LESSOft 2 l

_
CUSTOMS
_J
OF THE TRGRLOGS

THE CUSTOMS of the Tagalogs is a narrative on the established culture of the

Tagalogs in Luzon written by Juan de Plasencia, a Franciscan missionary in the Tagalog
region since 1578 until 1590.
This document ~as written as an answer to the request of the monarchy in Spain
which was to provide pieces of information about the government, administration of
justice, inheritances, slaves, dowries, worship, burials, and superstition of the "Indians"
in the colony. In addition, the document is to rectify previous reports about the people's
way of life in the region.
Plasencia wrote:
"This people always had chiefs, calfed by them datos, who governed them and
were captains in their wars, and whom they obeyed and reverenced. The subject
who committed any offens~ against them, or spoke but a word to their wives and
children, was severely punished."
These chiefs ruled over but few people; sometimes as many as a hundred houses,
sometimes even less than thirty. This tribal gathering is called in Tagalog a barangay. It
was inferred that the reason for giving themselves this name arose from the fact (as they
are classed, by their language, among the Malay nations) that when they came to this
land, the head of the barangay, which is a boat, thus called-as is discussed at length in
the first chapter of the first ten chapters-became a dato. And so, even at the present
day, it is ascertained that this barangay in its origin was a family of parents and children,
relations and slaves. There were many of these barangays in each town, or, at least, on
account of wars, they did not settle far from one another. They were not, however, subject
~o one another, except in friendship and relationship. The chiefs, in their various wars,
helped one another with their respective barangays.

In these three classes, those who are maharlicas on both the fathens and mother,s side
continue to be so forever; and ifit happens that they should become slaves, it is through marriage,
as I shall soon e;,rplain. If these maharlicas had children among their slaves, the children and
their mothers became free; if one of them had children by the slave-woman of another, she was
compelled, when pregnant, to give her master half of a gold tael, because of her risk of death,
and for her inability to labor during the pregnancy In such a case half of the child was free-
namely, the half belonging to the father, who supplied the child with food. If he did not do this,
he showed that he did not recognize him as his child, in which case the latter was wholly a slave
If a free woman had children by a slave, they were all free, provided he were not her husband.

30 READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

 • If two persons married, of whom one wa.r ·a maharlica and the other a slav~,
whether namamahay or sa guiguilir, the children were divided: t:M first, wl,et:her male or
female, belonged to the father, as did the third and fifth; the second, the fourth, and the sixth
fell to the mother, and so on. In this manner, if the father were free, all those who belonged
to him were free; if he were a slave, all those who belonged to him were slaves; and the same
appli~d to the mother. If there should not be more tf,an one child he was half free and half
slave. The ,only question here concerned the division, whether the child were "!ale or female.
Those who became sla~es fell under the category of servitude which was their parent's, either
namamahay or sa guiguilir. If there were an odd number of chi/dren1 the odd one was half free
and half slave. I have not been able to ascertain with any certainty when or at what age the
division of children was made, for each one suited himself in this respect. Ofthese two kinds of
slaves the sa guiguilir c~uld be sold, but not the namamahay and their children, nor could thty
be transferred. However, they could be transferred from the barangay by inheritance, pruvided
they remained in the same village.

They co~demned no one to slavery, unless he merited the death-penalty. As for

the witches, they killed them, and their children and accomplices became slaves of the
chief, after he had made some recompense to the injured person. All other offenses were
punished by fines in gold, which, if not paid with promptness, exposed the culprit to
serve, until the payment sho~ld be made, the person·aggrieved, to whom the money was
to be paid. This was done in the following way: Half the cultivated lands and aU their
produce belonged to the master. The master provided the culprit with food and clothing,
thus enslaving the culprit and his children until such time as he might amass enough
money to pay the fine. If the father should by chance pay his debt, the master then
claimed that he had fed and clothed his children, and should be paid therefor...
In what concerns loans, there was formerly, and is today, an excess of usury, which
is a great hindrance to baptism as well as to confession; for it turns out in the same way
as l have showed in the case of the one under judgment, who gives half'of his cultivated
lands and profits until he pays the debt. The debtor is condemned to a life of toil; and
- thus borrowers become slaves, and after the death of the ·father the children pay the
debt. Not doing so, double the amount must be paid. This system should and can be
reformed. •

In the case of a child by a free married woman, born while she was married, if the
husband punished the adulterer this was considered a dowry; and the child entered with
the others into partition in the inheritance. His share equaled the part left by the father,
nothing more. If_there were no other sons than he, the children and the nearest relatives
inherited equally with him. But if the adulterer were not punished by th~ husband of the
woman who had the child, the latter was not considered as his child, nor did he inherit
anything. ft should be noticed that the offender was not considered dishonored by the
punishmen t inflicted, nor did the husband leave the woman. By the punishmen t of the
father the child was fittingly made legitimate.

RUOINGI IN PHILll"l"INE HISTORY 31

 - ~ -· • . • h
ownes arlrglven.by the men to the women's parents. If the latter an: living, t ey
enjoy the use of it. At their death, provided the dowry b~s not been consumed, it is
divided like the rest of the estate, equally among the children, except in case the father
should care to bestow ·something additional upon the daughter. If the wife, at the time
of her marriage, has neither father, mother, nor grandparents, she enjoys her dowry-
which, in such a case, belongs to no other relative or child. It should be noticed that
unmarried women can own no property, in land or dowry, for the result of all their
labors accrues to their parents.
' •
The above is what I have been able to ascertain clearly concerni~g customs observed
among these natives in all this ·Laguna and the tingues, and among the entire Tagalog
race. The old men say that a dato who did anything contrary to this would not be
esteemed; and, in relating tyrannies ~hich they had committed, some condemned them
and adj1;1dged them wicked... •
In all the ~illages, or in other parts of the Filipinas Islan.ds, there are no temples
consecrated to the performing of sacrifices, the adoration of their idols, or the general
practice of idolatry. It is true that they have the name simbahan, which means a temple
or place of adoration; but this is because, formerly, when they wished to celebrate a
festival, which th~y called pandot, or •worship,• they ~elebrated 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. They so constructed the house that it might contain many
people-d ividing it, after the fashion of ships, into three compartm ents. (?n the posts
of the house they set small lamps, called sorihile; in ~e center of the house they placed
one large lamp, adorned with leaves of the white palm, wrought into many designs. They
also brought together many drums, large and small, which they beat successively while
the feast lasted, which was ?sually four days. During this time the whole barangay, or
family, united and joined in the worship which they call nagaanitos. The house, for the
above-mentioned period of time, was called a temple.
Among their many idols there was one called. Badhala, whom they especially
worshiped. The title seems to signify •a11 powerful,• or •maker of all things." They also
worshiped the sun, which, on account of its beauty, is almost universally respected and
honored by heathens. They worshiped, too, the moon, especially when:..

These natives had no established division of years, months, and days; these are determin ed
by the cultivation of the soil, counted by moons, an~ the different effect produced upon the
trees when yielding flowers, fruits, and leaves: all this helps them in making up the year.
The winter ,and summer are dis~inguished as sun-time and water-ti me-the latter term
designating winter in those regions, where there is no cold, snow, or ice...

32
RUDINQS IN PHILIPPIN E HISTOlt'f
 to proclaim a feast, and offe r to the dev
ner 0 f 0 Uenn
• • sacrifice was•• il
The ir man• • g
frag rant ·
th fron t of the idol, ,vhich they ano int with
wha t ey had to eat. Thi s was don e in riferous
gum of the stor ax-t ree and oth er odo
perf umes , _such as mus k and civet, or
,C?ffidating prie st, mal e or female, who
~o.ods, and prai se it in poetic songs sun g by the , beseeching the idol
15 call ed catolonan•.The part icip ants ·made resp onse s to the song
ch they were in nee d, and generally, by
offe ring
to favor th~m with thos e thin gs _of whi they were
xic~ted. In s~me of thei r idolatries
repe~ted hea lths , they all became into dot h ·a
h, doubled, over the idol, and over the·
accustomed to place a good piece of clot . The •
i.ng the devil ~ith out having sight of him
cha in or l~rge, gold ring, thus worship g her
the body of the catolonan, and, assu min
• devil was sometimes liable to ente r into it-
shap e and appearance, filled her with
so grea t arro gan ce-h e being the cause of
t to
eyes; her hair stoo d on end, a fearful sigh
tha t she seemed to shoot flames from her ricts,
of arrogance and superiority. In some dist
tliose he~olding, and she utte red words and
e idolatries the devil inca rnat ed him self
especially in the mountains, when in thos ions,
er had to be tied to a tree by h·is compan
took on the form of his minister, the latt
to prev ent the devil in his infernal fury
from destroying him. This, however, hap
pened '
flayed,
e goats, fowls, and swine, which were
but rarely. The objects of sacrifice wer
. decapitated, and laid before the idol...
,Ii

thei r monthly courses, thei r eyes were

In the case of young girls who firs t had tives
and, in the meantime, the friends and rela
• blindfolded four days and four nights; lanan
drink. At the end_ of this period, the cato
were all invited to part ake of food and the
t her and washed her head, and removed
took the young girl' to the water, bathed might
' that they did this in o;der that the girls
bandage from her eyes. The old men said e
f husbands to thei r taste, who would not leav
bea r children, and have fortune in finding
them widows in thei r youth.

follows: The deceased was buried beside bis

Their man ner of burying the dead was as they
ed beneath a little house or porch which
house; and, if he were a chief, he ~as plac ; and
rring him, they mourned him for four days
constructed for this purpose. Before inte the
ed as a coffin or bier, placing him beneath
afterward laid him on a boat which serv

I
I
porch, where guard was kept over him by
These infidels said that they knew that
a slave...
there was ano ther life of rest which they
adise," or, in othe r words, "village of rest.
"
called maca, just as if we should say "par

I They say that those who go to this plac

lived without doing harm, or who possesse
e are the just, and the valiant, and thos
e who
d othe r moral virtues. They said also that
a place of punishment, grief, and afflictio
n,

I
i
l
in the other_ life and mortality, there was
called casan_aan, which was "a place of angu
go to heaven, where there dwelt only Bath
from above. There were also othe r pagans
ish;" they also maintained that no one wou
ala, "the maker of all thin gs; who gov erne
who confessed more clearly to a hell, whic
said that all the wicked went to that place,
ld

and
d
h

they called, as I have said, casanaan; they

r there dwelt the demons, whom they calle
d sitan... •

r 33
READINGS IN PHIL IPPIN I HISTORY

... .. · .
 There were alsoghosts, which they called vibit; andphantoms, which they calledTigbalaafl!
They had another deception-namely, that if any woman died in childbirth, she and the
child suffered punishment; and that, at night, she could }.,e heard lamenting. This
called patianac. May the honor and glory be God our Lord's, that among all the Tagalos not a
ttace of this is left; and that those who are now marrying do not even know what it is, thanks
to the preaching of the holy gospel, which has banished it".
Sourr:e; Plasencia, Juan de. "Customs of the Tagalogs• In Emma Helen ~tatr and James Aleunder Robertson. The Philipplnt
Islands: 1493-1898. Cleveland, OH: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906.

I •

.,

..

RIADIM08 IN HISTOlff
34

1 I Zffl 79:!S" e:
EXERCISE 2.3 _ _ _ _ _ _ __ . Date; _ _ _ _ _ _
__
Name: _ _ _ _ _ _ _~.. ._
Sc or e: -- ... ..- -- -- -
Cou rse & Year:
, •
correct, otherwise, write false..
A. Write true if the sta tem ent is
place of
1. The Tagalogs believe the oth er life, mortality, and the
anguish called Casanaan.
o had
e of blindfolding among girls wh
2. The belief behind the practic n
for the m to be able to bear childre
the ir first monthJy courses was
·and keep a lifetime marriage.
claims
ized into aliping saguiguilir who
3. The Tagalog alipin was categor
ahay who can be sold.
privileges and the alipi.ng namam •,

e divided am ong the bar angay people..

4. The Jands on the tingues wer
-
5. Oth er tha n the sun and the mo on, the
.
Tag alogs had one idol worshipped i
,.,'a
tha t signify "benevolence•.
which they calJed Badhala, a title

ed in the following items.

B. Identify wh at is being describ
1. He is the aut hor of the doc
ument entitled •cu sto ms of
the Tagalogs•.
political uni t established
2. It is the term used to r~fer to the
by the Tagalogs.
r the person who has the
3. It is the term used_to refe
r his people.
authority to establish control ove
d on insult of the dato's
4. It is the punishment impose
daughter and witchcraft.
the priest, eith er ma n or
S. It is the term used to refer to
woman who held honorable office.

35
RuD JNG I IN PHJLIPPINI!
HISTORY
 EXERCISE 2.4
Name: _____ _____ _____ ___ Date: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Course & Y e a r : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Score :------ --

Give a concise explanation/discussion on the following items.

1. What is the physical nature of the document Oetter, report, etc.)? What are tile major
premises presented about the Tagalog in Luzon?

2. What was the author's main argument? What wa.t he trying to say about the co.stoms
of the Tagalog?

3. What do you know about the ~uthor like his nationality, occupation, and/or position?
Does any of these, matter? Why?

4. What was the author's purpose of writing the document?

5. What is the important connection of the document to your recognition and appreciation
of the Tagalog customs?

36
RuDINoa IN PHll.l~NI HJS1"0RY
 ACTIVITY
1. Mind mapping. Create a mind map of the importa nt concepts on the following:
a. Political Organlratlon

•
b. Economic Organization
'·"

I I,•..
•
(

i
k"'
' tt
t..
c. Cultural Practices and Traditions Cl
0

37
READINO I IN PHILIPPIN E HIITO!IY

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