Kaye Casil

BSCE- 1

Quiz Assignment: The Philippine In The Malay World

Answer the following questions:

1. Who were the earliest peoples in the Philippines? (10 points)

The Negritos. The "migration theory" claims that the Negritos were the first to
enter the Philippines. They traveled across land bridges from mainland Asia about
25,000 years ago. At that time, our country was connected to Asia by land bridges
that eventually sank under the ocean. Negritos are small people. They didn't rise
above five feet. They were nicknamed "negritos" because of their dark skin, short
and curly hair, thick lips, and pointed noses. They are remarkably unclothed. They
travel the jungle, hunting with bows, fishing, and gathering wild plants and fruits to
survive because they have no government, no written scriptures, and no permanent
home.

The Indonesians. In "migration theory," the Indonesians were the first foreigners
to arrive in the Philippines by sea. They came about 5,000 years ago. They sailed in
boats from South Asia. The Negritos were driven to the mountains, and the
Indonesians settled in the plains. Indonesians are more developed than Negritos.
They have permanent homes. They use fire to cook their food. They live by hunting,
fishing, and running small farms. They paint their bodies with colorful pictures.

The Malays. In the "migration theory," the Malays came after the Indonesians
about 2,000 years ago. They also arrived by boat from Southeast Asia. They are of
medium height and have brown skin, dark eyes, straight noses, and straight dark
hair. They drove the Indonesians into the forest and settled in the plains. Malays are
more developed than Indonesians. They lived in larger settlements. They have
government, writing, music, the arts, and science. They live through agriculture,
fishing, mining, and trading.

Today's Filipinos are from the Malay. Thus, there are Malay Muslims in
Mindanao, Jolo, and Palawan. There are also Malay Christians throughout the
country. There are also Malay tribes in Luzon, such as the Igorots, the Ifugaos, the
Bontoks, and the Tinggians. The migration of people from other countries became a
bridge, so we can call them the first Filipinos, our ancestors.

2. What do you understand by the term aborigines? Why are the Aetas considered
the aborigines of the Philippines?( 10 points)
 From my understanding, aborigines are the truest citizens of a country, as they
are the original inhabitants of said country. During the last glacial period, about
20,000 years ago, when the sea level dropped by nearly 100 meters and land
bridges started to develop, Aetas and Negritos are thought to have arrived in the
Philippines for the first time. The Aetas and Negritos are considered as such
because these ethnic groups have been living in the Philippines even before the
country was colonized by the Spaniards. They are actually among the most skilled at
surviving in the jungle; they can even employ plants as herbal remedies and have
access to tools and weapons. They are able to construct temporary houses out of
sticks even though they are nomads.

3. Trace the spread of the Malays from their ancestral home somewhere in the
southeastern mainland.(10 points)

The Malays are one of the most interesting people groups of the Far East, who
have interacted with many different historical empires throughout their reign as the
arbiters of trans-oceanic trade for thousands of years. Throughout this time, the
Malays have influenced and been influenced by many different groups.

The origin of the Malay is doubtful. Britannica encyclopedia defines the Malay or
Orang Melayu ("Malay People"), any member of an ethnic group of the Malay
Peninsula and portions of adjacent islands of Southeast Asia, including the east
coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and smaller islands that lie between these
areas. The Malays speak various dialects belonging to the Austronesian
(Malayo-Polynesian) family of languages (Malay, 2015). Some claimed Malays were
among the earliest indigenous peoples in the Malay Archipelago, started from
coastal Borneo and then expanded into Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula as a result
of their trading and seafaring way of life. That this expansion occurred only in the last
1,500 years or so is indicated by the fact that the languages of the Malay group are
all still very much alike.

Blust (1986) somehow briefed, "Malay is one of the races in the family of a very
broad ethnic group known as the Malayo-Polynesian or Austronesian. Among the
tribes in this family are Malay, Javanese, Bugs, Sundanese, Maori, Hawaii, Fiji, and
so on. The Malay region is very wide. This is supported by Wallace, an expert in
anthropology and world history from Oxford who wrote The Malay Archipelago
(1863) mentioned, "the Malay archipelago as the whole South East Asia that forms a
triangle, starting from Nicobar Island in the East Sea to the Solomon Islands in the
South East, and of Luzon in the North to Rotti near the island of Timor in the South".
He divides the vast areas into several groups: Indo-Malaya Islands, Timor Islands,
Maluku and Papua islands (Shaharir, 2000).