LESSON 3

OUR EARLY ANCESTORS

ORIGIN OF THE PHILIPPINES

First Theory
That the Philippines was once a part of the lost continent. Mu or Lemuria. The natives of
the islands of the Pacific, particularly the Hawaiians, hold to the notion, which they inherited
from their ancestors, that in the dim past, there was a vast continent in the mid Pacific extending
to the western rim of the said ocean. This continent sank beneath the ocean as a result of one
of the early glacial periods, leaving only the highest points of land above the water.

Second Theory

Known as the Volcanic Origin Theory which states that the Philippines emerged above
the ocean in early times as a result of the eruptions of volcanoes on the ocean floor.

Third Theory
The belief that the Philippines was once a part of mainland ASIA, that was connected to
the continent by land bridges, which sank as a result of the rise of the level of the ocean in the
last glacial period about 25,000 years ago.
The most widely accepted among these theories is the third that the Philippines was
once part of mainland Asia.

Proof cited by its proponents:

1) The similarity of flora and fauna between the mainland and the Philippines.
2) The shallowness of the China Sea which separates the Philippines from the continent.
3) The presence of a foredeep on the eastern rim of the archipelago.

Dr. Fritjoff Voss, a German scientist who studied geology in 1964-1967 said that the
Archipelago was never part of the mainland of Asia but it rose from the bottom of the sea
through violent earthquakes. His theory needs more exhaustive studies for its discredits the
belief that the Dawn Man and the Pygmies arrived in the Philippines via land.
In his book “Philippine Pre-History”, F. Landa Jocano claimed that the Philippines was
linked with Formosa during the Eocene and Oligocene eras though this Miocene Period was the
result of volcanic eruptions and other tectonic movements.
THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF THE PHILIPPINES

Each race perhaps has its myth about the origin of its country. We Filipinos have come
up with several legends explaining the origin of the Philippines. Here is one of these legends.
Long, ago there was no land, which can be seen on Earth. What could be seen were the
sky, the sea, and flying birds. In the olden days the sky was just a little above the sea. Since the
beginning of its existence, the bird had been flying all the time. One day, the bird suddenly
became very tired. It searched for a place to get its repose but it only saw the sea.
The bird used its wit by provoking a fight between the sea and the sky. The sea and the
sky were so angry at each other that they not only exchanged heated words but tried to hurt one
another.The sea lashed its strong waves towards the sky. So the sky lifted itself higher and
higher from the sea cast bigger waves to the sky.To stop the sea from casting huge waves, the
sky, raging with fury threw countless rocks to the sea. These rocks according to the theory
made the Philippine island being.

THE BIBLICAL THEORY

Religion has its tale about the origin of the earth including Ohilippine archipelago. One of
the most common beliefs of the origin of man is religious in nature and is based on the Holy
Bible.It is called the Creation.
The Biblical account says that God created the world all the living and non-living things
in six days. Another account says that a Supreme Being created man out of clay. He breathed
into the clay to give it life. According to this story, first man was burned to a crisp and so the
black race was black race was born.The second man was half-baked and so the white man was
born. The Filipino was baked just right and so the brown race to which he belongs was born.
Genesis, the first book in the Old testament, narrates how God created the earth, sky,
and man in several days, excerpts of which follow.
Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place so that
the land will appear”, and it was done. He named the land “Earth” and the water which had
come together be named “Sea” and was delighted with what He had created.
Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life and wild large and
small”-all it was done. So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created
him male and female, He created them.

SCIENTIFIC THEORY
According to geologists, the Philippines was not originally an Archipelago but was once
an integral part of the great continental shelf of the Asian mainland itself. Using their studies
about rocks and fossils, scientists made a theory as to how the Philippines originated. It used to
be a huge expanse of land, covered by rich volcanic soil and lush vegetation growth and over
shadowed by lofty mountains, some of which even higher than the Himalayas. When the Ice
Age came, the water level rose high to such a very high level than the land at the edges of the
mainland began to sink; when the Ice Age ended which was less than ten thousand years ago,
only one group of the tallest peaks was left behind. One group of these formed Island was the
Philippines.
 Another theory argues that the Philippines, along with Borneo, Java,Sumatra, the
Mollucas, the Marianas, the Carolinas, Guam, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands were the
remnants of a huge lost continent called Mu or Lemuria. Unluckily, this so-called Pacific Atlantic
was destroyed as a result of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
There is one theory also which supports the belief that the Philippines was connected to
Asia through land bridges. About 25,000 years ago, the water level of the earth rose due to
melting of the ice in the world’s polar caps, thus submerging these land bridges. Due to this
incident, the Philippines got separated from the mainland of Asia. Fritzjoy Voss’ view claims that
the Philippine was not a part of Continental Asia. He said that Palawan and the Calamian
Islands do not stand on a submerged land bridge but were once a hornlike protuberance on the
shoulder of a continent whose southern shorelines used to be the present islands Java and
Borneo. Just off the east coast of Samar and Mindanao, the floor of the Philippine Sea drops
into a canyon of more than 11 kilometers( one of the greatest depth measures never to have on
the earth). Fritzjoy Voss belief it would appear that the Philippines was never a part of the
so-called Asian land mass but in a series of broken islands off its farthest coast.

THEORY OF EVOLUTION
One of the most controversial questions that continuously intrigues man is how did he
appear on Earth? A hundred million years ago, the great reptile known as dinosaurs and their
cousins dominated on earth. Suddenly, about 70 million years ago, these animals suddenly
disappeared. Allegedly, it is because a huge meteor hit the Earth causing widespread forest
fires.
However, some reptiles managed to survive which gave rise to the birds. Also surviving
were the Synopsid-cold blooded reptiles with mammal-like skul and jaws. These evolved into
primitive mammals. They develop a large brain and had longer period of parental care until their
young could find food for themselves.
About 40 million years past, a species of primates developed. Charles Darwin
(1809-1882), a British naturalist in his famous book, Origin of Species by means of Natural
Selection, shocked the world in 1850 by stating that man and apes have a common
ancestor-the primates. One group of these primates was forests dwelling and tree-swinging
animals. The monkeys and chimpanzees descended from this group.
Another remarkable things that occurred was that their skull become bigger as their
brains increase in size too. This mean that these homonids, or early forms of man, gradually
grew more intelligent. Originally, their jaws and teeth were larger for they had to eat raw foods.
While these men gleaned to cook and use tools to cut meat their jaws and teeth became
smaller.
The ice melted and the climate became hotter between these glacial periods. Plants
flourished and life procured again. Then a far more developed man called Homosapiens,
appeared and lived under this more favorable weather.

THE FIRST FILIPINOS

Three stories:

1) The story of God’s creation.

2) The story of the evolution made by human scientists.
3) Legends and fairy tales created by imaginative people.

But because we were Christians, we believe that the story of God’s creation of man as
ascribed in the Holy Bible, is the real truth. Therefore, any other explanation about how
early man came into being, is only the product of human theory or thinking and it cannot
be the truth. Because God made man in His image and likeness, we must respect all
men as the creation of God, even though they come from primitive or backward ways of
living. After all, be reminded that we used simple ways of life too just like our ancestors.

BIBLICAL STORY
If we will use the Bible as our reference, it says that all men came from Adam and Eve.
After the Great flood-Noah and his three sons left to settle the earth. Noah’s sons-Shem. Ham,
and Japeth themselves had sons after the flood. One of the youngest, Japeth was named
Javan. Out of Javan, Noah’s grandson, came four sons named Elishah, Tharsis the Kittim and
the Rodanim. Thus, Fr. Francisco Colin, a Jesuit historian, wrote that the first settlers of our
country wasTharsis, the son of Jovan and great grandson of Noah, together with his brothers
and their descendants. Then allegedly, the descendants of these people lived in Asia including
the Philippines.
Scientists however, do not consider this tale of God’s creation is reliable not true. As
christians, however, we believe that man evolved from apelike creations. Instead, we adamantly
cling to the Biblical teaching that we were created after the image of God.

GROWTH OF THE FILIPINOS

The first Filipinos grew in numbers and ways of living as years passed by. They began to
cook with fire and to make sharper tools Many families also lived in Central Luzon and Cagayan
Valley. About 5,000 years ago, early Filipinos learned to make axes, seashell, ornaments and
pottery. Likewise, they chewed betel nut (nganga).
Filipinos became adroit in craftsmanship, travelling and trading. Their pottery and jewelry
became more beautiful. They traded beads of stone, shells, precious stoned and gold. They
made better clothes.
The first Filipinos were similar to the Vikings of the Pacific. They sailed on boats across
the Pacific Ocean to nearby island in Micronesia and Polynesia. They brought some early tools
like iron, arrows and knives. They started good business relations with the Arabs, Chinese and
other nearby nations

WAVES OF MIGRATION
THE NEGRITOS
The Negritos were believed to be the first batch to arrive in the Philippines.They were
also called Atis or Aetas. They came across the land bridges from mainland Asia about 25,000
years ago. These land bridges allegedly connected our country to Asia but they eventually sank
below the sea.
The Negritos were very short. They were less than five feet tall. They were called
“Negritos”, because they had black skin, short kinky hair, thick lips and black noses. They had
no system of government, no writing and no permanent homes. They wandered in the forest
and live by hunting.

THE INDONESIANS
The Indonesians are believed to be first to arrive by the sea in the Philippines. They
came about 50,000 years ago. They sailed in boats from South Asia. They drove the Negritos
into the mountains and lived in the lowlands. There were two types of Indonesians. The first
type was tall, with light skin, large forehead, high nose and thin lips. The second type came
later. They were shorter and darker, with large nose thick lips and heavy jaw.
The Indonesians lived in permanent homes, more advanced than the Negritos. They
used fire to cook their foods. They lived by hunting, fishing and small farming. They used
colorful figures too as paintings for their bodies
The minority tribes of Indonesia are still in the inner parts of our country. They are the
Apayaos, Gaddangs, Ibanags ang Kalingas of Northern Luzon; the Tagbanuas of Palawan; and
the Bagobos, Manobos, Mandaya, Bukidnons, Tirurays and Sabanuns of Mindanao.

THE MALAYS
The Malays set foot in the Philippines via boats about 2,000 years ago. They were
medium in height, brown-skinned with dark eyes, flat noses and straight black hair. They lived in
the lowlands after having driven the INdonesians into the forest.
They were more advanced than the Indonesians. They lived in larger villages. They had
government, writing, music, arts and science. They lived by agriculture, fishing, mining and
trading.
The arrival of Malays was made vivid through a legend. In Panay, this story is called
“Maragtas”. It tells how the first ten Malay datus left Borneo and came to Panay. They bought
the land from the Negritos and settled the other islands. Datu Puti led the Malay datus, and
Marikudo led the Atis. This legend is now celebrated in the famous “ati-atihan” fiesta and dance.
The Filipinos today come from Malay or brown race. Thus, there are Muslim Malays in
Mindanao, Jolo an dPalawan. And there are christian Malays in the whole country. There are
also Malay tribes like the Igorots, Ifugaos, Bontocs and Tinggians of Luzon.

RACIAL ORIGINS AND THE MAJOR GROUPS OF INHABITANTS

It is believed that the development of man’s physical features and his culture took
several thousands of years Along with this development was man’s migration throughout the
world. In the case of the Filipino ancestral lineage, their aboriginal roots starts with the Negritos
(commonly called aetas or pygmies) followed by two waves of Indonesians migrants and then
the Malays.
The Negritos are small about five feet tall and they came from mainland Asia. They are
dark in complexion with kinky hair, small flat noses and thick lips. Crossing the land bridges they
reach the Philippines. They are nomadic, their descendants are found in the mountains and the
forests of Luzon particularly in Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Pampanga. Other
areas inhabited presently by Negritos are Mindoro, Palawan, Negros, Panay and some remote
places in Mindanao.
Indonesian were the first people to reach the archipelago on sail boats. They migrated
on the southeastern part of Asia. The groups were generally five feet in height, slender in
physique, light complexioned, thin lips and high aquiline nose. The second wave of Indonesian
migrants came from southward direction. They have a more advanced culture. They built
permanent dwellings of wooden or bamboo frames and roof made of grasses. Agriculture was
their primary means of living. Like Negritos they cooked their food in bamboo tubes. They
belong to New Stone Age, the Indonesian migrants used polished stone implements. The
Indonesian strain is very strong in the ethnic groups of the Apayaos, Ibanags, Gaddangs and
Igorot of Luzon.
Finally, the Malays who belonged to the brown race comprised the main bulk of the
ancestors of the Filipinos. They came mainly from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and
Borneo. There were three waves of Malay migration that sailed in sailing boats called
Balangays beginning about 200 B.C and continuing till 1500 A.D. These groups belonged to the
brown race. They were medium height, slim but sturdy in physique, with brown skin, dark brown
eyes and black hair. They had a more advanced culture than the Indonesians migrants.
Each migrant groups had a limited concept of cultural identity that differentiated one
group from another. However, the coming of the Spaniards, the first Western colonizers,
brought out idea of belonging to a national identity.