The 

Code of Rajah Kalantiaw was a supposed legal

code in the epic history Maragtas that is said to have been
written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief on the island
of Negros in the Philippines.
 The code is now believed by many historians to
have been a hoax and that it had actually been
written in 1913 by Jose E. Marco as a part of his
historical fiction Las antiguas leyendas de la Isla de
Negros (English: The Ancient Legends of the Island of
Negros), which he attributed to a priest named Jose
Marco.
 In 1990, Philippine historian Teodoro Agoncillo described
the code as "a disputed document." Despite doubts on its
authenticity, some history texts continue to present it as
historical fact.
 In 2004, National Historical Institute (NHI)
Resolution No. 12 “declaring that Code of
Kalantiao/Kalantiaw has no Valid Historical
Basis" called for:
(1)the official affirmation that the Kalantiaw Code is a twentieth-
century fraudulent work by Jose Marco,

(2) the President of the Philippines cease to honor retiring Supreme

justices and other international dignitaries with the ‘Order of
Kalantiaw’, and

(3) the revoking of Executive Order 234, which recognized Datu

Bondahara Kalantiaw as "The First Philippine Lawgiver" and declared a
Hall of Fame and Library to be constructed in his honor in Batan,
Aklan as a national shrine. This NHI resolution was approved by the
Office of the President in 2005.
Laws of the Kalantiaw Code
 Cecilio Duka (2008) provides a full reproduction of the
code for the reader's "critical examination to decide on its
veracity and accuracy.”
 Article I

You shall not kill, neither shall you steal nor shall you
hurt the aged, lest you incur the danger of death. All
those who do this order shall infringe shall be tied to a
stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.
 Article II

You shall punctually meet your debt with your

headman. He who fulfills not, for the first time shall be
lashed a hundredfold, and If the obligation is great, his
hand shall be dipped threefold in boiling water. On
conviction, he shall be flogged to death.
 Article III

No one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall
they be more than what he can take care of, nor spend
much luxury. He who fulfils not, obeys not, shall be
condemned to swim three hours and, for the second time,
shall be scourged with spines to death.
 Article IV

Let not the peace of the graves be disturbed; due

respect must be accorded them on passing by caves and
trees where they are. He who observes not shall die by
bites of ants or shall be flogged with spines till death.
 Article V

Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He

who complies not shall be lashed for an hour. He who
repeats the act shall, for a day be exposed to the ants.
 Article VI

You shall revere respectable places, trees of known

value, and other sites. He shall pay a month's work, in gold
or money, whoever fails to do this; and if twice committed,
he shall be declared a slave.
 Article VII

They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at

night shoot with arrows the aged men and the women; he
who enters the house of the headman without permission;
he who kills a fish or shark or striped crocodile.
 Article VIII

They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away

the women of the headmen; he who possesses dogs that
bite the headmen; he who burns another man's sown
field.
 Article IX

They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in

their night errands, kill manual birds, tear documents
belonging to the headmen; who are evil-minded liars;
who play with the dead.
 Article X

It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her

daughter secretly the things that are lascivious, and prepare
them for womanhood; men shall not be cruel to their wives,
nor should they punish them when they catch them in the
act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn to pieces and
thrown to the caymans.
 Article XI

They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have

mocked at and eluded punishment, or who have killed two
young boys, or shall try to steal the women of the old men.
 Article XII

They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their

superiors or their lords and masters; all those who abuse
their luxury; those who kill their anitos by breaking them or
throwing them away.
 Article XIII

They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill
a black cat during the new moon or steal things belonging
to the headmen.
 Article XIII

They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a
black cat during the new moon or steal things belonging to
the headmen.
 Article XIV

They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful

daughters shall deny them to the sons of the headman, or
shall hide them in bad faith.
 Article XV

Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be

scourged, who eat bad meat of respected insects or herbs
that are supposed to be good; who hurt or kill the young
manual bird and the white monkey.
 Article XVI

Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay

idols in their olangangs and places of oblation; he who
breaks Tagalan's daggers for hog killing, or breaks drinking
vases.
 Article XVII

They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred

objects of their diwatas or headmen are buried. He who
gives way to the call of nature at such places shall be
burned.
 Article XVIII

Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if

they are headmen, shall be stoned and crushed to death,
and if they are old men, shall be placed in rivers to be eaten
by sharks and crocodiles.
 Which among the articles in Kalantiaw Code are
applicable in the current Philippine legal system?
Explain your answer.