Customs of the Tagalogs Page |1

HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY

Holy Angel University

School Of Engineering and Architecture

Department of Civil Engineering

2nd Semester S.Y. 2021-2022

Customs of the Tagalogs

By Juan de Plasencia

Submitted By:

Dizon, Reniel S.

Naluz, Rossward Jade

Pamintuan, Junar V.

Sambo, Alzon Joseph S.

Soliman, Winell Khyle M.

Villavicencio, Rovic S.

Submitted to:

Mr. Alex O. Suyat

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Background of the author

Juan de Plasencia was born as Juan Porto Carrero in Plasencia in the Extremadura

region of Spain in the early 16th century. He was one in all the seven children of the blood

coming from Pedro Porto Carrero, the captain of the Spanish schooner. which included D.

Alfonso Pacheco Portocarrero, D. Pedro Portocarrero, D. Rodrigo Pacheco, Doña

Beatriz, Doña Ana, and Doña Inés Portocarrero. He was a Spanish friar of the Franciscan

Order. He was one of the first groups of Franciscan missionaries to arrive on the island on

July 2, 1578. He spent most of his missionary life in the Philippines, established numerous

cities on Luzon, and published several religious and linguistic books, especially the first

printed Doctrina Cristiana (Christian doctrine) in the Philippines. I wrote it. Upon arrival,

he joined another missionary, Frey Diego de Oropesa, and began preaching around Laguna

de Bay and Tayabas in Quezon, where he founded several towns. Juan de Plasencia died in

1590 in Liliw, Laguna.

Historical background of the document

During this period, in the 16th century, the Spanish expedition was very obvious. In

these adventures it is imperative that they think of their glorious journey. Juan de Plasencia's

account, entitled Tagalog Customs, is due to his missionary work in the Philippines. He

wrote about the culture and society of the Luzon people, so such a title was written. But

because our habits were new to them, it wasn’t exhaustive and led to misunderstandings and

prejudices against our ancestors. His work explained our ancestors at the time. Most of these

are created by our culture, which they consider to be exotic. This mainly helped the
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Spaniards to exploit our ancestors. "Tagalog Customs" is written with the eyes and hands of

the Spaniards. It is not surprising that the author did not fully understand the socio-political

status of Luzon. At that time, barangays were the only form of government in the Philippines.

The author, Juan de Plasencia, has no choice but to observe how our ancestors built the

government and how things were done in the barangay.

Content presentation and analysis of the important historical information found in the

document

- Important historical information in Customs of the Tagalogs

These people always had chiefs, called by them datos. People committed any offense

against them or spoke but a word to their wives and children, was severely punished. Here

Tribal gathering is called ‘Tagalo’ (Barangay). Besides the chiefs, who corresponded to our

knights, there were three castes the 1st is nobles they are free born whom they call Maharlica,

2nd commoners they are called Aliping namamahay they are married, and serve their master,

whether he be a dato or not, with half of their cultivated lands, as was agreed upon in the

beginning, and 3rd slaves are called Aliping sa guiguilir they serve their master in his house

and on his cultivated lands and may be sold. In these 3 nobles are the ones who don’t need to

pay tax or to contribute to Dato, but they have the obligations to support him in war.

- Important historical information in relation of the worship of the tagalogs, their

gods, and their burials and superstitions

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First, Simbahan, which means a temple or place of adoration. But this is because,

formerly, when they wished to celebrate a festival, which they called Pandot, or “worship,”

they celebrated it in the large house of a chief. There they constructed, for the purpose of

sheltering the assembled people, a temporary shed on each side of the house, with a roof,

called Sibi, to protect the people from the wet when it rained and lamps, called Sorihile.

During this time the whole barangay, or family, united and joined in the worship which they

call Nagaanitos. Badhala, whom they especially worshiped. The title seems to signify “all

powerful,” or “maker of all things.” They also worshiped the Sun, Moon, and stars. In terms

of offering sacrifice, it was to proclaim a feast and offer the devil what they had to eat. This

was done in front of the idol, which they anoint with fragrant perfumes, such as musk and

civet, or gum of the storax-tree and other odoriferous woods and praise it in poetic songs

sung by the officiating priest, male or female, who is called Catolonan. They paid reverence

to water-lizards called by them Buaya, or crocodiles, from fear of being harmed by them.

The distinctions made among the priests of the devil were as follows: The first, called

Catolonan, as above stated, was either a man or a woman. This office was an honorable one

among the natives, and was held ordinarily by people of rank, this rule being general in all

the islands. The second they called Mangagauay, or witches, who deceived by pretending to

heal the sick. These priests even induced maladies by their charms, which in proportion to

the strength and efficacy of the witchcraft, can cause death. The third they are called

Manyisalat, which is the same as Magagauay. These priests had the power of applying such

remedies to lovers that they would abandon and despise their own wives, and in fact could

prevent them from having intercourse with the latter. The fourth was called Mancocolam,
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whose duty it was to emit fire from himself at night, once or oftener each month. The fifth

was called Hocloban, which is another kind of witch, of greater efficacy than the

Mangagauay. Without the use of medicine, and by simply saluting or raising the hand, they

killed whom they chose. The sixth was called Silagan, whose office it was, if they saw

anyone clothed in white, to tear out his liver and eat it, thus causing his death. The seventh

was called Magtatangal, and his purpose was to show himself at night to many people,

without his head or entrails. The eighth they called Osuang, which is equivalent to

“sorcerer;” they say that they have seen him fly, and that he murdered men and ate their

flesh. The ninth was another class of witches called Mangagayoma. They made charms for

lovers out of herbs, stones, and wood, which would infuse the heart with love. The tenth was

known as Sonat, which is equivalent to “preacher.” It was his office to help one to die, at

which time he predicted the salvation or condemnation of the soul. The eleventh,

Pangatahojan, was a soothsayer, and predicted the future. This office was general on all the

islands. The twelfth, Bayoguin, signified a “Cotquean,” a man whose nature inclined toward

that of a woman. They also have different burying manners, one is if he were a chief, he was

placed beneath a little house or porch which they constructed for this purpose. Before

entering him, they mourned him for four days; and afterward laid him on a boat which served

as a coffin or bier, placing him beneath the porch, where guard was kept over him by a slave.

In place of rowers, various animals were placed within the boat, each one being assigned a

place at the oar by twos—male and female of each species being together—as for example

two goats, two deer, or two fowls. It was the slave's care to see that they were fed. This was a

custom of the Tagalogs. These infidels said that they knew that there was another life of rest
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which they called maca, just as if we should say “paradise,” or, in other words, “village of

rest.” They say that those who go to this place are the just, and the valiant, and those who

lived without doing harm, or who possessed other moral virtues also there were also other

pagans who confessed more clearly to a hell, which they called, as I have said, Casanaan

they said that all the wicked went to that place, and there dwelt the demons, whom they

called Sitan. There were also ghosts, which they called Vibit and phantoms, which they

called Tigbalaang.

Additional information's gathered in the document: The Visayans were known as

Pintados. As bagani warriors, their batuk (tattoo) covers and protects their dungan or inner

energy (Villan, 2013). Also, the bangka or “soul boat”, considered as a “repository of an

entire belief system” of the Indigenous society of the early Filipinos (Abrera, 2006). The

(Visayan) Babaylans were the custodians of faith, folk therapist, visionaries, wisdom keeper

and advisers of people and Indigenous communities.

Contribution and relevance of the document in understanding the grand narrative of

Phil. History

The work Of Juan de Plasencia, Customs of the Tagalogs, was considered as a

significant aspect in the Philippine history since it contains an immense information

regarding the political and socio-cultural aspect within the Tagalog area. In fact, his work is

considered as a primary source, which also proved that Filipinos are already civilized even

before the Spanish colonization, as of its experiences and observations. And this book is an

observation of the society of the people of Luzon from the perspective of an outsider. This

will remind us of the culture we had before the colonists ruled the customs and customs of
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our ancestors. In addition, the pamphlet estimates how our ancestors developed this structure

and can hypothesize the consequences if the Spaniards were not colonized in the Philippines.

Personal Insights

As a group, We observed that “The Customs of the Tagalogs'' mainly focuses on the

government, administration of justice, slaves, inheritance and dowries. Juan de Plasencia

mentioned in his account that every Barangay, a tribal gathering consists of 30-100 families

together with their slaves, have 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. Plasencia described how children were divided between the married Maharlika and

slave (Namamahay or Sa Guiguilid). Plasencia also noted the dowry system that was

practiced by the native Tagalogs dowries were given by the men to the women’s parents

before marriage. Moreover, Plansencia mentioned the worships of the tagalogs noting that

the Filipinos have no temples, but they have what they call Simbahan which means “a place

of adoration” because this is where they gather when they wish to do a feast, called Pandot or

Worship. He also mentioned that Filipinos worship idols and one of them is what they call

Bathala which signifies “all powerful” or “maker of all things”. They also worship the sun,

the moon and even the stars. The author gave us insights into how the Luzon people work in

society and how the villages relate to each other. Although not exhaustive, Juan de Plasencia

introduced the case of people at the time to help us understand what we were in the 16th

century. It was a bit confusing in terms of his approach and how he showed the rest of the

world what Filipino culture is like.