CUSTOMS

OF THE
TAGALOG:
JUAN DE
PLASENCIA
Presented by: Group 2
PRAYER
PRESENTATION
OUTLINE
Part 1: Limitations
Presentation of OPVL

Origin Part 2 :
Added Information

Purpose

value
CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOG:
JUAN DE PLASENCIA
 ORIGIN
Who wrote it?
Juan de Plasencia: A Franciscan Friar in the Philippines

Where was the source found?

Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society. (1977). Vol. 5, No. 3/4,
203-218.

When was the source written?

The article titled "The Evolution of the Philippine Constitution" by Narciso G.
Reyes III was published in the Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society,
Vol. 5, No. 3/4 (1977), pp. 203-218. Was written in 1977.
 PURPOSE
What was the intent of the document/artifact?
The Customs of the Tagalog aims to present the continuous progress
of the Native culture in the Philippines.
It addresses address the system of slavery, wedding, priesthood,
dowries, and the religious beliefs of our ancestors during the
prehispanic time.

Who is the intended audience?

The book was intended for priests and friars trying to convert the
people of the newly colonized Philippines and to propagate Christianity
in the Philippines.
 PURPOSE
What does the document say?
The document says that we should propagate Christianity in the Philippines
and the book only contains the basic biblical texts, including the Lord's Prayer,
Hail Mary, and the Salve Regina, as well as the Ten Commandments, and the
Sacraments of the Holy Church and used to explain the fundamental values of
Christianity and Christian prayers in Spanish.

What can we tell about the author from this piece?

Juan de Plasencia initially wrote the piece to document the customs and
traditions of the colonized (“natives”) based on his own observations and
judgments. The spanish friar had carefully noted the practices he had
observed among the Filipinos during his travel in Luzon that seemed strange to
the Spaniards. It helped us further understand how and what we were during
the 16th century.
 VALUE
What can we tell about the time period from the
piece?
• Juan de Plasencia grew up during the period
known as the Siglo de Oro, a Golden Age when
arts and literature prospered in many parts of
Spain, among them his native Extremadura.
• Life in the Philippines; He is believed to have
arrived to the Philippines in 1578, after a stopover
in Mexico. As soon as he arrived, he joined forces
with another missionary, Fray Diego de Oropesa,
and they both started preaching around Laguna
de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon.
 VALUE

Does the Author represent a particular side of the story?

• Yes, “The Customs of the Tagalogs'' mainly focuses on the
government, administration of justice, slaves, inheritance and
dowries.
• Yes, Juan de Plasencia strengthens the claim that even before the
Spaniards colonized the Philippines, Filipinos already have their own
set of traditions, customs, practices, beliefs and government that
they abide to.
 VALUE
What was going on in time when particular piece was written? Does it reflect that time
period? (Matching with historical events)

• Customs of the Tagalog was written by Spanish friar Franciscan friar during the early 16th
century. In the first place, the author was not a native Tagalog but a Franciscan Missionary
who first arrived in the Philippines in 1577.

• The Customs of the Tagalog was intentionally made to provide an eroticize description of
the Tagalog natives, clearly fed by politics and propaganda. Juan de Plasencia wrote the
Customs of the Tagalog to see the continuous progress of the Native culture in the
Philippines. He used his work to inform the Filipinos about the differences and the similarities
of our culture by then and now. Also, Juan de Plasencia's work made the Filipinos realized
how amazing the Tagalog culture before.
LIMITATION
Bias and Subjectivity
Incomplete Information
TIme and historical distance
Translations issues
PRESENTATION
OUTLINE (PART 2)
Author's Background Relevance to
PH History

Historical Background Author's main points

Understanding the Summary

Historical Information

Factors influencing
the document
 Juan de Plasencia was born in
the early 16th century as Juan
ALL ABOUT Portocarrero in Plasencia, in the

JUAN DE region of Extremadura, Spain.

PLASENCIA'S
Spanish friar of the Franciscan
order
He was among the first group of
Franciscan missionaries who
arrived in the Philippines on July
02 1578
He is believed to have arrived to
the Philippines on 2 July 1578,2
He joined forces with another
missionary, Fray Diego de
Oropesa
He is the author of what is
believed to be the first book
printed in the Philippines, the
Doctrina Cristiana
Juan de Plasencia died in Liliw,
Laguna in 1590.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOG
Customs of the Tagalog was written by Spanish friar
Franciscan friar during the early 16th century

The first issue was about the authorship or the identity of

the author; second, the discourse of power in colonial
writing; and last, the logic of dichotomy

The Customs of the Tagalog was intentionally made to

provide an eroticize description of the Tagalog natives,
clearly fed by politics and propaganda
 UNDERSTANDING THE
HISTORICAL INFORMATION

GOVERNMENT

the unit of government is called

Barangay ruled by a chieftain, and
consist of 30 to 100 families together
with their relatives and slaves
 SOCIAL CLASSES
Chieftain (Datu)

Nobles (Maharlika)

Commoners (Aliping Namamahay)

Slaves (Aliping Saguiguilir)

 UNDERSTANDING THE
HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Dowries
In terms of Divorce:
Before the birth of child
•Wife left the husband for the purpose of marrying another, all the dowry will fell to
the husband.
•Wife left him and didn’t marry another man; the dowry is returned.
•Husband left his wife, he lost half of the dowry and the other half return to him.

With child
•Whole dowry and fine went to the children and was held by grandparents or
other relatives.
 UNDERSTANDING THE
HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Religious Customs

Back then, there were no temples or churches, however ceremonies

and worships are celebrated in the house of the dato which they call
simbahan.

One of the many idols that they worship is Bathala. The author
believed that the name Bathala signifies “all powerful” or “maker of all
things”.
In the religious customs of our natives they have distinguish 11
kinds of devils priest:

1. Catolonan
2. Mangangauay
3. Manyisalat
4. Mancocolam
5. Hacloban
6. Silagan
7. Magtatangal
8. Osuang
9. Mangangayuma
10. Pangatahojan
11. Bayoguin
12. Sonat
FACTORS INFLUENCING JUAN DE PLANSENCIA
INTO WRITING THE CUSTOMS OF TAGALOG

Juan de Placensia based the pre-colonial government of the

Philippines on customs and practices
Slavery
Marriage Customs
Inheritance
Relationships among maharlika, commoners, and slaves
Religious practices and beliefs of our ancestors
 RELEVANCE TO
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
We can see our roots as well as our culture in this book, which has been impacted by
three colonizations that occurred in our land.
Our early civilisation would have been difficult to reconstruct if there had been no
historical records. "Tagalog Customs" demonstrated how our forefathers survived without
the support of large Western authorities.
Before the Spanish came, they already had cultures, and all of these practices deserved
to be preserved in Filipino history. These practices demonstrated that our culture is
considerably more prominent than we believe. For us, here is where it all began.
Furthermore, Customs of the Tagalogs, as with every other colonial work created during
the Spanish colonial period, was composed with the goal of offering an innovative
portrayal of the Tagalog people that would attract to them, plainly fueled by politics and
propaganda, and functioned with a Western-gaze.
 He states how people treat relationships and
properties with regards to the unwritten rules of the
society.
The author's main argument is to illustrate how life or
traditions were in the past, it's demonstrating that
there is no equality and that the higher class did not
treat poor alipins properly during this time.

AUTHOR'S MAIN
According to Fray Juan de Plasencia, slaves do not
get equal privileges or treatment under Tagalog

ARGUMENTS customs.
Smaller people or slaves were cruelly treated by the
powerful.
Although the author claims that the Philippines has a
rich culture, the locals' culture is very different from
their own (Spanish)
noted the dowry system that was practiced by the
native Tagalogs dowries were given by the men to the
women's parents before marriage.
SUMMARY
Plasencia's work is considered an
important primary source for
understanding pre-colonial Tagalog
culture and the early years of Spanish
colonization in the Philippines.

His work is written in Eurocentric

perspective and reflects the biases
and limitations on his time.
 H A N K Y O U
T !