Mindanao State University

College of Social Sciences and Humanities

Marawi City 9700, Philippines

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Pre-colonial Period
Prof. F. Landa Jocano in his paper “The Vision of Our Future Must be Rooted On our Image of the Past” strongly
argues otherwise: “The Filipinos possessed an elaborate civilization in the past. The achievement did not become part of
the Filipino consciousness, even today, because of the advent of colonization during which a systematic distortion of our
perspective about ourselves was carried out”.

Before the conquest

Peopling of the Philippines
Two views have been offered to explain the complex peopling of the Philippines and the consequent rise of somewhat
new patterns of growth showing a blend or dichotomy of neolithic and foreign features.
1. H. Otley Beyer’s “Wave Theory”

 Briefly this pustulates a series of arrivals in the archipelago bringing in different types of and levels of
culture. Thus, the earliest possible group were darkened pygmies whose cultural remains are preserved by
the Negrito-type Filipinos found in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These first migrations came between
25,000 to 30,000 B.C.
 Indonesians – They are represented today by the kalinga, Gaddang, Isneg, Mangyan, Tagbanua, Manubo,
Mandaya, Subanun, and Sama. The first group pushed inland while the second occupied the coastal and
downriver settlements.
 Finally, the last wave before the colonial era that drastically altered ethnic equilibrium and ecumene
involved Malay migrations between 500 B.C and 1,500 A.D. and the introduction of a far more advanced
culture based on the metal age technology.

2. F. Landa Jocano et al,

 They have postulated the view that the neat straight-jacketed peopling of the archipelago could not have
been the actual process. The geographic distribution of the ethno-linguistic groups which overlapping of
otherwise similar racial strains in both upland and lowland cultures.
 Jocano, believes that fossil evidence of ancient men show that they came not only to the Philippines but to
New Guinea, Java, Borneo, and Australia. There is a positive proof that man was in the Philippines at leas
as early 21,000/22,000 years ago.
 He maintains that the present Filipinos, Indonesians, and Malays of Malaysia are the “end results of both
the long process of evolution and later movement of people. They stand co-equal as ethnic groups,
without any one being the dominant group racially or culturally.

Contacts with other Asians

Toward the end of the Incipient period, about the turn of millinieum AD, Filipino contacts with the outside world,
particularly with the neighboring countries, became intesified. The major impetus for this dramatic event was the
development of relatively efficient maritime transportation.
1. Indian-Indonesian contacts

 One of the great traditions believed to have extended broad cultural influence in Southeast Asia, including the
Philippines was India. Archaeologically, scattered finds in Island Southeast Asia suggests that contacts with the
peoples in the region, perhaps including the Philippines, began as early as the first half of the 2 nd century AD and
continued well into the 15th century.
 Among the dominant elements, believed to be of Indian-Indonesian origin, which contributed to the enrichment of
the ancient Filipino culture is the syllabic writing.
  Golden image of Agusan – 21 karat gold, around 4 pounds in weight, and 7 inches in height. It was found in
Wawa river in Agusan, Mindanao in 1971 by Belay Campos, a manobo woman. The golden Tara suggests the
strong influenced of Hindi-Buddhist tradition of India, Indonesia and the Nusantara to the people of Mindanao
 Another source of evidence to which we can turn for possible inference of Hindu-Philippine relations is language.
 For examples:
Agama (Religion), Sumbahayang (prayer), surga (heaven), guru (teacher), surat (book), mutya (pearl), pandita
(scholar), hari (king), bhattara (bathala), ganda (beauty)

2. Chinese contacts
 The Chinese were among the early group of Asian traders who had direct contacts with our ancestors
 Sino-Philippine contacts became extensive probably at the turn of the 10 th century AD and reached it peak by the
middle of the 14th and 15th centuries.
 The earliest Chinese traders to reach the Philippines were those belonged to the T’ang Dynasty (618-906 AD).
The appearance of T’ang wares in the archipelago, as well as in Borneo, indicates contacts between the Chinese
and peoples of Southeast Asia as early as 9th century.

3. Arab traders
 Another group of people who came during prehistoric times, first to trade, then to do missionary work and,
finally, to establish a political foothold in the archipelago were the Arabs. A more direct intrusion into the
Philippines by the Arab traders began in the 9 th century. After they were prevented from entering South China
seaports.
 In the process, they discovered the routes which led them to Malaya then to Formosa, via Borneo and the
Philippines.
Society: Early Customs and Practices
Before the coming of the Spaniards the Natives in the Archipelago had a civilization of their own. The customs and
traditions, the government and mode of living have, to a great extent, come down to the present and may be found in
remote rural areas which have so far succeeded in resisting the impact of modern civilization.
Clothing

 Male attire was composed of the kanggan (short sleeves jacket) and bahag (loincloth)
 the color of the kanggan indicates rank – red for the chief, black or blue for the commoners
 Men also wear a turban called putong, which also tell the social status/achievement of the individual
wearing it.
 Female attire consisted of baro or camisa (jacket with sleeves) and saya or patadyong (a long skirt); some
women wore a piece of red or white cloth on top of their skirt called tapis.

Ornaments

 Men and women wore ornaments to look attractive

 Both wear kalumbiga, pendants, bracelets, and leglets made of gold
 The adornment of the body was made not only by wearing costly and heavy jewels, but by tattooing it
with various designs
 Tattoo, was a form of ornament to enhance beauty of the man and woman but also had another function,
namely, exhibit a man’s war record.

Dwellings

 The dwellings and houses of the pre-colonial natives in the Philippines were made of light materials
abundantly in nature such as bamboo and wood for the house frame and house posts for sturdiness and
stability to last. These dwellings were built to suit the tropical climate.
 The houses of the prehispanic Filipinos were similar to contemporary structures in many rural and coastal
areas. These were uniformly constructed, four walled, one to two dwellings raised about three to four
meters above the ground on bamboo or timber posts.
 bahay kubo, made of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm; it was built on stilts and can be entered through
ladders that can be drawn up
 some Filipinos, such as the Kalingas, Mandayas and Bagobos built their houses on treetops
 others, such as the Badjaos, built their houses on boats.

Social Classes
  Chroniclers noted and characterized four groupings based on wealth, political influence, and social
privileges enjoyed. 1. Datu Class 2. Maharlika (free men) 3. Timagua/Timawa (common class) 4. Alipin
(Ayuey) or the dependent class
 Factors which made one an alipin: committing major crime, inability to pay debt, prisoner of war, and
being born into the class

Status of Women

 Women enjoyed powers, freedom, rights, privileges and gender equality

 Women in pre-colonial Philippine society had the right to inherit property, engage in trade and industry,
and succeed to the chieftainship of the barangay in the absence of a male heir
 They had the exclusive right to name their children

Marriage customs

 There was a custom, not so strictly followed, in which a man belongs to one class married a woman of the
same class
 men were in general, monogamous; while their wives are called asawa, while concubines are called
“friends”
 In order to win the hand of his lady, the man has to show his patience and dedication to both the lady and
her parents. Courtship usually begins with paninilbihan
 if the man wins the trust of the parents, he does not immediately marry the woman, but he has to satisfy
several conditions:
 give a dowry or bigay-kaya
 pay the panghihimuyat
 pay the wet nurse bigay-suso
 bribe for the relatives called sambon (among the Zambals)
 once he had settled all of the above requirements, he brings his parents to meet with the bride-to-be’s
parents to haggle and make the final arrangements; this is called pamamalae or pamamanhikan or
pamumulungan

Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and Succession

 Mixed marriages were allowed in pre-colonial society
 The status of children was dependent upon the status of the parents
 legitimate children inherited their parents’ property even without any written will and was divided equally
among the children
 in succession, the first son of the barangay chieftain inherits his father’s position; if the first son dies, the
second son succeeds their father; in the absence of male heirs, it is the eldest daughter that becomes the
chieftain

Politics
Barangay
 The unit of government or social organization was the barangay, which consisted of from 30 to 100
families. The term came from the Malay word balangay, meaning boat.
 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
 the chief or datu was the chief executive, the legislator, and the judge; he was also the supreme
commander in times of war
 alliances among barangays were common and these were formalized in a ritual called sangduguan

Laws
 were either customary (handed down from generation to generation orally) or written (promulgated from
time to time as necessity arose)
 Those found guilty of crimes were punished either by fine or by death; some punishments can be
considered as torture by modern standards
 dealt with various subjects such as inheritance, property rights, divorce, usury, family relations, divorce,
adoption, loans, etc.
Judicial Process
 disputes between individuals were settled by a court made up of the village chief and the council of
elders; between barangays, a board made up of elders from neutral barangays acted as arbiter
  the accused and the accuser faced each other in front of the “court” with their respective
witnesses
 both took an oath to tell the truth; most of the time, the one who presents the most witnesses wins the
case

Religion

 pre-colonial Filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul and in life after death
 they also believed in the existence of a number of gods whom they worship and made offerings to
according to rank
 i.e.Bathalang Maykapal (Creator), Idinayale (god of agriculture), Sidapa (god of death), Balangaw
(rainbow god), Mandarangan (war god), Agni (fire god) Lalahon (goddess of harvest), Siginarugan (god
of hell), Diyan Masalanta (goddess of love), etc.
 also showed respect for animals and plants like the crocodile, crow, tigmamanukin; some trees were not
also cut because they were thought to be divine
 adored idols called anitos or diwatas to whom they made offerings
 priestesses such as thebabaylan/ baylana or katalona acted as mediums to communicate with these
spirits

Nota Bene: For classroom purposes only!