Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

GEC 2: READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

First Semester S.Y. 2021-2022
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

LESSON 4: CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS

Name: Course &Yr: Score:

Date:

ACTIVITY 1: GUIDE QUESTIONS: Answer the following questions brief and direct.

1. Who is Fr. Juan de Plasencia? When did he serve in the Philippine Islands?
Fr. Juan de Plasencia is one of the missionaries who assigned in southern
tagalog. He was the author of Customs of the Tagalogs and the Docrina Christiana en
Lengua Espanola de Tagala which is the first printed book in the Philippines. He started
to serve in the Philippines on July 2, 1578.
2. How did he describe the hierarchy of people in the barangay?
He described it through mentioning the hierarchy of people in the
barangay where the maharlika are the most respected. They are
exempted to pay tax. Next is the Aliping namamahay who are in the
middle part. They can own land and pay taxes to the datu. Last is the
Aliping Saguiguilid who had the least rights. They serve their master in
his house and they can be sold.
3. Which particular precolonial policy or rule stood out to you? Why?
For me, the rule that stood out to me is their marriage customs where the
man need to show patience and dedication to the lady and also the
parents in order to win the hands of the lady. It caught my attention as
their rule because nowadays I observed that many of the teenagers
having relationship without even know by their parents. The respect to
the family of the girl becomes neglected.
4. What does Fr. Plasencia’s account reveal about the religious and spiritual beliefs
of the early Filipinos?

Filipinos believe to the Bathala who are the supreme diety and the maker
of all things. They also worshipped the moon and stars which they called
tala.

5. What are the reasons of the natives from offering sacrifices?

The natives offer sacrifices to appeae their Gods. In the absence of temples, sacrifices
and the accompanying rituals took place in their own homes, at sea or the rivers. or
sometimes in the mountains and open fields.

Page 1 of 2
Revision: 0
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

ACTIVITY 2: ANYARE? Assessing the Changes to the Customs of the Tagalogs.

Instruction: Choose one customs of the Tagalogs from Plasencia’s account. Compare it to the
contemporary practices in Philippine society. Note the changes and explain the factors that can
account for these changes (e.g., slavery, concept of marriage, concept of death, and burial
practices).

One of the customs of the Tagalog from Plasencia’s account is the concept of
marriage where men are monogamous and the courtship begins with the Paninilbihan.
The men need to show patience and dedication to the lady and also to the parents in order to
win the hands of the lady. That was the courtship method during pre-colonial period.
Then, before the marriage the man requires to give dowry. With this, we can observe the
hardship for the man to marry a woman. Man give too much effort to prove his love to the
woman.
As time pass by, changes really happened. Nowadays because of the colonization
of the different country, Filipinos adapt different customs and traditions that affects the
way they live. Like the way of marriage before that has a big difference in having
marriage today. As of today, man and woman got marriage in an unexpected way.
Courtship sometimes cannot really happen. As I observed there are big difference the
way got married before pre-colonial period compare to now. As of now, men don’t do
such paninilbihan type of courtship and they don’t give dowry anymore. Courtship
nowadays can be in online through the use of technology.
Changes in the customs and tradition happens because of the colonization of the
different countries. Also, modernization affects the way Filipinos live such as having
gadgets that can be use in courtship.

Rubrics for Grading:

FEATURES
SCORE
C All relevant concepts are included and correct 35%
o Connectivity of the topic to the issue/s of the country nowadays
R 30%
e
Q Very informative and well organized 20%
u Virtually no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors (if captions are to be 15%
used) or (if viva voce), the clarity and formality are observable
T 100%

Prepared by:

John Rey R. Buan

Instructor
Page 2 of 2
Revision: 0