CHAPTER 3:

OUR EARLY ANCESTOR

By Joel Avila Jr.

Who were the first people to live in the Philippines?

Where did they come from? What happen to them? 

These questions on the past cannot fully be answered even by the best scientist who studied about our early ancestors.

The best explanations we have about our distant past come from three (3) main sources:(1) The story of God’s creation in the Bible

(2) The story of evolution made by human scientist

(3) Legends and fairytales made up by imaginative people

A. The Biblical Story All men and women originated from the first man

(Adam) and the first woman (Eve). “From these the maritime peoples spread out into

their territory by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.”

  Fr. Francisco Colin – a Jesuit historian, wrote that

the first settler of our country was Tharsis together with his brothers and their descendants.

Scientist do not believe in the story of creation in the Holy Bible instead, they have invented the theory of “evolution” or the story of how the first man came from apelike creatures who walked the face of the earth thousands of years ago.

B. The Theory of Evolution It is a belief that man came from apelike

creatures who lived thousands of years ago in caves and have very crude tools.

1. Waves of MigrationThey believed that the early Filipinos

came from “waves of migration” – Negritos, Indonesians, and Malays – who peopled these island thousands years ago. 

A. THE NEGRITOS- THE FIRST PEOPLE CAME TO THE PHILIPPINES. - THEY WERE ALSO CALLED ATIS OR AETAS.- THEY CAME ACROSS LAND BRIDGES FROM MAINLAND ASIA ABOUT 25,000 YEARS AGO.- THEY WERE VERY SMALL PEOPLE AND LESS THAN FIVE FEET TALL.- THEY HAVE BLACK SKIN, SHORT KINKY HAIR, THICK LIPS AND BLACK NOSES.- THEY WANDERED IN THE FOREST AND LIVED BY HUNTING, FISHING, AND GATHERING WILD PLANTS AND FRUITS.- THEY USED BOW AND ARROW FOR HUNTING.

B. THE INDONESIANS- THEY WERE THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS TO COME BY THE SEA TO THE PHILIPPINES.- THEY CAME ABOUT 5,000 YEARS AGO AND SAILED IN BOATS FROM SOUTH ASIA.- THEY WERE DROVE INTO THE MOUNTAINS AND LIVED IN THE LOWLANDS.- INDONESIANS WERE MORE ADVANCED THAN THE NEGRITOS.- THEY LIVED IN PERMANENT HOMES AND USED FIRE TO COOK THEIR FOOD.- THEY LIVED BY HUNTING, FISHING, AND SMALL FARMING.- THEY PAINTED THEIR BODIES WITH COLORFUL FIGURES.

- Today the Indonesian minority tribes are found in some interior parts of our country. They are the: Apayaos, Kalingas, Manobos, Tirurays, Gaddangs, Tagbanuas, Mandyas, Sabanuns, Ibanags, Bagobos, Bukidnon. 2 Types of Indonesians: (1) Tall, with light skin, large forehead, high nose, and thin lips.

(2) Shorter and darker, large nose, thick lips. 

C. THE MALAYS- THEY CAME AFTER THE INDONESIANS ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO.- THEY ALSO ARRIVED IN BOATS FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA.- THEY WERE MEDIUM IN HEIGHT, BROWN-SKINNED WITH DARK EYES, FLAT NOSE AND STRAIGHT BLACK HAIR.- THEY DROVE INDONESIANS TO THE FOREST AND LIVED IN THE LOWLANDS.- THEY ARE MORE CIVILIZED THAN THE INDONESIANS.- THEY LIVED IN LARGER VILLAGES, HAD GOVERNMENT, WRITING, MUSIC, ARTS, AND SCIENCES.- THEY LIVED BY AGRICULTURE, FISHING, MINING, AND TRADING. 

MARAGTAS - IT TELLS HOW THE FIRST TEN MALAY DATUS LEFT BORNEO AND CAME TO PANAY.- THEY BOUGHT THE LAND FROM THE NEGRITOS.- THIS LEGEND IS NOW CELEBRATED IN THE FAMOUS “ATI-ATIHAN” FIESTA AND DANCE.- THE FILIPINOS TODAY COME FROM THE MALAY OR BROWN RACE.  THE ATI-ATIHAN FESTIVAL IN AKLAN. THIS TRADITIONAL FIESTA IN THE PHILIPPINES IS A MIXTURE OF PAGON AND CUSTOM.

2. CORE POPULATIONA THEORY WHICH BELIEVES THAT THE

EARLY FILIPINOS CAME FROM THE SETTLERS WITHIN THE ISLANDS, NOT FROM OUTSIDE, AND IN FACT OUR ANCESTORS MIGRATED OUTSIDE TO THE OTHER NEARBY ISLANDS TO SPREAD OUR OWN CULTURE TO OTHER LANDS. “Tabon Man” First man in the Philippines lived in caves at Tabon,

Palawan about 25,000 years ago. They belonged to the Stone Age culture because of

using stone tools and weapons. They were short with bushy eyebrows and a low

forehead.

C. LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALESAN IMAGINARY STORIES TOLD BY

OLD FOLKS TO LITTLE CHILDREN TO KEEP THEM INTERESTED IN THEIR PAST.

2 FAMOUS LEGENDS ABOUT THE EARLY FILIPINOS: (1) THE STORY OF MALAKAS AND MAGANDA(2) THE STORY OF THE BROWN PEOPLE

Historical Values:3 Lessons from the past that we can learn:(1) The early Filipinos had a culture of their

own. They built the magnificent rice terraces in Northern Luzon. They charted the seas and sailed thousands of miles to other islands in the Pacific. They had a society of law and order. They appreciated beautiful things like jewelry and pottery. They buried the dead with respect. Thus, the early Filipinos had their own inventions and spread cultures to other places. They did not just borrow or receive the culture of other peoples.

(2) We must respect and protect our tribal minorities in the Philippines because they are part of our ancestry. There are about 100 tribal groups in the Philippines. Each has its own customs, beliefs, arts, and crafts. They are very much a part of our colorful past.

(3) We must take the Gospel and train ourselves how to be Christian missionaries among these minority tribes in our country is good practice for our evangelist and missionaries, because the other non-Christian nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America also have many rival groups.

Thank you for listening. Have a nice day………….