SUCESOS DE LAS ISLAS

FILIPINAS (CHAPTER 8)
Kent Jayson F. Reteo
BA History 4-1
 “Not Harmonious, but diverse in different provinces”
 Rainy Season :June to September
 Hot season: October to May
 The two seasons varies between provinces

WEATHER
 Medium height, well featured. Black haired and with thin beards
 Very clever at anything
 Others are black with wooly hair, stature is not very great but
strong and robust
 Malay Natives live in Manila

NATIVES’ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

 Men: Bahaques, wearing gold accessories, barefooted
 Women: Sayuelos, Varos, white cotton garments, dyed clothes.
 Only the chiefs wear shoes.
 Men and women are clean, especially the chiefs.
 Very conscious in their teeth, they put black-colored dye to
strengthen their teeth.
 They usually bathe in rivers and creeks.

CLOTHING
 “Slow and relaxed”
 Walking patterns : Females > female slaves > Male >Male slaves

WALKING PATTERNS
 Ordinary food: Morisqueta
 Boiled Fish
 Pork (Swine), Deer and Carabao
 Tuba

FOODS AND DRINKS

 Bow and arrows
 Kalasag
 Bararaos
 Arquebuses and muskets

WEAPONRY
 Virey
 Balangay
 Cayanes
 Caracoa, lapis and tapaques.

WATER VESSELS
 Cocoa-palms are used as wine and common oil.
 Morga explained that they tried to plant various plants that are common to Spain but
not succeeded except Pomegranates and grapevines.
 Beef is not common, the breeds are brought fro China and Nueva Espana(Mexico)
 Geese, Swans, Ducks and Pigeons are brought from China.
 Endemic meats: Wild boars and carabaos.
 Goats are raised also.
 Ewes and rams did not stand in the Philippines because of the weather conditions
 There are no horses, until the Spaniards brought them from china
and Mexico.
 Crocodiles are abundant and they attack the natives.
 5 leguas from manila
 30 leguas in circumference
 Dangerous to navigate when the north winds blow
 There is an uninhabited island in the center.

LAGUNA DE BAY
 20 leguas from manila.
 Abundant in fish.

BONBON LAKE
 Chewed in the mouth with quicklime
 Strong mixture that can induce sleep and intoxication
 Beneficial in the stomach and in the teeth.
 All of the natives use it.
 Buccetas: ready made buyos usually used by the chiefs.

BONGA/BUYO
 Natives are skilled in making poison and antidotes.
 The natives can control the effect of poison.
 General antidote : certain small flies or insects found on the
islands of Pintados (Visayas)

POISON AND ANTIDOTES

 The islands is rich in gold.
 Gold mines : Paracali, Pintados, Botuan, Taribon
 Ygolotes and Ylocos

GOLD
 Pintados and Bisayas have one same language.
 Luzon has many languages. Not uniform
 Tagalog: rich and copious, not difficult to learn or pronounce

LANGUAGE
 Leadership is passed on the male line and by succession
 Barangai is lead by the Datu
 Elders are used as mediators when there are disputes
 Tradition-based laws, not written.

GOVERNMENT/POLITICS
 Chiefs/Datu
 Timaguas
 Slaves : saguiguilir and namamahay

SOCIAL CLASSES
 Marriages between same classes are common although there
are instances of marriages between 2 different classes.
 Vigadicaya
 Adultery is not punishable.

MARRIAGES
 Barter
 Gold and metal bells from china

TRADING
 Punished by request of aggrieved parties.
 Usual punishment: Death and slavery.
 Concubinage, rape, incest

CRIMES
 Pagans, with no strive to discover the one true God.
 No Fixed belief.
 Anito,sun and moon, crocodiles
 There are no temples or establishments to do their worship.
 No priests except the Catalonas
 They never sacrificed human lives.
 They believe in the afterlife.

RELIGION
 Morga was able to describe the Philippines very well and in detail because of his 8-year stay
in the islands.
 His impressions are generally positive, except to the religion segment.
 Morga and the Spaniards tried to bring the things that they are used to in Spain (i.e. certain
plants and animals) but they failed to survive here because of the climate.
 The Spaniards saw the potential of Gold in the Philippines that is not usually touched by the
natives.
 Most of the animals that is now common in the Philippines are actually not (i.e. Cows, Ducks,
etc.)

CONCLUSION
-END-
Muchas Gracias.