSING

KANGGAN- is a male Filipinos wore a collarless short-sleeved jacket it is the upper part of their
clothing it also indicates the rank of wearer.

The chief wore a red jacket while the lower ranked men wore either black or blue, the men also
wore a header called PUTONG,the color of a putong indicate the number of persons the
wearer had killed. A man who wore a red one had killed at least one man and a person who
wore an improvidence putong,indicated that he had killed at least seven person.

BAHAG- the men's lower part of their clothing, a strip cloth wrapped around the waist and in
between the legs.

BARO OR CAMISA-a wide sleeve jacket that the women Filipinos wore, in the upper part of their
clothing.

SAYA -is the skirt or lower part that the women wore and among the Visayas PATADYONG. The
tapis is an additional cover was a piece of white or red cloth wrapped around the waist.

The man and women had a shoe. They walked barefooted but had gold legs lets and gold
anklets filled with carnelian's and colored glasses.

ORNAMENTS

-Gold is common and so the early Filipinos wore gold armlet(kalumbiga) gold rings, gold
necklaces, gold bracelets and pendants. Gold are also used as fillings between the teeth.

The men adorned their bodies and faces with tattoos, they say their tattoos served as their war
record. The more enemy they killed in a battle the more tattooed he was.

The women also tattooed their arms and faces to enhance their beauty.

The Visayas were the most tattooed people among the ancient’s Filipinos and for this reason,
the Spanish missionaries called them PINTADOS.

SOCIAL CLASSES

-Pre-Spanish society was divided into tree social classes;

*The NOBLES- they carried the title GAT or LAKAN. The chief, their families and relatives
composed the upper class or nobility.

*The FREE MEN- it is a middle class, who were usually free- born persons or freed slaves
constituted of the social classes.

*The DEPENDENTS (Alepine) - it is belonged to the lowest class. They were two kind of
dependents, the ALIPING NAMAMAHAY and the ALIPING SAGIGILID. The former owned house
and properties while the latter practically had no rights. The ALIPING soggily could be sold
anytime by his master

WOMEN IN SOCIETY

Barangay custom and laws recognized women is equal of men.

Pre-Hispanic religious rituals were always performed by priestesses. The Tagalog is KATALONA,
the Visayas BABAYLAN Or the Bicol BALIANA always served as an intermediary between the
people and the spirit word. This woman also performed exorcism to drive evil spirits from a
village or from the body of a sick person. Public rituals for the release of souls were done
usually by these women who were ordinarily " the most loquacious, astute, deceiving, and
sagacious women of the tribe".

When anyone died, music of the mourning and lamentation was usually assigned to women.

Women were regarded highly in Pre- Spanish times. According to the soldier-historian Miguel
de Loarca(1582),one could be punished "so severely as to enslave him for insulting any woman
of rank, or taking away her robe in public, and leaving her naked, or causing her to flee or
defend herself that is falls off." This Pre- Colonial concept of decency quite coincided with
medieval European chivalry.

Many women become famous in song and folklore. Among them were the legendary Princess
Ursula of Pangasinan; lolicon the Visayan goddess of fire and volcanoes; kalangitan, the Sultana
of Pasig and Lobular, the legendary law giver of the Visayans.

THE GOVERNMENT

-BARANGAY- is the political unit which was composed of 30 to 100 families. The term barangay
was derived from the Malay word " barangay" meaning boat. The barangay was monarchy
ruled by a chieftain called DATU, HARI, or RAJAH (in Muslim independent and was considered "
village state" for having the elements of statehood.

The chieftain had great powers. He has chief executive and chief judge of the barangay. As a
law maker, he got counsel and advice from village elders. In time of war he was the Supreme
Commander of the barangay forces. The chieftain (Datum) could not make judicial decisions
without the approval of the elders on certain crimes.

BARANGANIC RELATIONS

The barangay carries on trade and commerce among themselves. They concluded treaty of
friendship and alliance with each other through the ritual, the sand guan (blood compact).
Barangay merge for protection against enemies.

Sarangani wars were caused help among others; maltreatment of a member of one barangay
by another, and rape or abduction of wives for women.

LAWS

The ancient Filipinos had written and customary (oral) laws. The MARAGTAS CODE was one of
the earliest examples of the written laws

The proposed law from the Datum and approved by the elders would be announced to the
barangay inhabitants by a crier, called the OMALOHOCAN to past it immediately in effect.
JUDICIAL PROCESS

The barangay court was composed of the chieftains as the judge and the community elders as
"jury”. Trials of the cases were usually done in public. The party who had more witnesses in his
favor was usually adjudged the winner.

If the court could not clearly determine the guilt or innocence of both parties in a case, they
resorted to TRIAL BY ORDEAL (PAGSUBOK). The Cordillera barangays had a more decisive form
of trial by ordeal. They ordered the parties to settle their disputes by TRIAL BY COMBAT.

RELIGION

The early Filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul. They also believed in life after death.

The pre- Spanish Filipinos worshipped nature, the sun, the moon, the animals, the birds and
even old trees. Even crocodiles and some types of birds were venerated.

They believed in ancestral spirits called ANITOS by the tagalongs and DIWATAS by the Visayans.
The ANITOS were either, good or bad spirits and early Filipinos offered food and animals
sacrifices to appease or win Goodwill of these spirits. The ritual offering of sacrifice were
performed by early priests and priestesses called the BABAYLAN and KATALONA.

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

As a condition to a marriage, the man gave BIGAY -KAYA (dowry) to the family of the bride. The
bigay Kaya, literally " what one is capable of giving " consisted of land, gold or slaves. Actually,
the bride was not being purchased for the bigay- Kaya was a material expression to preserve
marriage. In case of divorce., where the husband caused it, he lost the bigay- Kaya; if the wife
did, her parents returned it.

The Groom also served the bride's parents for months or for certain period of time. He fetched
water; ND chopped wood for girl’s family. He helped the girl's father in his farming chores.

Ancient Filipinos allowed divorce. The just causes of divorce were

1.ADULTERY OF THE WIFE

2. CHILDLESSNESS

3. LOSS OF LOVE

4. ABANDONMENT ON THE PART OF THE HUSBAND.

PUBERTY RITES AND SEXUALITY

Pre- Spanish Filipinos performed circumcision on their sons, a special rite done " for their health
and cleanliness".
Among the Visayans, it was in puberty that men "skillfully made a joke in their virile members
near its head, and fastened it with a peg of the same material". Antonio Cigarette called this
device a RING while Lorca called it a WHEEL, this device was supposedly to make them more
masculine and useful in their communication it their wives".

Cigarette also mentioned the practice by which young girl from the age of six and upward
we're" gradually opened" by certain men tasked to such function. According to Morgan " the
natives considered it a hindrance and an impediment if the girls were virgins when they
married".

The Tagalogs had a different form of puberty rituals. Young girls who first had their
menstruations were blindfolded for four days and four nights. Then a feash was given for
friends and relatives. At the end of menstrual period, the KATALONA (priestess) bathes the
young girl in the river and removed the blindfold. The Tagalogs beloved that the ritual may give
the girl the fortune to find the husband of their liking and bear children.

Physical love was not taboo among ancient Filipinos. They had potions for sexual
malfunctioning Morag reported the BAGONTAO or single men and the DALAGAS or maidens
were " people of little restraint, and from early childhood they had communication with one
another and mingled with facility and little secrecy, and without this being regarded among the
natives as a cause of anger. Young men and women entered into love pacts, which they kept
even after marriage to others.

BURIAL AND MOURNING PRACTICES

Because of the belief in life after death and in the immortality of the soul ancient Filipinos were
very respectful of their dead. They embalmed their dead like the Egyptians and buried them
near their houses, complete with gold, cloth and other objects of value, for " if they departed
rich, they would be well received in the other world but coldly if they went poor ". The
Cordillera natives mummified their dead in sitting posture, placed them eaves, the mouths of
which were covered with stones.

Mourning for a dead chieftain was called the LARAW; for dead man, MAGLAHE; and for dead
woman, MOROTAL.

During the Lara, quarrels were forbidden; Spears were carried with blade pointing down, knives
with the holy reversed. Colored clothes were prohibited during mourning. On a boat returning
to the village of the dead no one may sing.

If the principal mourner was a chieftain, and the deceased was a man, the MAGLAHE may be
ended only after a man had been captured in battle.

Sudden death of man- killed by sword, lightning or crocodile, were considered honorable and
his soul went straight to CALUWALHATIAN (hollowed abode) by means of the rainbow.
EDUCATION

Pre- Magellan Filipinos had no formal schools. Pre- Spanish children were taught reading and
writing in their homes. The father's trained their sons to be warriors, hunters and fishermen,
music, arithmetic, religion and household crafts were also taught.

They used iron- pointed pens and wrote on tree boards, bamboo tubes and leaves of plants.
The practical arts were also part of their learning.

LANGUAGES

More than a hundred languages and dialects were spoken by ancient Filipinos. The eight major
languages were Tagalogs, Iroko, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Subanen Hiligaynon, Samardo and
Maguindanao. Almost all of these languages and dialects originated from one linguistic family-
the MALAYO POLYNESIAN language, the mother tongue of the Malay and Pacific races.

LITERATURE

The pre- colonial Filipinos had both written and oral literature. Their oral literature consisted of
the AWIT(SONGS), the SALAWIKAIN(PROVERBS), HELE (CRADLE SONG), BUGTONG (RIDDLES),
IHIMAN (WEDDING SONS) and the KUMINTANG (WAR SONG).

Pre-colonial literature was both existentialist and functional. Gods and heroes were ready made
symbols or models for behavioral epics like DARANGAN and BIAG NI LAM- ANG were
repositories of customary and written laws, religion, history and poetry.

MUSIC AND DANCES

The early Filipinos were music and dance lovers. Their musical instruments were the KUDYAPI,
the Tagalog guitar; the TULTUGAN, the Visayan bamboo drum; the Selby, the Ilocano Reed
flute; and the KUTIBENG,another Ilocano five-stringed guitar.

The favorite dances of the Visayans were that BALITAW and DANDANSOY. The Tagalog had the
KUMINTANG. Their love dance.other folk dances were the MAHINHIN. Tagalog courtship dance.
The KINNOTAN. Ilocanos ants dance and the TADEK.tinggian live dance.

Their songs and music were expressed in all aspects of their lives they had songs and music in
celebration of victory in war. For good harvest. For religious ritual. And for each death and
burial.

THE ARTS

The generally practical arts of the pre-Spanish Filipinos may be studied through their
implements, ornaments and potteries. The tools and weapons of the earliest Filipinos were
rough and crude but as they evolved from one period to another. they gradually polished their
implements. With the coming of the Bronze Age used bronze weapons, tools weapons and
implement. When the Malays introduced the smelting iron, tools and weapons improved in
practical and artistic quality. With the introduction of the syllabary form of writing, artistic
design was engraved on potteries and design were engraved on potteries and the engraving on
the handles of weapons (daggers bolos and Spears) greatly improved.

ECONOMIC LIFE

Agriculture was the main source of livelihood of the early Filipinos. Two system of land
cultivation were practiced; the kaingin (upland) system, in which land was cleared by burning
the bushes and shrubs, after which to the same would be then planted with crops. The other
method was the TILLAGE SYSTEM (lowland). which the land was plowed and harrowed by a
CARABAO (water buffalo) followed by planting

Some pre-Spanish Filipinos, notable the Ifugao’s used irrigation to increase their harvest. Their
rice terraces attest to this agricultural method. There were also two system of land holding.;
private and public ownership of lands. Generally, the uncultivated lands near the barangay
were considered communal or public land. The privately-owned lands were cultivated by
families of the barangay. Private lands were acquired through inheritance, purchase or by
occupation (kaingin or tillage of a public land). Other industries were mining, shipbuilding,
fishing, lumbering, weaving poultry and livestock.

Their system of weight and measures facilitated their commercial transaction. Example of their
measure’s capacity were the KABAN (25 gantas) and the SALOP (ganta). The measures of
(length was the dipa (length of an outstretched arm) and the SANDANKAL (the width of the
hand with all the fingers pressed together).

SUBSISTENCE ECONOMIES AND SOCIAL TRANSITION

Almost all of the inhabitants with the exception of the rulers in subsistence barangays were
self-sufficient farmers. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi provides an important observation on the
system of the economy to the pre-Spanish people had:

"More or less gold is found in all these Island. It is obtained from the rivers, and in some places
from the mines, which the natives work. However, they do not work the mines steadily but only
when forces by necessity, for because of their sloth and the Little work done by their slaves.
They do not even try to become wealthy nor do they care to accumulate riches. When a chief
possesses one or two pairs of earrings of a very fine gold, two bracelets and chained will not
trouble himself to look for any more gold. Any native who possesses a basket full of rice will
seek no more, or do any further work, until is finished. Thus, their idleness surpassed their
covetousness.

Spanish colonization later transformed this economic system into a feudal and exploitative one.
Former communal lands were transformed into private, ecclesiastical and royal properties as
part of the Encomienda. As a result, Spanish rule accelerated the formation of an exploitative
class, which dominated the economic system for centuries to come.