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During
Pre-Spanish
Period
Kate S. Magpoc
Pre-Spanish Period
Long before the arrival of the Spaniards,
ancient Filipinos were living in scattered
barangays and ruled by different chieftains.
Although, they were living separately, they
were similar in many ways, their religion,
mode of dressing, houses, system of
government and marriage practices and
economic activities, in short, they wee
refined and civilized; they possessed a
distinct culture that distinguish them from
other race.
Hous
e
Houses were made of light
Dress
Male clothing
- consisted of the upper and lower parts. The
upper part was a jacket with short sleeves called
kangan while the lower part was a strip of cloth
wrapped around the waist and in between the
legs called bahag. Males used a piece of cloth
or a headgear called putong.
- Putong symbolized the number of persons the
wearer had killed.
Female clothing
- they wore baro or camisa, a jacket with
leeves. The lower part was called saya.
Social Classes
Nobles
Government
The government was called barangay.
There was no national government. There
were many independent barangays and
datus. But there was no datu strong
enough to unite the archipelago into one
nation. Some barangays, however, united
to form a confederation.
It was headed by a ruler called datu or
raja.
Taxation
Ancient Filipinos started the practice
of paying taxes. The purpose of
paying taxes was simple, it was for
the protection they received from the
datu. The collected tax was called
buwis. The chieftains family members
were enjoying exemption from paying
taxes. Non-payment of taxes was
already punishable during this period.
Alliances
Like community of nations, alliances
among barangay were formed. The
purpose of forming alliances was for
trade, peace and mutual protection.
An alliances was sealed through blood
compact (sanduguan), to ensure
conformity, sincerity and commitment of
the chieftains.
Religious Beliefs
Before Roman Catholism and Islam were introduced, natives
uperstitious Beliefs
Natives believed in;
aswang (witch)
dwende (tiny creatures like humans)
kapre (tall and apelike creatures smoking
cigarettes, usually found on trees.
mangkukulam (an old lady capable of harming
others using a doll and a pin)
tikbalang (half-man and half-horse creature)
tiyanak (a baby that sucks blood on human.
They also believed in magical power of amulets
and charms such as anting-anting, kulam and the
use of gayuma or love potion.
Aswang
Dwende
Kapre
Tiyanak
Mangkukul
am
Tikbalan
g
Ornaments
The natives wore ornament made of gold
and precious stones. Women including men
wore armlet, leg lets, bracelets, gold rings
and earring. Putting tattoos in their body
was practiced.
Males having many tattoos were admired
because it signified bravery in war. They
also inserted gold between their teeth as an
ornament.
Education
To transmit knowledge, it was
acquired through observation,
imitation and practice. There
was no formal education during
pre-Spanish period. Children
were taught to read and write
by their parents. It was fair to
say that they were literate.
The purpose of education
during their time was for
survival. Their father on
hunting animals taught males,
fishing, agriculture and other
economic activities while their
Economic life
Domestic trade of different barangays
from different regions and islands were
made possible using boats.
Foreign trade was carried on with
countries like Borneo, China, Japan,
Cambodia, Java and Siam (Thailand).
Other means of livelihood were
shipbuilding, weaving, poultry raising,
mining, weaving and lumbering.
Music
Natives were without a doubt, music lovers. Each
community had their own sets of musical
instrument. In the account of Pigafetta, the official
historian of Magellan expedition, women from Cebu
were harmoniously playing
- cymbals (plantiles)
- nose flutes, bamboo mouth organs (aphiw)
- brass gong (gansa)
- flute (bansic)
- long drum (colibao)
- bamboo harp (subing)
- water whistle (paiyak)
- guitar (bugtot)
- xylophone (agong)
- drum (tugo)
Dances
The most ancient dances could be traced to
the war dance in order to incite the warlike
enthusiasm of the natives.
They danced primarily to please their gods,
anitos ad the spirit who it was believed,
were always jealous of the action of the
natives.
Their dance could be described as the
pantomimes today.
They also danced during festivals and other
merry-making occasions.
Alibata
ancient
Philippine
alphabet.
Literature
The early form of literature during pre-Spanish
period was a classified into written or oral.
Examples of oral literature consisted of;
-maxims (sabi)
-Bugtong (riddles)
-Boat song (talindaw)
-Victory songs (tagumpay)
-Lullaby (uyayi)
-Wedding song (ihiman)
-War song (kumintang) etc.
examples of written literature are;
-Biag ni Lam-Ang (Ilocano epic)
-Indarapatra at Sulayman and Bidasari (Muslim
Epics)
-Handiong (Bicolanos)
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