SYSTEM OF LAWS AND GOVERNMENT

BARANGAY

• earliest form of government

• derived from 'balangay' (sailboat)

• consisted of 30-100 families

• groups of people or communities with a head or a chief (practice in Greece)

• ruled by a chieftain called Datu

DATU

• Chief executive, legislator, judge, and supreme commander of the barangay in time of war

• Hayde (Hari) -- second on authority

• Moros --- Sultan, Datu, Rahja

• Ilocanos --- Agturay or Aris (chief) ; Amaen or Panglakayan (secondary chief) ~ Isabelo de los Reyes

• Primary Duties (rule, govern, protect and promote their welfare and interest)

SUCCESSION OF INHERITANCE

• MORGA

- the eldest son will be the first in succession

- (no son) the eldest daughter will take place

- (no one) nearest relative on the parent side of the principal or chief

• member of barangay who commanded respect, wealth, intellegence and strength

REASONS FOR THE FORMATION OF EARLY BARANGAY

• Mutual protection against enemies

• Intermarriage of persons in one barangay to other barangay

• Friendship with each other (sealed by traditional ceremony called Sandugo)

GOVERNMENT

• The subjects served their chieftain during wars, voyages, planting and harvest, and when his house
needs to be built or repaired; they also paid tributes called buwis

• Conflicts between or among barangays were settled by violence; those who win by force is always right

LAWS

• a process with a purpose and participated in a man's actions and aspirations

• were either:

- Oral (customary laws; handed down orally from one generation to generation)

- Written (promulgated by the cheiftain and elders from time to time as necessity arose)

*Example of Written Law -- Code of Kalantiyaw 1433 (third chief of Panay, Kalantiyaw)

Under the Code of Kalantiyaw:

- Insult, Murder, Arson, Rape, Incest, Trespassing, Witchcraft, Sacrilegious Acts (death, slavery or heavy
fine)

- Cheating in Business Transactions, Adultery, Perjury, Theft, Disturbing Peace of the Night by Singing
(exposure to the ants, flogging, cutting the fingers of one hand, swimming continuously for several
hours)

LEGISLATION

• before the laws are made, the chief consults with a council of elders who approved of his plan

• they are not immediately enforced until the new legislation is announced to the village by Umalohokan

REFERENCES:

• de Pelmoka, J.J. (1996). Pre-Spanish Philippines. Caloocan: Philippine Graphic Arts, Inc.
•https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/carling_21/philippinehistory-precolonialperiod-50010650

•https://prezi.com/cx7bfni17sf4/pre-colonial-philippines-political/