ACTIVITY

IN
RIPH

Leader:
Lance Darrel B. Victorio
Members:
Lycel M. Atienza
Kevin Ross M. Cortel
Karl Lacanare
Kevin Brian N. Manuel
 Activity Sheet
Write a reflection paper on the significance of Plasencia’s account in Philippine

history by:

1. Comparing and contrasting the idea of Plasencia’s account with our present

practices and beliefs.

Many beliefs and traditions from the 16th century are still in use today. Tagalog
customs help us comprehend our past and provide an abundance of knowledge about
our cultures, beliefs, and origins. Plasencia noted the early Filipino belief in "Bathala,"
whom they adored, as part of the religious system. If the deceased person was a chief,
he would be buried beneath a small house or porch built for the occasion, and people
would have to grieve him for four days before interring him. After that, the chief would
be laid on the boat that functioned as his coffin. This makes Filipinos aware of their
religious beliefs and how Tagalog is practiced. Indeed, it is relevant in reconstructing
the past of the Philippines and its people because during that time, it can be said that
the Filipinos already had their own government, tradition, religion, and have different
beliefs and practices before the Spaniards came.

2. Citing the possible biases committed by Plasencia in describing ancient Filipinos

and the circumstances that can affect the credibility of Plasencia’s account.

De Plasencia avoided discussing the "conflicting tales of the Indians" in this work by
using "informed observation" to get the "basic truth." However, this "truth" is
questionable, and the way in which he got at his claims is much more troubling. The
observer (de Plasencia) is highlighted in the text, along with his own history,
subjectivities, and prejudices; and the observer's subject (Tagalogs), viewed as the
"Other," a metonymic mixture of community traits, local customs and traditions, and so
forth. The interaction between two figures — the colonizer and the colonized – runs in
both but unequal directions; the former being the dominant, while the latter is the
inferior one, or as Edward Said put it, “a relationship of power, of domination, of
varying degrees of a complex hegemony a sign of European-Atlantic power over the
Orient than it is a verdict discourse about the Orient”. The conquerors find identity in
its appealing position as the sophisticated dominating "self" versus the inferior
subjugated "Other," as seen from the center gazing toward the culturally and politically
inferior periphery. The text's use of politically incorrect words like "Indians," "tribal,"
and "natives," as well as adjectives like "amusing," "foolish," and "absurd," is only one
expression of the Occident-Other paradigm's clash. "The lands were split among the
barangays and no one belonging to another barangay would cultivate them except after
the purchase or inheritance," according to de Placensia's description of land ownership.
"It is not so split after the arrival of the Spaniards," says the author. Such a phrase
suggests that the colonizer's involvement has brought order to the chaos. A major
portion of his descriptions were based on erroneous comparisons that were not
accompanied by reliable facts, and he often compared indigenous traditions to Western
paradigms and criteria. For example, the Tagalog idol lic-ha was paired with a Roman
god statue of a dead warrior who was valiant in battle and blessed with unique abilities.
These two items are clearly not the same in nature and do not belong in the same
category. Datos have sometimes been referred to as the "nobles" of Europe.
Assessment

Write True if the statement is correct. Write False if the statement is incorrect.

1. Juan de Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalog is a primary source. True

2. The dato is a chief who ruled a tribal gathering called barangay. True

3. Pandot means worship. True

4. The nobles were freeborn whom they called maharlica. True

5. Filipinos were uncivilized and lacking in culture before the coming of the

Spaniards. False

6. Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs describes the way of life of the Filipino before

the Spanish and Christian influence. True

7. Dowries are given by women to men. False

8. Fray Juan de Plasencia is a Dominican Priest who served as a missionary in the

Philippines, in 1578. False

9. Customs of the Tagalogs is the first book printed in the Philippines. False

10. The natives believed that they had a supreme being whom they called catalonan.
False