Jazzphen Ian Sequitin March 9, 2024

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REACTION PAPER #1:
KALANTIAW CODE REFLECTION PAPER

If there is one thing that’s true about history is that it does repeat itself. In modern times,
we always look back at the past and see if there are fragments that are similar to what’s currently
happening now. Speaking of now, in today’s generation with information just within our reach,
and by reach, I mean click, swipe, and scroll, how sure are we that the information being seen is
credible and true, and if we know better how to choose and pick what’s true and what’s not, what
about the others? Imagine an established person, like a celebrity or someone like a politician
spreading and announcing fake news, or maybe even worse, how about historians accepting and
spreading misinformation, how would that feel being given a piece of information that’s not right
by someone you trust? It happened already, as I mentioned earlier, history does repeat itself, and
this is the case of the infamous Kalantiaw code of 1433.
So, to summarize, there is an antiquarian named Jose E. Marco, he has a manuscript
containing the Kalantiaw code of Datu Kalantiaw back in 1433, it’s about ancient Filipino
society, and when you see it for yourself it’s a list of rules that Filipinos should follow back then
at least in Mindanao, allegedly. So, Jose E. Marco presented this to historians back in 1914 and it
was not directly stated but I imagined it as “warmly received” Who wouldn’t be? It’s an ancient
artifact, about an ancient Philippine legal system before the Spaniards learned that we existed,
proving that we weren’t savages, of course, everyone was appalled and excited. Not until 1969,
when an American retired missionary questioned the Kalantiaw code in its entirety, he said
“What the F is this crap?” No, it’s not what he said, kidding, it’s more like this “ appear to be
deliberate fabrications with no historical validity. There is no present evidence that any Filipino
ruler by the name of Kalantiaw ever existed or that the Kalantiaw penal code is any older than
1914.” Boom, Kalantiaw code, ended, but did it? It didn’t, I mean it was accepted as a hoax in
2005, legally but what happened from 1969 to 2005 is what makes it more interesting. The
Kalantiaw code was being taught already, it’s in textbooks already being ingrained in our system,
so when Mr. Scott came about with his study even how impeccable his study Filipino scholars
ignored it, not even acknowledging it because (1) either they were butthurt because it questions
their credibility as historians, (2) Marcos Sr. used it to justify his iron-fist kind of leadership that
maybe drove the historians to not question Kalantiaw code because they were terrified for their
lives and lastly (3) it was Mr. Scott’s nationality, why is an American intervening in our history
or at least our “version” of our history. Moving on towards the 21 st century, gradually Filipinos
accepted Mr. Scott’s study and removed the Kalantiaw codes from the textbooks and in 2005 it
was made final and permanent that the Kalantiaw code was nothing but a hoax and a fraud.
Fake news, am I right? This was a 9-paged roller coaster ride, I was happy that we found
an artifact from prehistoric Philippine society, allegedly considering we didn’t have any way of
recording our daily lives back then or if there was and somehow it managed to be safe from
being destroyed by the Spaniards, it’s a freaking good find and then some guy comes and
questions it like “why you guys believe in this stuff, it doesn’t even have any sufficient evidence
to support its credibility?” and was completely and utterly ignored. This part was sad, that it took
an American to prove the credibility of our history, though I also thank him, he’s not going to
gain something from it but still, he pushed through and did it. The Kalantiaw code is a testament
to how crucial and important for us that before we fully digest and accept a certain piece of
information no matter how tempting this information is we should always be critical, and always
question where this information is from before disseminating it and making it official.