PRE-SPANISH CULTURE

Philippine History with Politics and Governance

CLOTHING Male

Upper part:Collarless,

short-sleeved jacket

Lower part:balang

Headgear:putong

CLOTHING Female:

Upper part:baro or kamisa

Lower part:saya

(Tagalogs) and patadyong (Visayan)

Tapis

ORNAMENTS

JewelsGold, carnelian, pearl,

beads and colored glass Ornaments

Armlets, pendants, bracelets, gold rings, earrings, and leglets

ORNAMENTS

Tattoos For men, tattoos were signs of

valor and many attributes For women, it enhanced beauty

The most tattooed were the ancient Bisayans, who were called Pintados and the Visayas as Islas de los Pintados

HOUSES The nipa house, made of wood, bamboo, nipa palm and/or cogon grass

Generally elevated from the ground, the lower portion were storage for tools and enclosure for their animals

HOUSES Some built it on treetops Bajaos or Sea Gypsies of Sulu made their

houses on boats Lowland: linear in character Upland: scattered and distant from each

other

SOCIAL CLASSES Four types of social organizations

(William Henry Scott, 1994)1. Classless Society (Hanunuo, Ilongot,

Tiruray, Sulod, Batak)2. Warrior Society (Manobo of Agusan and

Cotabato, Mandaya, Bagobo, Kalinga, and so on)

3. Petty Plutocracy (Ifugao, Bontok, Kankaay, Ibaloy)

4. Principalities (Sulu and the flood plains of Pulangi River, Cotabato)

SOCIAL CLASSESNobles (gat or lakan)Freemen (maharlika or

timawa)Dependents

(alipin, ulipon, or adipen)Social classes of the rest of the Philippine society

SOCIAL CLASSES Types of dependents (Tagalogs)

1. Aliping namamahay – slaves that had property, lived in their houses and could without their master’s consent, and could not be sold

2. Aliping sagigilid – slaves who owned no property, lived in their master’s houses, could not marry without their master’s consent, and could be sold anytime

SOCIAL CLASSES Types of dependents (Bisayans)

1. Tumataban – worked in their master’s house when told to do so

2. Tumarampuk – worked one day for his master

3. Ayuey – worked three days for his lord

WOMENS’ POSITION IN THE SOCIETY Occupied a high position Laws and custom were equal

with men1. Could own and inherit property2. Could engage in trade and

industry3. Could inherit the chieftancy and

rule barangays if they were daughters of datus with no sons

4. Occupied the prestigious position of babaylan

5. Could demand that their husbands use penis pins or penis rings

Could name her children Men should walk behind women

PERSONAL HABITS Were clean and neat

Bath regularlyTook good care of their hair by using gogo

and anointing perfumed oilsRinse their mouths and cleaned their teeth.

Used betel nut as tootbrush and salt and water as toothpaste

Regularly cleaned their homes

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS A man belonging to one class married a

woman of the same class but this custom was not rigid

Except Muslims, they practiced monogamy but in some cases, a man could marry as many as he could but only the first wife was considered legitimate spouse

Fixed marriage Two prerequisites to marriage: (1) lover’s

servitude to the girl’s family and (2) dowry given by man to the girl’s parents

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

Grounds for

divorce

Adultery or

desertion

Loss of affection

Cruelty

Insanity

Childishness

Lack of sexual

satisfaction

Any divorce couple could

remarry

GOVERNMENT Patriarchal in form. Two models:

1. Barangay was a socio-quasi political/administrative unit

2. Sultanate system Barangays were independent, each

consisted of 30-100 families and ruled by a datu or rajah

The datu exercised all government functions assisted by the elders who advised him on important matters

GOVERNMENT Maintains inter-baranganic relations to

avoid wars

Causes of war

When one goes to another

village killed someone without cause

When wives or husbands are stolen from them

When going to another

village in the guise of

friendship

LAWSCustomary and written laws

Covered subjects• Family relations, property rights, inheritance, contracts,

partnerships, loans, usury, crimes and their punishment, adoption and divorce.

Major crimes• Rape, incest, murder, witchcraft, insult, trespassing,

sacrilegious acts, and larceny.• Punishment: death

Minor crimes• Misdemeanours like adultery, cheating, petty theft,

perjury, disturbance of peace at night by singing, and destroying documents

• Punishment: exposure to ants, small fine, flogging, cutting the fingers of one hand, swimming for a number of hours

JUDICIAL PROCESS

Trials were

held in public

Plaintiff and

defendant plead

their case

Witnesses took an oath to tell the truth

Barangay court favors a litigant

with more proofs

JUDICIAL PROCESS Dispute between datus or between

residents of different barangays were sometimes settled by arbitrtaion

When the case is not readily decided by the barangay court, a trial by ordeal was resorted to.

In Muslim communities, civil or criminal cases were decided upon by the local Islamic court. Feuds and disputes, however, involved protracted bloody confrontations between families and clans

JUDICIAL PROCESS

Trial by ordeal

River ordeal, suspects plunge

into the river with spears and who rises first is

guilty

Boiling water ordeal,

suspects pick a stone in a pot of

boiling water and he whose arm or hand is

burned the most is guilty

Candle ordeal,

suspects are given lighted candles of the same sizes and the owner of the candle that died out first is guilty

BOILING WATER ORDEAL

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES They were animistic. Worshipped a supreme god, called

Bathala by the Tagalogs Believed in spirits called anitos or

diwatas

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Religious leaders were called babaylan, baylana, or katalona. For Muslims, it is imam or pandita.

Worshippers of nature and ancestors

Believed in afterlife and heaven and hell

Disease or illness was attributed to the environmental spirits and the soul-spirits of dead relatives.

DIVINATION OR MAGIC CHARMS

Fond of interpreting signs in nature as good or bad omens depending upon circumstances

Believed in black magic and manogbarang or manoghiwit

Believed in aswang or witches and many more

Believed in the efficacy of anting-anting or amulets as well as lumay or gayuma

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES Agriculture as the main source of livelihood.

Two types of cultivation: kaingin or slash-and-burn and wet rice farming

Less arable lands were public property while productive lands were private properties of datus and nobles

Fermented the sap coconuts and nipas into tuba and vinegar

Aside from fishing and agriculture, other industries were poultry, stock-raising, lumbering and boat-building, mining, pottery making, and weaving.

Used barter system in business transactions

LANGUAGE AND SYSTEM OF WRITING More than a hundred languages and

dialects exist A syllabary made of 17 symbols, 3

vowels and 14 consonants Wrote on bark of trees, leaves, and

bamboo nodes, using knives, daggers, pointed stick or iron as pens and colored sap of trees and fruits as ink.

EARLY FILIPINO ALPHABETS

LITERATURE Had oral and written literature

Consisted of proverbs, sayings, riddles, epics, myths, and legends

MUSIC AND DANCE Had their own musical

instruments, songs, and dances

Most popular musical instument: kudyapi

Songs included love songs, religious songs, rice planting songs, harvesting songs, rowing songs, battle songs, vending songs, and others.

Had colorful folk dances

ARTS Native artistry was found in beads,

amulets, bracelets, earrings, and other body ornaments made of gold, green jade, red carnelian, and other attractive stones

Dyed and ornamented their clothes with designs and picturesque colors

Evident in tattoos of early Filipinos

Carves statues of anitos in wood, gold, ivory, stone, and crocodile’s teeth

ARTS Fanciful carvings on handle of

bolos, knives, daggers, and on shields and boats

Maranao Muslims had excellent woven products and creative ornamental and decorative brass art.

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