READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Instructor: Sir. Jay-Ar DeLeon San
Carlos
LESSON 1
History
- Branch of knowledge that studies
the events that occurred in the
lives of people, countries, and the
world in the past.
- Came from greek word “historia”
means deep inquiry and
investigation.
- Herodotus -greek writer who coined
and first used the term ‘historia’;
‘’Father of History”
- Interpretations of the past
Historians- people trained in history
-they write books and articles to help other
people understand the past
‘’History cannot repeat itself because history
is not a living, thinking being. History is an
intellectual discipline practiced by historians
who try to make sense of the past. ‘’
Importance of History
1. History helps us develop a better
understanding of the world.
2. History helps us understand
ourselves.
3. History helps us learn to understand
other people.
4. History teaches a working
understanding of change.
5. History gives us the tools we need to
be decent citizens.
6. History makes us better
decision-makers.
7. History helps us develop a new level
of appreciation for just about
everything.
What is Historiography?
-study of history
-the study of the way history has been and
is written - the history of historical writing’’
HISTORY- Interpretation of the past
HISTORIOGRAPHY- Study of history
Historiography of the Philippines - refers
to the studies, sources, critical methods,
and interpretations used by scholars
Includes: historical events, archival
research, and writing on the history of the
Philippine archipelago; Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao
Distinction of Primary and Secondary
Sources
Primary sources- first hand, contemporary
accounts of events created by individuals
during the period of time
Ex:
Correspondence, diaries, memoirs,
personal histories, manuscripts,
newspapers, speeches, cartoons,
photographs, videos, and artifacts.
● Autobiographies
● Empirical scholarly works such as
research articles, clinical reports,
case studies, and dissertations
● Creative works ( poetry, music,
video, and photography
● Original documents
● ‘PRESIDENTE DE LA REPÚBLICA
AL SECRETARIO DE GUERRA,
DAGUPAN
Secondary sources- are closely related to
primary sources and often interpret them
-work that interprets or analyzes a historical
event or phenomenon.

Ex: Journal articles that comment on or
analyze research, Textbooks, Dictionaries
and encyclopedias, books that interpret, and
analyze, Political commentary, Biographies,
Dissertations, Newspaper editorial/ Opinion
pieces.
Tertiary source- one that neither provides
original information nor interprets it.
-tent to collect or summarize other sources,
guiding people towards this information.
Ex. dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks,
fact books, and handbooks
Importance of Sources
Primary sources are the foundation of
original history. They allow you to:
1. Make new discoveries;
2. Expose students to multiple
perspectives on great issues of the
past and present.
Secondary sources provide a variety of
expert perspectives and insights.
Historical Sources
-is an original source that contains
important historical information, it can
either be an object or testimony concerning
the past
Reasons to Use Historical Sources
-can be useful to back up certain claims
Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical
Sources
Advantages
1. Historical sources cannot be
changed, altered, or paraphrased bv
anyone else easily; “straight from the
horse’s mouth”
2. It provides evidence that can be
linked back to an original source or
author -someone who was alive at
the time of the event
Disadvantages
1. Older historical sources can be
fragiles, and have to be kept in
museums or special collections
2. It is difficult to identify if the historical
source is telling the truth or not. It
could be true or untrue, it could be
leaving out key pieces of information
to create a biased account
Historical Criticism
-branch of criticism that investigates the
origins of ancient texts in order to
understand ‘’the world behind the text”
Ex. Apolinario Mabini on the Failure of the
filipino revolution
Emilio aguinaldo’s version of philippine
revolution
External Criticism
-refers to the authenticity of the document
-the method of external criticism is also
known as heuristics- derived from the
greek word heuriskien - (to find or discover)
Heuristics- is a technique to detect, trace
and locate historical evidence
How to test the authenticity?
1. Determine the date of the document
to see whether they are
anachronistic( a chronological
misplacing of persons, events, or
customs in regard to each other)
2. Determine the author(eg.,
handwriting, signature, seal)
3. Anachronistic style and references
eg., punctuations, time( too late,
early, or too remote)
Internal Criticism
-the technique of testing the reliability of
the information found in a document.
-use to detect and determine whether the
document contains errors or lies
-internal criticism is concerned with the
interpretation of the sources and is also
known as interpretative criticism
Hermeneutics- the science of interpretation
-theory of interpretation
-art of discovering meaning
Derived from the greek ver hermeneuein;
noun hermeneia meaning to ‘’interpret’’ or
‘’interpretation’’
Gadamer’s Theory of Interpretation
Questions to ask to assure the value and
worth of conclusions about a document:
1. The character of the document
2. The literal and real meaning of the
text
3. The knowledge of the author
4. Competence and reliability of the
author
5. Author’s personal connection with
the event, which he explains
6. Author’s source of information in
producing the document
7. The influences prevalent at the time
of writing
8. The elements of personal bias
9. The elements of deliberate and
intentional errors
10. Corroborating evidence
LESSON 2
1.Ma-Yi or Ma-i (Land of Gold)
-Named by Claudius Ptolemy,
-a Greek mapmaker, in his ancient map.
Ma-i was the Chinese local name of
present-day Mindoro.
•Liusung was the name given by the
Chinese to the present-day island of Luzon.
It originated from the Tagalog word lusong,
a wooden mortar that is used to pound rice
• Spanish produced maps of the
Philippines during the early 17th century-
called the island Luçonia which was later
re-spelled as Luzonia, then Luzon.
2.Las islas de San Lázaro (Saint Lazarus’
Islands)
-Named by Fernand Magellan,a Portuguese
explorer, in 1521
-The Magellan expedition, also known as
the Magellan-Elcano expedition, resulted
in the first recorded circumnavigation of the
Earth in 1522.
- one of the most important events in history
for its scientific, socio-economic, political,
philosophical and theological
consequences.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED HERE?
• Rajah Humabon, Rajah of Cebu,
- first indigenous converted to
Catholicism after he, his wives, and his
subjects were baptized by the expedition's
priest.
-14 April 1521, Humabon was christened
Carlos in honor of King Charles I of Spain,
while his chief consort, Hara Humamay was
given the name Juana, after Charles'
mother, Joanna of Castile
3.Las islas Felipinas (Philippine
Islands/Islands belonging to Philip)
-The Philippines was named in honor of
King Philip II of Spain.
-Spanish explorer Ruy López de
Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542,
named the islands of Leyte and Samar
Felipinas after the Prince of Asturias, then,
Philip II of Spain.
4.Las islas Filipinas, or simply
’’Filipinas”.
5.Philippine Islands
This was the anglicized form of the original
Spanish name, used under direct American
rule and the succeeding Commonwealth
Era.
Read: The Miseducation of the Filipino
THE LIFE DURING THE PRE-HISPANIC
PERIOD
Importance of Topography
Communities before lived near bodies of
water. Houses were lined along the coasts
of seas, bays, rivers and lakes.
Why?
1.Food from the water resources
2.Easy access to food
3.Means of transportation
4.Not easily attacked by an enemy
EARLY SHELTERS
1.Caves
●Early Filipinos lived in caves because it
was safer.
They sometimes moved to the plains and
coastal areas for farming and fishing.
2.Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut)
●Houses were made of light materials like
wood, bamboo and nipa palm. A ladder was
placed to prevent strangers from intruding
when the owner was not around. Strong
post at the lower part of the house was
enclosed. A jar of heart was placed in a
gallery called “batalan”.
3.Tree Houses
●Tree houses were also made of light
materials like wood, bamboo and nipa palm.
To keep safe from enemies and wild
animals. Ladders were hoisted in at night.
THE PEOPLE
1.Tabon Man
•Hominid remains dating back to around
28,550 B.C. old have were found in Tabon
Cave on the island of Palawan.
- It is possible there were people much
earlier than this. People have lived in
Australia for 60,000 years.
•According to Lonely Planet: “Thanks to
'Tabon Man', who left a bit of his (or her,
according to some) skull in a cave in
Palawan at least 47, 000 years ago, a sliver
of light shines into the deep, dark prehistory
of the Philippines. The oldest known human
relic of the islands, this bone fragment
suggests that the Tabon Caves helped early
Homo sapiens survive the last ice age.
2.Negritos (Aeta) in the Philippines
-The Philippines were probably first
occupied by people who arrived in small
migrations from mainland Southeast Asia.
The first of these were believed to be
Negritos. The only survivors of the original
hunter gathers that inhabited Southeast
Asia are Semang Negritos of peninsular
Malaysia and the Negritos of the mountains
of Luzon and some islands of the
Philippines.
Negritos — or the Aeta as they are
sometimes called in the Philippines— are
very small people with a dark skin and curly
brown hair. The Aeta are thought to have
arrived in the Philippines between 13,000
and 10,000 years ago from the Asian
continent, most likely from what is now the
Malay Peninsula or Borneo (and perhaps
even Australia).
3.Arrival of Malay People in the
Philippines
●It is believed that around 3000 B.C. Malay
people—or people that evolved into the
Malay tribes that dominate Malaysia,
Indonesia and the Philippines—arrived in
the Philippines.
-About 2300 years ago Malay people from
the Asian mainland or Indonesia arrived in
the Philippines and brought a more
advanced culture; iron melting and
production of iron tools, pottery
techniques and the system of sawah's
(rice fields). Additional migrations took
place over the next millennia.
Many believe the first Malays were
seafaring, tool-wielding Indonesians who
introduced formal farming and building
techniques. Over time, social and political
organization developed and evolved in the
widely scattered islands.
LIVELIHOOD
1.Agriculture – there are two (2) methods:
A. Kaingin Method
Prepare the area for farming by cutting and
burning dead plants/grasses
B. Wet Method
Rice was planted in areas where dikes
were built to collect water.
3.Boat-Making – they made boats out of
woods.
Birey – boat made for 50 to 100 people
Biroco – boat made for more than 100
4.Trading – the standard of exchange was
GOLD
FOREIGN INFLUENCES
1.Chinese – gongs, entrepreneurship,
arrangement of marriage
2.Arabs – Islam, calendar, law, literature,
art
3.Japanese – making weapons, metallurgy,
jewelry-making
4.India – names for gods and goddesses,
bahala na attitude, sarong, putong
ATTIRE
Male clothing
-The upper part was a jacket with short
sleeves called “kangan” while the lower
part was a strip of cloth wrapped around the
waist and in between the legs called
“bahag”. Males used a piece of cloth or a
headgear called “putong”.
-“Putong” symbolized the number of
persons the wearer had killed.
Female Clothing
-Composed of “camisa”, a light jacket with
sleeves. “Patadyong” by the Visayans,
was a loose skirt and a piece if red or white
cloth called “tapis”, was usually wrapped
about the waist.
SOCIAL CLASS
Datus or Leaders – highest position in the
community
Maharlika or the Free People – did not pay
taxes. Travelled with the Datu. Supervised
the rowers of the boat
Timawa – known as the working
class/rowers of the boat
Slaves – they were classified into two;
* Aliping namamahay – were not full
pledge slave. They had their own
respective families and their own houses.
They were required to serve their masters
only during planting and harvesting period.
* Aliping sagigilid – were the real slaves,
they were homeless, forbidden to form their
own families, required to stay in their
masters dwelling and they could be used as
a payment for debt.
OTHER IMPORTANT GROUPS
•Tambalan – healers or doctors
•Atubang ng Datu – adviser of the datu
•Daragangan – outstanding soldier/ he is
made to wear a “pinayusan” – a decorative
scarf made of abaca
•Paratabgaw – barangay teacher
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
•The government was called “barangay”. It
is derived from balangay, the name for the
sailboats that originally brought settlers of
Malay stock to the Philippines from Borneo.
•It was headed by a ruler called Datu or
Rajah.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF A DATU
•Implementing laws
• Maintaining peace and order
• Giving protection to his subjects
• He also made the law, with the assistance
of group of elders who gave advice (Lupon
ng Tagapayo)
•He acted also as a judge during trial
TRIAL AND DETERMINATION OF GUILT
•Judicial process was influenced by religion.
The manner of determining guilt of the
accused showed the religiosity of the
natives.
• They waited for the intervention of the
deities or the other judicial process which
they called, trial by ordeal and trial by war.
ALLIANCES
• Like community of nations, alliances
among barangay were formed. The purpose
of forming alliances was for trade, peace
and mutual protection.
• An alliances was sealed through blood
compact (sanduguan), to ensure conformity,
sincerity and commitment of the chieftains.
•Blood compact was an ancient ritual in
the Philippines intended to seal a friendship
or treaty, or to validate an agreement. The
contracting parties would cut their wrists
and pour their blood into a cup filled with
liquid, such as wine, and drink the mixture.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE
The man was required to give a dowry.
•
1. “Bigay-kaya” – was the type of dowry
consisted of a piece of land or gold.
The groom’s parent gave a gift called
“panghimuyat”.
2. “Himaraw” – was another payment for
raising the future bride during her infancy
period, to be paid by the groom’s parent
also.
SURPRISING FACTS DURING THE
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
1.They compressed their babies’ skulls
for aesthetic reasons.
● Early human civilizations like the Mayans
(see photos) and the Visayans intentionally
reshaped their babies’ skulls to conform to
their standard of beauty.
2.Gold was literally everywhere.
There was plenty of gold in the islands
during the pre-colonial times that it used to
be part of our ancestors’ everyday attire.
Piloncitos, a type of coin used by the
pre-colonial peoples of the archipelago
3.Women enjoyed equal status with men.
-Back then, there were no doctors or
priests whom our ancestors could turn to
when things went awry. The only hope they
had was a spirit medium or shaman who
could directly communicate with the spirits
or gods. They were known in the Visayas
as babaylan, while the Tagalogs called
them catalonan (katulunan).
4.It was considered a disgrace for a
woman to have many children.
-There’s no such thing as “family
planning” in the pre-colonial Philippines.
Everything they did was based on existing
customs and beliefs, one of which was that
having many children was not desirable and
even a disgrace.
5.Celebrating a girl’s first menstruation,
pre-colonial style.
-In the pre-colonial era, this transition was
seen as a crucial period in womanhood, so
much so that all girls were required to go
through an intricate rite of passage. During
the ritual, the girl who was having her first
period was secluded, covered, and
blindfolded.
6.Whatever happened to our ancient
writing system?
- First things first: You’re not supposed to
call our ancient script “alibata” because it’s
a misnomer.
-The word (from ‘Alif-bata,’ the first letters
of the Arabic script) was actually invented
by Paul Versoza who thought our earliest
writing system was of Arabic origins.
The thing is, the baybayin (which is the
correct term) is believed to be one of the
indigenous alphabets in Asia that originated
from the Sanskrit of ancient India.
7.Courtship was a long, arduous, and
expensive process.
-Paninilbihan or the custom requiring the
guy to work for the girl’s family before
marriage was already prevalent during the
pre-colonial times. From chopping wood to
fetching water, the soon-to-be-groom would
do everything to win his girl’s hand.
8.Before Roman Catholicism and Islam
were introduced, natives worshipped
many gods and goddesses.
-The nature of religion in the pre-colonial
Philippines is often unclear. Religions
present include animism, indigenous
religious beliefs and mythologies such as
Anito and influences from Hinduism and
Buddhism.

1.Bathala - supreme god in the heavens.

He is the leader of the gods.
2.Aman Sinaya – Goddess of the Sea
3.Idianale – Goddess of Labor and Good
Deeds
4.Dumangan – God of Good Harvest
5.Anitun Tabu – Goddess of the Wind and
Rain
6.Mapulon – God of Seasons
7.Lakapati – Hermaphrodite Goddess of
Fertility and Agriculture
8.Dumakulem – Guardian of the Mountains
9.Dian Masalanta – Goddess of Lovers,
Childbirth, and Peace
10.Apolaki – God of the Sun, Patron of
Warriors
11.Libulan – God of the Moon, Patron God
of Homosexuality
12.Sitan – God of the Lower World
13.Aring Sinukuan – Sun God of War and
Death
14.Apung Malyari – Goddess of the Moon,
Ruler of the Eight Rivers

•They also believed in the immortality of

souls and life after death.
• There were sacred animals, which they
venerate like white monkey (manaul) and
crocodiles.
• There were also sacred place and sacred
trees, which nobody was allowed to cut
down. Early natives were “eco-centric”.