LESSON 1

The Philippines and the Filipinos DuringPre-Colonial Period

The Philippines is an archipelago composed of 7,107 islands and islets. There are three

majorislands in the Philippines. The largest of these islands is Luzon which is approximately

40,814 sq. miles.Second largest is Mindanao which is approximately 36,906 sq. miles. These two

islands comprise exactlytwo-thirds of the total land area of the Philippines. While the smallest of

the three major islands wasVisayas.The Filipinos during the pre-colonial era were completely

different from the current Filipinos.Different in terms of houses, mode of dressing, ornaments,

society, laws, customs, religion, rites,practices, education, literature, music and dances, arts, and

their government systems.One of the typical ancient Filipino houses was made of bamboo, wood

nipa palm, cogon, orwhatever native materials found in the area. This mode of housing was

popularly known to us today asbahay-kubo. Their modes of dressing were different from ours

today. Male Filipinos wore collarlessshort-sleeved jacket called the Kanggan as the upper part of

their clothing. The lower part of theirclothing was the bahag which is a strip of cloth wrapped

around the waist and in between legs. On theother hand, women wore baro or camisa as the

upper part of their clothing. The skirt of the lower part wascalled saya and among the Visayans

the patadyong. They also had no shoes. They walked bare-footed buthad gold anklets.Ancient

Filipinos also has their own fashion in terms of their ornaments. Gold was their commonarmlets,

rings, necklaces, bracelets and pendants. They even used gold as fillings between their

teeth.Tattoos were adorned in their bodies and faces. For men, it represents their war record as to

how manyenemies a warrior killed, the more tattooed he was. For women, they had tattoos to

enhance their beautyas men find tattooed women attractive. Nowadays, gold are still used as an

ornament but this is onlyexclusive for women. While tattoos nowadays are considered as
expression of art and is most commonlyseen to men.Their society was also divided into three

social classes: the nobles, the free men and thedependents or the alipins. The chiefs, their

families and relatives composed the upper class or nobility.The middle class or freemen who

were usually free-born persons or freed slaves constituted the majorityof the social classes. The

alipins belonged to the lowest class. This only shows inequality towards society.That is why

nowadays, everyone in the society is equal no matter how rich or poor they are.

Women in ancient Filipino society are recognized as equal of men. Why? It’s bec

ause they couldsucceed as rulers of the barangay. They could engage in trade and commerce and

they had the exclusiveright of naming their children. Women were regarded highly during pre-

Spanish times. One could even bepunished severely as to enslave him for insulting any woman

of rank, or taking away her robe in publicand leaving her naked, or causing her to flee or defend

herself so that it falls off. This pre-colonialconcept of decency quite coincides with our current

concept of respect to women.Their political unit was the barangay, which was composed of 30-

100 families. This barangaywas ruled by a chieftain called Datu, Hari or Rajah. Each barangay

was independent and was considered

“village state” for having the elements of statehood.

They also have written and customary or oral laws. The oral laws were tribal customs

andtraditions handed down from generation to generation. One example of written laws was The

MaragtasCode. In terms of judicial process, their court was composed of the chieftains as the

judge and thecommunity elders as the jury. Trials were usually done in public. If the court could

not clearly determinethe guilt or innocence of both parties in a case, they will end up to a trial by

ordeal or pagsubok. In case of theft, the suspects were ordered to retrieve a stone in a boiling pot
of water. The one whose hand was themost scalded was the alleged guilty. In some instances, the

suspects were ordered to chew uncooked rice.He whose saliva was thickest was adjudged guilty.

We can see clearly the big difference in judicialprocess during the pre-Spanish times. Nowadays,

trials were done in a court room. Judges make theirdecisions based on the evidences and written

laws to make it fair to both parties.The early Filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul.

They also believed in life after death.They worshipped a Supreme Being they called Bathalang

Maykapal. The pre-Spanish Filipinosworshipped nature, the sun, the moon, the animals, the

birds, and even old trees.Their marriage customs are also far from what we are used to.

Traditionally, early Filipinosmarried within their own class. Thus, a noble married a woman of

his rank; a freeman married that of hisclass and a slave married that of his status. But, there was

no restriction whether a noble wants to marry afreeman or between a freeman and a dependent.

As a condition to marriage, the man must give the bigay-kaya or dowry to the family of the

bride. The groom also served the bride’s parents for months. He must

fetch water, chop woods for the girl’s family and help the girl’s father in his farming chores. The ancient

Filipinos also allowed divorce. But this is only limited to the just causes such as adultery on the

part of the wife, childlessness, loss of love, and abandonment on the part of husband.Early

Filipinos, because of their belief in life after death and in the immortality of soul, were

veryrespectful of their dead. They embalmed their dead like the Egyptians and buried them near

their houses,complete with gold, cloth and other objects of value, for they believed that if they

departed rich, theywould be well received in the other world, but coldly if they departed

poor.The early Filipinos were also music and dance lovers. Some of their native instruments

could stillbe seen nowadays as part of Filipino culture. Some of these are the Kudyapi, tultogan,

silbay, and thekutibeng. The favorite dances of Visayans were the Balitaw and Dandansoy.
Tagalogs have Kumintang astheir love dance. Their songs and music were expressed in all

aspects of their lives. They had songs andmusic in celebration of victory in war, for good

harvest; for religious rituals; and for each death andburial.Pre-colonial Filipinos are obviously far

too different from the Filipinos after the Spanish Era.This shows that even before the Spanish

came to the Philippines, we already have established our originalway of living.

That is why I truly agree about Prof. Landa Jocano’s

statement: that the Filipinos possessedan elaborate civilization in the past, but because of the

colonization of different countries, our perceptionabout pre-colonial Filipinos are distorted, and

somehow erased.Through history, we can trace the way pre-colonial Filipinos lived. We can

actually compare andsee how far we have been developing. I believe that every Filipinos have an

inherent desire for what isgood, that is the reason why our culture and way of living changes.

Everything that seems bad and unjustin the past, we correct or change.These characteristics,

traits, rituals and way of living of Early Filipinos only show that theoriginal Filipino culture is

rich and simple. Although imperfect, they paved the way to unlocking the truenature of Filipinos:

brave, strong and powerful yet hospitable, respectful and cheerful.

LESSON 2

Asian Cultural Heritage

The Philippines is believed to have a culture that is greatly influenced by many

countries.Although early Filipinos may be believed to have their indigenous culture, many of

these are erasedthrough time.

Prof. Landa Jocano strongly argues: “

The Filipinos possessed an elaborate civilization inthe past. This achievement did not become

part of the Filipino consciousness, even today, because of theadvent of colonization during

which a systematic distortion of our perception about us was carried out

.”

Meaning to say, we are unconscious about what real Filipinos are, how they lived, and how did

its culturechanged in the course of time.There are many factors that explain how these changes in

occurred. First is the IndianizationProcess. The exodus of Indian traders, Hindu missionaries and

the immigrant to Southeast Asia during thefirst century A.D. resulted to the Indianization of the

area. The Orang Dampuans who were vassals of theSri Vidjaya Empire came to Philippines and

they established trading posts in Sulu. Therefore, trading isthe reason of Indian influence for

Filipinos. Indian influences were actually traceable in the languages,religious beliefs, literature,

customs and traditions of the early Filipinos. Dr. T.H. Pardo de Teveraactually mentioned 340

Sanskrit words manifested in Tagalog language. Examples are ahas, asawa, paa,hari, Kota,

bathala, balita, and many others.Malays are also believed to have influenced early Filipinos. The

migration theory gave unduecredit to Malays as to the original settlers of the lowland areas in the

Visayas. To this day, the ati-atihan, acolorful song and dances festival is celebrated in Aklan.

This is to reenact the warm welcome accorded tothe Malays by the Atis, which resulted to the

purchase of Panay. Codes were also part of the Malayaninfluences. The Sumakwel Code

was one of these codes. Some of the contents of the codes are: “

T he lazy person shall be arrested and sold to a rich family to serve as slave, as such, to learn

the lessons of serviceand the value of work in the house and in the fields

.”
,”

Robbery of any sort shall be punished severely.The fingers of the thief shall be cut-off

.”

The Code of Kalantiaw was another of the several codes in theMalay influences. Kalantiaw Code

was accepted as the second oldest legal code in the Philippines.China was also one of the

countries that influenced us Filipinos. Chinese came to Manila Baybringing a variety of goods

such as porcelain, silk, tea, live fowls, etc. Chinese were primarily interestedin trade, so their

influences on Filipino life were mainly economic and social. The early Filipinos learnedfrom the

Chinese the art of gunpowder, mining, methods and the use of porcelain, gongs, umbrellas,

leadand kites. From the Chinese, originated the dishes lumpia, mami, okoy, pansit bihon, chop

suey andsiopao. Sauces like toyo came from the Chinese. Some Chinese customs were

eventually adopted by theFilipinos. The arrangement of marriage of children by parents, the use

of go-between in negotiatingmarriage, the use of white clothes or dress during the period of

mourning and the filial respect for eldersaccorded by the children were examples of practices

borrowed from the Chinese.The Filipinos had been trading with the Japanese long before the

coming of the Spaniards. Thesame as Chinese, Japanese were primarily interested in trade. And

unlike the Chinese, the Japanese werebetter treated and no discriminatory decrees were made

against them. The Spaniards respected and fearedthem.Let us not forget the Arabic contributions

in Filipino lives. The coming of Islam, the Muslimreligion was practiced in some areas such as

Sulu, Mindanao, Cebu and Manila, for more than a centurybefore the arrival of Magellan in the

Philippines. The Arabs also introduced the sultanate form of

government, Arabic art and literature; the Arabic alphabet, the Koranic Law; the mosque; the art

of warfare

lantakan or cannon, vinta or warboat and the kuta or fort.According to H. Otley Beyer, the

eminent anthropologist of the American period, Filipinos arepredominantly Asian in race. Their

racial mixture is 40% Malay, 30% Indonesian, 10% Negrito, 10%Chinese, 8% Indian, 3%

American and 2% Arab. This shows that Filipinos nowadays are products of foreign cultures,

mixed and developed in time. We can say that Filipino culture is not original, yet itpossesses the

good qualities and cultures, extracted from other influences and became part of

Filipinosnowadays.Some believe:

Variety

is the spice of life

.”

Variety gives life more meaning, color, and reason tolive for. Filipino culture may have lots of

variety, but this variety actually makes it more interesting. Wemay not say that our culture is

original, but we can say that our culture is unique.Plagiarism was one of the recent issues the

Filipinos were accused to. Some say that Filipinosonly copy those of other countries. But I

believe we Filipinos are original. Many of our traits andbehaviors are quite shocking and

pleasing for other countries. One of which is being hospitable, gentleand peaceful of Filipinos,

which I believe are originally Filipino traits. We Filipinos consider it a privilegeto be able to

offer help and friendship to all foreigners, including former enemies like the Japanese whocame
to the country. They overdo their hospitality to a fault that some foreigners tend to misconstrue

suchactions as a sign of racial inferiority.I think that many original character traits of Filipinos

may be the reason why we are living amixed culture. We Filipinos are deeply spiritual and

religiously devoted. According to recent findings of SWS or Social Weather Station (1991), it

showed that about eight out of ten Filipinos have strong belief about their religion and theses

beliefs are stronger, the more urbanized the area. Meaning to say, foreigncountries may easily

influence us through imposing religions just as the Arabs did.Another trait that Filipinos have is

adaptability and resiliency. Filipinos can integrate in anyculture and can cope in any climate.

Filipinos, unlike the Chinese, Indians, Italians and the Jews, caneasily be assimilated by other

cultural environments. This is one reason why Filipinos may have this kindof culture, mixed and

full of variety.I believe that there is nothing wrong about having the same culture as the Chinese,

or Spanish, orAmerican and many others. These only show how easily Filipinos can adapt to

their internationalrelationships. We are curious about so many things, and curiosity for me is

really good. We want to trythings that are new to us, and as we learn from those, we are slowly

becoming a part of it. Althoughsometimes it can lead to our downfall, we can still learn from it.

Which leads us to just holding on to whatis good and removing or correcting what are bad and

not acceptable for us.Despite of the issues in Filipino cultural heritage, I strongly believe that

generally why we havethis is because we think this is the most suitable way of living in our

society nowadays. Filipinos tend toadapt to other countries, which is not considerably bad, but is

actually beneficial. We are the product of the past, and we can only bring to mind these things

and learn from it. The most important thing is that,

we are not violating or disrespecting other countries’ culture. We must learn to respect cultural

differences.
LESSON 3

Spanish Explorations and Integration

One of the most popular conquerors of Philippines was Spain. Ferdinand Magellan was the key

tothe discovery of the Philippine islands. On March 16, 1521 he sighted the mountains of Samar.

Magellannever really intended to conquer nor colonize, his main objective in his exploration was

to go to MoluccasIsland and get spices from it.The great European navigator met his death in the

shores of the valiant warrior, Lapu-lapu.Magellan found it too late that he understand the fighting

ability and gallant defense of the nativewarriors. The Spaniards were badly beaten and were

forced to return to their boats. Magellan fell mortallywounded and was speared repeatedly by the

Mactan warriors.Despite of the humiliating defeat of the Spaniards in the Battle of Mactan,

Magellan’s expedition

was still very significant. Aside from proving the sphere of the earth, it also broke the Venetian

monopolyof the trade routes to the east. The expeditions also brought awareness of the

Europeans of the existenceof the Philippines. Lastly the discovery of the Philippines led to its

Christianization.The success of the voyage paved the way

to the naming of our archipelago “Las Islas Filipinas”

in honor of Prince Philip of Asturias later King Philip II of Spain.When King Charles I of Spain

decided to send Magellan in search of Moluccas, his mainobjective in mind was economic. He

knew that trade in spices and in other oriental products likeceramics, and tapestries was lucrative

and that the control of the said trade will make Spain more wealthyand strong. But when Spain
sold its rights to the Moluccas to the Portuguese in 1529, 8 years afterMagellan discovered the

Philippine archipelago, the royal policy shifted to other concerns.The primary objective of

Spanish colonization was propag

ation of Catholicism in “

heathen

lands”. For this reason, every colonize

d territories, was always accompanied by religious missionaries.

The next objective of colonization was Spain’s ambition to achieve political glory.

The colonialexpansionist policy of Spain was fueled by its desire to outdo other European

powers in empire building.The third aim of Spanish colonization was to acquire economic

wealth. It was the prevailingbelief during those times that the exclusive right of the mother

country to exploit the natural resourcesparticularly gold and silver of a colony would bring riches

to Spain. Another motivation that fueled theeconomic aim was the desire of Spain to monopolize

the spice trade in Orient by making the Philippinesas an economic base.Among the three

objectives of Spanish colonization, the propagation of Christianity became themost lasting and

successful. Spain did not realize its imperialist ambitions in the Orient as it reached adead end

after the colonization of the Philippines and impeded by the presence in the area of other

rivalEuropean powers.As a colony, the Philippines did not contribute to the economy of Spain. It

was actually a heavyburden to its treasury and was subsidized by the Vice-Royalty of Mexico

from 1527-1821. There wereeven occasions when the King of Spain was advised by his

counselors to abandon the country. But for thesake of Christianity and through the intercession

of Father Fernando Moraga, who went to Spain to pleadto King Philip III of Spain, the

Philippines were retained as a colony.

Spanish exploration and integration to the Philippines actually influenced early Filipinos

indifferent aspects of their living. Some of the changes are the laws applied to the Philippines,

the centralgovernment, the royal audiencia, the provincial and municipal governments,

encomienda systems,taxation, and polo y servicios.Spanish exploration resulted to some social

changes. On November 21, 1894, Gov. GeneralNarciso Claveria decreed that natives must adopt

Spanish surnames, which would facilitate theidentification of families and individuals. The

natives, as part of Christian practices, adopted fiesta, asocial and religious event honoring the

feast day of the patron saint of a town. It was extravagant affair forit obliged even families

without financial means to provide a feast to visiting relatives, friends andstrangers. Generally,

the preparation for the next fiesta often became the main pre-occupation of ruralpeople.Even if

the Spaniards refused to teach Spanish to the Indios, there are about 5,000 words inFilipino

language. Words like silla, sibuyas, panuelo, iskwela, hamon, pader and maestro, were

derivedfrom Spanish language.The Spaniards also legalized cockfighting, which long existed

before they came. They alsointroduced horse racing, lottery and occasionally, bullfights, card

games such as tres siete, juego deprenda and panguinque.The practices of the Spaniards of

surrounding themselves with muchachas or servants anddespising manual labor as unworthy of

the aristocracy, was also adopted and psychologically internalizedby Filipinos. The white-collar

job mentality of the prewar and early postwar generations of Filipinosattested to this.As a

consequence of Spanish colonization, little by little, Filipinos lost their old traditions, gaveup

their writings, their songs, their poems, their laws in order to learn by force other doctrines which

theydid not know and understand. Then they declined, degrading themselves in their own eyes,
they becameashamed of what was their own; they began to admire and praise whatever was

foreign andincomprehensible. Their spirit was dismayed and it surrendered.By the end of the

Spanish rule, the transformation of the Philippine colony had a blending of thenative and Spanish

cultures which became the bases of Filipinism or nationalism.Things happen for a reason. We

might think of the Spanish colonization as a bad and scaryexperience, but this actually helped us

be the way we are today. If I will be given a chance to turn back time, I would not change

anything that has ever happened because I think this event lead to theadvancement in terms of

living of Filipinos. We may have been hurt, degraded, and dishonored but ithelped us be

stronger, proud and honorable. Smiling despite of the problems we are facing is onecharacteristic

of Filipinos that foreigners cannot remove from us. Just like a diamond, starting as a big,useless

coal. But after years of extreme heat and pressure, it becomes more precious and perfect.