HISTORY OF THE

PHILIPPINE
ISLAND
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Morga described the precolonial Filipinos as “barbarians, and
have little capacity. They possess no fixed houses or settlements,
but wander in bands and hordes through the mountains and rough
country, changing from one site to another according to the
season”.

2. Bartering was the precolonial’s customary method of trading in

which they exchange one thing for another, such as food, cloth,
cattle, fowls, lands, houses, fields, slaves, fishing-grounds, and
palm-trees (both nipa and wild). Sometimes a price intervened,
which was paid in gold, as a greed upon, or in metal bells brought
from China.

3. The prehispanic Filipinos lived in a community called barangay.

The barangay is ruled by the chief. There were no kings or lords
throughout the Philippine islands like the European kingdoms and
provinces. Instead, every island and province has many chieftains
who were recognized by the natives as datu.
HIGHLIGHTS
4. The 3 social classes of pre-hispanic Filipinos are: (a) the chiefs,
who are rulers and nobles, (b) the timaguas, who are equivalent to
plebeians or freeman; and (c) the slaves, those of both chiefs and
timaguas which classes such as saguiguilires and namamahays. The
social class has not rigid because slaves and freemen can intermarry.
Moreover, the timaguas become slave when they happen to be a
captive to inter-village raids or they are convicted of a serious crime
and indebtedness. However, slaves can be redeemed by a payment of
debt.

5. According to Morga, “The contracts and negotiations of the natives

were generally illegal, each one paying attention to how he might
better his own business and interest.”

6. Crimes were punished request of aggrieved parties.

HIGHLIGHTS

7. Morga described the prehispanic women to be very vicious, sensual

and pervert. Men use sagras, penis ring or adornment.

8. Single men are called bagontaos, and girls of marriageable age,

dalagas. However, Morga described the bagontaos and dalagas as
“people of little restraint, and from early childhood they have
communication with one another, and mingle with facility and little
secrecy.

9. In matters of religion, the natives were pagans and they worshipped

the spirits called anitos. They had no priests or religious leaders to
attend to religious affairs, except certain old men and women called
catalonas. These were experienced witches and socerers, who kept the
the other people deceived.
HIGHLIGHTS

10. While they practice slavery, the natives never sacrificed human
beings as is done in outer kingdoms. They believed in a future life
where those who had been brave and performed valiant feats would
be rewarded; while those who had done evil would be punished. But
they did not know how or where this would be.