Are the natives of the country civilized or not?

Despite colonizers labeling the Philippines as a barbaric and uncivilized country, the
Philippines, pre-colonially, was already a civilized country. To say that a certain country or
society is civilized, certain criteria must be met, and one of such is the presence of government.
Pre-colonially, Philippines already had a justice system since the country already had the concept
of Barangay where datus/rajahs lead and impose rules to maintain peace and organization in their
respective jurisdictions. Another criterion is the presence of foreign trade. Pre-colonially, the
Philippines also already had a developed and lucrative external trade with the Chinese, Indians,
and Arabs taking place on the very shores of the country where silk and other products are being
traded for a living. In terms of systems of beliefs and religion practices, Filipinos way back then
also already had their own beliefs and religion. Way back, Philippines was more like an Islamic
country such that of its neighboring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia but upon the arrival of
Spaniards, Christianity was spread like a wildfire among the countrymen of the Philippines. The
Philippines also had the concept of manunggul jar where early Filipinos believes that the
manunggul jar will serve as a means to drive their deceased one to heaven. Another criterion that
pre-colonial Philippines had complied to say that it was a civilized country is the presence of
system writing, art, and literature. Precolonial Filipinos educated themselves using the country’s
ancient system of writing called Baybayin. In fact, according to a source, precolonial Filipinos
educated themselves very well, so much so that when the Spanish finally arrived, they were
shocked to find out that the Filipinos possessed a literacy rate higher than that of Madrid! In
terms of efficient technology and megalithic structures, archaeologists uncovered those
archaeological artifacts recovered from all the countries stone tool technology dates as far back
as 10,000 B.C. Though pre-colonially Philippines cannot create Pyramids like that of Egypt and
Big and heightened walls like that of China since they don’t have the means however early
Filipinos were able to make great structures like the Banaue rice terraces. With all the data
yielded, it could be concluded that the Philippines was civilized even before the Spaniards and
other colonizers invaded the Philippines and this is contrary to what the Spaniards labelled the
country to be. Come to think of it, if only Philippines was not colonized and the country and the
countrymen were not exploited to the advantage of the invaders, Filipinos could have conserved
their culture, religion, beliefs, values, writing system, and wealth.

Are the natives of the country civilized or not?

Despite the colonizers' labeling the Philippines as a barbaric and uncivilized country, the
Philippines, pre-colonially, was already a civilized country. Certain criteria must be met to say
that a certain country or society is civilized, and one of these is the presence of a government.
Pre-colonially, the Philippines already had a justice system since the country already had the
concept of barangay where datus/rajahs lead and impose rules to maintain peace and
organization in their respective jurisdictions. Another criterion is the presence of foreign trade.
Pre-colonially, the Philippines also already had a developed and lucrative external trade with the
Chinese, Indians, and Arabs taking place on the very shores of the country, where silk and other
products were being traded for a living. In terms of systems of beliefs and religious practices, the
Filipinos way back then already had their own beliefs and religion. Way back, the Philippines
was more of an Islamic country like its neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia,
but upon the arrival of the Spaniards, Christianity spread like wildfire among the countrymen of
the Philippines. The Philippines also had the concept of the manunggul jar where early Filipinos
believed that the manunggul jar would serve as a means to drive their deceased loved one to
heaven. Another criterion that the pre-colonial Philippines had complied to say that it was a
civilized country was the presence of a system of writing, art, and literature. Precolonial
Filipinos educated themselves using the country’s ancient system of writing called Baybayin. In
fact, according to a source, precolonial Filipinos educated themselves very well, so much so that
when the Spanish finally arrived, they were shocked to find out that the Filipinos possessed a
literacy rate higher than that of Madrid! In terms of efficient technology and megalithic
structures, archaeologists uncovered those archaeological artifacts recovered from all the
country's stone tool technology dating as far back as 10,000 B.C. Though the pre-colonial
Philippines could not create pyramids like that of Egypt or big and heightened walls like that of
China, since they didn’t have the means, early Filipinos were able to make great structures like
the Banaue rice terraces. With all the data yielded, it could be concluded that the Philippines was
civilized even before the Spaniards and other colonizers invaded the Philippines, and this is
contrary to what the Spaniards labeled the country to be. Come to think of it, if only the
Philippines was not colonized and the country and its people were not exploited to the advantage
of the invaders, Filipinos could have conserved their culture, religion, beliefs, values, writing
system, and wealth.

The Philippines was already a civilized nation prior to colonization, despite the colonizers'
description of the country as barbaric and uncivilized. The existence of a government is one of
the criteria that must be met for a society or country to be considered civilized. Since the
Philippines had the concept of barangay, where datus/rajahs lead and impose rules to maintain
peace and order in their respective jurisdictions, the country already had a justice system prior to
colonization. The presence of international trade is yet another criterion. The Philippines had a
developed and lucrative external trade with the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs right on its shores,
where silk and other products were traded for a living prior to colonization. When it came to
religious practices and belief systems, Filipinos already had their own religion and beliefs. The
Philippines used to be more of an Islamic nation like its neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia, but
when the Spaniards arrived, Christianity spread like wildfire among the Filipino people. The
manunggul jar was another idea that existed in the Philippines. In the past, Filipinos believed that
using the manunggul jar would bring their deceased loved one to heaven. The existence of a
system of writing, art, and literature was another requirement that the pre-colonial Philippines
met in order to be considered a civilized nation. The country's ancient writing system, known as
Baybayin, was used by pre-colonial Filipinos to educate themselves. In fact, a source claims that
precolonial Filipinos were extremely educated, to the point where the Spanish were surprised to
discover that the Filipino literacy rate was higher than Madrid’s! Archaeologists discovered
artifacts recovered from all of the country's stone tool technology dating back to 10,000 B.C. In
terms of efficient technology and megalithic structures, the pre-colonial Philippines were able to
build great structures like the Banaue rice terraces, despite not having the means to build
pyramids like Egypt or tall walls like China. It is possible to draw the conclusion, based on all of
the information that was provided, that the Philippines were civilized long before the Spaniards
and other colonizers invaded the country. This is in contrast to what the Spaniards thought the
Philippines to be. Upon reflection, Filipinos could have preserved their culture, religion, beliefs,
values, writing system, and wealth if the Philippines had not been colonized and its people had
not been exploited to their advantage.