Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tagalogs
by FRAY JUAN DE PLASENCIA
ANNABEE MAGBANUA-CLAUR, Ph. D.
Customs of the
Tagalogs
by FRAY JUAN DE PLASENCIA
Fray
Juan de
Plasencia
SOURCE
De Plasencia, Juan.
1906. “Customs of the
Tagalogs” in Emma
Helen Blair and James
Alexander Robertson.
The Philippine Islands:
1493-1898. Cleveland,
OH: The Arthur H.
Clark Company.
BACKGROUND OF THE
AUTHOR
He was born in the early 16th century to
the illustrious family in the region of
Extremadura, Spain.
His real name is Joan de Puerto Carrero,
del convento de Villanueva de la Serena
He came with the first batch of
FRANCISCAN missionaries to the
Philippines in July 2, 1578.
BACKGROUND OF THE
AUTHOR
He started preaching in the Tagalog region
specifically in Laguna, Quezon, Bulacan,
and Rizal areas together with Franciscan
Fray Diego de Oropesa.
He was one of those who initiated the
Reduccion Policy, a policy to resettle
natives in central locations.
BACKGROUND OF THE
AUTHOR
His works include
1) Arte de la Lengua (Art of Language);
The Worship
Sun
Moon
Stars
Lic-ha
Idols which were images with different shapes
Analysis – Worship
Dian masalanta
Patron of lovers and of generation
Crocodiles
Paid reverence in fear of being harmed by them
A portion of what they carried in their boats
Analysis – Worship
Auguries
If they left their house and met on the way a serpent or
rat, or a bird called tigmamanuguin which was singing
in the tree, considering the incident as a sign that some
evil might befall them
Analysis – Worship
No established division of years, months, and days
Cultivation of the soil
Counted by moons
Different effect produced upon the trees when yielding
flowers, fruits, and leaves
Analysis – Worship
Manner of Offering Sacrifice
Proclaim a feast, and offer to the devil what they had to
eat
Done in front of the idol and praise it in poetic songs
sung by the officiating priest (Catolonan)
Objects of sacrifice were goats, fowls, and swine
Flayed, decapitated, and laid before the idol
A jar of rice
Buyos – small fruit wrapped in a leaf with some lime
Fried food and fruits
Analysis – Worship
Reasons for Sacrifices
Recovery of a sick person
Prosperous voyage of those embarking on the sea
Good harvest in the sowed lands
Propitious result in wars
Successful delivery in childbirth
Happy outcome in married life
Analysis – Worship
Young girl’s first monthly period
Blindfolded for four days and four nights
The friends and relatives were all invited to partake of
food and drink
At the end of this period, the catolonan took the young
girl to the water, bathed her and washed her head, and
removed the bandage from her eyes
Did this in order that the girls might bear children, and
have fortune in finding husbands to their tase
Analysis – Worship
THE PRIESTS OF THE DEVIL
1. Catalonan
Man or woman
Honorable one among the natives
Held ordinarily by people of rank
Analysis – Worship
2. Mangagauay
Witches
Deceived by pretending to heal the sick
Induced ailments by their charms
Capable of causing death
Prolong life for a year by binding a live serpent to the
waist
Serpent – believed to be the devil, or at least his
substance
Analysis – Worship
3. Manyisalat
Same as magagauay
Power of applying remedies to lovers
They would abandon and despise their wives
Prevent having intercourse with the wives
Abandoned women – bring sickness (discharge
blood and matter)
Analysis – Worship
4. Mancocolam
Emit fire from himself
Fire – could not be extinguished or emitted
Except if the priest wallowed in the ordure and filth
which falls from the houses
He who lived in the house fell ill and died
Analysis – Worship
5. Hocloban
Greater efficacy than the mangagauay
By simply saluting or raising their hand, they killed
whom they chose
Only in Catanduanes
Analysis – Worship
6. Silagan
To tear out the liver of anyone clothed in white and eat
it
Only in Catanduanes
Calavan – they tore out in this way through his anus all
the intestines of a Spanish notary
Analysis – Worship
7. Magtatangal
Show himself at night without his head or intestines
The devil walked about carried, or pretended to carry,
his head to different places
In the morning, returned it to his body
Catanduanes
Analysis – Worship
8. Osuang
Equivalent to “sorcerer”
Seen him fly and he murdered men and ate their flesh
Visayas Islands
9. Mangagayoma
Another class of witches
Made charms for lovers out of herbs, stones, and wood,
which would infuse the heart with love
Analysis – Worship
10. Sonat
Equivalent to “preacher”
Help one to die, at which time he predicted the
salvation or condemnation of the soul
11. Pangatahojan
Soothsayer, predicted the future
12. Bayoguin
Signified a “cotquean”, a man whose nature inclined
toward that of a woman
Analysis - Worship
Manner of burying the dead
Deceased was buried beside his house
If he were a chief, he was placed beneath a little house or
porch which they constructed for this purpose
If he were a warrior, a living slave was tied beneath his
body until in this wretched way he died
Mourned for four days
Laid him on a boat which served as a coffin
Also accompanied by eating and drinking
Analysis – Worship
Manner of burying the dead [Aetas or Negritos]
Dug a deep, perpendicular hole
Placed the deceased within it, leaving him upright with
head or crown unburied, on top of which they put half
a coconut which was to serve him as a shield
Pursuit of some Indian, whom they killed in
punishment for the Negrito who had died
To this end they conspired together, hanging a certain
token on their necks until some one of them procured
the death of the innocent one
Analysis – Worship
Another life
“Maca”
“Paradise” or “village of rest”
Those who lived without doing harm
Possessed other moral virtues
“Casanaan”
“A place of anguish”
All the wicked
Here dwelt the demons, sitan
Heaven
Only Bathala who governed from above
Analysis - Worship
Ghosts
Vibit
Phantoms
Tigbalaang
Patianac
If any woman died in childbirth, she and the child
suffered punishment
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
DOCUMENT IN
UNDERSTANDING THE
GRAND NARRATIVE IN
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING
THE GRAND NARRATIVE IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
The writing of Fray Plasencia
presents the way of life, political
and socio-cultural practices, and
political stratifications of the
early Filipino people specifically
in the Tagalog region.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING
THE GRAND NARRATIVE IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Because of Fray Plasencia’s
accounts, unwritten
traditions, customs of
worship, laws, religious
practices, and superstitious
beliefs were preserved.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING
THE GRAND NARRATIVE IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
It is considered as an
important piece of literature
giving us a glimpse of our
ancestors’ beliefs on
mancocolam, osuang,
mangagayoma, patianac, and
other superstitious beliefs of
the Filipino people.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING
THE GRAND NARRATIVE IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY