Readings in Philippine History: Course Title

Course Title:
READINGS IN
PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
First Semester 2020-2021
Module 3: Pre-Colonial Society
Pre-Spanish Settlement Burial and Mourning Customs
Food and Drinks Superstitions
Mode of Dressing Language
Tattoos Writing
House Literature
Cleanliness and Neatness Education
Amusement Arts
Marriage Customs Sciences
The Wedding Ceremony Natural Courtesy and Politeness
Government Domestic and Foreign Trade
Laws Agriculture and Industries
Religion Historical values
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But in the succeeding slides will give you

this kind of look because
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facts will run in in your mind.
Readings in Philippine History
Pre-Spanish Settlement
Before the coming of the colonizers here in our country there were already
a settlement here. Natives had already the system of living on their own, it’s
because our Malays ancestors had brought to our shores their ancestral culture
The social unit was the barangay, from the

Malay term balangay, meaning a boat. The
barangays were generally small. Most villages
boasted of only thirty to one hundred persons.
According to the reports of Legazpi, he found
communties of from twenty to thirty people only.
Many Visayans villages fringing the coasts
consisted of no more than eight to ten houses.
BALANGAY 1290 AD
There were however some giant barangays. Manila had about two
thousand inhabitants at the time of the conquest, but this was the exception
rather than the rule.
Most communities were coastal, near-coastal or riverine in orientation.

This was because the principal sources of protein came from the seas and
rivers, the people relying more on fishing than on hunting for sustenance.
Although pork, carabao meat, and chicken were eaten, they family were
mainly ritual and festival foods. Moreover, people traveled principally by
water.
Pictures of natives living in seashore

Food and Drinks
The staple food of the early Filipinos was rice. Aside from their food
consisted of carabao meat, pork, chickens, sea turtles , fish, banana and
other fruits and vegetables. They cooked their food in earthen pots or in
bamboo tubes. They ate with their finger, using banana plants as their
plates and coconut shells as drinking cups. They made fire to cook their
food by rubbing two pieces of dry wood. They stored their drinking water
in big earthen jars or in in huge clean bamboo tubes.
Coconut shells (left), banana leaves (right)

The popular wine of our ancestor was

called tuba which was made from
coconut. The other wines manufactured
by other Filipinos were basi, an Ilocano
wine made from sugarcane; pangasi, a
bisayan wine made from fermented rice;
lambanog, a Tagalog wine taken from Basi
the coconut palm; and the tapuy, an
Igorot wine distilled from rice.
Lambanog
Tuba
Mode of Dressing
The men wore a collarless, short-sleeved jacket
called kangan and a strip of cloth called bahag,
wrapped around the waist and in between the legs.
Instead of hat, the men used the putong, a piece of
cloth wound around the head. They had no shoes.
They had jewels, such as gold-necklases, gold
armlets called kalombigas , and gold anklets called
agates, carnelians and other colored glass.
The women wore a wide-sleeve jacket called

baro. Their skirt called patadyong. It was a piece of
cotton which they wrapped about their waist and let
fall to their feet. Their jewels consisted of gold
necklaces, gold bracelets, large gold earrings, and
gold rings. Like the men they went about barefoot.
Tattoos
The early Filipinos tattooed their
bodies with various design representing
animals, birds, flowers, and geometric
figures. The tattoos served two
purposes: 1. to enhance their bodily
beauty, and 2. to show their war record.
The more men a warrior had killed in
battle, the more tattooed he was. The
women were less tattooed then the men.
The children were not tattooed at all.
House
The early Filipinos lived in the houses.
These houses were made of wood, bamboo
and palm leaves. They were built near each
other in the barangay(village). Each house
had a bamboo ladder that could be drawn up
at night or when the family is out. It also
contained a gallery, called batalan, where
jars of water kept under the house.
Some of them live in tree-houses. Such
houses were built on the top of trees for
better protection from enemies.
Natural Courtesy and Politeness

The early Filipinos were courteous and polite. When two
persons of equal rank met on the road, they moved their putong
(turban) as a sign of courtesy. When a person addressed his
superior, he took off his putong, put it over his left shoulder like a
towel, and bowed low. He addressed his superior with the word
po. Which equivalent to “sir”. He spoke in polite language.
The women were shown courtesy every where. When a man
and woman walked together, the man was al ways behind the
woman. Whenever the entire family went out, the mother and the
daughter walked ahead, while father and sons followed behind.
Cleanliness and Neatness

The early Filipinos were clean and neat in their
personal habits. They bathed daily. Their favorite hour
for bathing in the river was at sunset when they had
finished their daily toil.
They washed their hair regularly with gugo and
water. They anointed it with coconut oil and other
lotions. They washed their mouths and cleaned their
teeth upon walking up in the morning. They chewed
buyo which made their teeth colored but strong.
Amusements
The early Filipinos were not always
fighting or working. They held banquets to
celebrate a good harvest, a wedding, a
religious sacrifice, and a victory in war.
These banquets were celebrated with much
eating drinking, singing, and dancing.
Aside from the enjoyment they derived
from barangay banquets, they had other
forms of amusements. They had such
games as carabao races, wrestling, fencing,
boat races and stone-throwing contest.
Music
They were lovers of music. They
had various musical instruments and
numerous dances and songs for
different occasions. Among their
musical instruments were the kudyapi,
Tagalog guitar; the kalaleng, Tinggian
nos-flute; the kulintang, Moro
xylophone; the tultogan, Bisayan
bamboo drum; the silbay, Ilocano reed
flute; and the sucaran, Subanon
cymbal.
Marriage Customs
There was no strict prohibition against intermarriages between
the nobility and the commoner and between the rich and the poor.
Thus, a prince could marry a slave girl or a freeman could marry a
princess.
Before the marriage, the groom gave a dowry to family of the
bride. This dory was called bigay-kaya. It consisted of gold, land ,
slaves or anything else of value. Aside from this dowry, the groom
had to work in the house of the girl for a certain period of time.
The groom assisted the father of the bride from ploing the field,
carrying water and firewood to the house.
Wedding Ceremony
On the day of the wedding, the friends of the groom went to the
bride’s house to bring her to the home of the groom. The wedding
ceremony would take place at the groom’s house. The leader of the
groom’s friends carry the spear of the groom.
Upon arrival at the house, the bride pretended to be shy and would
refuse to ascend the stairs. The groom’s father would give her a gift to
make her go up. Once inside the house, she would refuse to sit down, to
smile and to drink- unless ,ore gifts were given to her.
When the groom and the bride were drinking together, an old man
announced to the guests that the two were to be united in marriage.
Following this announcement, a priestess came forward. She joined the
hands of the couple over a bowl of uncooked rice and pronounced them as
husband and wife. And with a loud shout, she threw the rice to all guests
who answered with a similar shout and the ceremony is over.
Government
The early Filipinos had their on form of Government. Each
settlement was an independent kingdom called barangay.
Datu- ruler of the barangay, also called hari or raja.
The datu usually obtained his position by inheritance. If the

datu died childless, the barangays chose a man to be the datu on
the basis of his wisdom, physical strength or wealth.
There were no national government in ancient Philippines.
Many independent barangays and Datus existed
Laws
The early Filipinos had both oral and written laws.
The oral laws were the customs (ugali) of the race
which were handed down from generation to
generation. The legendary law-giver was named
Lubluban, the great grand-daughter of the first man
and the first woman in the world.
The written laws were promulgated by the datus

with the help of the elders, and were put into writing.
These written laws were announced to the people by a
barangay crier knon as umalohokan. These written
laws were put on the barks of trees, wood, leaves or
cloth.
Umalohokan
Religion
With the exemption of the Muslims in the Mindanao and Sulu,
the ancient Filipinos were pagans. Their supreme God was
Bathala, creator of heaven, earth, and man. They worshipped
ancestral spirits called anitos (Tagalog) or diwatas (Bisayan).
They worshipped nature- rivers, mountains, old trees,
crocodilesand fields- in the belief that such natural objects were
the habitats of spirits.
They also believed in life after death. After death, the soul
travels to the next world to receive its due reward or punishment.
Kalualhatian- heaven of good souls
Kasamaan- bad souls go the here (hells)
Language
The early Filipinos had different
languages and dialects. But by learning one
Filipino language, it as comparatively easy
to learn the other langause because all of
them originated from common linguistic
source the Malayo-Polynesian language, the
mother tongue of the Pacific races.
Education
The system of education in the Philippines
before the arrival of the Spaniards was generally
informal. The children studied in their own homes
with their parents or with some old men in the
barangays as tutors. Both boys and girls were
taught reading, arithmetic, writing and tribal
customs.
In addition, the boys were trained to be
warriors, hunters, fisherman, farmers and
craftsman. The girls were taught cooking, sewing,
and stock raising, and other domestic work to
make them good housewives.
SOURCES
Halili, Ma. Christina. Philippine History. Manila, 2004.
Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide. Philippine History and

Government. Quezon City, 2011.
Blair, Eman Helen and James Alexander Robertson. The

Philippine Island. Ohio:AJ Clark, 1990.

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Course Title:

But in the succeeding slides will give you

The social unit was the barangay, from the

Most communities were coastal, near-coastal or riverine in orientation.

Pictures of natives living in seashore

Coconut shells (left), banana leaves (right)

The popular wine of our ancestor was

The women wore a wide-sleeve jacket called

Natural Courtesy and Politeness

Cleanliness and Neatness

Datu- ruler of the barangay, also called hari or raja.

The datu usually obtained his position by inheritance. If the

The written laws were promulgated by the datus

Gregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide. Philippine History and

Blair, Eman Helen and James Alexander Robertson. The

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