Cultural achievements of pre-colonial

Philippines
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by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (September 2008)
Part of a series on the

History of the Philippines

Prehistory (pre-900)

Callao and Tabon Men

Arrival of the Negritos

Austronesian expansion

Angono Petroglyphs

Society of the Igorot

Classical Period (9001521)

State of Ma-i
Tondo Dynasty

Confederation of Madja-as

Kingdom of Maynila

Kingdom of Namayan

Rajahnate of Butuan

Rajahnate of Cebu

Sultanate of Maguindanao

Sultanate of Sulu

Sultanate of Lanao

Spanish Period (15211898)

Viceroyalty of New Spain

Spanish East Indies

Christianization

Dutch Invasions

British Invasion

Revolts and uprisings

Katipunan

Philippine Revolution

American Period (18981946)

First Republic

PhilippineAmerican War

Tagalog Republic

Negros Republic

Zamboanga Republic

Insular Government

Commonwealth

Japanese Occupation

Second Republic

Post-Colonial (1946present)

Third Republic

Marcos era
Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic

By topic

Demographic

Military

Political

Communications

Transportation

Timeline
Philippines portal

v
t
e

The cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines include those covered by prehistory and
early history of the Philippines archipelago and its inhabitants, which are the indigenous
forebears of today's Filipino people.

Contents

1 Agriculture
2 Art of War
3 Education and writing
4 Maritime culture and aquaculture
5 Mining and jewelry making
6 Pottery
7 References
8 External links

Agriculture

The Banaue Rice Terraces, they are part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras,
ancient sprawling man-made structures from 2,000 to 6,000 years old, which are a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.

Early Filipinos were good agriculturists. A report during the time of Miguel Lpez de Legazpi
noted of the great abundance of rice, fowls, wine as well as great numbers of carabaos, deer, wild
boar and goats in Luzon. In addition, there were also great quantities of cotton and colored
clothes, wax, honey and date palms produced by the natives. In the Visayas, according to another
early report, rice, cotton, swine, fowls, wax and honey abound. Leyte was said to produce two
rice crops a year, and Pedro Chirino commented on the great rice and cotton harvests that were
sufficient to feed and cloth the people
Duck culture was also practiced by the natives, particularly those around Pateros and Taguig
City. This resembled the Chinese methods of artificial incubation of eggs and the knowledge of
every phase of a duck's life. This tradition is carried on until modern times.[1]
The Ifugaos of the mountainous region of the Cordilleras built irrigations, dams and hydraulic
works and the famous Banaue Rice Terraces as a way for assisting in growing crops around 1000
BC.[1]

Art of War
Further information: Filipino martial arts
High quality metal casting, artillery, and other metal works had been traditions throughout the
ancient Philippines. The metal smith, or panday piray of Pampanga was skilled at making
weapons, and many individuals with the surnames Viray and Piray are said to be descendants of
people who were once members of the guild of smiths who followed the tradition of the panday
pira.[1]
Early Filipinos used small arquebuses, or portable cannons made up of bronze. Larger cannons,
on the other hand, were made of iron and resembling culverins provided heavier firepower. The
iron cannon at Rajah Sulaiman III's house was about 17 feet long and was made from clay and
wax moulds.[1]
Guns were also locally manufactured and used by the natives. The most fearsome among these
native guns was the lantaka, or swivel gun, which allowed the gunner to quickly track a moving
target.[1] Some of the weaponry used by the natives was quite unusual. For instance, one weapon
was the prototype of the modern-day yo-yo, and it returned to is owner after being flung at an
opponent.
Swords were also part of the native weaponry. Making of swords involved elaborate rituals that
were based mainly on the auspicious conjunctions of planets. The passage of the sword from the
maker entailed a mystical ceremony that was coupled with superstitious beliefs.[1] The
lowlanders of Luzon no longer use of the bararao, while the Moros and animists of the South
still continue the tradition of making kampilan and kris.[1]
In addition to weaponry, the early Filipinos made good armor for use in the battlefield and built
strong fortresses called kota or moog to protect their communities. The Moros, in particular, had
armor that covered the entire body from the top of the head to the toes. The Igorots built forts

made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times the width
in height around 2000 BC.[1][2]

Education and writing

Laguna Copperplate Inscription (c. 900), a thin copperplate document measuring less than 8x12
inches in size, shows heavy Hindu-Malayan cultural influences present in the Philippines during
the 10th Century.
See also: Ancient Philippine scripts and Enrique of Malacca
Early Filipinos devised and used their own system of writings from 300 BC, which derived from
the Brahmic family of scripts of Ancient India. Baybayin became the most widespread of these
derived scripts by the 11th century.
Early chroniclers, who came during the first Spanish expeditions to the islands, noted the
proficiency of some of the natives, especially the chieftain and local kings, in Sanskrit, Old
Javanese, Old Malay,and several other languages.[3][4][5]

Maritime culture and aquaculture

Native boats and outriggers as depicted in The history and conquest of the Philippines and our
other island possessions; embracing our war with the Filipinos by Alden March, published in
1899. Caption (cropped out) read: "Boats of the upper type were used to land the U.S. troops at
Manila. One of those in which the Astor Battery landed sank in the surf just before reaching
shore. The natives carried the men ashore on their shoulders. The lower boat is a fisherman's
craft used by the Negritos, who shoot fish in the clear water with bows and arrows."
Early Filipinos, being descendants of the balangay-borne Austronesian migrants from Maritime
Southeast Asia,[6] were known for their navigational skills. Some of them used compass similar
to those used among maritime communities of Borneo and traders of China, although most had
no need for such devices. In modern times, some fishermen and traders in the Visayas,
Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan can still navigate long distances over open water without the use of

modern navigational instruments.[1] Philippine ships, such as the karakao or korkoa were of
excellent quality and some of them were used by the Spaniards in expeditions against rebellious
tribes and Dutch and British forces. Some of the larger rowed vessels held up to a hundred
rowers on each side besides a contingent of armed troops.[4] Generally, the larger vessels held at
least one lantaka at the front of the vessel or another one placed at the stern.[1] Philippine sailing
ships called praos had double sails that seemed to rise well over a hundred feet from the surface
of the water. Despite their large size, these ships had double outriggers. Some of the larger
sailing ships, however, did not have outriggers.
Communities of ancient Philippines were active in international trade, and they used the ocean as
natural highways.[4] Early Filipinos were engaged in long-range trading with their Asian
neighbors as far as west as Maldives and as far as north as Japan.[1] Some historians even
proposed that they also had regular contacts with the people of Western Micronesia because it
was the only area in the Oceania that had rice crops, tuba (fermented coconut sap), and tradition
of betel nut chewing when the first Europeans arrived there. The uncanny resemblance of
complex body tattoos among the Visayans and those of Borneo also proved some interesting
connection between Borneo and ancient Philippines.[1] Magellan's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta,
mentioned that merchants and ambassadors from all surrounding areas cameto pay tribute to the
king of Sugbu (Cebu) for the purpose of trade. While Magellan's crew were with the king, a
representative from Siam was paying tribute to the king.[1] Miguel Lpez de Legazpi also wrote
how merchants from Luzon and Mindoro had come to Cebu for trade, and he also mentioned
how the Chinese merchants regularly came to Luzon for the same purpose.[1] The Visayan
Islands had earlier encounter with the Greek traders in 21 AD.[7] Its people enjoyed extensive
trade contacts with other cultures. Indians, Japanese, Arabs, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Thais,
Malays and Indonesians as traders or immigrants.[8][9]
Aside from trade relations, the natives were also involved in aquaculture and fishing. The natives
make use of the salambao, which is a type of raft that utilizes a large fishing net which is
lowered into the water via a type of lever made of two criss-crossed poles. Night fishing was
accomplished with the help of candles made from a particular type of resin similar to the copal of
Mexico. Use of safe pens for incubation and protection of the small fry from predators was also
observed, and this method astonished the Spaniards at that time.[1] During fishing, large mesh
nets were also used by the natives to protect the young and ensure future good catches.

Mining and jewelry making

Mining in the Philippines began around 1000 BC. The early Filipinos worked various mines of
gold, silver, copper and iron. Jewels, gold ingots, chains, calombigas and earrings were handed
down from antiquity and inherited from their ancestors. Gold dagger handles, gold dishes, tooth
plating, and huge gold ornamets were also used.[1] In Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in preHispanic Philippines Gold Art", he mentioned that gold jewelry of Philippine origin was found in
Ancient Egypt.[1] According to Antonio Pigafetta, the people of Mindoro possessed great skill in
mixing gold with other metals and gave it a natural and perfect appearance that could deceive
even the best of silversmiths.[1] The natives were also known for the jewelries made of other
precious stones such as carnelian, agate and pearl. Some outstanding examples of Philippine
jewelry included necklaces, belts, armlets and rings placed around the waist.

Pottery
The ancient Philippines had a very rich tradition of pottery as verified by the finds at Ayub Cave
in South Cotabato and other parts of the islands. Japanese texts mentioned trading expeditions to
the island of Rusun (Luzon) for the highly prized Rusun and Namban jars occurred. Japanese
texts were very specific about these jars being made in Luzon. The Tokiko, for example, calls the
Rusun and Namban jars, Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (in Chinese), which means simply
"made in Luzon."[1] These Rusun jars, which had rokuru (wheel mark), were said to be more
precious than gold because of its ability to act as tea canisters and enhance the fermentation
process.[1]

Prehistory of the Philippines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has
been specified. Please help improve this article if you can. (February 2009)
Part of a series on the

History of the Philippines

Prehistory (pre-900)

Callao and Tabon Men

Arrival of the Negritos

Austronesian expansion

Angono Petroglyphs

Society of the Igorot

Classical Period (9001521)

State of Ma-i

Tondo Dynasty

Confederation of Madja-as

Kingdom of Maynila

Kingdom of Namayan

Rajahnate of Butuan

Rajahnate of Cebu

Sultanate of Maguindanao

Sultanate of Sulu

Sultanate of Lanao

Spanish Period (15211898)

Viceroyalty of New Spain

Spanish East Indies

Christianization

Dutch Invasions

British Invasion

Revolts and uprisings

Katipunan

Philippine Revolution

American Period (18981946)

First Republic

PhilippineAmerican War

Tagalog Republic

Negros Republic

Zamboanga Republic

Insular Government

Commonwealth

Japanese Occupation

Second Republic

Post-Colonial (1946present)

Third Republic

Marcos era
Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic

By topic

Demographic

Military

Political

Communications

Transportation

Timeline
Philippines portal

Philippine prehistory covers the events prior to the written history of what would become the
Philippine archipelago. The current demarcation line between this period and the early history of
the Philippines is 900 AD, which is the date of the first surviving written record to come from
the Philippines, the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. This period saw the immense change that
took hold of the archipelago from Stone Age cultures in the 4th century, continuing on with the
gradual widening of trade until 900 and the first surviving written records.

Contents

1 Stone Age (c. 50,000 - c. 500 BC)

o 1.1 Callao Man (c. 41,000 BC)
o 1.2 Tabon Man (c. 24000 or 22,000 BC)
o 1.3 Migration theories
1.3.1 Beyer's wave migration theory
1.3.2 Objections to the land bridges theory
1.3.3 Bellwood's Austronesian diffusion theory
1.3.4 Solheim's Nusantao Maritime Trading and Communication Network
(NMTCN) or island origin theory
1.3.5 Jocano's local origins theory
o 1.4 Genetic studies
1.4.1 2001 Stanford University study
1.4.2 2008 Leeds University study
o 1.5 Proto-Austronesians
o 1.6 5000-2000 BCAustronesian speakers arrive
2 Early Metal Age (c. 500 BC - c. 1 AD)
o 2.1 100 BC onward
o 2.2 Thalassocracies and international trade (200 AD onwards)
2.2.1 The emergence of Barangay city-states and trade (200-500)
o 2.3 Introduction of metal
o 2.4 Introduction of iron
3 Archeological sources
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Stone Age (c. 50,000 - c. 500 BC)

The first evidence of the systematic use of Stone-Age technologies in the Philippines is estimated
to have dated back to about 50,000 BC,[1] and this phase in the development of proto-Philippine
societies is considered to end with the rise of metal tools in about 500 BC, although stone tools
continued to be used past that date.[2] Filipino Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano refers to the
earliest noticeable stage in the development of proto-Philippine societies as the Formative
Phase.[3] He also identified stone tool and ceramics making as the two core industries that
defined the economic activity of the time, and which shaped the means by which early Filipinos
adapted to their environment during this period.[1]
About 30,000 BC, the Negritos, who became the ancestors of today's Aetas, or Aboriginal
Filipinos, probably lived in the Philippines. No evidence has survived which would indicate
details of Ancient Filipino life such as their crops, color, and architecture. Philippine historian
William Henry Scott points out any theory which describes such details is therefore a pure
hypothesis and should be honestly presented as such.[4]

Callao Man (c. 41,000 BC)

Main article: Callao Man

The earliest human remains known in the Philippines are the fossilized remains discovered in
2007 by Armand Salvador Mijares in Callao Cave, Cagayan, Philippines. The find was of 67,000
year old remains that predate Tabon Man. Specifically, the find consisted of a single 61
millimeter metatarsal which, when dated using uranium series ablation, was found to be at least
about 67,000 years old. If definitively proven to be remains of Homo sapiens, it would antedate
the 47,000-year-old remains of Tabon Man to become the earliest human remains known in the
Philippines, and one of the oldest human remains in the Asia Pacific.[5][6][7][8]
Tabon Man (c. 24000 or 22,000 BC)
Main article: Tabon Man

Fossilized fragments of a skull and jawbone of three individuals had been discovered on May 28,
1962 by Dr. Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum.[9] These
fragments are collectively called "Tabon Man" after the place where they were found on the west
coast of Palawan. Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of Stone Age factory, with both finished
stone flake tools and waste core flakes having been found at four separate levels in the main
chamber. Charcoal left from three assemblages of cooking fires there has been Carbon-14 dated
to roughly 7,000, 20,000, and 22,000 BC.[10] (In Mindanao, the existence and importance of
these prehistoric tools was noted by famed Jos Rizal himself, because of his acquaintance with
Spanish and German scientific archaeologists in the 1880s, while in Europe.[citation needed])
Tabon Cave is named after the "Tabon Bird" (Tabon Scrubfowl, Megapodius Cumingii), which
deposited thick hard layers of guano during periods when the cave was uninhabited so that
succeeding groups of tool-makers settled on a cement-like floor of bird dung. That the
inhabitants were actually engaged in tool manufacture is indicated that about half of the 3,000
recovered specimens examined are discarded cores of a material which had to be transported
from some distance. The Tabon man fossils are considered to have come from a third group of
inhabitants, who worked the cave between 22,000 and 20,000 BC. An earlier cave level lies so
far below the level containing cooking fire assemblages that it must represent Upper Pleistocene
dates like 45 or 50 thousand years ago.[10]
Physical anthropologists who have examined the Tabon Man skullcap have agreed that it
belonged to modern man, homo sapiens, as distinguished from the mid-Pleistocene Homo
erectus species. This indicates that Tabon Man was Pre-Mongoloid (Mongoloid being the term
anthropologists apply to the racial stock which entered Southeast Asia during the Holocene and
absorbed earlier peoples to produce the modern Malay, Indonesian, Filipino, and "Pacific"
peoples). Two experts have given the opinion that the mandible is "Australian" in physical type,
and that the skullcap measurements are most nearly like the Ainus or Tasmanians. Nothing can
be concluded about Tabon man's physical appearance from the recovered skull fragments except
that he was not a Negrito.[11]
The custom of Jar Burial, which ranges from Sri Lanka, to the Plain of Jars, in Laos, to Japan,
also was practiced in the Tabon caves. A spectacular example of a secondary burial jar is owned

by the National Museum, a National Treasure, with a jar lid topped with two figures, one the
deceased, arms crossed, hands touching the shoulders, the other a steersman, both seated in a
proa, with only the mast missing from the piece. Secondary burial was practiced across all the
islands of the Philippines during this period, with the bones reburied, some in the burial jars.
Seventy-eight earthenware vessels were recovered from the Manunggul cave, Palawan,
specifically for burial.
Migration theories
Main article: Models of migration to the Philippines

There have been several models of early human migration to the Philippines. Since H. Otley
Beyer first proposed his wave migration theory, numerous scholars have approached the question
of how, when and why humans first came to the Philippines. The question of whether the first
humans arrived from the south (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei as suggested by Beyer) or from
the north (via Taiwan as suggested by the Austronesian theory) has been a subject of heated
debate for decades. As new discoveries come to light, past hypotheses are reevaluated and new
theories constructed.
Beyer's wave migration theory

The first, and most widely known theory of the prehistoric peopling of the Philippines is that of
H. Otley Beyer, founder of the Anthropology Department of the University of the Philippines.[12]
According to Dr. Beyer, the ancestors of the Filipinos came to the islands first via land bridges
which would occur during times when the sea level was low, and then later in seagoing vessels
such as the balangay. Thus he differentiated these ancestors as arriving in different "waves of
migration", as follows:[13]
1. "Dawn Man", a cave-man type who was similar to Java man, Peking Man, and other
Asian homo erectus of 250,000 years ago.
2. The aboriginal pygmy group, the Negritos, who arrived between 25,000 and 30,000
years ago.
3. The seafaring tool-using Indonesian group who arrived about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago
and were the first immigrants to reach the Philippines by sea.
4. The seafaring, more civilized Malays who brought the Iron age culture and were the real
colonizers and dominant cultural group in the pre-Hispanic Philippines.

Beyer's theory, while still popular among lay Filipinos, has been generally been disputed by
anthropologists and historians. Reasons for doubting it are founded on Beyer's use of 19th
century scientific methods of progressive evolution and migratory diffusion as the basis for his
hypothesis. These methods have since been proven to be too simple and unreliable to explain the
prehistoric peopling of the Philippines.[14]
Objections to the land bridges theory

In February 1976, Fritjof Voss, a German scientist who studied the geology of the Philippines,
questioned the validity of the theory of land bridges. He maintained that the Philippines was

never part of mainland Asia. He claimed that it arose from the bottom of the sea and, as the thin
Pacific crust moved below it, continued to rise. It continues to rise today. The country lies along
great Earth faults that extend to deep submarine trenches. The resulting violent earthquakes
caused what is now the land masses forming the Philippines to rise to the surface of the sea. Dr.
Voss also pointed out that when scientific studies were done on the Earth's crust from 1964 to
1967, it was discovered that the 35-kilometer- thick crust underneath China does not reach the
Philippines. Thus, the latter could not have been a land bridge to the Asian mainland. The matter
of who the first settlers were has not been really resolved. This is being disputed by
anthropologists, as well as Professor H. Otley Beyer, who claims that the first inhabitants of the
Philippines came from the Malay Peninsula. The Malays now constitute the largest portion of the
populace and what Filipinos now have is an Austronesian culture.
Philippine historian William Henry Scott has pointed out that Palawan and the Calamianes
Islands are separated from Borneo by water nowhere deeper than 100 meters, that south of a line
drawn between Saigon and Brunei does the depth of the South China Sea nowhere exceeds 100
meters, and that the Strait of Malacca reaches 50 meters only at one point.[15] Scott also asserts
that the Sulu Archipelago is not the peak of a submerged mountain range connecting Mindanao
and Borneo, but the exposed edge of three small ridges produced by tectonic tilting of the sea
bottom in recent geologic times. According to Scott, it is clear that Palawan and the Calamianes
do not stand on a submerged land bridge, but were once a hornlike protuberance on the shoulder
of a continent whose southern shoreline used to be the present islands of Java and Borneo.
Mindoro and the Calamianes are separated by a channel more than 500 meters deep[16]
Bellwood's Austronesian diffusion theory

The principal branches of the Malayo-Polynesian Language Family. Orange is Outer Western MalayoPolynesian, dark red is Inner Western Malayo-Polynesian, green is Central Malayo-Polynesian, purple is
South HalmaheraWest New Guinea languages, and pink is Oceanic. (Some areas with oceanic
languages are not visible on this map.)

The popular contemporary alternative to Beyer's model is Peter Bellwoods Out-of-Taiwan

(OOT) hypothesis, which is based largely on linguistics, hewing very close to Robert Blusts

model of the history of the Austronesian language family, and supplementing it with
archeological data.[17]
This model suggests that between 4500 BC and 4000 BC, developments in agricultural
technology in the Yunnan Plateau in China created pressures which drove certain peoples to
migrate to Taiwan. These people either already had or began to develop a unique language of
their own, now referred to as Proto-Austronesian.
By around 3000 BC, these groups started differentiating into three or four distinct subcultures,
and by 2500 to 1500 BC, one of these groups began migrating southwards towards the
Philippines and Indonesia, reaching as far as Borneo and the Moluccas by 1500 BC, forming
new cultural groupings and developing unique languages.
By 1500 BC, some of these groups started migrating west, reaching as far as Madagascar around
the 1st millennium. Others migrated east, settling as far as Easter Island by the mid-13th century,
giving the Austronesian language group the distinction of being the most widely distributed
language groups in the world at that time, in terms of the geographical span of the homelands of
its languages.
According to this theory, the peoples of the Philippines are the descendants of those cultures who
remained on the Philippine islands when others moved first southwards, then eastward and
westward.
Solheim's Nusantao Maritime Trading and Communication Network (NMTCN) or island origin
theory

Wilhelm Solheim's concept of the Nusantao Maritime Trading and Communication Network
(NMTCN), while not strictly a theory regarding the biological ancestors of modern Southeast
Asians, does suggest that the patterns of cultural diffusion throughout the Asia-Pacific region are
not what would be expected if such cultures were to be explained by simple migration. Where
Bellwood based his analysis primarily on linguistic analysis, Solheim's approach was based on
artifact findings. On the basis of a careful analysis of artifacts, he suggests the existence of a
trade and communication network that first spread in the Asia-Pacific region during its Neolithic
age (c.8,000 to 500 BC). According to Solheim's NMTCN theory, this trade network, consisting
of both Austronesian and non-Austronesian seafaring peoples, was responsible for the spread of
cultural patterns throughout the Asia-Pacific region, not the simple migration proposed by the
Out-of-Taiwan hypothesis. Solheim 2006
Solheim came up with four geographical divisions delineating the spread of the NMTCN over
time, calling these geographical divisions "lobes." Specifically, these were the central, northern,
eastern and western lobes.
The central lobe was further divided into two smaller lobes reflecting phases of cultural spread:
the Early Central Lobe and the Late Central Lobe. Instead of Austronesian peoples originating
from Taiwan, Solheim placed the origins of the early NMTCN peoples in the "Early Central
Lobe," which was in eastern coastal Vietnam, at around 9000 BC.

He then suggests the spread of peoples around 5000 BC towards the "Late central lobe",
including the Philippines, via island Southeast Asia, rather than from the north as the Taiwan
theory suggests. Thus, from the Point of view of the Philippine peoples, the NMTCN is also
referred to as the Island Origin Theory.
This "late central lobe" included southern China and Taiwan, which became "the area where
Austronesian became the original language family and Malayo-Polynesian developed." In about
4000 to 3000 BC, these peoples continued spreading east through Northern Luzon to Micronesia
to form the Early Eastern Lobe, carrying the Malayo-Polynesian languages with them. These
languages would become part of the culture spread by the NMTCN in its expansions Malaysia
and western towards Malaysia before 2000 BC, continuing along coastal India and Sri Lanka up
to the western coast of Africa and Madagascar; and over time, further eastward towards its
easternmost borders at Easter Island. Thus, as in the case of Bellwood's theory, the Austronesian
languages spread eastward and westward from the area around the Philippines. Aside from the
matter of the origination of peoples, the difference between the two theories is that Bellwood's
theory suggests a linear expansion, while Solheim's suggests something more akin to concentric
circles, all overlapping in the geographical area of the late central lobe which includes the
Philippines.
Jocano's local origins theory

Another alternative model is that asserted by anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of
the Philippines, who in 2001 contended that the existing fossil evidence of ancient humans
demonstrates that they not only migrated to the Philippines, but also to New Guinea, Borneo, and
Australia. In reference to Beyer's wave model, he points out that there is no definitive way to
determine the "race" of the human fossils; the only certain thing is that the discovery of Tabon
Man proves that the Philippines was inhabited as early as 21,000 or 22,000 years ago. If this is
true, the first inhabitants of the Philippines would not have come from the Malay Peninsula.
Instead, Jocano postulates that the present Filipinos are products of the long process of evolution
and movement of people. He also adds that this is also true of Indonesians and Malaysians, with
none among the three peoples being the dominant carrier of culture. In fact, he suggests that the
ancient humans who populated Southeast Asia cannot be categorized under any of these three
groups. He thus further suggests that it is not correct to consider Filipino culture as being
Malayan in orientation.[18]
Genetic studies
2001 Stanford University study

A Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that Haplogroup O3-M122 (labeled
as "Haplogroup L" in this study) is the most common Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup found
among Filipinos. This particular haplogroup is also predominant among Chinese, Koreans, and
Vietnamese. Another haplogroup, Haplogroup O1a-M119 (labeled as "Haplogroup H" in this
study), is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup O1a are highest among the
Taiwanese aborigines, and Chamic-speaking people. Genetic data found among a sampling of
Filipinos may indicate some relation to the Ami tribe of Taiwan.[19]

2008 Leeds University study

A 2008 genetic study showed no evidence of a large-scale Taiwanese migration into the
Philippine Islands. A study by Leeds University and published in Molecular Biology and
Evolution, showed that mitochondrial DNA lineages have been evolving within Island Southeast
Asia (ISEA) since modern humans arrived approximately 50,000 years ago. Population
dispersals occurred at the same time as sea levels rose, which resulted in migrations from the
Philippine Islands into Taiwan within the last 10,000 years.[20]
A 2002 China Medical University study indicated that some Filipinos shared genetic
chromosome that is found among Asian people, such as Taiwanese aborigines, Indonesians,
Thais, and Chinese.[21]
A variety of research study by the University of the Philippines, genetic chromosome were found
in Filipinos which are shared by people from different parts of East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
The predominant genotype detected was SC, the Southeast Asian genotype.[22] However, only
about 50 urine samples were collected for the study, far below the minimum sample size needed
to account for credible test results.
These indigenous elements in the Filipino's genetic makeup serve as clues to the patterns of
migration throughout Philippine prehistory. After the 16th century, of course, the colonial period
saw the influx of genetic influence from Europeans. During the above mentioned study
conducted by Stanford University Asia-Pacific Research Center, it was stated that 3.6% of the
Philippine population has varying degrees of European ancestry from Spanish, and American
colonization.[23] However, only 28 individuals from the Philippines were genotyped for this
study, again a sample size far below the minimum sample size needed to account for credible test
results in a population of over 90 million individuals.
Proto-Austronesians

Before the expansion out of Taiwan, recent archaeological, linguistic and genetic evidence has
linked Austronesian speakers in Insular Southeast Asia to cultures such as the Hemudu and
Dapenkeng in Neolithic China.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
5000-2000 BCAustronesian speakers arrive

Historian William Henry Scott has observed that, based on lexicostatistical analysis involving
seven million word pairs linguist Isidore Dyen offered in 1962, two alternative scenarios
explaining the origin and spread of Austronesian languages: (a) that they originated in some
Pacific island and spread westward to Asia, or (b) that they originated in Taiwan and spread
southward.[30] Based on subsequent study of the second alternative, Scott concludes that the
Philippine language tree could have been introduced by Austronesian speakers as long ago as
5000 BC, probably from the north, with their descendants expanding throughout the Philippine
archipelago and beyond in succeeding millennia, absorbing or replacing sparse populations
already present, and their language diversifying into dozens of mutually unintelligible languages
which replaced earlier ones. During those millennia, other Austronesian speakers entered the

Philippines in large enough numbers to leave a linguistic mark but not to replace established
languages. Scott suggested that if this scenario is correct all present Philippine languages (except
for SamaBajaw languages, which probably have more speakers outside the Philippines than
within) were produced within the archipelago, none of them being introduced by separate
migration, and all of them having more in common with each other than with languages outside
of the Philippines.

Early Metal Age (c. 500 BC - c. 1 AD)

The earliest metal tools in the Philippines were said to have first been used somewhere around
500 BC, and this new technology coincided with considerable changes in the lifestyle of early
Filipinos. The new tools brought about a more stable way of life, and created more opportunities
for communities to grow, both in terms of size and cultural development.[31]
Where communities once consisted of small bands of kinsmen living in campsites, larger villages
came about- usually based near water, which made traveling and trading easier. The resulting
ease of contact between communities meant that they began to share similar cultural traits,
something which had not previously been possible when the communities consisted only of
small kinship groups.
Jocano refers to the period between 500 BC and 1 AD as the incipient phase, which for the first
time in the artifact record, sees the presence of artifacts that are similar in design from site to site
throughout the archipelago. Along with the use of metal tools, this era also saw significant
improvement in pottery technology.[31]
100 BC onward
This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text.
Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (March
2009)

Iron age finds in Philippines also point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu and the
Philippine Islands during the ninth and tenth centuries B.C.[32] The Philippines is believed by
some historians to be the island of Chryse, the "Golden One," which is the name given by
ancient Greek writers in reference to an island rich in gold east of India. Pomponius Mela,
Marinos of Tyre and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentioned this island in 100 BC, and it is
basically the equivalent to the India Suvarnadvipa, the "Island of Gold." Josephus calls it in
Latin Aurea, and equates the island with biblical Ophir, from where the ships of Tyre and
Solomon brought back gold and other trade items. The Visayan Islands, particularly Cebu had
earlier encounter with the Greek traders in 21 AD.[33]
Ptolemy locates the islands of Chryse east of the Khruses Kersonenson, the "Golden Peninsula,"
i.e. the Malaya Peninsula. North of Chryse in the Periplus was Thin, which some consider the
first European reference to China. Scholars however know that Thin or Gin as in Gintu Suvarnadvipa originates from Chinese word for gold "jin") Chinese have traded with and settled

in Philippines thousands of years before West even knew of this area. In about the 200 BC, there
arose a practice of using gold eye covers, and then, gold facial orifice covers to adorn the dead
resulting in an increase of ancient gold finds. During the Qin dynasty and the Tang dynasty,
China was well aware of the golden lands far to the south. The Buddhist pilgrim I-Tsing
mentions Chin-Chou, "Isle of Gold" in the archipelago south of China on his way back from
India. Medieval Muslims refer to the islands as the Kingdoms of Zabag and Wakwak as rich in
gold, referring to the eastern islands of the Malay archipelago, the location of present-day
Philippines and Eastern Indonesia.[34]
Thalassocracies and international trade (200 AD onwards)
Further information: Ancient Philippine civilization
The emergence of Barangay city-states and trade (200-500)

A Tagalog couple of the Maharlika nobility caste depicted in the Boxer Codex of the 16th Century.
Further information: Barangay (pre-colonial)

Since at least the 3rd century, the indigenous peoples were in contact with other Southeast Asian
and East Asian nations.
Fragmented ethnic groups established numerous city-states formed by the assimilation of several
small political units known as barangay each headed by a Datu or headman (still in use among
non-Hispanic Filipino ethnic groups) and answerable to a king, titled Rajah. Even scattered
barangays, through the development of inter-island and international trade, became more
culturally homogeneous by the 4th century. Hindu-Buddhist culture and religion flourished
among the noblemen in this era. Many of the barangay were, to varying extents, under the de
jure jurisprudence of one of several neighboring empires, among them the Malay Sri Vijaya,
Javanese Majapahit, Brunei, Melaka empires, although de facto had established their own
independent system of rule. Trading links with Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand, Java, China, India,

Arabia, Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom flourished during this era. A thalassocracy had thus
emerged based on international trade.[35]
Each barangay consisted of about 100 families. Some barangays were big, such as Zubu (Cebu),
Butuan, Maktan (Mactan),Mandani (Mandaue), Lalan (Liloan), Irong-Irong (Iloilo), Bigan
(Vigan), and Selurong (Manila). Each of these big barangays had a population of more than
2,000.
In the earliest times, the items which were prized by the peoples included jars, which were a
symbol of wealth throughout South Asia, and later metal, salt and tobacco. In exchange, the
peoples would trade feathers, rhino horn, hornbill beaks, beeswax, birds nests, resin, rattan.2
In the period between the 7th century to the beginning of the 15th century, numerous prosperous
centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which flourished alongside
Manila Bay,[36] Cebu, Iloilo,[37] Butuan, the Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan, the
Kingdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak situated in Pampanga[38] and Aparri (which specialized in
trade with Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa).
Introduction of metal

The introduction of metal into the Philippines and the resulting changes did not follow the
typical pattern. Robert Fox notes, "There is, for example, no real evidence of a "Bronze Age" or
"Copper-Bronze Age" in the archipelago, a development which occurred in many areas of the
world. The transition, as shown by recent excavation, was from stone tools to iron tools."[39]
The earliest use of metal in the Philippines was the use of copper for ornamentation, not tools.
Even when copper and bronze tools became common, they were often used side by side with
stone tools. Metal only became the dominant material for tools late in this era, leading to a new
phase in cultural development.
Bronze tools from the Philippines' early metal age have been encountered in various sites, but
they were not widespread. This has been attributed to the lack of a local source of tin, which
when combined with copper produces bronze. This lack has led most anthropologists to conclude
that bronze items were imported and that those bronze smelting sites which have been found in
the Philippines, in Palawan, were for re-smelting and remolding.
Introduction of iron

Iron age finds in Philippines also point to the existence of trade between Tamil Nadu and the
Philippine Islands during the ninth and tenth centuries B.C.[32] When iron was introduced to the
Philippines, it became the preferred material for tools and largely ended the use of stone tools.
Whether the iron was imported or mined locally is still debated by scholars. Beyer thought that it
was mined locally, but others point to the lack of iron smelting artifacts and conclude that the
iron tools were probably imported.[40]

Metalsmiths from this era had already developed a crude version of modern metallurgical
processes, notably the hardening of soft iron through carburization.[41]

The Baybayin

Archeological sources
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by
adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April
2011)

Until very recently, Philippine historians and anthropologists have been limited to the rare
artifact discovered since the 19th century. During the Spanish colonial era, which began in 1521,
many artifacts were destroyed or re-used. A good example is the Spanish walled city of
Intramuros in Manila, whose stone bricks were taken from the original city wall of pre-Hispanic
Maynila. As new evidence is discovered, old theories are adapted or new ones developed, which
has led to numerous and sometimes conflicting theories about the prehistory of the Philippines.
In short, the lack of artifacts and other evidence has led to a lack of consensus among prehistory
historians.

See also

History of the Philippines (9001521)

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(Redirected from History of the Philippines (900-1521))
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The history of the Philippines (as opposed to its prehistory) is marked by the creation of the
Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the first written document found in a Philippine language.
The inscription itself identifies the date of its creation as the year 900. Prior to its discovery in
1989, the earliest record of the Philippine Islands corresponded with the arrival of Ferdinand
Magellan in 1521. The discovery of the LCI thus extended the record of Philippine history back
by 600 years.[1][2] After 900, the early history of territories and nation-states prior to being
present-day Philippines is known through archeological[3] findings and records of contacts with
other civilizations such as Song Dynasty China and the Bruneian Empire.
This article covers the history of the Philippines from the creation of the Laguna Copperplate
Inscription in 900 AD to the arrival of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, which
marks the beginning of the Philippine Colonial period (1565-1946).

Contents

1 The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and its context (c. 900AD)

2 Barangay city-states and Thalassocracy
3 The Emergence of Baybayin and Related Scripts (1200 onwards)
4 Chinese Trade (982 AD onwards)
5 The growth of Islamic Sultanates (1380 onwards)
6 Attack by the Bruneian Empire (1500 A.D.)
7 Expansion of Trade (1st Century - 14th Century AD)
8 The Spanish Conquista (15211565)
9 Primary Sources for Early Philippine History
10 References

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and its context (c.

900AD)

Laguna Copperplate Inscription (circa 900 AD)

Main article: Laguna Copperplate Inscription
In 1989, Antoon Postma deciphered the text of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription at the
National Museum of the Philippines and discovered that it identified the date of its creation as
the "Year of Syaka 822, month of Vaisakha." According to Jyotisha (Hindu astronomy), this
corresponded with the year 900 A.D. Prior to the deciphering of the LCI, Philippine history was
traditionally considered to begin at 1521, with the arrival of Magellan and his chronicler,
Antonio Pigafetta. History could not be derived from pre-colonial records because such records

typically did not survive: most of the writing was done on perishable bamboo or leaves. Because
the deciphering of the LCI made it out to be the earliest written record of the islands that would
later become the Philippines, the LCI reset the traditional boundaries between Philippine history
and prehistory, placing the demarcation line 600 years earlier.[1]
The inscription forgives the descendants of Namwaran from a debt of 926.4 grams of gold, and
is granted by the chief of Tondo (an area in Manila) and the authorities of Paila, Binwangan and
Pulilan, which are all locations in Luzon. The words are a mixture of Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old
Javanese and Old Tagalog. The subject matter proves that a developed society existed in the
Philippines prior to the Spanish colonization,[not in citation given] as well as refuting earlier claims of
the Philippines being a cultural isolate in Asia;[not in citation given] the references to the Chief of
Medang Kingdom in Indonesia imply that there were cultural and trade links with empires and
territories in other parts of Maritime Southeast Asia, particularly Srivijaya. Thus, aside from
clearly indicating the presence of writing and of written records at the time, the LCI effectively
links the cultural developments in the Philippines at the time with the growth of a thalassocratic
civilization in Southeast Asia.[not in citation given][1]

Barangay city-states and Thalassocracy

Further information: Barangay (pre-colonial)
Since at least the 3rd century, the indigenous peoples were in contact with other Southeast Asian
and East Asian nations.

A Tagalog couple of the Maginoo nobility caste depicted in the Boxer Codex of the 16th
Century.
Fragmented ethnic groups established numerous city-states formed by the assimilation of several
small political units known as barangay each headed by a Datu, who was then answerable to a
Rajah, who headed the city state. Each barangay consisted of about 100 families. Some

barangays were big, such as Zubu (Cebu), Butuan, Maktan (Mactan), Irong-Irong (Iloilo), Bigan
(Vigan), and Selurong (Manila). Each of these big barangays had a population of more than
2,000.
Even scattered barangays, through the development of inter-island and international trade,
became more culturally homogeneous by the 4th century.Hindu-Buddhist culture and religion
flourished among the noblemen in this era.
By the 9th century, a highly developed society had already established several hierarchies with
set professions: The Datu or ruling class, the Maharlika or noblemen, the Timawa or freemen,
and the dependent class which is divided into two, the Aliping Namamahay (Serfs) and Aliping
Saguiguilid (Slaves).
Many of the barangay were, to varying extents, under the de jure jurisprudence of one of several
neighboring empires, among them the Malay Sri Vijaya, Javanese Majapahit, Brunei, Malacca
empires, although de facto had established their own independent system of rule. Trading links
with Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand, Java, China, India, Arabia, Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom
flourished during this era.[4][5][6] A thalassocracy had thus emerged based on international trade.
In the earliest times, the items which were prized by the people included jars, which were a
symbol of wealth throughout South Asia, and later metal, salt and tobacco. In exchange, the
people would trade feathers, rhino horn, hornbill beaks, beeswax, birds nests, resin, rattan.
In the period between the 7th century to the beginning of the 15th century, numerous prosperous
centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which flourished alongside
Manila Bay,[7][8] Cebu, Iloilo,[9] Butuan, the Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan, the
Kingdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak situated in Pampanga[10] and Aparri (which specialized in
trade with Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa).

The Emergence of Baybayin and Related Scripts (1200

onwards)
Main article: Baybayin

The "Butuan Ivory Seal" - The Kawi script lettering says "But-wan" and the smaller lettering
(similar to Baybayin) says "Bu-wa" (Diacritics for the "Wan/Ban" in Kawi and "Bu/Ba" in the
smaller letters have worn off)

The Baybayin
The script used in writing down the LCI is Kawi, which originated in Java, and was used across
much of Maritime Southeast Asia. But by at least the 13th century or 14th century, its descendant
known in Tagalog as Baybayin was in regular use. The term baybayin literally means syllables,
and the writing system itself is a member of the Brahmic family.[11] One example of the use of
Baybayin from that time period was found on an earthenware burial jar found in Batangas.
Though a common perception is that Baybayin replaced Kawi, many historians believe that they
were used alongside each other. Baybayin was noted by the Spanish to be known by everyone,
and was generally used for personal and trivial writings. Kawi most likely continued to be used
for official documents and writings by the ruling class.[12] Baybayin was simpler and easier to
learn, but Kawi was more advanced and better suited for concise writing.
Although Kawi came to be replaced by the Latin script, Baybayin continued to be used during
the Spanish colonization of the Philippines up until the late 19th Century. Closely related scripts
still in use among indigenous peoples today include Hanuno, Buhid, and Tagbanwa.[citation needed]

Chinese Trade (982 AD onwards)

The earliest date suggested for direct Chinese contact with the Philippines was 982 AD. At the
time, merchants from "Ma-i" (now in Mindoro) brought their wares to Guangzhou. This was
noted by the Sung Shih (History of the Sung) by Ma Tuan-lin who compiled it with other
historical records in the Wen-hsien Tung-Kao at the time around the transition between the
Sung and Yuan dynasties.[13]
However, actual trade between China and the proto-Philippine states probably started much
earlier.[14]

The growth of Islamic Sultanates (1380 onwards)

In 1380, Makhdum Karim, the first Islamic missionary to the Philippines brought Islam to the
Archipelago. Subsequent visits of Arab, Malay and Javanese missionaries helped strengthen the
Islamic faith of the Filipinos, most of whom (except for those in the north) would later become
Christian under the Spanish colonization. The Sultanate of Sulu, the largest Islamic kingdom in
the islands, encompassed parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The royal house of
the Sultanate claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad.

Around 1405, the year that the war over succession ended in the Majapahit Empire, Sufi traders
introduced Islam into the Hindu-Malayan empires and for about the next century the southern
half of Luzon and the islands south of it were subject to the various Muslim sultanates of Borneo.
During this period, the Japanese established a trading post at Aparri and maintained a loose sway
over northern Luzon.

Attack by the Bruneian Empire (1500 A.D.)

Around the year 1500 AD, the Kingdom of Brunei under Sultan Bolkiah attacked the kingdom of
Tondo and established a city with the Malay name of Selurong (later to become the city of
Maynila)[15][16] on the opposite bank of Pasig River. The traditional Rajahs of Tondo, the
Lakandula, retained their titles and property but the real political power came to reside in the
House of Soliman, the Rajahs of Manila.[17]

Expansion of Trade (1st Century - 14th Century AD)

Jocano refers to the time between the 1st and 14th Century AD as the Philippines' emergent
phase.[18] It was characterized by intensive trading, and saw the rise of definable social
organization, and, among the more progressive communities, the rise of certain dominant
cultural patterns. The advancements that brought this period were made possible by the increased
use of iron tools, which allowed such stable patterns to form. This era also saw the development
of writing. The first surviving written artifact from the Philippines, now known as the Laguna
Copperplate Inscription, was written in 900 AD, marking the end of what is considered
Philippine prehistory and heralding the earliest phase of Philippine history - that of the time
between the first written artifact in 900 AD and the arrival of colonial powers in 1521.

The Spanish Conquista (15211565)

Main article: History of the Philippines (15211898)
Filipino historians note an overlap in the history of pre-colonial Philippines and the Spanish
colonial period, noting that while Magellan's arrival in 1521 marked the first arrival of European
colonizers to this country, it was not until the arrival of Miguel Lpez de Legazpi in 1565 that
the Europeans had any marked impact on the lifestyle of the residents of the Philippine
Archipelago.
National Historical Institute and National Commission for Culture and the Arts chair Ambeth
Ocampo notes:
Contrary to popular belief, the so-called Spanish period in Philippine history does not
begin with Magellans arrival in Cebu and his well-deserved death in the Battle of
Mactan in 1521. Magellan may have planted a cross and left the Santo Nio with the wife
of Humabon, but that is not a real conquista [conquest]. The Spanish dominion over
the islands to be known as Filipinas began only in 1565, with the arrival of Legazpi.
From Cebu, Legazpi moved to other populated and, we presume, important native

settlements like Panay and later Maynila (some thought the name was Maynilad because
of the presence of Mangrove Trees in the area called nilad).[19]
When
Who
Ship(s)
Where
Visayas
(Eastern
Samar,
/
Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago
1521 Ferdinand
Homonhon, Limasawa,
and Victoria
Cebu)
Magellan
Santa Mara de la Victoria, Espiritu Santo,
Surigao, Islands of
Garca Jofre
1525
Anunciada, San Gabriel, Santa Mara del
de Loasa
Visayas and Mindanao
Parral, San Lesmes and Santiago
Sighted land near
Sebastian
1526
4 unknown ships
Philippines, Landed on
Cabot
Moluccas
lvaro de
1527
3 unknown ships
Mindanao
Saavedra Cern
Visayas (Eastern Samar,
Ruy Lpez Santiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristbal,
1542
Leyte), Mindanao
de Villalobos San Martn, and San Juan
(Saranggani)
Miguel
San Pedro, San Pablo, San Juan and San
1564 Lpez de
Almost entire Philippines
Lucas
Legazpi

Primary Sources for Early Philippine History

Primary sources for this period in Philippine history are sparse, which explains why so little is
known. It is however, postulated[by whom?] that during the more than 300 years of Spain's
colonization, Spanish authorities in the Philippine had successfully cleared through burning or
burying written records and other documentaries that would establish proof of governance on the
various existing small kingdoms and sultanates they subdued. This is evidenced by the Laguna
Copperplate Inscription written in copper metal sheet. The inscription writing in Kawi script
manifest the existence of a developed writing system and government structure prior to the
arrival of Spaniards and its subsequent establishment of Spanish colonies.
The LCI is both the earliest local source on this era and the earliest primary source, with the
Calatagan jar being more or less contemporary, although the translation of the text on the jar is in
some question. Early contacts with Japan, China, and by Muslim traders produced the next set of
primary sources.[6] Genealogical records by Muslim Filipinos who trace their family roots to this
era constitute the next set of sources. Another short primary source concerns the attack by
Brunei's king Bolkiah on Manila Bay in 1500. Finally, and perhaps with the most detail, Spanish
chroniclers in the 17th century collected accounts and histories of that time, putting into writing
the remembered history of the later part of this era, and noting the then-extant cultural patterns
which at that time had not yet been swept away by the coming tide of hispanization.[15][20]

References

History

Three prominent Ilustrados in Spain: Jos Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar and Mariano Ponce (from
left to right). Photo was taken in Spain in 1890.
The most prominent Ilustrados were Graciano Lpez Jaena, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano
Ponce, Antonio Luna and Jos Rizal, the Philippine national hero. Rizals novels Noli Me
Tangere ("Touch Me Not") and El filibusterismo ("The Subversive") exposed to the world the
injustices imposed on Filipinos under the Spanish colonial regime.[7][9]
In the beginning, Rizal and his fellow Ilustrados preferred not to win independence from Spain,
instead they yearned legal equality for both Peninsulares and nativesIndios, Insulares, and
mestizos, among othersin the economic reforms demanded by the Ilustrados were that the
Philippines be represented in the Cortes and be considered as a province of Spain and the
secularization of the parishes.[8][9]
However, in 1872, nationalist sentiment grew strongest, when three Filipino priests, Jos Burgos,
Mariano Gmez and friar Jacinto Zamora, who had been charged with leading a military mutiny
at an arsenal in Cavite, near Manila, were executed by the Spanish authorities. The event and
other repressive acts outraitings and activities, Rizal was executed on December 30, 1896. His
execution propelled the Ilustrados . This also prompted unity among the Ilustrados and Andrs
Bonifacios radical Katipunan.[8] Philippine policies by the United States reinforced the
dominant position of the Ilustrados within Filipino society. Friar estates were sold to the
Ilustrados and most government positions were offered to them.[10] is a fictional account of a
young Filipino investigating the life of his mentor, Crispin Salvador, after the mans death. The
novel presents Salvador as if he were a real-life writer and thinker, and spans 150 years of
Philippine history. In 2008 Ilustrado won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize.[11]
Manila-born Syjuco was until recently a copy editor for the Montreal Gazette.[12]