Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Arts and Sciences

GEC 2 – READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Period: 2ND Semester AY 2020-2021

Subject Instructor: SHARMAINE A.AQUINO Course, Yr & Block:
Learning Material: 4. Customs of the Tagalogs Time Allotment:
=================================================================================
4. 0 CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS
Outline of Topics
1. Historical Context
2. About the Author
3. About the Text
4. Excerpts from the Customs of the Tagalogs
5. Relevance

Specific Intended Learning Outcome/s (SILOs)

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Examine the context and perspective of the document
2. Explain the relationship among the members of a barangay
3. Discuss the religious and spiritual practices and beliefs of early Filipinos
4. Determine the significance of the document to Philippine history

=================================================================================

Lesson 4: Customs of the Tagalogs

Historical Context

During the first century of Spanish rule, the colonial government had difficulty in running
local politics because of the limited number of Spaniards who wanted to live outside of Intramuros.
This situation forced Spanish officials to allow Filipinos to hold the position of gobernadorcillo. To
ensure that the gobernadorcillos would remain loyal to the Crown, the friars assigned in the parishes
were instructed to supervise and monitor the activities of the former. Hence, the friars ended up
performing the administrative duties that colonial officials should have been doing at the local level.
They supervised the election of the local executives, helped in the collection of taxes, were directly
involve in educating the youth, and performed other civic duties. Consequently, the friars became the
most knowledgeable and influential figure in the pueblo.
The friars who were assigned in mission territories were required periodically to inform their
superiors of what was happening in their perspective areas. They prepared reports on the number of
natives they converted, the people’s way of life, their socio-economic situation, and the problems
they encountered. Some of them submitted short letters while others who were keen observers and
gifted writers wrote long dispatches. On top of the regular reports they submitted, they also shared
personal observations and experiences. Plasencia’s Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalogs
(Customs of the Tagalogs, 1589) is an example of this king of work. It contains numerous
information that historians could use in reconstructing the political and socio-cultural history of the
Tagalog region. His work is a primary source because he personally witnessed the events and his
account contained his observations.

Page 1 of __
GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Arts and Sciences

There were other friars and colonial officials who also wrote about the Filipinos which could further
enrich our knowledge of Philippine history during the early part of the Spanish period. For example,
Miguel de Loarca, an encomendero of Panay wrote his Relacion de las Islas Filipinas (1582) and
described the Filipinos way of life in the Western Visayas area. Lieutenant Governor Antonio de
Morga wrote Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas which provides information about the state of the
Philippines in the latter part of the 16th century. The other Spanish missionaries who continued the
historiographical tradition were Fr. Pedro Chirino S.J. (Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, 1604), Fr.
Juan Delgado S.J. (Historia General, 1751), Fr. Francisco Colin S.J. (Labor Evangelica, 1663), and
Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina S.J. (Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios
de Bisayas, 1668). Most of what we know about Philippine history during the first century of the
Spanish period were derived from the accounts of the Spanish friars

About the Author

Fray Juan de Plasencia (Joan de Portocarrero, real name) was a member of the Franciscan
Order who came together with first batch of missionaries to the Philippines in 1578. He and a fellow
FranciscanFray Diego de Oropesa, were assigned to do mission works in the Southern Tagalog area.
Plasencia also helped in the foundation and organization of numerous towns in Quezon, Laguna,
Rizal, and Bulacan. His continuous interaction with the people he converted to Christianity enabled
him to write a work titled Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalogs (Customs of the Tagalogs,
1589) where he vividly described the political, social, economic, and cultural practices of the
Filipinos before they were Christianized.
Plasencia did not limit himself to the task of administering the sacraments and baptizing new
converts. He believed that the cathechism or explaining the basic tenets of Catholic faith is another
very important function of a missionary. His biggest challenge at that time was how to make the
articles of faith comprehensible to people who have never heard of Christ or the Catholic Church. He
wrote the Doctrina Christiana en Lengua Espanola y Tagala which later became the first printed
book in the Philippines in 1593. He used it as reading material for those Filipinos who wished to
deepen their faith in the newly-accepted religion. Plasencia died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590

About the Book

The original document of Customs of the Tagalogs is currently kept in the Archivo General
de Indias (A.G.I.) in Seville, Spain. A duplicate copy of it is kept in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-
Oriental (A.F.I.O.), in Madrid, Spain. An English translation appeared in Volume VII of the Blair
and Robertson’s The Philippine Islands. Another English translation was published as part of the
volume for colonial Philippines in the second series of the Filipiniana Book Guild.

Relevance

Plasencia’s Cutoms of the Tagalogs is a very popular primary source as it vividly describes
the way of life of the Filipinos before Spanish and Christian influences. It also covers numerous
topics that are relevant in many disciplines. Political scientist, for instance, find it useful because it
contains information about social classes, political stratifications, and legal system of the Tagalog
region. Many of what we know about the duties and responsibilities of the datu, maharlika, and
alipin came from Plasencia’s account. Moreover, it tackles property rights, marriage rituals, burial
practices, and the manner in which justice is dispensed. Plasencia’s account also preserves and
Page 2 of __
GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Arts and Sciences

popularizes the unwritten customs, traditions, and religious and superstitious beliefs of the Filipinos.
One can also say that our historical knowledge about the mananaggal, aswang, hukluban, and
gayuma, among others came from Plasencia’s works.
Priests and missionaries also read Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs and Doctrina
Christiana because they contain insights that can help and inspire them to become effective
evangelizers. The realization that one needs to master the local language and study the culture
of the people to be a successful missionary is one insight from Plasencia. They also learned
from Plasencia that contain the basic elements of faith. These readings will serve as guide and
reference when the missionaries are no longer around. All these insights from Plasencia are
applicable not only to missionaries but to other professions as well.
Plasencia’s historical writings also disprove the claim of some Spaniards that when they
arrived in the Philippines, Filipinos were still uncivilized and lacking in culture. It is clear in
the excerpts quoted that at the time Plasencia was assigned in the Tagalog region, Filipinos
were already politically and economically organized. They had a functioning government, tax
system, set of laws, criminal justice system, indigenous calendar, and long -standing customs
and traditions. Moreover, they had a concept of a supreme being (Bathala), practiced burial
customs, and believed in life after death. Lastly, Plasencia mentioned that the people he met
were wearing garments and gold ornaments, and their houses were decorated with idols. All
of these lead to the conclusions that prior to the coming of the Spaniards, Filipinos were
already civilized and maintained a lifestyle that was on a par with or even better than that of
the people from other countries in Southeast Asia.

Page 3 of __
GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Arts and Sciences

Learning Activity
Read the excerpts from the Customs of the Tagalogs and answer the following questions:
1. Who is Fr. Juan de Plasencia? When did he serve in the Philippine Islands?
- Fr. Juan De Plasencia composed the custom of Tagalogs brought into the world to the
renowned group of portocarreros in Plasencia in the district of Extremadura. Spain in the mid
16thcentury. He was one of the seven offspring of Pedro Portocarrero, a commander of a
Spanish yacht. he was a Spanish monk of the Franciscan Order. Hewas among the principal
gathering of Franciscan preachers who showed up in the Islands He is have shown up to the
Philippines in July 2, 1578, after a visit in Mexico. When he showed up, he united with
another teacher, Fray Diego de Oropesa, and the two of them began lecturing around Laguna
de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon, in Quezon Province, where he established a few towns.

2. How did he describe the hierarchy of people in the barangay?

- In Fr. Juan de Plasencia depict the hierarchy of individuals in barangay into three standings
which are Nobles ( maharlica),Commoners (aliping namamahay) and slaves (aliping sa
guiguilar).

3. Which particular precolonial policy or rule stood out to you ? why?

- When the time that Plasencia’s historical writings disprove the claim of Spaniards about us,
that we were uncivilized and lack of culture. It stood me out because of Plasencia’s account
reveal that Filipinos were already civilized and maintained a lifestyle. And probably we’re
even better than from other countries in Southeast Asia.

4. What does Fr. Plasencia ‘s account reveal about the religious and spiritual beliefs of the
early Filipinos?
- His account reveals that some Filipinos believed about Bathala, a concept of Supreme Being.
Also they practiced burial customs and believed in life after death. In summary, Filipinos
already have faith.

5. What are the reasons of the natives for offering sacrifices?

- Filipinos were already politically and economically organized. They had a functioning
government, tax system, indigenous calendar, and long-standing custom and traditions. The
natives offering sacrifices is for their Bathala, marriage, rituals, and burial practices.

Activity 1
Identify an urban legend in your place and present it in a
comics form.

Page 4 of __
GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Arts and Sciences

References:
BATIS Sources in Philippine History, Jose Victor Torres
Philippine History, Aimee A. Dizon et al

Page 5 of __
GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History