FRANCISCO OSORIO

INTEGRATED SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

First Semester S.Y. 2020-2021

MODULE 5
PHILIPPINE POLITICS AND
GOVERNANCE

Name: _______________________________ Date :__________

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Track/Strand: _________________________
Lesson 5 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS
AND GOVERNMENT: Pre-Colonial Politics

WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?

The different islands of the Philippines during the Pre-Colonial Era are could be
considered as the independent states, in Luzon and Visayas, the barangay society where in
the communities are divided into different barangay and each ruler, set of rules and taxation.
In Mindanao, the Islam religion influences the government and lays the foundation of the
Sultanate. These governments signify the organized community that the Philippines have
even before the pre historic and pre-colonial era and even the people were submissive to the
government because they believe that the leaders are anointed by the gods, the government
exist for the welfare of the people and order of the society.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO LEARN?

Content Standard:
❖ The learners demonstrate an understanding of the historical
background of Philippine democratic politics, the executive, the
legislative, the judiciary, and decentralization and local governance.

Performance Standard:
❖ The learners explain the roles of different political institutions.

Objectives:
After the lesson, the learners should be able to:
1. discuss the Pre-Colonial Government of the Philippines; and
2. differentiate the Pre-Colonial Government to our Present Government.

PRELIMINARY ACTIVITY
 Give your idea or insights about the question given below.

❖ What do you think will happen to the Philippine Government if it didn't develop
through time?
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THE BARANGANIC SOCIETY IN LUZON AND VISAYAS

The Social Stratification

The social stratification in the Pre Colonial Philippines defines the functions of each
individual in the society. The highest class is the Maharlika or the ruling class composed of
the datu and his family and relatives. They are exempted in paying taxes and enjoy the
abundance wealth in the Barangay. The second class is the Timawa or the free people; they
are the tax payers and the group which control the trading. And the last class is the Alipin or
the workers. There are two kinds of Alipin; the Namamahay or the dependents who had their
own house and will just serve their masters in the number of days that they agreed on. And
the Aliping Saguiguilid or the dependents that live in the house of their master, they can be
sold and they need to ask permission to their master before they could marry.

The social class of the person is inherited, however, social mobility is allowed. A
person could become an alipin if he or she could not pay for his/her debt, or he or she is a
captive during just war but as long as he/she could pay his or her obligations they could be a
timawa. Intermarriage between different social classes is also allowed and then the social class
of their child depends on their social class.

The Datu

The Barangay is composed of 30 to 100 families under the jurisdiction of a Datu who
has the Executive, Legislative and Judical power. The Datu is also the most intelligent and
richest member of the Barangay, his position is inherited and can be pass to the eldest son of
the Datu or if the Datu does not have a son, the position will be passed to his eldest brother
or member of the family. And in case that nobody will inherit the throne then they need to
open the position to the other members of the barangay and those who are interested need to
pass the series of challenges that will test their wisdom, courage and determination.
1. The Legislative Duties

In the duties in line with legislation, the Datu is assisted by the Maginoo or the
Council of Elders for they have the wisdom in formulating a law that is appropriate to the
culture and traditions of the people in the Barangay. After the formulation of the law, the
Umalohocan or the town crier will go to the different parts of the Barangay and announce
the law to the people. The laws during the Pre Colonial Era have two types the Written and
Unwritten code, however, there is no evidence yet that there is unwritten code, the
Kalantiaw Code which is considered in the previous history book as the written code did not
pass the internal validity in historical criticism. The following are the reasons why the
scholarly Historians de banc the Kalantiaw Code as the first written code in the Philippines:

The document of the Kalantiaw Code is part of the Maragtas Code which explains the
connection of the people in Brunei and the people in the Philippines. This also narrates the
migration of the 10 Bornean Datus who were chosen to settle in the island of Panay because
they did not want to abide the harsh law of their chief in Brunei so they purchased the island
of Panay from the group of the Ati with the golden Hat and the long golden necklace that
could reach the floor as paymernt. Later on the other Datus chose to find their new place and
Datu kalantiaw was left in the island of Panay. However, the document of Maragtas was part
of the documents that Carlos Maria Pavon sold to the government and since during those time
there was an urgency to write the history of the Philippines they accepted the documents
without testing the internal and external validity.

The document of Kalantiaw Code did not pass the internal validity because it
contains words about the epidemic which did not happen on the time the code was said to
be written.

The code contains harsh law which did not fit the humane society of the Philippines
during the Pre Colonial Era.

The Kalantiaw Code

Article I

Ye shall not kill, neither shall ye steal nor shall ye hurt the aged, lest

ye incur the danger of death. Al those who this order shall infringe

shall be tied to a stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.

Article II

Ye shall punctually meet your debt with your headman. He who fulfills

not, for the first time shall be lashed a hundredfold, and f the obligation

is great, his hand shalt be dipped threefold in boiling water. On

conviction, he shall be flogged to death.

 Article III

Obey ye: no one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall they be

more than what he can take care of, nor spend much luxury. He who

fulfils not, obeys not, shall be condemned to swim three hours and, for

the second time, shall be scourged with spines to death.

Article IV

Observe and obey ye: Let not the peace of the graves be disturbed; due

respect must be accorded them on passing by caves and trees where

they are. He who observes not shall die by bites of ants or shall

flogged with spines ill death.

Article V

Obey ye: Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He who

complies not shall be lashed for an hour. He who repeats the act shall,

for a day be exposed to the ants.

Article VI

Ye shall revere respectable places, trees of known value, and other sites,

He shall pay a month's work, in gold or money, whoever fails to do

this; and if twice committed, he shall be declared a slave.

Article VII

They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at night shoot

with arrows the aged men and the women; he who enters the house of

the headman without permission; he who kills a fish or shark or striped

crocodile.

Article VIII

They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away the women of the

headmen; he who possesses dogs that bite the headmen; he who burns

another man's sown field.

Article IX

They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in their night errands,

kill manual birds, tear documents belonging to the headmen; who are
 evil-minded liars; who play with the dead.

Article X

It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her daughter secretly

the things that are lascivious, and prepare them for womanhood; men

S/hall not be cruel to their w1ves, nor S20ula they punish them when

they catch them in the act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn

to pieces and thrown to the caymans.

Article XI

They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have mocked at and

eluded punishment, or who have killed two young boys, or shall try to

steal the women of the old men (agurangs)

Article XII

They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their superiors or their

lords and masters; all those who abuse their luxury; those who kill

their anitos by breaking them or throwing them away

Article XIII

They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a black cat

during the new moon or steal things belonging to the headmen.

Article XIV

They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful daughters shall

deny them to the sons of the headman, or shall hide them in bad faith.

Article XV

Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be scourged, who

eat bad meat of respected insects or herbs that are supposed to be good;

who hurt or kill the young manual bird and the white monkey.

Article XVI

Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay idols in their

olangangs and places of oblation; he who breaks Tagalan's dag88ers

for hog killing, or breaks drinking vases.

 Article XVII

They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred objects of the

diwatas or headmen are buried. He who gives way to the call of nature

at such places shall be burned.

Article XVIII

Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if they are headmen,

shall be stoned and crushed to death, and if they are old men, shall be

placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and crocodiles.

2. The Executive Duties

In line with its executive duties, the Datu sees to it that the laws formulated by the
Datu with the Council of Elders are followed by the members of the Barangay. Those who will
violate the laws will need to face the punishment implemented by the Datu. He could also
imposed the taxes and tributes for the funds of the Barangay and in return he needs to protect
his barangay from invasion and in case the member of his barangay would like to borrow land
from him, then his land is open for everybody in the Barangay.

3. The Judicial Duties

In the Judicial duties, the Datu will judge the innocence or the guilt of the suspect. In
attesting the innocence and guilt, the early Philippine Society is using the trial by Ordeal.
The following are the process in line with the trial by Ordeal:

1. The suspects are asked to dip their hands in the boiling water and the first who
will take away their hands is the one who is guilty.

2. The suspects are asked to go under the sea and the first person who will surface
out of the water is the one who is guilty.

3. The suspects are asked to lick a hot metal and the person who had the deepest
wound in their tongue is the one who is guilty.

The trial by ordeal is done because they believe that the innocent is protected by gods
and they will not be harmed by the different trials. The "just war" or the war to expand the
territory of each barangay is rampant so to avoid being annexed by the other Barangay, they
strengthen their armies headed by the Datus or they had the confederation of different
Barangay or ask protection from the strongest barangay and in return they pay tributes. The
powerful datu is the leader of the confederation and need to maintain its power to avoid being
captive by the other barangay.
Form of Government

As explained above, the form of government in the Pre Colonial society in Luzon and
Visayas is the confederation of the independent states or barangay. Their union is limited only
in the context of protection against the invasion of the other barangay and if the barangay
which they are affiliated weakens then they will look for other barangay

Political Culture

The members of the lower social classes are submissive to the upper class and the
succession of leadership is done thru inheritance and if ever there is no male member of the
Maharlika class who could inherit the position of the Datu, then the position is open for the
male commoners who would pass different challenges to test the courage wisdom and
strength. They also believe that the Datu had the intervention coming from the gods so their
power is considered as absolute.

Sultanate

In the Mindanao area, their government was influenced by the Islamic religion. The
sultanate is composed of 100 or more than families and the head of the government is the
Sultan who had the legislative, executive and judicial functions. The jurisdiction of the Sultan
is the places which the sound of the gong could be heard so the big gong means that the
Sultanate is big. The position of the Sultan could be inherited by the eldest son of the Sultan
or in case there is no male successor the eldest member of the family. Raja Muda is the group
of people who had the opportunity to succeed the Sultan in his position.

Since the Sultan had a huge powers and responsibilities and to assist is the council of
advisers known as the Ruma Bichara composed of the Sultan, the relatives of the sultan and
the richest and influencial family in the barangay known as the panglima.

The Sultan also had the responsibility to protect the Islamic religion and ensure the
unity of the islands under the jurisdiction of the sultanate. The laws implemented by the
Sultan are in line with the religion and the decision in the cases also base on the religion.

1. The Pre Colonial Government in Luzon and Visayas is Baranganic while in

Mindanao and some part of Manila is Sultanate.

2. The Datu is the head of the government with executive, legislative and judicial
power.

3 The social stratification define the function of the members of the society.

4. The confederation of the barangay existed because of the concept of “just war".

5. The Sultanate is headed by the sultan who had an executive, legislative and
judicial power.

6. The Pre Colonial government had written and unwritten laws which guide the
leaders and members of the society.
ASSESSMENT

I. MULTIPLE CHOICE. Answer the following question. Encircle the letter of the
correct answer.

1. What is a "maharlika?"
A. It is the lowest social class in pre-colonial Philippines.
B. It is considered as the middle class since they are free men.
C. It is the highest social class in pre-colonial Philippines.
D. These are the advisers of the babaylan.
2. What is a "timawa?
A. It is the lowest social class in pre-colonial Philippines
B. It is considered as the middle class since they are free men.
C. It is the highest social class in pre-colonial Philippines.
D. These are the advisers of the babaylan.
3. What is an "alipin?"
A. It is the lowest social class in pre-colonial Philippines.
B. It is considered as the middle class since they are free men.
C. It is the highest social class in pre-colonial Philippines.
D. These are the advisers of the babaylan.
4. Which is NOT TRUE about the aliping namamahay?
A. This kind of alipin can marry anytime he/she wants.
B. This kind of alipin has his/her own property
C. This kind of alipin became one due to debts.
D. This kind of alipin can be sold to anyone who can afford to buy him/her.
5. Which is TRUE about the aliping saguiguilid?
A. This kind of alipin cannot marry without permission from his/her master.
B. This kind of alipin have his/her own property.
C. This kind of alipin is a result of the marriage of two aliping namamahays.
D. This kind of alipin cannot be sold to anyone.
6. Which is NOT TRUE about the Pre-colonial concept of the barangay?
A. It is the political unit in pre-colonial Philippines.
B. It is composed of 30-100 families.
C. It is considered as a sovereign state.
D. It is only part of a larger whole which is the province.
7. Does the "Philippines" already exist during the pre-colonial period?
A. Yes, because the islands already exist at that time.
B. No, because each barangay is considered an independent state from each
other.
C. Yes, because each barangay is already aware that they belong to one
archipelago.
D. No, because the Spaniards have not come yet.
8. How do you call the confederation of barangays in Mindanao?
A. Islam
B. Federation
 C. Kumpulan
D. Sultanate
9. Which is TRUE about the datu's power?
A. The datu's only duty is to become the supreme commander at war.
B. The datu's duty involves the executive, legislative, and judicial powers.
C. The datu's sole duty is to become a religious leader.
D. The datu's duty is to become the persecutor of foreigners.
10. Why did the other Historians de banc the Kalantiaw Code?
A. It contains some concept which is not part of its period.
B. It does not pass the internal criticism of historical documents.
C. It does not pass the external criticism of historical documents.
D. All of the above.
11. Why the barangay do need to have confederation with other barangay
A. To spread the Islam religion.
B. To avoid the invasion of other barangay.
C. To spread the Paganism.
D. To develop the free trade.
12. What is the function of the Islam religion to the Sultanate?
A. It became the basis of their relationship to the other island.
B. It became the basis of the laws of the Sultanate.
C. It became the basis of their literature.
D. None of the above.
13. Why do the early Filipinos practice the trial by ordeal?
A. To test the innocence and guilt of the suspect.
B. To test their faith in God.
C. To test the loyalty of the people.
D. To test the courage of the people.
14. Why do the Filipinos treat the power of the datu absolute?
A. Because the datu is powerful.
B. Because the datu is talented.
C. Because the position of the datu is anointed by gods.
D. Because the datu is brave.
15. Why does early barangay practiced the just war?
A. To gain more wealth.
B. To extend the territory.
C. To gain more alipin.
D. All of the above.

II. IDENTIFICATION. Identify the term being describe in the following statements.
Write the answer after the number.

1. The most powerful family in the sultanate. __________________________________

2. The alipin who cannot marry without the consent of his or her master.
__________________________________
 3. The town crier who announce the new law in the barangay.
__________________________________
4. The alipin who had their own properties. __________________________________
5. The tax payers in the barangay. __________________________________
6. The union of two or more than barangay. __________________________________
7. The ruling class inside the barangay. __________________________________
8. The council of elders who assist the datu in making law.
__________________________________
9. The basis of the rules in the sultanate. __________________________________
10. The documents where the Kalantiaw Code was included.
__________________________________

III. ENUMARATION. Enumerate the terms being asked in the following statements.
Write the answer in the blank.

A. The responsibility of the Datu

1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
B. The different rules included in Kalantiaw Code
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________
C. The reasons why the Kalatiaw Code was de Banc
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________

YOUR REFLECTION

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 REFERENCES

Francisco, P. & Francisco, V. (2016). Philippine Politics and Governance for Senior High
School. Mindshappers Co., Inc., Intamuros, Manila.