Plasencia's Account Content Analysis

Thursday, 19 August 2021 5:52 PM

Customs of the Tagalogs

By Fr. Juan de Plasencia

Historical Context
1. Limited number of Spanish officials who would venture outside Intramuros
2. Team up of Filipino gobernadorcillo and friar
○ Supervisory and monitoring act
○ Most knowledgeable and Influential figure in the pueblo
3. Missionaries and religious districts
○ Statistics of converts
○ People’s way of life
○ Socio-economic condition
○ Problems of the natives
4. Friars who are keen observers and gifted writers had long reports and letters with their
personal observations and experiences
○ Relacion de las Costumbres de los Tagalogs by Juan de Plasencia
○ Relacion delas Filipinas by Miguel de Loarca in 1582 about the Visayan way of life
○ Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas by Gov. Antonio de Morga about the 16th century
Philippines
○ Relacion de las Islas Filipinas by Fr. Pedro Chirino in 1604
○ Historia General by Fr. Juan Delgado in 1571
○ Labor Evangelica by Fr. Francisco Colin in 1663
○ Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas by Fr.
Francisco Ignacio Alcina in 1668

Fr. Juan de Plasencia, OFM

• Joan de Porto Carrero born in Plasencia, Extremadura, Spain and joined the Franciscan order
either in Italy and Spain
• Order of Friars Minor
• Arrived in the Philippines on July 4, 1578 inspired by the resurgence of religiosity and
spirituality of Spain’s Siglo de Oro
• In 1578, he and Fray Diego de Oropesa had their mission in the Tagalog area
• Key person in the building of various towns in Quezon, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan
• Wrote Relacion richly describing the political, social and economic and cultural practices of the
Filipinos before they were converted to the new faith
• Author of Doctrina Christiana en Lengua Española y Tagala in 1593 and advocate of Reduccion
plan
• Into administering sacraments, baptism and catechism
• Died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590

The Account of Customs of the Tagalogs

• The original entitled Relacion de las Costumbres de los Tagalogs is kept at the Archivo General
de Indias in Seville, Spain
• Duplicate copy is kept in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental in Madrid Spain
• English translation in The Philippine Islands, Vol. 7 by Blair and Robertson and Filipiniana Book
guild

Social Ranks- from the Customs of the Tagalogs by Fray Juan de Plasencia
Datos
• Classed from where they came from,
• Chief of barangay, captain of their wars,
• Offender of him and his family was severely punished
• Energetic, endure, protect his people and do not order his people
Maharlica

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Maharlica
• Freeborn, pay no tax, accompanied the dato in war at their own expense, shared with the spoil
of war, rower of the chief, assist in other activities of the chief, entitled to barangay land
• Recognition of children from another social class to keep the rank of the father.
• Not allowed to move from another barangay without the fine
Namamahay
• Married, server of the chief, with half of cultivated land, own their house, children enjoy their
inheritance, property and rank of their father and cannot be sold nor taken into another
village
Saguiguilir
• Serve their master in his house and lands, if born in his master’s house, he was rarely sold,
motivated by his share in the harvest

Laws and Dowries

Laws
• Rules of the dato or two datos or selection of an arbiter known to be fair and just
• Punishment and death penalty
1. Fines in the form of gold
2. Payment in the form of slavery with food and clothing provision
3. Man of low birth
4. Witchery
Dowries
• Given by male to parents of the female,
• Equally shared by the children of the couple unless the father favored his child
• Unmarried women owned no land and property
• In case of divorce
1. If wife is to marry again, all dowries will revert to the husband
2. If wife is to stay single, her dowry will be returned to her
3. If husband left the wife, he lost the other half of the dowry
4. If husband with children left, whole dowry and fine will go to the children with
grandparent or responsible kin protecting the inheritance of the children
• In case of child betrothal, there is a stipulated fine in case of violation

Worship
• No consecrated temples for worship
• The house of the Dato is the place of adoration during worship festival called “pandot”
• ”Nagaanitos”
• “Sibi”, sorihile or small lamps, palm leaves as décor, small and big drums
• Nature worship and makeshift temple

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Divination and Season
• Knives and daggers were personalized and divined for its usefulness and luck
• No established division of years, months and days
• Determined time through land cultivation by phases of the moon, seasons of fruits, flower and
leaves yielding
• Recognition of sun-time and water-time

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Sacrifice and Adoration

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Life of Rest
• Maca or Paradise for who just, valiant, morally upright and virtuous
• Casanaan or Place of punishment, grief, and affliction. A place of anguish for the wicked with
the devil called sitan

Relevance
1. Popular primary source describing the way of life of the Tagalogs before the Spanish contacts
2. Useful inter-disciplinary source on social, political and legal aspects in the Tagalog region
3. Relevant source on property and inheritance, marriage, burial manners and judicial systems
4. Detailed information on interesting topics such as customs, traditions, religious and
superstitious beliefs
5. Inspired priests and missionaries to fulfill their role as evangelizers
6. Aid to realize that mastery of the local language and culture led to the success of Christianity
in the Philippines
7. Serves as guide and reference to future missionaries as well as other professions
8. Disprove the claim of some Spaniards that locals were uncivilized and lacking in culture
9. Provide an elaborate observation on functioning government, tax system, criminal justice
system, indigenous calendar, and long-standing customs and tradition such as garments, gold
ornaments, houses, and idols that are comparable to Southeast Asian civilization and culture.

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