The Visayan Penis Rings & Pins

( Penis Piercing in History of Visayan Island )

This review of literature will review the underlying study concerning the Bisayan penis pins.
To be more specific, this review discusses the practice of penis piercing in the history of the
Bisayan people, the relation of neighboring countries in Southeast Asia that have similar
practices in penis piercing, and lastly, the reason why penis piercing does not exist today.

Miguel de Loarca, “Relacion de Las Yslas Filipinas,” in The Philippine Islands: 1493–1898,
vol. 5, Chapter 6, "Of the Inhabitants of the Pintados Islands and their Mode of Life." In this
source, De Loarca describes the natives of the Pintados Islands based on their physical
attributes and customs. But most importantly, De Loarca shares what he observed about the
existing customs among men of Pintados Island who bore a hole in their genital organ, and later
these men put a tin tube to which they fastened a wheel-like spur with a full palm circumference.
De Loarca also described the pins; he said that they were made of tin and weighed more than
half a pound. Also, De Loarca mentioned twenty kinds of pins the men of Pintados use, but he
didn't elaborate much on them.

William Henry Scott, "Barangay," Chapter 1 (The Visayas), Penis Pins. This paper is a
secondary source and Scott narrates why Visayan men wore a pin through their penis, and the
reason is for the great stimulation of their partners. The practice of penis piercing is done as
early as a 10-year-old male, and the pin is called tugbuk. There are also descriptions of pins
that were inserted in the penis; it's said that they are small bars of brass, ivory, gold, or lead, or
a tin tube driven across the head of the penis. Another is that Visayan men used to serve as
anchors like rings or cogwheels with blunt teeth, and this was called sakra. Unlike in De
Loarca's description of pins, who doesn't have the exact measurements of the pins used by
Visayan men, Scott has specific measurements of those pins. There are reports from the
sixteenth century that pins' length is about 7 meters, their diameter is 5 meters, and they weigh
230 grams. Scott also discusses the process of love making by Visayan people, they are using
or requiring ornaments like the penis pins for stimulation of a woman; it is said that a woman is
the one who leads the love making, and the woman is the one that inserts the male penis, and
this could not be withdrawn until the male organ was relaxed.

Antonio Pigafetta, The Voyage of Magellan: The Journal of Antonio Pigafetta It was a
translated primary source from Pigafetta's personal diaries. Upon Pigafetta's arrival in Visayas,
he noticed that the Visayan men's sex organ was pierced crosswise from top to bottom of the
head of their penis. He described the Visayan men as having golden spikes that were thick as a
goose quill on their penis. Pigafetta also noted that these piercings weren't cheap, as many
were, as just mentioned, made of gold. Pigafetta also provides the reason why Visayans
mutilated their penises: to elevate the sexual ecstasy women experienced during sex. According
to Pigafetta, ancient Visayan women preferred to have sex with men who wore such piercings,
and during intercourse, it was they, the women, who guided the ornamented organs inside their
orifices.

Carmina Mae Espeleta, "How Penis Rings Became Part of Cebu’s History." This account is
a secondary source. Espeleta noted how Spanish conquistadors saw the penis piercing practice
by the Visayan men; the Spanish described the pre-colonial Bisayan coitus as a Satanic and
barbaric practice. Espeleta also expresses that in Bisaya society, males needed accessories
because women desired them. Women would refuse sexy time if you didn't have a penis ring,
and they would even mock men who didn't have them. She also cited that women back then
were regarded with much more freedom and reverence than during the Spanish era. During sex,
it was the woman who had control over the sakra. But the most important knowledge Espeleta
contributes to this account is that she describes how pre-colonial Bisayans were no strangers to
violence. She narrates that the sakra was primarily enjoyed by women, but some men also
made use of it, albeit in a vengeful and violent manner. If a husband wanted to exact revenge
on his wife for adultery, he would shape an iron sakra's edges and injure or even kill her as a
result.

Antonio de Morga, "The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan, and China,
at the Close of the Sixteenth Century." It was a primary source that was written by Antonio de
Morga, a Spanish soldier; he's also the author of "Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas." In this account,
he briefly states the background of the Pintados Natives' practice of penis piercing. Firstly, he
describes the women in the Pintados Islands as vicious and sensual. Secondly, he notes that
the malice among them has invented clumsy or clever ways of getting together between women
and men. Thirdly, he also observed that they even used an intimacy enhancer or used
ornaments such as pins that they put into their sex organ; these pins were also a sign of a
strong man. Fourthly, De Morga described the pins the Pintados were using; he said that they
were made of metal or ivory, and they passed this pin through the hole in their penises. Fifth, De
Morga also observes that women get addicted to coitus, and even though they shed a lot of
blood and receive other damages, they enjoy it. And the last is that they consider these
ornaments sacred, and the Pintados have a lot of them.

Damien David, "Ancient Sexual Practices in the Philippines." In this account, it narrates a
theory of the origin of the practice of the Visayan natives. It is believed that the Philippines once
was part of the Majapahit Empire’s trading outposts, and this has to do with the Tantric practice.
Tantrism is a collective term used to describe various esoteric rituals and traditions that
originated in India thousands of years ago. It believes in the principle that sexuality is a doorway
to the divine and that the “highest transcendental ecstasy” can be achieved through sexual
union. For this reason, pre-Hispanic Filipinos, particularly Cebuanos, are believed to have been
influenced by Tantric practices that were common during that era, including the practice of the
Visayan penis rings.

Tom Harrisson, "The "PALANG," its History, and Proto-History in West Borneo and the
Philippines." It's a secondary source, and it tackles the similarities of penis piercing in Borneo
(Brunei). Harrison focuses on describing the Bornean natives called the Kayan tribe in
Kalimantan, in the western part of Borneo. The penis pins that are known in the Visayan Islands
are called Tugbuk and Sakra, while in Borneo they are called Palang. The popular Kayan
"explanation" of the palang is usually in the form of a secular story with a logical cause and even
a ridiculous undertone. While the process of penis piercing among Kayan natives is almost
identical to the Visayan practice, the difference is that this is a basic operation and is done by
experts, while in the Visayan practice there are no written descriptions of the Visayan process,
whether it's done by oneself or with the experts. There are also plenty of devices they put into
use by Kayan natives; some of them use pigs' bristles, bamboo, metal, seeds, beads, and
broken glass. These ornaments can be seen similar to Visayan practice, and for the same
benefits or effect as the Visayan, it's to enlarge the diameter of the male organ inside the female
and so to produce accentuated points of mobile friction.

Pongphisoot Busbarat: "Linga bell, linga bell, jingle all the way." This account is from a
secondary source and depicts the similar practice of penis piercing in Thailand. It was a report
from Jacques de Coutre, a Flemish gem trader from the 17th century; he narrates the reasons
why there's a practice of penis ball insertion in Thailand. Same-sex relationships in Thai society
seem to be common and somewhat socially accepted nowadays. While there are quite a
number of historical records of same-sex intimacy during the pre-Bangkok period, Unlike the
Visayan and Kayan practices of penis ornament, the existence of penis balls in Thailand is likely
a kind of prevention or punishment among men in their kingdom. It's because same-sex and
sodomy are rampant among men in their kingdom. Coutre later tells us that the inventor of penis
bells was the queen of Pegu, and it was said that it was the greatest punishment for men who
practice sodomy. The penis bells are called "Bruncioles," and they come in different varieties;
they are made of gold, silver, and brass, and those who do not wear them have a bad reputation
as gay men.

Linda A. Newson, "Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines," Chapter 5,
"Conquest and Depopulation before 1600." In this account, Newson narrates the preparation of
Visayan women for them to be able to fit for penis pin practice. He describes that in order to
accommodate the pierced penises, it was said that women had their vaginas opened from the
age of six, and this practice may have affected women's fertility. This preparation estimates that
nineteen out of twenty women suffered from pains in their abdomen. Newson also cited some of
De Morga's work, stating that penis inserts resulted in women’s shedding a lot of blood and
sustaining other injuries, which, together with the infections that might follow, might have
induced infertility or even death. Men might also die through penis pins, causing virulent ulcers.

Isaac Donoso, "Boxer Codex," A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of
16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. There are facts
repeated in this account that I have already provided from other literature, so this will focus on
the reaction of Spaniards to this practice. It is possible that Spaniards saw this as a Satanic and
barbaric practice. Western colonial masters may have viewed it as a barbaric practice and
directly forced people in their colonies to abandon it, and they pulled punishments and beatings
on anyone who still practiced it. There are also reports that one of the missionaries performed a
laborious individual penis inspection to get rid of these accessories.

Conclusion

After all, all of the primary sources conclude that native women have dominated in society
since our pre-colonial history, as evidenced by the practice of babaylanism and now the
figurehead that dominates in their sexual practices. Even if it is difficult to conclude, women
matter and have been the masters in the past. Another is that the practice of penis piercing is so
diverse that it is difficult to trace its true origins because almost every country in Southeast Asia
and even some parts of the world have a similar practice, such as in the Visayas. Furthermore,
we may argue that this practice became extinct as a result of western colonialism. The
Spaniards discovered that the ancient Visayan mating rituals can be quite sadistic or
masochistic in nature because this practice can be linked to serpents (serpents refer to evil) and
that these Visayan natives emulate how the snakes mate for a long time by being stuck together
for hours. And lastly, on my side, I'm grateful that this penis piercing is not existing today
because this practice is very painful for me and I don't like this idea. In the first place, women
are the ones who imposed the use of these ornaments, and it's not clear whether the Visayan
native men are really enjoying this kind of stuff.

Citations

• Antonio de Morga, The Philippine Islands, Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan, and China, at
the Close of the Sixteenth Century, ed. Henry Edward John Stanley (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2010), pp.304.

• Antonio Pigafetta, The Voyage of Magellan: The Journal of Antonio Pigafetta, trans. Paula
Spurlin Paige (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1969), 72.

• David, Damien. “Ancient Sexual Practices Philippines.” The Indefinite Transition of Perceived
Realities. Accessed February 25, 2023. http://nightskylie.blogspot.com/2015/09/ancient-sexual-
practices-philippines.html?m=1.

• Espeleta, Carmina Mae. “How Penis Rings Became Part of Cebu's History.” Keeta. Last
modified June 28, 2021. Accessed February 25, 2023. https://keeta.ph/penis-rings-precolonial-
cebu/.

• Isaac Donoso, "Boxer Codex," A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of
16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

• Newson, Linda A. “Conquest and Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines on JSTOR.”
Accessed February 25, 2023. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqqgq.
• Miguel de Loarca, “Relacion de Las Yslas Filipinas,” in The Philippine Islands: 1493-1898, ed.
Emma Blair and James Robertson, vol. 5 (1582–1583) pp. 116

• Tom Harrisson, “The ‘PALANG,’ Its History and Proto-History in West Borneo and the
Philippines,” Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

• William Henry Scott, "Barangay"