MALAYAN

HERITAGE
AGES BEFORE THE COMING OF THE SPANIARDS
TO THE ORIENT, OUR MALAY ANCESTORS HAD
BROUGHT TO OUR SHORES THEIR ANCESTRAL
CULTURE INCLUDING FOOD AND DRINKS,
MODE OF DRESSING, HOUSING, SOCIETY,
GOVERNMENT AND LAWS, WRITING,
LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, MUSIC (SONGS,
DANCES, AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS),
ECONOMY, RELIGION, ARTS AND SCIENCES,
SUPERSTITIOUS NELIEFS, AND CUSTOMS AND
TRADITIONS..
FOOD AND
DRINKS
- Staple food of the early Filipinos
was rice. Aside from rice, their
food consisted of carabao meat,
pork, chickens, sea turtles, fish,
bananas and other fruits and
vegetables.
- They cooked their food in
earthen pots or in bamboo
tubes.
- They ate with their fingers, using
banana plants as plates and
coconut shells as drinking cups.

- They made fire to cook their food by

rubbing two pieces of dry wood
which when heated, produced a tiny
flame.
* They stored their drinking
water in big earthern jars or in
huge clean bamboo tubes.

* TUBA –was the popular wine

which was made from coconut.
•*BASI – an Ilocano wine made from
sugarcane.
•*PANGASI – Visayan wine made from
fermented rice.
•*LAMBANOG – Tagalog wine taken from
the coconut palm;
•TAPUY – An Igorot wine distilled from rice.
MODE OF
DRESSING
 MEN
A.) KANGAN – a collarless, short-sleeve jacket. It
is reached slightly below the waist- dyed(tining)
either in blue or black, and red for the Chief.
B.) BAHAG – a strip cloth wrapped around the
waist and in between legs.
C.) PUTONG – a piece of cloth wound around the
head. They had jewels, (gold necklaces, gold
armlets called kalombigas and the anklets filled
with agates, carnelians and other colored glass.
 WOMEN
A.) BARO – wide-sleeved jacket
B.) PATADYONG – a skirt and made by a
piece of cotton cloth which they wrapped
about their waists and let fall to their feet.
*Men and Women went barefoot and
inserted gold between their teeth as an
ornament.
TATTOOS
*Early Filipinos tattooed their bodies with various
designs representing animals, birds, flowers and
geometric figures.
*Tattoos Served Two Purposes:
(1 )To enhance their bodily beauty
(2) To show their war records
*The more men a warrior had killed in a battle, the
more tattoed he was while women have less
tattoed than men. The children were not tattoed at
HOUSE
- Houses were made of wood, bamboo, and
palm leaves. Each house had a bamboo
ladder that could be drawn up at night or
when the family was out.
- They were built near each other in the
Barangay.
- Some of them lived in tree-houses for
better protection from enemies.
*BATALAN – This is were jars of
water were kept for household
purposes.
*BADJAOS – (sea-gypsies) of the
Sulu Sea still live in boat houses,
as their forefathers did.
 NATURAL
COURTESY AND
POLITENESS
 *Early Filipinos were corteous and polite.
* When walking, women walks ahead,
and the men followed behind.
*Whenever the entire family went out,
the mother and daughters walk ahead,
while the father and sons followed behind.
*When two persons of equal rank met on
the road, they removed their “PUTONG”
(turban) as a sign of courtesy.
*When a person addressed his Superior,
he took off his putong, put it over his left
shoulder like a towel, and bowed low. He
addressed his superior with the word
“po”. He spoke in polite language.
CLEANLINESS AND
NEATNESS
* Filipinos were clean and neat in their
personal habits.
*They bathed daily. Their favorite hour for
bathing in the river was at sunset when
they had finished their daily toil. They
washed their hair regularly with gugo and
water. They used coconut oil and other
lotions.
*They washed their mouth and clean their
teeth upon walking up in the morning.
*They chewed buyo which made their
teeth colored but strong.
 Father Francisco Collin
-said “they keep a vessel full of
water at the door of every home, and
every person, whether belonging to
the house or not, upon entering, takes
water from the vessel and washes his
feet, especially during the rainy
season.”
AMUSEMENTS
*The Early Filipinos were not always fighting or
working.
*They held banquets to celebrate a good harvest,
a wedding, a religious sacrifice, and a victory in a
war. This banquets were celebrated with much
eating, drinking, singing, and dancing.
*Other forms fo amusements are: games as
carabao races, wrestling, fencing, boat races, and
stone-throwing contests.
MUSIC
*Early Filipinos were music
lovers. They had various
musical instruments and
numerous dances and songs for
different occasions.
 Musical Instruments
*Kudyapi -tagalog guitar
*Kalaleng – tinggian nose-flute
*Moro – xylophone
*Tultugan – Visayan bamboo
*Silbay – Ilocano reed flute
*Suracan - subanum cymbal
 Folk Dances
*Kumintang – tagalog love dance
* Mahinhin – tagalog courtship
dance
* Dandansoy – Visayan tuba
dance
* Paujalay – moro wedding
dance
*Tadok – tinggian love dance
Kinnotan – Ilocano ant’s
*

dance
 Songs
*Tagumpay – tagalog song of victory
*Dallu – Negrito religious song
*Ayog-ku – igorot serenade song
*Bactal- Tagbanua death song
*Dallot – Ilocano ballad song
*Kuilay – kuilay – tinggian wine song
*Tudob – Agusan harvest song
MARRIAGE
CUSTOMS
- It was customary among the ancient Filipinos
to marry within their rank. However, there was
no strict prohibition against intermarriages.
-Before marriage, the groom gave a dowry.
This dowry was called “bigaykaya”.
-It consisted of gold, land, slaves or anything
else of value. Aside from this dowry, the groom
had to work in the house of the girl for a
certain period of time.
 *THE EARLY FILIPINO PRACTICED DIVORCE.
THE GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE WERE:
1.) adultery on the part of the wife;
2.) desertion on the part of the husband;
3.) loss of affection;
4.) cruelty;
5.) insanity, and
6.) childlessness.
The Wedding
Ceremony
• *On the day of the wedding, the friends of the groom went to the bride’s
house to bring her to the home of the groom. The wedding ceremony
would take place at the groom’s house. The leader of the groom’s friends
carried the spear of the groom.
• *Upon arrival at the house, the bride pretended to be shy and would
refuse to ascend the stairs. The groom’s father would give her a gift to
make her go up. Once inside the house, she would refuse to sit down, to
smile, and to drink – unless more gifts were given to her.
• *When the groom and the bride were drinking together, an old man
announced tpo the guests that the two were be united in marriage.
GOVERNMENT
BARANGAY
- the early fi lipino had their own form of
government. each sett lement was an
independent kingdom.
- the term barangay is a hispanized form of
the malayan word “BALANGAY”.
BALANGAY
-means “SAILBOAT”.
DATU – ruler of the barangay.he was also
known as “HARI OR RAJA”.
LAWS
*The Early Filipinos had both Oral
and Written laws.
- The Orals Laws were their
customs (ugali) which had been
handed down orally from
generation to generation.
 *Lubluban – according to legend, the
lawgiver in pre-Spanish Philippines was
a woman, the great grand daughter of
the first man and the first woman.
*Umalahokan – the written laws were
promulgated by datus with the help of
the elders and announced to the
people by a barangay crier.
*The Code Of Kalantiaw – well known
code of laws supposedly given by Datu
Kalantiaw of Aklan in 1433 is a clever
hox. The hoax was done by Jose E.
Marco, an atique collector from
Negros Occidental who gave the
document to James E. Robertson of
the National Library in 1914. It could
not be authentic because of its
suspicious origin, the strange writing
and modern words in the text, and the
in-Filipino harshness of its laws.
RELIGION
 *With the exception of the Moros (Muslims) in Mindanao and
Sulu, the early Filipinos were pagans.
*Bathala – their supreme God. Creator of heaven, earth and
men. Below him were other gods- goddesses:
of thunder;
*Anitos or Diwatas – the early Filipino worshipped
ancestrals spirits. To these anitos, sacrifices called
“maganito”,were offered.
*Katalona or Baylana – the ritual were performed by a
priests or priestess
 *They also worshipped nature.
*They also believed in life after death. After
death souls travels to the next world to receive
its due reward or punishment. The good soul
goes to heaven called “ kalualhatian” by the
tagalog and “ologan” by the Visayans, while the
bad soul would go to hell, called “ kasamaan” by
the tagalogs and “solad” by the visayans.
BURIAL AND
MOURNING
CUSTOMS
*Because of their belief in the next world,
the early Filipinos took great care in burying
their dead. The corpse was embalmed, as in
ancient Egypt, and was buried amidst deep
sorrow near his home, in a cave, or on a
headland overlooking the sea.
*No colored clothes were worn by the
grieving people.
*Larao -mourning for a dead
chief. When a datu died, a
herald announced the event
and the larao was then
observed.
SUPERSTITIONS
 *The Ancient Filipinos, like all other people on earth, had
their superstitions. They believed in witches such as the:
a.) Asuang – who assumed the form of a dog, a bird, or any
other animal, and devoured human flesh;
b.) Mangkukulam – who caused people to die or to be sick by
pricking a toy with his magic pin;
c.) Tianak -who sucked the baby’s entrails by means of his
elongated proboscis;
d.) Tigbalang – who appeard in the form of a dog, horse or an
old man to deceive his victims.
 The Early Filipinos believed in the magical power of
amulets or charms.
a.) Anting- anting – which was believed to make its
possessor invulnerable to iron weapons;
b.) Gayuma – a love potion which can arouse an
adamant woman’s affection;
c.) Odom – a Bicol magic herb which makes its
possessor invisible to the human eye;
d.) Ulga – a Visayan charm which enbales any man to
cross a river without getting wet.
LANGUAGES
*The early Filipinos had different languages
and dialects.But by learning one Filipino
language, it was comparatively easy to know
the other language, it was comparatively easy
to know the other languages because all of
them originated from a common linguistic
source – The Malayo- Polynesian language,
the mother tongue of the Pacific races.
*Father Pedro Chirino – in 1604, he wrote “ There
is no single or general language of the Filipinos
extending throughout the islands, but all of them,
though there are many and different tongues, are
so much alike that they may be learned and
spoken in a short time.”
WRITING
*The ancient Filipinos had their own system of
writing.
*It consisted of three (serving as five) vowels
and 14 consonants – a total of 17 letters.
* Sipol – used as pen a sharp-pointed iron
instrument. They wrote on banana leaves, tree-
barks, and bamboo tubes.
LITERATURE
 The Filipinos had both oral and written
literature.
*ORAL LITERATURE consisted of:
a.) myths and legends
b.) songs and poems
c.) fables
d.) proverbs (sawikain)
e.) riddles (bugtong)
*The existing specimens of ancient
oral poetry:
a.) Darangan of the Maranaws
(Lanao Muslims)
b.) Ilim and the Hudhud of the
Ifugaos.
EDUCATION
*The children in ancient Philippines were given
the rudiment of education. Such educational
was both academic and vocational.
*Bothoan – it was a barangay school in ancient
Panay, under the charge of a teacher, usually an
old man. The subjects taught to the children in
this barangay school were reading, writing,
arithmetic, use of weapons and lubus
(acquiring kinaadman or amulets).
ARTS
*The early Filipinos had their arts which were
part of their cultural heritage. Their
architecture revealed itself in the bahay kubo
style of home and in the trim sailing crafts
which they built.
*The barangay sculptors carved statues in
wood, clay, gold and ivory. These statues,
called “Likha”(Tagalog) or “Lagdong”(Bicol)
were made in memory of their anitos or
ancestors.
SCIENCES
*Although their medical lore was associated with magic,
early Filipinos had some knowledge of medicine.
- They knew curative value of medicinal plants and herbs.
- There were herbalists who were experts in the use of
poisons.
*The Ifugaos still retain the old names for various
constellations.
a.) Monbunkol – the dipper.
b.)Paawit – the blaster.
c.) Kamalit – shooting stars.
d.) Monbatang – twin stars.
 Native Name for Numerals
a.) isa (one)
b.) puo (ten)
c.) daan (hundred)
d.) libo (thousand)
e.) angao (one million)
f.) kati (ten million)
g.) gahala (one hundred million)
 WEIGHTS
AND
MEASURES
 Early Filipinos had their own weights and measures.
* Talaro – they used for weighing things which was a kind of balance
with scales.
*Measures of capacity: Kaban (25 gantas), Salop (one ganta), Kaguinta
(one half ganta)
Gatang (one chupa)
*Measures of lengths:
*Dipa – the length of the outstretched arms
*Tumuro – the length between the tip of the thumb and that of the
forefinger when extended.
*Sandamak – the width of the hand with five fingers pressed
together;
*Sandali – the width of one finger
CALENDAR
 *The Ifugaos have a tribal calendar
recorder called “Tumunoh”,who keeps 131
strings representiong the 13 months of the
year.
*Ifugao Calendar contains 13 months a
year, each having 28 days.
*Each of the 12 months contained 30 days,
except the last month which had 26 days or
total of 365 days a year.
 DOMESTIC
AND FOREIGN
TRADE
*Domestic trade existed in ancient
Philippines. Barangay traded with
barangay, island with island. Domestic
trade was carried on by means of BARTER.
*The usual method of trading was by
barter in which they offered their own
products in exchange for the products of
other countries.
Miguel de Loarca – according to him, the
Filipinos of the inland region exchanged their
rice and cotton for fish, salt and other sea
products raised by the dwellers of the
coastal district.
Chao Ju-Kua (1225) and Wang Ta-yuan (1349)
– they are two early Chinese writers,
observed that they were honest in their
commercial transactions.
COINAGE
* Early Filipinos knew the art of coinage and had gold
coins which they used as a medium of exchange in their
business transactions among themselves and with
foreign traders.
*1887 – as early, many of these ancient golds have
been found on the country.
*Alberto Ledesma – much later in 1914, he was a
Filipino farmer discovered a large pot of ancient gold
coins while plowing his land in the barrio of Tiis, Bagas,
Bataan.
*These Ancient Filipino gold coins are
now preserved in the collections of:
Dr. Jose P. Bantug, Dr. Gilbert Perez,
Dr. Jesus Celis, Dr. Agustin Benzon, and
other coin collectors.
”Piloncitos” – also called Little
Cones because of their conical shape.
Modern Filipino
and Foreign numinsmatists call these
ancient Filipino gold coins.
“MA” – is engraved the ancient
letter at the round base.
AGRICULTURE
AND
INDUSTRIES
*Farming – was the main industry of ancient Filipinos.
Two methods of Cultivation were used by the farmers:
1)Kaingin Method – in which the land cleared by setting fire
to the shrubs and bushes, after which holes were bored in
the ground with pointed sticks and seeds were planted
there.
2)Regular Method – means of tillage using wooden plows
and harrows drawn by carabaos.
*Industries – were fishing, mining, lumbering,
weaving, metal work, making of tools and weapons,
manufacture of wines, raising of poultry and stock,
tanning and shipbuilding.