I.

Author’s Background
Fray Joan de Portocarreros, del convento de Villanueva de la Serena popular known as “Juan de
Plasencia” was a Spanish friar of the Franciscan Order. He was born to the eminent family of the
Portocarreros in 16th century during the Golden Age of Spain (Siglo de Oro) in Placencia, in the region
of Extremadura, Spain and died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590. He was one of the seven children of Don
Pedro Portocarrero, a captain of a spanish schooner.
As a member of Franciscan order, they had two main duties namely missionary and sacerdotal
duties. He was sent in the different places including Philippines to perform his duties. Together with the
first batch of Franciscan Missionaries, after a stop over in Mexico in 1577, Fray Juan De Plasencia
came in the Philippines and as soon as he arrived it was believed that he joined forces with another
missionary, Fray Diego de Opresa and started preaching around Laguna de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon,
in Quezon Province where he also founded numerous towns .
During the following years they are also credited with the foundation of a large number of towns
in the different provinces mainly in Luzon such as Quezon Province, Rizal, Laguna and Bulacan.
Fray Juan de Plasencia wrote a number of books designed primarily to promote the understanding
of both the Spanish language among natives and the local languages among the missionaries to
facilitate the task of spreading Christianity. He is the author of an early book on catechism entitled
“Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristiana” in 1581, also translated in Tagalog (“Doctrina Cristiana”) in
baybayin script and was believed to be the first book printed in the Philippines. Other works credited to
him are the “ La Santina” in 1585, a mystical work that have set of compositions of prayer and
meditation that was entirely translated in the Tagalog language so that the natives who did not know
Spanish could also engage in the spiritual exercises of their preachers and his “Relacion de las
Costumbres de los Tagalos” (Customs of the Tagalog) in 1589, that provided the first civil code of the
Philippines.

II. Historical Content

The Government had difficulty in running local politics because of the limited number of Spaniards
who wanted to live outside of Intramuros. Spanish officials were forced to allow Filipinos to hold the
position of gobernadorcillo. Gobernadorcillo was a municipal judge who carried out in a town the
combined charges or responsibilities of leadership, economic, and judicial administration. To ensure that
gobernadorcillos would remain loyal to the crown, friars assigned parishes to supervise & monitor
activities of the former. Friars ended up performing the administrative duties that the colonial officials
should have been doing. Friars also became the most knowledgeable and influential figure in the pueblos.
The word pueblo is the Spanish word for "town" or "village". It comes from the Latin root word populus
meaning "people". Activities that the Friars were doing are supervising the election of the local
executives, collecting the taxes, and educating the youth and other civic duties. Friars who were assigned
in mission territories were required to inform their superiors of what was happening in their respective
areas. To prepare reports on the number of natives they converted. To document people’s way of life—
i.e, their hardships and struggles. Others who were keen observers submitted short letters and/or long
dispatches. They also shared their personal observations and experiences.

Plasencia’s Relacion de Las Costumbres de Los Tagalogs or “Custom of the Tagalogs”, 1589, by
Fray Juan de Plasencia contains numerous information that historians could use in reconstructing the
political and sociocultural history of the Tagalog region. Considered a primary source because Plasencia
personally witnessed the events and took account of what was happening. Other examples of literature
written by Friars and Colonial Officials during the Spanish Period are Relacion de las Islas Filipinas
(1582) written by Miguel de Loarca, an encomendero of Panay wherein he described the Filipinos’ way
of life in the Western Visayas area and Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas written by Lt. Gov. Antonio de
Morga which provides information about the state of the Philippines in the latter part of the 16th century.
Spanish Missionaries who continued the historiographical traditions are Fr. Pedro Chirino S.J. (Relacion
de las Islas Filipinas, 1604), Fr. Juan Delgado S.J.(Historia General, 1751), Fr. Francisco Colin S.J.
(Labor Evangelica, 1663), and Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina S.J. (Historia natural de sitio, fertilidad y
calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas, 1668)

III. Content of the Primary Source

Juan de Plasencia who wrote this Customs of the Tagalogs, in late 16th century (during Spanish
Colonial Period). Customs of the Tagalogs, it was just for spite made to give an description of the
Tagalog natives..

Social Classes:

 Datu/Dato - The chiefs who governed them were captains in their wars, and whom they obeyed
and reverenced. It is also who corresponded to our knights..

 Barangay - the smallest administrative division in the Philippines; the word barangay originated
from balangay, a kind of boat used by a group of Austronesian peoples when they migrated to the
Philippines.

 The Three Castes

  Nobles - free-born or they call maharlica, they do not pay taxes.

 Commoners (Aliping Namamahay) - Serve their master whether he be a dato or not.

- They live in their own houses and lords of their property and gold

 Slaves (Aliping sa Guiguilir)- Serve their master in his house and his cultivated lands and may
be sold.

* Difference between the aliping Namamahay and Aliping sa Guiguilar. The Aliping Namamahay are not
slaves while Aliping sa Guiguilar are slaves.

 SITUATION 1 - who are maharlicas on both parent’s side continue to be forever, and if it
happens that they should becomes slaves, it is through marriage.

 SITUATION 2 - if maharlicas had children their slaves , their children and their mothers
became free.

 SITUATION 3 - if maharlicas had children by the slave-woman of another, the slave-woman

was compelled when pregnant, to give her master half of a gold tael. In this case, half of the
child was free if the father (maharlica) reconized him. If not, the child will become a whole
slaves.

 SITUATION 4 - if free woman had children by a slave they were all free, provided he were not
her husband. If two persons married, of whom as one was maharlica and the other a slave
(namamahay or sa guiguilir) the children were divided; Odd birth order (1st, 3rd, 5th), belong to
the father is the even birth (2nd, 4th, 6th), belong to the mother (Only Child), so that half free
and half slave.

 SITUATION 5 - If two persons married, of whom as one was maharlica and the other a slave
(namamahay or sa guiguilir) the children were divided; Odd birth order (1st, 3rd, 5th), belong to
the father is the even birth (2nd, 4th, 6th), belong to the mother (Only Child), so that half free
and half slave.

 Houses - It is made of bamboo tree and nipa palm. They divided the house into three compartments.
In the center of the house they placed one large lamp, adorned with leaves of the white palm,
wrought into many designs.

 Mode of Dressing
  Male - Headgear : Putong

- Upper : kanggan (jacket with short sleeves)

- Lower : bahag

 Female - Upper : Camisa/Baro

- Lower : saya

 Worship of the Tagalogs

 Simbahan - temple/place of adoration.

 Pandot (worship)- A festive celebration in the house of the chief. Includes performing of
sacrifices, adoration of their idols or the general practice of Idolatry. It is usually lasts for 4 days

 Sibi - is a temporary shed on each side of the house to shelter the gathered people.

 Sorihile - small lamps on the posts of the house

 Nagaanitos - whole barangay/family united & joined worship. Was also another way the feast
was called by the members of the barangay

 Idols:

 Bathala - He was said to be the “all powerful” and “maker of all things”

 Sun - They also worshipped the sun for its beauty, respected and honored as the heavens.

 Moon - They also worshipped the sun for its beauty, respected and honored as the heavens

 Stars - They also worship the stars, most especially the morning star which they called “Tala”

 Other Idols:

 Lic-Ha - were images with differrent shapes

 Dian masalanta - the patron of lovers and of generation

 Lacapati and Indianale - were patrons of cultivated lands and of husbandry

 Buaya - they paid reverence to these creatures for fear of getting harmed
 Difference between Priest and the devil

 Catalonan - Was a man or woman, that officiates the feast.

 Mangagauay - Witches who deceived people by pretending to heal the sick

 Manyisalat - Had a power of applying remedies for lovers to make them despise their own wives

 Mancocolam - Duty was to emit fire from himself at night, once or often each month

 Hocloban - a kind of witch. More powerful than the mangagauay.

 Silagan - If they saw anyone clothed in white, they would tear out his liver and eat it, causing
death to the victim

 Magtatangal - His purpose is to show himself at night with no head or entrails, pretends to carry
his head in different places and returns to his body in the morning.

 Osuang - Equivalent to a sorcerer, they say he has the ability to fly and murders men and eats
their flesh

 Mangagayoma - kind of witch. Equivalent to a sorcerer, they say he has the ability to fly and
murders men and eats their flesh.

 Sonat - It was his job to help one die, at which time he predicted the salvation or condemnation
of the soul.

 Pangatahojan - soothsayer who can predict the future.

 Bayoguin - defines as a man with the nature of a woman.

IV. Relevance of the Source in History in General

The book that was written by Fray Juan de Plasencia which entitled “Relacion de las Costumbres
de los Tagalos” (Customs of the Tagalog) in 1589 , was able to provide an extensive information about
the Tagalogs primarily to their political and sociocultural history. It confirms that Filipinos already
have a government as well as sets of beliefs and practices contrary to the idea that the colonizer
civilized us. It helps understanding and preserving many of the traditional ways of local population.
And most importantly it provided the first form of Civil Code that was used by local governors to
administer justice.
 Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalog describes the way o life of Filipinos before Spanish and
Christian influences. it covers numerous topic and it is useful because it contains information about the
social classes, political stratification and legal system of the Tagalog religion.

Plasencia’s account also preserves and popularizes the unwritten customs, traditions and religious
and superstitious beliefs of us Filipinos. it also tackles our historical knowledge about manananaggal,
aswang, hukluban, and gayuma.

Many people read plasencia’s customs of the tagalog and doctrina christiana event the priests and
missionaries read it because they contains insight that can help and inspire to become evangelizers. they
also learned that preaching should be accompanied with reading materials.

The claims of some spaniards that when they arrived in the philippines, fililipinos were still
uncivilized and lacking in culture, Plasencias historical writing disprove the claim, because it is clear that
at time Plasencia assigned in the tagalog region, Filipinos were already politically and economically
organized.

They had the set of laws, functioning government tax system, criminal justice system, and long
standing customs and traditions. They also had the conceptvof supreme being (Bathala) , practiced burial
and believed in life after death. It only show that before spaniard come to the Philippines, Filipinos are
civilized and maintain a good lifestyle

V. References

PeoplePill. (2019, January 1). Juan de Plasencia: Spanish friar of the Franciscan Order (n/a-1590)
Biography and Life. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from https://peoplepill.com/people/juan-de-
plasencia/

Accustomed Othering in Colonial Writing : Philippine Art, Culture and Antiquities. (2020, March 26).
Retrieved March 26, 2020, from http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives/186/accustomed-
othering-in-colonial-writing

Enriquez, E. M. C. (2018, August 15). Customs of the Tagalogs. Retrieved March 26, 2020, from
https://www.scribd.com/document/386232832/Customs-of-the-Tagalogs