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Passed by: Shaira Frances S. Gacillos Date: September 15, 2022

Pased to: Daniel Francisco P. Del Rosario Section: MED22C

“Readings in the Philippine History”

In the Philippines' between c. 900 and 1560, pre-colonial era occurred. It was also the
period when Filipino culture had not yet been affected by Western cultures and their customs.
However, prior to the colonization of other nations, the Philippines had already has its own
richness and character in each of the several tribes and ethnic groupings. A lot of of writings has
confirmed and acted as evidence to these statements, but two particular authors from Spain aided
in broadening our knowledge about the Philippines’ pre-colonial era, namely: Antonio Pigafetta
and Juan De Plasencia.

Antonio Pigafetta and Juan De Plasencia are both from Spain, they are chroniclers
commissioned by the King of Spain (reigned as Charles V) to accompany and document a
voyage intended to expand the Spanish empire. But in doing so, they provided us with primary
accounts of how the Ancient Filipinos lived prior to Spanish occupation from which we could
understand their early traditions, practices, and beliefs for better appreciation. The documents:
“Journal about Ferdinand Magellan’s Voyage around the World” by Antonio Pigafetta became
one of the most important primary sources in the study of precolonial Philippines. It was a major
referent to the events leading to Magellans arrival in the Philippines, his encounter with the
Visayans, his death in the hands of Lapulapu's forces in the Battle of Mactan and the depature of
what was left of Magellan's fleet from the islands. On the other hand, “The Customs of the
Tagalogs” writen by Juan De Plasencia offered some interesting insights. Not only in the nature
of the Philippines before colonization, but also on how the new perspective of the Europeans
view a highly unfamiliar environment, geography, population, and culture. These chroniclers
recorded their own experiences in the Philippines as well as their overall impressions about the
natives. Both Pigafetta and Plasencia’s literary work represents a bridge that brought knowledge
of the Philippines to Europe and, 500 years later, is still a reference for those who study the pre-
hispanic Philippines.

But despite of the similarites of the said documents, they also have their particular
differences and purposes. Pigafetta joined the expedition serving as Magellan's assistant with his
journal, during their voyage to the Spice Islands led by explorer Ferdinand Magellan under the
flag of the emperor Charles V. Their primary objectives were to reach the Spice Islands of
Maluku (in the Indonesian archipelago) and to open new trading routes for Spain. But instead of
arriving At Maluku, Magellan’s crew accidentally went to the Philippines instead and marked the
1st encounter of the Europeans and the Filipinos. During their stay, Pigafetta wrote descriptions
of Filipinos which was written from a sixteenth century European perspective. This then turned
into the book “Journal of Ferdinand Magellan’s Voyage around the World.” He stated that the
native Filipinos were very familiar and friendly but the most important character to him is the
showcase of generosity of our ancestors to foreigners who were still suffering from hunger and
scurvy. He also regarded the Filipinos’ indigenous belief systems and way of life as inferior to
Christianity and of the Europeans. He always remarks the nakedness of the natives or how he
was fascinated by their exotic culture. He repeatedly mentioned the abundance of spices like
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ginger, and of precious metals like gold. When they saw the indigenous attire of the natives,
Pigafetta saw them as being naked because from the European standpoint, they were wearing
fewer clothes. Pigafetta's perspective was too narrow to realize that such attire was only
appropriate for the tropical climate of the island. Despite his Eurocentric biases in viewing the
natives, Pigafetta was seen as a credible source from that period, which was prior unchronicled
and undocumented. His work was also recognized as the earliest detailed documentation of the
Filipinos. Furthermore, Pigafetta's writings are regarded as an account for the "purest"
precolonial society.

On the other hand, Juan De Plasencia who entered the Franciscan order in early youth,
came to the Philippine Islands as one of the first missionaries who first arrived in the Philippines
in 1577. He was tasked by the King of Spain to document the customs and traditions of the
colonized (“natives”) based on, arguably, his own observations and judgments. He then joined
forces with another missionary, Fray Diego de Oropesa, and they both started preaching
around Laguna de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon, in Quezon Province, where he founded several
towns in Luzon and authored several religious and linguistic books, most notably the Doctrina
Cristiana (Christian Doctrine), the first book ever printed in the Philippines of that order. He
distinguished and admired the native Filipinos by writing the document "The Customs of the
Tagalogs" that mainly focuses on the government, administration of justice, slaves, inheritance
and dowries. Juan de Plasencia’s account included details about the Filipinos’ culture like how
they had Barangays, tribal gatherings consisting of 30-100 families together with their slaves,
having their own Dato at the top of the social status who governed the people and was the
captain in their wars, followed by the Maharlikas, commoners and slaves. Note that this writing
was intentionally made to provide an exoticize description of the Tagalog natives, clearly fed by
politics and propaganda and operated with the Western-outsider's gaze, that would be appealing
to them. But it benefited Filipinos because this strengthened the claim that even before the
Spaniards colonized the Philippines, Filipinos already have their own set of traditions, customs,
practices, beliefs and government that they abide to. Most of the important data and information
Plasencia found was in most of the communities in the country though it is not always true that
they are generally similar to one another.

To summarize, these two particular documents had been useful tools for the
understanding and appreciation of the Filipinos' social, cultural and political history because of
its rich narrative especially on mentioning the minutest of details in almost all aspects of life
during the pre-colonial period. The documents had contributed much to the understanding of the
culture and heritage of the Filipinos. In a way, that they have mainly provided us with significant
and meaningful information to better appreciate and be proud of the cultural legacy from our
forebears. They were able to instill a sense of oneness and nationhood that befits a rich culture
that is of the Filipinos' and as a result we would be able to move forward to progress with
everyone supporting one another during the process. The documents also played a vital piece not
only to Philippine history, but also of World history. Pigafetta and Plasencia narrated the events
that transpired in a way that gives the readers a clear picture of what it was like to be part of the
Philippine’s Pre-Colonial period.
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Citations:

 https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/242606-bringing-home-pigafetta-
manuscripts/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Pigafetta
 https://philippineitalianassociation.org/events/2021/4/12/antoni-pigafetta-in-
philippine-history-and-heritage
 “A Brief Summay of the First Voyage Around the World by Magellan” by Joy
Agustin
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/424549111/A-Brief-Summary-of-the-First-Voyage-
Around
 https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/magellan-circumnavigation earth?
language_content_entity=en
 “The Philippine Islands by Blair & Robertson”
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42884/42884-h/42884-h.htm
 “First Voyage Round the World” by Fedinand Magellan
 GARCIA, MAURO. (1479). Readings in the Philippine Prehistory: Manila :
Filipiniana Book Guild, Juan De Plasencia pp. 221-234