THE FALLACIES OF A DEEP-SEATED MYTH: BEYER’S WAVES OF MIGRATION

AND THE PEOPLING OF THE PHILIPPINES

Jefferson R. Mendez1
History Consultant
2018 UP Diliman Science and Technology Month Celebration
Project Genome

Were there really 3 distinct waves of migration? Who were our forefathers? And what is probably the
biggest misconception about the origins of Filipinos? These are questions that one can ask about the
deep-seated myth in the study of identity and peopling of the Philippines developed by H. Otley Beyer.
The “Migration Waves Theory” or simply the “waves of migration” was Henry Otley Beyer’s long-
repudiated theory about the peopling of the Philippines. Beyer, an American Anthropologist went to
different parts of the country, did archaeological diggings, and collected many evidence of tools to
support this waves of migration theory.

This theory, which was taught to students for many decades (and perhaps even today), posits that the
country was populated by a series of migrants, from hunting-and-gathering “Dawn man” and Aetas
who came through land bridges to increasingly-civilized batches of “Indonesians” and “Malaysians”
who came by boats. Beyer’s theory is known as “waves of migration” because it explains that these
populations came in three discrete waves of migration who boarded boats and went straight into the
Philippine islands and has specific physical features.

The first wave of migration was the migration of the Negritos using land bridges that connected
every island in the world. These people settled near the shores as fishes were their source of food. The
second wave of migration was the migration of the Indonesians to Philippine soil using boats. The
theory stated that the Indonesian pushed the Negritos away from the shore, so that they could settle
near the shore. The Negritos were settled then to the fields, where they would hunt for food. The last
wave of migration was the migration of the Malays. The Malays used a better boat to cross the waters
and arrive to Philippine coast. The Malays then pushed the Indonesians away from the shore so they
could settle there. The Indonesians then pushed the Negritos away from the field so they could settle
in the field. Where did the Negritos go then? They settled at the bottom of the mountain or on the
mountainous regions of the Philippines. With this, we can imply that the theory theorizes there were
different levels of civilization in the Philippines.

Criticisms of the Migration Waves Theory

Many scholars would find no evidence to support this theory, and some have critiqued it for
engendering a “passive” national self-image. The Waves of Migration Theory was actually now being
debunked by many Filipino anthropologists as well as historians due to the lack of evidences Professor
Beyer could provide. Let’s start with the work of Felipe Landa Jocano who argued that thousands of
years ago there were no Malays or Indonesians. He then proposed another theory that would satisfy
the evidences he had gathered. In 1962, Robert Fox, an archaeologist and Manuel Santiago dug up a
portion of a jaw in the Tabon Cave in Palawan. They used Carbon dating to provide the age range of

1The author is currently finishing his Master in Asian Studies major in Northeast Asian Studies with
Specialization in Japan Studies.

1
the remains. The remains were dated about 21,000- 22,000 years ago. This proved Jocano’s suspicion
that indeed the first inhabitants of the country did not come from the Malay Peninsula. Jocano
provided a little background of the jaw Fox and Santiago dug up. He said that this person gathered
fruits, leaves and plants for food. He also said that the weapon of choice of this man was made of
crude stones. Also, evidences showed that the man was already able to use his brain functions. Jocano
called the “man” that they uncovered in the Tabon Cave as “Tabon Man”. In this idea, Jocano
formulated the Evolution theory.

The Evolution Theory was factual in nature. Jocano said that the first inhabitants in Southeast Asia
were product of a very long process of evolution and migration. Jocano noticed that the portion of
the jaw found was quite similar pertaining to its shape to other evidences and remains found in other
parts of Southeast Asia. His research showed that these first inhabitants shared the same style or way
of living- culture. In his research, he also cited that once, these people were actually a bunch of people
staying together. But due to natural causes, they had to part ways. They had to migrate in order to find
other sources of food. So, some of these people migrated to the Philippines, some to Borneo, some
to Australia and some to New Guinea.

The theory of Jocano implies that foreign people were not exactly the ones who first lived in the
Philippines. The theory was just answering the unanswered questions of the Wave of Migration
Theory. It also implies that the earliest known man who had first walked in the land of the Philippine
Islands happened way way back even before the Migration happened.

Another important study that contributes to the fallacy of the migration wave theory of Beyer is that
of Prof. Armand Mijares and his team who have unearthed a 67,000-year-old human bone in a
discovery they claim proves the Philippines was settled by man 20,000 years earlier than previously
thought. The discovery was made at the Callao caves near Penablanca in Cagayan in the Northern part
of the Philippines. The presence of humans in Luzon shows these early humans already possessed
knowledge of sea craft-making in this early period of time. The actual discovery of the bone occurred
in 2007 but it was not clear then just how old the fossil was. The team were able to approximate the
fossil’s age through a method called “uranium-series dating and the primary theory is that Callao Man,
or his ancestors, reached Luzon from what is now Indonesia by raft at a time when experts did not
think human beings were capable of traveling long distances by sea. This study conducted by Filipino
Archaeologist and Anthropologists proves human speciation or the evolutionary process by which
new biological specie arise. This also supported Jocano’s theory of evolution.

See this link for more info: http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/the-tabon-caves-of-palawan/

One recent study that debunked Beyer’s Migration wave theory is the study made early this year by a
group of Archaeologist and Anthropologist headed by Thomas Ingicco, associate professor at the
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. The discovery is being called as the “Kalinga Toolmakers”. It
says that the new findings push back the date for humans inhabiting the Philippines by hundreds of
thousands of years. A study published in the journal Nature also says that this securely dated evidence
pushes back the date for humans living in the wider South East Asian islands region.
The recent excavations in the Kalinga province of northern Luzon uncovered 57 stone tools and more
than 400 bones of animals like monitor lizard, Philippine brown deer, freshwater turtles and
stegodons, a now-extinct animal in the same family as elephants and mammoths. The biggest find was
a 75% complete skeleton of a rhinoceros that was clearly butchered, with 13 of its bones displaying
cut marks and areas where bone was struck to release marrow. All of the remains were dated to 709,000

2
years ago using electron-spin resonance methods, which can date material in a way that radiocarbon
dating can't. These methods can be applied to such things as tooth enamel and rocks that had been
heated, like quartz found in sediment. The finding adds to another intriguing area of continuing
research that concerns the Callao Cave on Luzon. The previously discovered 67,000-year-old foot
bone found in that cave appears to have come from an individual who had a form of dwarfism. This
is similar to the discovery of fossil evidence suggesting "hobbits" on the Indonesian island of Flores.

See this link for more info: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/discovery-suggests-humans-lived-philippines-much-

earlier-believed-n870916

Takeaways

Beyer came with a colonial baggage but he nonetheless contributed toward the discovery and
appreciation of Filipino culture, setting the stage for what anthropologist-historian Carlos Tatel calls
a truly “Philippine anthropology.” Beyer’s study focused on what was already prevalent during his
time and that is a “racial science” as described by Ateneo Dean Filomino Aguilar. H. Otley Beyer’s
legacy is the recognition that the Philippines has always had a rich culture, and that this culture has
always been part of the world: essentially capturing anthropology’s twofold quest of unearthing human
diversity and universality.

3
 4