CENTRAL LUZON STATE UNIVERSITY SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ NUEVA ECIJA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Political Science 101

Philippine History with Politics and Government

Term Paper

ANCIENT FILIPINO HISTORY

Submitted By:

Duque, Arthnie A.Labao, Joana Joy F.

Sacay, Christine Myka V.

BSAT 3-2

Submitted To:

Mr. Marvin SorianoInstructor

August 2013

I. GEOGRAPHIC, DEMOGRAPHIC AND GENERAL INFORMATION

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7100 islands. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, early Filipino settled, cultivated and shared the land for their common good.

Communities in pre-colonial times were scattered. The ancient Filipinos established their communities along the coastline areas, bays, on the mouths of big rivers and there were also communities established in plains, valleys and mountains. The first barangays ranged from fifty to one hundred families. The villages composed by thirty to one hundred houses and the population vary from one hundred to five hundred persons. The communities range from a small one with 50 people living together and the big one with a population of more than 2000. Families in primitive era were commonly big families. They were not prohibited to have many children as long as they have the capacity to support their family.

Economic opportunities, use and strategic locations were chosen as the basis of areas of settlement. The sources of food were plentiful and were one important factor considered by the early Filipinos. Some popular sites for residence were along the bays, seacoasts and rivers because these places also provided a convenient means of transportation.

Ancient Filipinos who decided to live near bodies of water like river, lakes and sea had established a community called sa-ilud where fishing was the thriving industry. Those that lived in plains, valleys and mountains called their community sa-raya where agriculture is the common livelihood. These two communities, even though different from each other, helped each other in terms of fighting the enemies. The two communities had also practiced trading to compensate each other.

Ancient Filipinos, specifically the Aetas were nomadic, meaning; they have no permanent settlement areas. Since they have no enough knowledge on how to cultivate the land, they need to find other land to cultivate after they had utilized all the area from which they came from. But when the Indones came, they already had the knowledge of cultivating the land using their self-made materials. The Malay people were the most prospered group among the three because they have more knowledge and they made used of better materials in cultivating the land.

Another factor which also affected the site of communities was the land. The building of houses was also affected by cultural beliefs. To protect their homes from their enemies, the early Filipinos also took precautions by building wooden fences around their houses.

They also travelled mostly by water up and down rivers, and along the coasts. They used balangay when travelling in water. There were also who travelled in land. They used their animals like horses and carabaos. The daily fare consisted of rice and boiled fish, sometimes pork or wild buffalo meat.

Pre-colonial Filipinos built their houses to suit for the tropical climate of the Philippines. Houses were usually made up of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm. They built their houses on stilts and can be entered through ladders that can be drawn up.

There are three dwelling types during the early period. The Datu occupied the town houses which were the houses built of permanent wooden materials. It was 30m long and was considered as the largest house in the community. This was not only the Datu's home, but also his workplace, storehouse and community center for civic and religious affairs. There were also separate rooms for the Datu’s wife, family, daughters and slaves. Cottages, these were the second type of houses. These were occupied by ordinary people in the community. These were made of light materials and were also built near the fields. The tree houses were the third type. Ancient Filipinos who lived in this kind of house were called tree dwellers. These houses were used only in times of war. There were also a variety of huts called balay-balay. They were used by hunters, farmers and travelers. 

II. POLITICAL SYSTEM

During pre-colonial days, there was no national government. The basic unit of government is the barangay which came from the word balangay which is a boat used by ancient settlers when they arrived in the Philippine archipelago. Historically, the first barangays started as relatively small communities of around 50 to 100 families. Some villages are composed of twenty to thirty people only, while others were large and prestigious principalities composed of one hundred houses and the population varies from one hundred to five hundred persons.

Every barangay is autonomous and is ruled by chieftain called Datu, rajah, king or lakan. Barangays were independent of each other, since there was no Datu strong enough to unite all the barangays and form a national government. However, alliances among barangays were common and these were formalized in a ritual called sangduguan.

The power of the chieftain was not absolute. His authority was limited to the traditional body of customs and procedures; he even remained a farmer and wove his own cloth like the rest of the barangay members.

Usually, the one that becomes the Datu came from the maharlika, those that have a royal blood. His powers constituted of, in times of peace, the datu is the executive, legislative and chief justice; in times of war, he is the commander in chief of the armed forces; in foreign affairs, he enables treaties and truce.

Ancient Filipinos had already exercised their judgment in selecting their leaders. They did not casted their votes to select their leaders but the chieftain was inherited by the eldest child of the current chieftain. The crown of the Datu may also be passed to the bravest, wealthiest, or wisest individual in the community.

Judicial Process

Disputes between individuals were settled by the court made up of the Datu who acts as the judge and the council of elders who acts as the jury. The accused and the accuser faced each other in front of the court with their respective witnesses. Before the trial both parties took an oath to tell the truth. The disputants then began to their arguments and the chieftain listened attentively with the elders taking mental notes of the arguments. Most of the times, the disputant with more witnesses to his side was adjudged the winner. If proven to be guilty, penalties may be exposure to ants, by flogging, by cutting one’s fingers, or by drowning the guilty individual to death. If an accused person refused to accept the judgment of guilt upon him, the chief could use force to make him obey the law. When decision was contested, the chieftain exercised his judicial power and usually, the individual who contested is ignored because the Datu always favors the side of the winner.

On the other hand, conflicts between barangays were settled through violence; those who win by force are always right. Conflicts among barangays may also be settled through peaceful resolution. Boards made up of elders of neutral barangays acted as arbiter.

A criminal justice system called the trial by ordeal was already established. The judicial process was influence by religion. The manner of determining guilt of the accused showed the religiosity of the natives. They waited for the intervention of the deities. To determine the innocence of the accused, he is made to go through a number of ordeals which he must pass. For instance, holding lighted candles by the suspected offenders, the man whole candle died out first would be declared as the culprit. Another form of this trial was ordering the suspects to plunge into deep river with their lances. The first come to the surface would be adjudged as the guilty party.

Laws

Filipinos in ancient times had also established laws, which maybe written or not. Customary or unwritten laws are spoken laws that were passed by the word of mouth and these maybe passed through generations. Written laws were passed from generation to generation.

As stated earlier, the chieftain was the legislator. Together with the council of elders, the Datu was the one who made the laws that would be followed by the people in a specific village. Laws made by the Datu would not be enforced unless approved by the council for the welfare of the people. Shall the laws been approved, the laws were announced by the Umalohokans, which was the public information officer. Since every barangay was independent of their own, each had their own laws. Laws from one barangay might not be the same of the other barangays.

Code of Kalantiaw was an example of laws enforced during pre-colonial days. It is believed to be written by Datu Kalantiaw in 1433. Inside this code was the ancient provision about divorce. Divorce is allowed in some parts of the country. The husband may divorce his wife when his wife becomes unfaithful. On the other hand, the wife may divorce her husband when he abandons her and their children. Other acceptable reasons for the divorce of the couple are domestic violence, barren or impotence.

The provisions about various forms of inheritance, usury, partnership, crime and punishment, property rights, family relations, adoptions, and loans, were also inside the Code of Kalantiaw.

III. ECONOMIC SYSTEM

The economic system of pre-colonial Filipinos was not much different from that of today. They have various ways of living. The strategic location played a significant role in the way they lived.

Trading

Long before the arrival of the Spaniards, ancient Filipinos had already established trading relationships among barangays. Agricultural products were traded for marine products. They also had a trading relationship with other countries such as Java, China, Siam and Macau. Filipinos practiced barter system and used primitive money in their trading. They also used beads, pearls, gold, medals, and other materials as money their means of medium of exchange. Trading is the main source of their income. Chinese noted Filipinos were very honest in their commercial trading.

Agriculture and Livestock

Since the Philippines is blessed with a very productive soil. Agriculture was the main livelihood of early Filipinos. They practiced cultivating the soil and planting agricultural crops such as rice, tobacco, sugar cane among others. They used these agricultural products for their daily food and also for exchange for other products with of other villages or other country. The first form money they used was actually a tie of threshed palay.

Early Filipinos were knowledgeable of cultivating the land. They cultivated the using the Kaingin system (slash and burn) and tillage. They also have the knowledge of increasing the productivity of the soil by the used of irrigation ditches, as evidenced by the world famous rice terraces of mountain province. Pre-colonial Filipinos also practiced raising domesticated animals such as chickens, pigs, goats, carabao, and cow.

On the other hand, those that lived near river or near the seas lived by cultivating the sea. For them, fishing was the thriving industry. Various tools for fishing were used such as nets, bow and arrow, spear, wicker basket, hooks and lines, and coral and fish poisons. On the other hand, those that lived in forest lived their daily lives by haunting animals.

Lumbering and Shipbuilding

Before the Spaniards arrived, pre-colonial Filipinos were said to be proficient in ocean-going vessels. They built all kinds of ship.

Mining

During pre-colonial days, Filipinos had comparatively developed the mining industry. Ancient gold mined in many part of the country were used as a product of exchange with other community and other countries.

Weaving

Weaving was an industry of early Filipinos which was dominated by woman. They weaved their own clothes. This practice is still widely use today by the native Filipino people in mountainous region such as the Ifugaos, Tausugs, etc.

Land Ownership

Early Filipinos had a system of landholding which was public and private. Public landholding is less arable land that could be tilled freely by anyone. On the other hand, private landholding is a rich and cultivated lands belonging to nobles and Datus.

The idea of personal private property was recognized in some advanced communities. However, private property in its exploitative sense did not yet exist. In an agricultural society, land is the primary source of wealth, the principal source of production. Therefore, if the real concept of private property had existed, then land would have been privately owned.  Baranganic society had one distinguishing feature:  the absence of private property in land. The chiefs merely administered the lands in the same of the barangay. Each individual participated in the community ownership of the soil and instruments of production as a member of the barangay.

IV. SOCIAL SYSTEM

There are three social classes during the Pre-Spanish period. The first class is the noble or maharlika which includes the Datu, the nobility of pure royal descent, chiefs and their families. This class was the administrative leader of the community and exercised executive, legislative, judicial, and even military functions. Even though the leader holds the three sector of their “government” his authority was limited by a traditional body of customs and procedures; he even remained a farmer and wove his own cloth like the rest of the barangay members.

Second class is vassal warrior class known as the timawa. These are free men, neither chiefs nor slaves who helped the chief in going to a battle and render military service in hunts, land wars (Mangubat or Managayau), or sea raids (Mangahat or Magahat).  The timawa also paid taxes and tribute (buwis or handug). They had also the privileged to act as one of the council that advised the Datu.

The third class is the oripun or alipin, the commoners and slaves, who rendered services to the tumao and timawa for compensation of their debts or favors. They can be aliping namamahay who owned their own houses and serve their masters by paying tribute or working on their fields, and the aliping sa gigilid who lived in their masters' houses were the servants and slaves.

There were divisions of social class to emphasize the edge of maharlika or royal blood from common people. This also represented the kind of living each class have. The maharlika have the right over the fruits of the land first before any other class. They have the power over their people. They must be kept safe and comfort, and must be treasured as their masters.

Women had the power to decide for themselves, they controlled how they lived. They enjoyed equal status with men, were known for their wisdom and knowledge, and enjoyed the privileges of human rights. They were given importance, they could even hold high characters in communities like healers, priestesses, and they could even handle leadership roles and fight as warriors. As part of the line for the heir and heiresses of a Datu, his daughter could be one of the choices and succeed to the chieftainship of the barangay in the absence of a male heir. Men and women were treated equally, they had equal rights. Women had the right to inherit property and they also had important parts in business and trading. They would weave, do pottery and make jewelries to be used for exchanging in the market, in other tribes and other foreign traders like the Chinese.  They controlled the operations of transactions because their husbands were not allowed to barter unless their wives approved.

Slavery during the Pre-Spanish period may be due to the following reasons: inherited status, captured by the enemies in the war, those who cannot pay their debt, punishment of the crime committed and sometimes they were sold to become slaves.

Before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, women were given importance, they could even hold high characters in communities like healers, priestesses, and they could even handle leadership roles and fight as warriors. As part of the line for the heir and heiresses of a Datu, his daughter could be one of the choices. Men and women were treated equally, they had equal

rights. Women had the right to inherit property and they also had important parts in business and trading. They would weave, do pottery and make jewelries to be used for exchanging in the market, in other tribes and other foreign traders like the Chinese.  They controlled the operations of transactions because their husbands were not allowed to barter unless their wives approved. Women also had their exclusive rights of naming their children. Men even walked behind them as a sign of respect.

Women in ancient Spain were traditionally homemakers. They were given independence control but this independence was traditionally relinquished to the husband upon marriage. Unlike ancient Filipino women, ancient Spanish women were not allowed to participate in doing business. Ancient Spanish women including their queens were under the control of her family and her husband. These traditions of Spaniards regarding the role of the women in the society were passed to the Filipinos when the Spanish conquistadors colonized the Philippines.

V. CULTURAL SYSTEM

Many Filipino history books were written depicting the pre-Spanish Filipinos as uncivilized and uncultured people. But if you will take a closer look on the way early Filipinos lived, you would surely change your mind. Early Filipinos had established their own civilization as early as the Greek and Roman civilization and as organized as the Mesopotamian civilization. They had developed their own styles in almost every aspect of life.

Religious Beliefs

Before Roman Catholicism and Islam were introduced, natives worshipped many gods and goddesses: Bathala (supreme being); Idiyanale (god of agriculture); Sidapa (god of death); Agni (god of fire); Balangaw (god of rainbow); Mandarangan (god of war); Lalahon (god of harvest); Siginarugan (god of hell). They believed in the immortality of souls and life after death. They also worshipped adored idols called anito or diwata to whom they made offerings. Some anitos were considered bad; however, they made offerings to them to appease them or placate their anger.There were sacred animals, which they venerate like white monkey (manaul) and crocodiles. There were also sacred places and sacred trees, which nobody was allowed to cut down. They worshipped the sun and the moon. Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate deities and spirits. Reward and punishment after death was dependent upon the behavior in this life. Ancient Filipinos believed that diseases were caused by the temper of the environmental spirits. Babaylan acted as the medium to communicate with these spirits.

Courtship and Marriage

In courtship and marriage, the man was required to give a dowry. “Bigay-kaya ” was the type of dowry consisting of a piece of land or gold. The groom’s parent gave a gift called “panghimuyat.” “Himaraw” was another payment for raising the future bride during her infancy period, to be paid by the groom’s parent also. Including the bride’s wet nurse received a share of dowry that is called “bigay-suso.” Once he has settled all the requirements, he bring his parents to meet the bride-to-be’s parents to haggle and make final arrangements. This is called pamamalae or pamamanhikan or pamumulungan. Wedding ceremony vary depending on the status of the couple. The priestess or the babaylan was the one who officiated the wedding. Mixed marriage, that was marriage between couples belonging to different social classes were not common. A Datu maybe married to a slave. Early Filipinos practiced divorce. Several grounds of divorce were: adultery, abandonment on the part of the husband, cruelty and insanity.

Literature

Anicient Filipinos had also developed their own alphabet; this is called the Baybayin popularly known as the Alibata. The early form of literature during the Pre-Spanish period was classified into written or oral. These usually depict their daily experiences and also the war they were engaged with. Examples of these are the maxims (sabi), riddles (bugtong), boat song (talindaw), victory songs (tagumpay), lullaby (uyayi), wedding song (ihiman), war song (kumintang), Ilocano epic (Biag ni Lam-ang), Muslim epics (indarapata at sulayman, and bidasari), and Bicolanos (handiong).

Ancient Music and Dance

Filipinos are naturally born great musicians and dancers. In fact, early Filipinos had formed different types of music. There were music for burial and mourning, wedding, worshipping, and many more. Indigenous music before the colonial era was largely functional. Ancient Filipinos expressed either instrumentally or vocally or a combination of both, music was deeply integrated with the activities of the natives. The ancient Filipinos had music practically for all occasions, for every phase of life, from birth to death. They had also made musical instrument like the kudyapi and suling.

Ethnic dances were also practiced by early Filipinos. Philippine folk dancing is a true reflection of daily life in past centuries while enchanting modern audiences at the same time. Some examples are the pagdiwata, maguindusa, and buklog.

Burial and Mourning

The early Filipinos observed certain customs connected with burial and mourning. The dead man's body was first cleaned thoroughly, sprayed with perfume and dressed properly. The dead body was preserved inside the house, in a cave or in a place facing the sea. Among the Visayans, they used hardwood in making coffins for their dead. They called these caskets "longon". The longon of a datu or a prominent person usually bore complex decorations which were done by the future occupant himself. Jars were also used as the resting place of early Filipinos. 

They venerated the dead by keeping alive their memories by carving idols of stones, gold or ivory, called likha or larawan. During the burial, clothes, food, jewelry, household articles, weapons and even slaves were buried with the dead man to accompany him on his journey to the other world. Among the Visayans, this was very important in order to gain acceptance by the relatives who had already preceded them in the land of the dead. The Visayans believed that these relatives await the kalag (soul) on the other side of the land of the dead, which they call Sulad or Saad. During the mourning period, relatives of the dead wore white clothing.  Relatives of the dead who was murdered would not end their mourning until they have exacted vengeance or balata. The celebration held on the 9th night after the death of the person is called pasiyam, in which a play called tibaw is staged to honor the dead.

The Datu was accorded special mourning rites. It was called larao. The barangays went into a period of mourning upon the death of a Datu. All wars and activities stopped temporarily. Singing was prohibited especially on boats returning from the sea. All spears were carried with their heads pointed downward. 

Divination and Magic Charms

Ancient Filipinos were superstitious and put much stock into auguries and magic charms. They interpreted signs in nature as good or bad omens depending on the circumstances. They also consulted with fortunetellers to know their future. Amulets and charms were used by ancients like the anting-anting, gayuma, odom, wiga or sagabe, and tagahupa.Attire

Early Filipinos, just like other countries of the same time, had their own taste of fashion. Men in the community wore a sleeveless jacket called kangan and a loin cloth that cover their lower part which is called bahag and also a turban called putong. The color of their kangan indicates rank—red for chief, black or blue for commoners. Their putong also symbolizes achievements of the individuals wearing it. On the other hand, the women wore a jacket with sleeves called baro or camisa and saya or patadyong for their lower part. They also wear ornaments to look attractive. Tattoos were common because it exhibit one’s war records.

All of these traditions and activities of ancient Filipinos speak for themselves that Filipinos are reach not just in natural resources but also in culture. Some of these traditions are still alive. Ethnic groups in other parts of the Philippines still practice some of these traditions. All of these prove that the Filipinos were not uncivilized and uncultured even before the Spaniards came.

SYNTHESIS

Early Filipinos started it all. They were the ones who weaved the first part of our history. Using their combined knowledge and abilities, they strived for betterment and prosperity. What the Philippines have today is the product of the struggles of the early Filipinos to adapt to the fast changing environment. Ancient Filipinos, without any idea, made today’s living much easier. They had lighted the way for us towards a better future.

Time is of great importance. What happened yesterday will remain forever. We cannot go back to the past and change what happened just to put everything today in order. Therefore, we have to know and study the history of the people ahead of us, which are our ancestors. In studying history, application of the concept of cause and effect is important to clearly understand the relationship of an event to the other. Our view of history shapes the way we view the present, thus it dictates what answers we can offer for the problems we are facing today.

Most of the times, history was taken for granted. People tend to say that past is past. We live in a time of rapid change, a time of progress. We prefer to define ourselves in terms of where we are going, not where we came from. Our ancestors hold no importance for us. They lived in times different from our own that they are incapable of shedding light on our experience. Man is so much smarter now than he was even ten years ago that anything from the past is outdated and irrelevant to us. Therefore the past is in the minds of most of us, but it is very vaguely perceived. Our ignorance of the past is not the result of a lack of information, but of indifference. We do not believe that history matters. But, have you ever imagined yourselves without a sense of inception? Without any knowledge of where you came from, you would not be able to define yourselves, and you will not have any sense of direction.

As they always say, history is to society as memory is to man. Ancient history provides man the sense of identity. Filipino history is perhaps one the most colorful history of groups of people. Filipinos have the understanding of what is the essence of being a Filipino today because of the history of early Filipinos. The Filipino society today knows where it came from and knows where it wants to go because of history. Not all the information of the experiences of the Filipinos in the past is passed to us but the knowledge that we have today is more than enough to improve our current condition.

History is the backbone of our society. We act in accordance to the laws that governed us not having been realized that those laws were actually the improved version of the ancient laws of our ancestors. Our culture, political system, economic system, social system, and even the technological system that we have today are the products of the experiences of our ancestors. It may not be the same as it was before, but the mere fact that these are all based from the simplistic way of living of our ancestors; it give us hindsight of what were the standard of living in those half-forgotten days.

What we are currently experiencing today is most probably the same with the experiences of our ancestors. Just because we have the blood of our ancestors, we can think the way they think, the only difference is that we think in a modern way. Thus, we have to know what they did to solve their problems and might as well implement it to solve our own problems. The only way to absolutely solve the problem is to start from its root. And to find the root, one should start from the bottom.