BELO JEFFEROSN P.

BSEE

READING 06

GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

1. Are there differences in the description of Chirino and Morga about the Filipino women in their
accounts? Yes, there are. In Morga’s description of ancient Filipino women, he wrote that they
were lascivious in nature, they live in perverse. On the other hand, Chirino described ancient
Filipino

Women as modest and shy. Morga’s description of ancient Filipino women are very negative

Compared to Chirino’s.

2. To what forms of idolatry do the Filipinos attribute divinity? Pagan idolatry, because some hints
of a supreme god whom they used to call “Bathalang Maykapal” which means God the Creator
or Maker, they had no knowledge of him, for they imagined him to be enveloped and hidden in
clouds, as he was for them with the black cloud of paganism.

3. How did Chirino describe the religious leaders of the early Filipinos? What are their roles and
functions? Were they badly described to justify the need for Christianizing the Filipinos? Chirino
described the religious leaders which are the catalonas as people who have special link with the
devil since they only deceive people with dirty tricks. The ancient Filipinos believed in them as
their healer’s both these people only practiced deceiving them plotting falsehood all –

Around. It is just that Chirino has grown to very different environment that he considered the

Filipinos ways to be wrong. The state of the Filipino as stated and narrated by Chirino to the

Extent of relating all of it to the devil.

 4. What countries on nationalities were used to compare the indigenous religious beliefs and
practices of the early Filipinos? Do these indigenous religious beliefs persist even this day? Cite
examples?

- The Ancient Filipinos were likened to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and the

Assyrians. Some of these people still practicing paganism, carving their own statues of their gods. For
examples, in the Philippines, some people still think that the statues are gods, offering them food and
others. Another is the Greeks, some of them still practices Neopaganism. 5. What sacrifices of the
Filipinos did Chirino describe to be “barbarous”? Why were they

Considered babarous in the eyes of Chirino? Chirino described the prehispanic Filipino to be barbarous.
They sacrifice a slave or kill a sea turtle, or also mollusk and sea eggs when they cure the sick. The
catalonas usually kills hog (domestic pi) and anoints his patient and those present with its blood. They
also continue eating and chanting the epic stories of the patient’s ancestors; or to honor the anito, for
whom the feast is held, and danced until they collapsed.

5. What are the differences in the narratives of Morga and Chirino regarding sacrifice of slaves
among prehispanic Filipinos?

Morga wrote that the ancient never gone as far as offering their slaves as sacrifices but Chirino said
otherwise, they go as far as killing three slaves for sacrifice.

6. How do you describe the practice of slavery in the Philippines? How do you compare it with

The slavery in Europe in those years? The slavery in the Philippines were widespread, in slight situations
people become slave. In Europe, slavery was also very evident. In Europe, slaves are commodities to be
bought and sold and the African slaves were made to work on Sugar plantations. On both side, slave
trading was very common.

7. What is the distinction between the two kinds of slaves- aliping namamahay and sagigilid? The
aliping namamahay are those who serve their masters annually by offering their harvest and
accompanying their masters into a campaign of war. While those who are called aliping sagigilid
 are the war captives or those who weren’t able to pay their debts and they can be sold and
serve their masters for everything they’re told to.

8. What are the biases and prejudices in the accounts of Pedro Chirino regarding the religious
beliefs and practices of early Filipino people? Do you think these biases and prejudices spring
from his hispano-centric and catholic-centered perspectives? Why?

Just like Morga, Chirino also came from a different culture. So, everything that he witnessed on Filipinos
were all barbarous as they are unusual for him. On religion, Chirino rooting from Christianity, of course
in those times he must have considered that aside from his very own religion, there are no other beliefs.
When he discovered that Filipinos practiced paganism, he must have felt that he should help in
transforming their beliefs, converting the Filipinos from their paganism to Christianity.

9. Using contend and contextual analysis, interpret the following statements of Chirino: - they are
economically self-sufficient because they thread already and have currency. They are rich
tradition and culture. Because they have their own way of clothing themselves, they have their
own barangais, their way of marriage and the way they’re called pintados.

Issues or Discourse

1. Do you see some similarities of the religious beliefs and practices of our prehispanic Filipinos
with our present day surviving indigenous practices? Is this what we call today as folk religion,
pre-Christian superstitions and rituals? Cite example

- Indeed, these pre-Hispanic Filipino folk religions, pre-Christian superstitions, and rituals
are still practiced today. When someone becomes ill, for example, old people may
believe that their spirits have been disturbed, so they give food and prayers to heal the
illness, which we call “atang” in Ilocano.

2. Do you think the Filipinos’ practice of worshiping the spirits of their ancestors may be similar to
that of the Chinese? Can this be part of Chinese influence knowing that prehispanic Filipinos and
Chinese have early contacts and trade before the coming of the Spaniards? Are there similarities
in the use of instruments for their worship?
Yes, I believe that Filipinos and Chinese people worship the spirits of their forefathers and mothers in
similar ways. Offering food to the deceased is one of the many similarities they have.

3. Pedro Chirino despised the primitive Filipinos of their worship of the anitos. Do you think the
anitos are similar with the worship of statues in the Roman Catholic Church? – Yes, they are
both made by humans and worshiped base on their beliefs.
4. Do you agree that the precolonial Filipinos already had their spirituality before the arrival of the
Spaniards, that is they did have an “encounter” with the divine many years prior to their
Christianization? Why?

- Personally, I believe they had their spirituality before the Spaniards arrived. They
practiced animism. Animism is a collection of beliefs and cultural norms based on the
assumption that the universe is populated by spirits and supernatural forces, both good
and evil, and that these entities must be respected by worship. Diwatas were the name
given to these nature spirits later on,