Burial Customs or Funeral Practices in Visayas

Group II
Grade 12 - G. Trono

I. Burial Customs
Burial customs also known as funerary practices is a traditional practice for the dead during the
disposition of the body; It is also referred to as an archaeological source that contains different information
that holds a significant place in history (Alekshin et al., n.d.).

II. Burial Customs in Visayas

During the pre-colonial period of Filipinos, people tend to care about life after death which becomes
the main point of having certain burial customs or funeral practices (Funeral Practices and Burial Customs in
the Philippines, n.d.). In the book of William Henry Scott, entitled “Barangay”, the Visayans had elaborated
rituals and beliefs surrounding death and burial practices in their pre-colonial culture.
When conventional healing methods failed to revive a moribund, they restored to a desperate rite
known as “Paguli”. This involved placing a coconut shell of water on the inert person’s stomach and chanting
to call back the departed soul. In some cases, particularly for the datu, his slaves were sacrificed in hopes that
they would be accepted by the ancestor’s spirit who was calling the datu away. These captives faced brutal
ways, they were intoxicated and subjected to various forms of torture before being sacrificed. Methods of
sacrifice included spearing, rolling a boat over their bodies, bamboo spikes, and being run through with a
spear. A missionary named Martin de Rada stated that this kind of violence was done to satisfy the spirits of
defeated enemies and appease the datu’s own ancestors.
The deceased were treated with great care. They were anointed, groomed, and sometimes even
subjected to ritual haircut, to ensure a prosperous journey in the afterlife, they were adorned with jewelry and
gold, often as much as possible. During the wake, which lasts as long as the bereaved family could provide
food and drink, mourners would gather. Professional mourners, typically elderly women, sang dirges and
eulogized the deceased, offering prayers of petition directly to the departed soul.
The types of burial varied; while poor Visayans were buried wrapped in a banana leaf in simple
caskets of thin boards or even bamboo, the datus or prominent persons were laid to rest in longon coffins
made from hardwood. These coffins were sealed airtight and sometimes featured intricate carvings. The
deceased were placed inside with various belongings and heirlooms, including gold and porcelain. Infants
were buried in jars, and there were instances of adult jar burials, although they were less common. The
locations of gravesites also varied, with some graveyards outside village limits, in caves, or on small islands.
However, shamans and members of the datu class had unique burial practices in which their caskets were in or
under their house. A slave called dayo was assigned to guard their datu’s tomb for the rest of their life. A
particularly esteemed practice was secondary burial, involving the reburial of exhumed bones after the body
decomposed. The bones are cleaned ritually and is placed in a small chest which will preserve the bones and it
will be carried if the family is relocated.

III. Burial Customs and Funeral Practices in Cebu

The Visayan belief with regards to burial customs revolves around the concept of life after death same
as Egyptians, Indians, and Greeks (Centuries of Honoring the Dead | Cebu Daily News, 2018). According to a
Cebuano archaeologist Dr. Jobers Bersales, all of the Visayan afterlife theories always go back to the deities in
the Philippine Mythology which are called “Diwatas” and ancestral spirits called “Anitos”. Ancient Visayans
were not pagans but more of animist.
The burial customs of Visayans that were found in Cebu, indicated a contrast between life status as
they were buried with artifacts such as pottery, gold, and jewelry. Coffins also varied as datus have carved
wood and the bamboos are for the peasants. Ancient Visayans tend to believe that the coffins serve as a vessel
for the dead to meet the goddess. Back then, the family of the deceased undergoes fasting and closes their
windows to show that they are deeply mourning, however, their neighbors, friends, and relatives feast at the
wake to keep the spirits up.
 References
Alekshin, V., Bartel, B., Dolitsky, A., Gilman, A., Kohl, P., Liversage, D., & Masset, C. (n.d.). Burial Customs
as an archaeological source [and comments] on JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2742572
Centuries of honoring the dead | Cebu Daily News. (2018, October 30). INQUIRER.net.
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/201201/centuries-of-honoring-the-dead
Funeral practices and burial customs in the Philippines. (n.d.). DBpedia.
https://dbpedia.org/page/Funeral_practices_and_burial_customs_in_the_Philippines
Scott, W. H. (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine Culture and Society. Ateneo University Press.

Members

Agosto, John Egbert Gaviola, Michael Ian

Asma, Gracelyn Lauron, Adrian
Aures, Faith Llamas, Honie Alvie
Baltazar, Duane Ebhony Lo, Chrystel Angela
Basmayor, Anthony Natan, Clarianne Melody
Cabreros, Estanly Pading, Jennifer Jezreel Kaye D.
Gallamos, Jamaica Pulga, Maricris