ACTIVITY NO.

6- THE LIFE AND CULTURE OF THE EARLY

FILIPINOS
EM.SOC 2
APRIL 10,2021

A. WRITE DOWN THE MEANING OF THE FF.TERMS:

1. DOWRY- A dowry is a transfer of parental
property, gifts, property or money upon the
marriage of a daughter.
2. ORDEAL- a primitive means used to
determine guilt or innocence by submitting the
accused to dangerous or painful tests believed
to be under supernatural control ordeal by
fire ordeal by water.
3. SANDUGUAN- Sanduguan was an ancient
ritual in the Philippines intended to seal a
friendship or treaty, or to validate an
agreement. The contracting parties would cut
their wrists and pour their blood into a cup
filled with liquid, such as wine, and drink the
mixture.
4. SUPERSTITION- a belief or practice resulting
from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in
magic or chance, or a false conception of
causation
5. BALANGAY- Balangay, also spelled barangay,
is a type of lashed-lug boat built by joining
planks edge-to-edge using pins, dowels, and
fiber lashings. They are found throughout the
Philippines and were used largely as trading
ships up until the colonial era
6. UMALOHOKAN- Umalohokan refers to the
town criers of ancient barangays in the
Philippines. They were responsible for going
around and making people aware of new laws
and policies enacted by the Datu or chieftain.
Some historians, however, have a different
interpretation.
7. MAHARLIKA- The Maharlika were the feudal
warrior class in ancient Tagalog society in Luzon
the Philippines translated in Spanish as
Hidalgos, and meaning freeman, libres or
freedman. They belonged to the lower nobility
class similar to the Timawa of the Visayan
people. In modern Filipino, however, the term
has come to mean "royal nobility", which was
actually restricted to the hereditary Maginoo
class.
8. ALIBATA - Alibata is an ancient Filipino script
that is believed to have originated from the
Javanese’ old kawi script. There are many
theories as to where it actually originated. It is
also believed that it have originated from India.
Isaac Taylor, a historical writer, believed that
Alibata is a derivation of ancient scripts such as
Vengi, Assam and Chalukya that originated from
the Eastern coast of India. Baybayin is the
proper term for this ancient script. Baybayin in
tagalong means “to spell”. The term Alibata was
derived from the first two letters of the
Maguindanaoan alphabet “alif” and “bet”.
9. HIMARAW - Himaraw is the money to be
given to the girl's parents as reimbursement for
the amount spent in feeding her during her
infancy.
10.BIGAY-SUSO - “Bigay suso” and “bigay caya”
were two types of dowries paid by
the bridegroom to the family of the bride. The
“bigay suso,” de Zúñiga wrote, “was paid to the
mother, as a compensation for the milk with which she nourished her daughter.”

B. ANSWER COMPREHENSIVELY THE GIVEN QUESTIONS BELOW.(5 POINTS EACH

)

1. WHAT ARE THE ANCIENT FILIPINOS LAWS?

There are both oral and written laws. Oral laws were the customs and traditions
which are handed down through generations. The written laws were promulgated
by datu and council or elders. The contents of ancient laws involved family,
relations, property rights, domestic affairs, inheritance, marriage conflicts, murder
and business problems.

2. WHAT IS THE ANCIENT UNIT OF GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES?

The unit of government was the barangay. The barangay varied in population
from 30-100 families. The early barangay were in dependent of each other. The
head was called datu and was chief executive, legislator, judge and military
commander. He made laws , enforced them and judged all cases and trials
brought by the villagers. However, he had a council of elders who assisted him in
his administration. A person could become a datu through inheritance , wealth
and wisdom.

3. WHAT IS THE EARLY JUDICIAL PROCESS OF THE FILIPINOS?

The Judicial System of the Pre-Spanish Filipinos

When the Spanish colonizers first arrived in the Philippine archipelago, they found
the indigenous Filipinos without any written laws. Mainly, the laws enforced were
derived from customs, usages and tradition. These laws were believed to be God-
given and were orally transmitted from generation to generation.

A remarkable feature of these customs and traditions was that they were found to
be very similar to one another notwithstanding that they were observed in widely
dispersed islands of the archipelago. There were no judges and lawyers who were
trained formally in the law, although there were elders who devoted time to the
study of the customs, usages and traditions of their tribes to qualify them as
consultants or advisers on these matters.
The unit of government of the indigenous Filipinos was the barangay, which was a
family-based community of 30 to 100 families, occupying a pook (“locality” or
“area”) Headed by a chieftain called a datu who exercised all functions of
government—executive, legislative, and judicial—a barangay was not only a
political but also a social and economic organization.  In the exercise of his judicial
authority, the datu acted as a judge (hukom) in settling disputes and deciding
cases in his barangay.

4. WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL CLASSES OF THE ANCIENT FILIPINO SOCIETY?

During Pre-Hispanic times Filipinos can be divided according to these classes:
The noble class called the Maginoo; the freeman class called the Timawa; the
warrior class called the Maharlika; and the indentured class called the Alipin.
The Maginoo were the ruling class, the educated class, the royal class, and the
privileged class. It was from this class that the Datu would come from. The Datu is
the leader of the community called a barangay. He is the chieftan somewhat
synonymous to a Monarch, Rajah, Sultan, or King.
It is unknown if the Datu position was hereditary such as following the lineage of
the eldest child especially the eldest son of the Datu, or if the Maginoo class (who
were likely all related to one another) elected a Datu. The practice may have
varied throughout the Philippines. We have to remember that lowland Filipinos
arrived on sailboats called balangays. These early groups would settle near the
shorelines or river banks, and their new found community would be called
a  barangay  (similar to the word balangay). The size of a barangay can vary, but
usually somewhere between 50 to 100 families, or 30 to 100 houses, or 100 to 500
persons. These migrations were likely led by the Maginoo class who wanted to
found a new barangay for themselves.
The freeman class known as the Timawa probably made up the bulk of the
barangay community. They were free. They could acquire property, acquire any
job they want, pick their own wives, and acquire an Alipin. They were however
expected to pay taxes, and support the Maginoo class. They are the only class to
pay taxes, and hence their importance in the community.
The Maharlika had all the rights of the Timawa, but they are specifically the
warrior class. They were well respected if not revered by the barangay. Unlike the
Timawa, they were not expected to pay taxes. They would provide protection to
the barangay, and were responsible for providing and preparing the weapons at
their own expense. A Maharlika could change their allegiance to another
barangay by marrying into it or by simply moving to it. This however required
paying a certain amount to his Datu. A feast would be given in his honor when
leaving the barangay.
President Marcos' first use of the word Maharlika was quite appropriate because
he only used it to name a group of soldiers rather than an entire aristocracy or
country.
The Alipin  had the least rights. They are not exactly slaves in the traditional sense,
but they were indentured servants. Basically they served their master who
belonged to one of the classes above them. But it does not mean that they did all
the work in the barangay. The Timawa were probably expected to do most of the
work in the barangay, and the Alipin was likely his or her servant at home such as
doing house chores and cooking, or aided the Timawa with their duties at work.
There are two type of Alipin.  Aliping Namamahay  was a servant that lived in their
own little house on the property of their master, and  Aliping Sagigilid  was a
servant that lived around the house of their master. An Alipin can actually become
free, and become a Timawa provided he or she fulfilled the services of their
master, this process is known as  Tinimawa. The Alipin did not likely make any
money for their services, and hence did not pay taxes.
The people who bore the greatest stigma in society were the alipins who were
indebted to other alipins. A gigilid of an aliping namamahay was called a  bulisik,
which meant vile and contemptible. Even lower was the bulislis who was a gigilid
indebted to another gigilid. The vulgar name meant that these alipins were so
vulnerable that it was  like their genitals were exposed. In modern terms we might
say they "had their pants down", though bulislis really means, "lifted skirt".
The only people lower than the bulislis were slaves who were brought from other
communities or who were captured in war. They were considered non-persons
until they were accepted into the community. Once accepted, they had the same
rights as other alipins.
5. EXPLAIN THE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF EARLY FILIPINOS.
The men are 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. The courtship begins with paninilbihan.
If a man wins the trust of the parents, he does not immediately marry
the woman, but he has to satisfy the several conditions:
- Give a dowry or bigay-kaya
- Pay the panghihimuyat
- Pay the wet nurse bigay-suso
- Pay the parents himaraw
- Bribe for the relatives called sambon(among the Zambals)
Once he had settled all the above requirements, he brings his parents to
meet the bride-to-be’s parents to haggle and make final arrangements;
this is called pamamalae or pamamanhikan or pamumulungan.

C. CREATE AN ESSAY/ARTICLE ABOUT THE 500 TH ANNIVERSARY OF

THE VICTORY AT MACTAN AND THE 500 YEARS OF
CHRISTIANITY.CREATE YOUR OWN TITLE.(15 POINTS)

Victory for Humanity

In 2021, Philippines will commemorate the 500 th anniversary of
Mactan’s Victory also known as the 2021 Quincentennial
Commemorations in the Philippines (2021 QCP). Executive Order No. 55,
s. 2018 created the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) for this
purpose. It is celebrated to honor the courage and bravery of the
warriors in Mactan that inspired the heroes and martyrs that founded
the Filipino nation and the next generations. This event emphasizes the
point of view of Filipinos to this milestone. As a college student with
only the knowledge from history classes and books. This is a great
opportunity to learn how was it like when our pre colonial ancestors
fought for our people and place.
Our ancestors like Lapulapu fought for their people that
eventually became the Filipino nation. Victory represents Lapulapu and
his men’s triumph. This also represents the spirit of freedom of our
ancestors and determined the destiny in our history. This event is
promoted to celebrate their ideals, sacrifices and struggles. They
became our inspiration to fight for our country. A series of
quincentennial milestones will be commemorated through between 16
March and 28 October 2021. Just like other milestone commemorated
we see Mactan as a symbol of triumph.
According to the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) this event
aims to:
1. Promote local and national tourism
2. Reignite nationalism of every Filipino
3. Inculcate values for the common good
4. Strengthen social cohesiveness of the community
5. Intensify social awareness
6. Foster the Filipino creativity for our socioeconomic growth

Events like these can be a great boost to our nationalism. We are

sometimes neglecting the real history of our nation. Humanity is the big
point of what happened during the Battle of Mactan and at time like
this pandemic, we should be like our ancestors. We should think of our
people to be able to face challenges we are facing right now.