REFLECTION PAPER

PHILIPPINE TREASURE

The Las Felipinas, the land of gold or somehow nowadays being called as the Maharlika.
Many have narrates that Philippines can be compared to a poor man sitting on a golden throne.
And many executive in the present times that before the Spaniards, pristine Filipinos have
immersed to a Golden Age. In the famous Boxer Codex a Spanish manuscript during 16 th
century, it was unveiled that in the pre-Hispanic Philippines, Filipinos are rich of culture and
have seen wearing strap with jewelries and gold. It is a proof of that before then Filipinos are
able to harness knowledge and constitute a system of living, recognizing social scale and forge
beliefs.
The Philippine treasure documentary video, featured an artifact that can be concede as
one of the biggest discoveries in Philippine History. The Golden Tara, it is a golden statue that is
made of 21 karat gold and weighs 4 pounds and measures 5 inches in height. It is a Hindu-
Buddhist goddess Tara. It was discovered by Delay Campos a woman from a tribe called
Manobo in Agusan in the year 1917. The Tara came from the Sanskrit word meaning a goddess
of Varjyana Buddhism. It was then passed to the Agusan’s Governor, Bas Backlagon during that
time and was used as a payment of the Governor’s debt to the Agusan Coconut Company. It was
then floating around the market since Philippine government through that time is unable to
acquire the artifact since the funds are inefficient. Ironically, the Philippine artifact was obtained
by the Americans for 4,000 pesos in the year 1920. And to these days it is being displayed in the
Field of Museum of Chicago. The Golden Tara is a very important piece to discover more about
our origin but somehow it is being kept by the outlanders. In law we have no chance of acquiring
the artifact since it was legally processed except if it was illegally bought. Agusan’s dignitaries
accepted the fact that it would difficult to acquire the artifact so they are only ask for an
assistance from the Field Museum to help them develop the place where the Tara was found. It is
to be said that the Golden Tara signifies of the Butuan’s rich history and cultural heritage.
This is a fact where we cannot escape. That in a long period of time we tend to ignore
these pieces because we don’t know the value of the knowledge and the story it can give us about
our ancestors. Watching the documentary about the Golden Tara made me wonder. It is said that
this artifact is made in 13th century so the characteristics of the statue of how it was molded, how
it was created and the 21 karat Gold. So by that 13 th century period our ancestors knows how to
process the minerals and to purify gold. And what is more interesting is that most accessories
and most common tool that has been discovered from the latter are purified gold. So this gives us
an idea to wander how enormous of gold was in our lands. The Golden Tara not just gives us the
notion of how good our ancestors in gold mining it also tells us of the early religion during that
time. Is the Golden Tara an example of early foreign individual’s arrival in the Philippines before
the prior colonial era of the Spaniards? Or these tells us that our ancestors are Animists and
Polytheists. It proves and reflects the long history of contact between early Filipinos and the
Southeast Asian Cultures. Golden Tara itself can provide us rich information from the past. That
we can use to track the early lives of our ancestors. But we are unfortunate that to see these
artifacts is being kept and requires us to go beyond our borders since this historical piece are in
possessions by the outlanders. I can’t say that it is regrettable since the artifact was preserved
knowing that it was obtained by the Americans in 1922 up to now and we can see that in the
documentary the Tara is still at its best form. But the keeping of the artifact in our lands can give
us pride or somehow a boost of our nationality. Since we can say that what is ours is ours.
The Maitum Burial Jars are also being featured in the documentary series. These
earthenware are a secondary burial vessels that was discovered in 1991 in the Sarangani
Province. Hundreds of the Jars were found and were said that the bones of our ancestors are still
sealed in the insides. It was found by the rebels and contacted an American archeologist because
they thought that it might discover golds. But what they have found are jars; jars that are
humanoid on the top that conveying different emotions. It is said that these jars are made during
the Iron Age, 1200 BC.
These Burial Jars reflected the rich cultures of our ancestors had, even before the Golden
Tara. That our ancestors established beliefs and norms. The Jars are somehow another step in the
ladder revealing history in our origins. That made you realize how we evolve or how we can
relate our characteristics to our ancestors. But sadly these jars are being transacted illegally. It is
a historical artifact so the value would be high. It is said in the documentary that it is been sold in
the black market by collectors. There was a law provided to restrict these actions but maybe
institutions covering these historical activities somehow didn’t respond accurately to counter the
offense. It is said in the documentary that even before the Filipino archeologists came to the cave
there are jars that are already been sealed in plastics. Then instead of making the artifacts a
source of study providing facts that can produce knowledge throughout the next generation these
people are only after of the funds they can make out through selling the jars.
We are in luck in witnessing the remains of the past. The remains of the Pre-historic
times. That we are still given the opportunity to perceived the ways of living of our ancestors by
keeping and by discovering these objects. But somehow we forgot of how important these
discoveries are. We only pursuit of what is ahead but we tend to let slip the relevance of
obtaining knowledge of where we came from. These histories are the foundations of what we are
now. That without them we can be an identity of other nation. These discoveries, these artifacts
are the evidence that knowledge is existing even before and we can give rise for more.