Customs of the tagalogs

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Govern
Government
ment had diffic
difficulty
ulty is running
runnin g local
politics because of the limited number of
Spaniards who wanted to live outside of Intramuros
Spanish officials were forced to allow Filipinos to
hold the position of gobernadorcillo.

Gobernadorcillo was a municipal judge who carried

out in a town the combined charges or
responsibilities of leadership, economic, and judicial
administration.
To ensure that goberna
gobernadorcillo
dorcillos
s would remain loyal to
the crown, friars assigned parishes to supervise &
monitor activities of the former.
Friars ended up performing the administrative duties
that the colonial officials should have been doing.
Friars also became the most knowledgable and
influential figure in the pueblo
pueblos.
s.
The word pueblo is the Spanish word for "town" or
"village". It comes from the Latin root word
populus meaning "people".
 ACTIVITIES THAT THE FRIARS WERE
DOING:

Supervising the election of the local

executives
Collecting of taxes

Educating the youth and other civic

duties.
 FRIARS WHO WERE ASSIGNED
IN MISSION TERRITORIES WERE:

Required to inform their superiors of what was happening in their

respective areas
To pr
prepare
epare repor
reports
ts on the number
nu mber of natives
n atives they converted
conver ted
To document
do cument peopl
people’s
e’s way
w ay of life—i.e,
life— i.e, their hardsh
hardships
ips and
an d struggle
str uggles,
s,
etc.
Others who were keen observers submitted short letters and/or long
dispatches..
dispatches
They also shared their perso
personal
nal observat
ob servations
ions and
a nd experien ces .
exp eriences
 PLASENCIA’S RELACION DE

LAS COSTUMBRES
TAGALOGS DE LOS

“Custom of the Tagalogs”, 1589, by Fray Juan de Plasencia

Contains numerous information that historians could use in
reconstructing the political and socio-cultural history of the
Tagalog region

Considered a primary source because Plasencia personally

witnessed the events and took account of what was
happening
OTHER EXAMPLES OF LITERATURE WRITTEN BY FRIARS AND COLONIAL
OFFICIALS DURING THE SP
SPANISH
ANISH PERIOD

1.) Relacion de las Islas Filipinas (1582)

Written by Miguel de Loarca, an encomendero of Panay
He described the Filipinos’ way of life in the Western
Visayas area.

2.) Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas

Written by Lt. Gov. Antonio de Morga
Provides information about the state of the Philippines
in the latter part of the 16 th century.
 OTHER SPANISH
SPANISH MISSIONARIES WHO
CONTINUED THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL
TRADITIONS:
Relaci on de las Islas
Relacion I slas Filip
Filipinas,
inas, 1604
-Fr. Pedro Chirino S.J.

Histo ria General,

Historia Ge neral, 1751
-Fr. Juan Delgado S.J.

Labor Evange
Evangelica,
lica, 1663
-Fr. Francisco Colin S.J.

Historia
Histor ia natural
na tural de
d e sitio,
siti o, fertilidad
fer tilidad y calidad
cali dad de
d e las Islas e
Indios de Bisayas,
Bis ayas, 1668
- Fr.
Fr. Francisco
Francisc o Ignacio Alcina S.J
S.J..
About the Author
• Fray Juan de Plasencia (real name:
Juan de Portocar
Portocarrer
rero)
o)
•
He was a member of the Franciscan Order
who came together with the frst batch
o missionaries to the Philippines in
1578
•

He and Fray Diego de Oropesa were

assigned to do mission works in the
Southern Tagalog area.
• He helped in the foundation and
organizations of numerous
Quezon, Laguna, towns
Rizal and in
Bulacan
 • His continuous interaction with the people

FRAY JUAN DE PLASENCIA

He believedthe
explaining catechism
thatbasic tenets or
of
the Catholic faith is another
very important function of a
missionary.
His biggest challenge at the
time was how to make the
 ABOUT THE TEXT

Original document of Customs

Archivo General of the Tagalogs
de Indias.(A.G.I) is currently
in Seville, kept in the
Spain.
Duplicate copy of it is kept in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero- Oriental
in Madrid, Spain

English translation appeared in Volume VII of the Blair and Robert’s

The Philip
P hilippine
pine Island
I slands.
s.
EXCERTS FROM
EXCERTS
CUSTOM OF
TAGALOG
 DATUS
The chi
chiefs
efs who governed them
were captains in their wars, and
whom they obeyed and reveren
reverenced.
ced.
Chiefs ruled over a few people;
sometimes as many as a hundred
houses, or even less than thirty.
Tribal
Tribal gatheri
gathering
ng is called in tagalog
tagal og
a “barangay”

Datus who corresponded

knights. to our
 THREE CASTES:

NOBLES

Freeborn
they call or
maharlica.
 They not pay
tax or tribute to
the dato.
 Must
accompany the
datu in war.
 COMMONERS

 Aliping Namamahay
 Married
 Serve their master
whether he be a dato
or not.
 Live in their own
houses and lords their
property and gold.
 Cannot be made slaves
(sa guiguilar) nor can
either parents or
children be sold.
 SLAVES


Aliping sa
Guiguilar

 Serve their
master in his
house and his
cultivated
lands and may
be sold
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ALIPING
NAMAMAHAY AND ALIPING SA GUIGUILID

Aliping
Alip ing Namam
N amamahay
ahay are not
n ot
slaves while Aliping sa Guiguilid
are slaves.
Maharlica’s on both father’s and
mother’s side continue to be so forever;
if these maharlicas had children and
their mothers became free. If one of
them had children by a slave-woman of
another, she was compelled, when
pregnant, to give her master half of the
gold tael because of her risk of death.
If two person married, of whom one was a

maharlica
namamahay andor the other slave,
sa guiguilid whether
children were
divided. First, third and fth child is for
the father while the second, fourth and
sixth fell to the mother.
mother. Those who
became slave fell under the category of
servitude which was their parent’s, either
namamahay or a saguiguilid. If there’s an
odd
odd chil
child
d he sh
she
e is ha
half
lf fr
free
ee and
and hal
halff

Of these two kinds of slaves the sa guiguilir could

be sold but not the namamahay and their children
nor they be transferred however they could be
transferred from barangay
barangay,, provided they remain in
the same village.
Maharlicas could not, after marriage, move from
one village to another.
Marriage dowries deal more Complex if the couples
are young. Parents also received part of the
dowries.

WORSHIP OF THE
TAGALOGS
 PANDOT OR “WORSHIP”

A festive celebration
Includes performing of sacrifices, adoration of
their idols or the general practice of Idolatry.
Usually lasts for 4 days

People bring drums which they beat successively

while the feast lasted
Nagaanitos was also another way the feast was
called by the members of the barangay
 PLACE OF WORSHIP
Their place of worship was called a

temple
Since there are no temples
consecrated for the performance of

these large
rights,house
it is usually held in a
of a chief.
Sibi-- is a temporary shed on each
Sibi

side of the house people

gathered to shelter the
 BATHALA
They worshipped this god specially
He was said to be the “all powerful”
and “maker of all things”

SUN
 They also worshipped the
sun for its beauty,
respected and honored as
the heavens

THE MOON

They worship the moon especially when

it’s new, which at the time they had
great rejoicings to adore and welcome it

STARS
 They also worship the

stars, most especially

 the morning star which
“ ”
THEIR OTHER IDOLS:

Lic-ha- were images with dierrent

shapes

Little Tri
ries-
the Romans es- they adored these like
Dian Masalanta- the patron of lovers

and of generation
Lacapati and Indianale- were patrons
of cultivated lands and of husbandry

Buaya- they
creatures
creatures forpaid
fear reverence
of getting to these
harmed
 TAGALOG OMENS
They believed that rats, snakes, the
bird( tigmamanugin) or if they pass by someone
who sneezed they think of this as a bad omen and
that they should go back home for evil will befall
them if they continue
cont inue their journey
journey..
Divination-- to see whether weapons, such as
Divination
dagger or knife, were useful and lucky for the
possesor
 TIME

The natives had no established division of

years or months,
mo nths, inste
instead
ad they
the y base
bas e time
tim e or
season on their cultivation of soil, counting
the moons, or the dierent produce of trees
and owers. These help them make up a
year
 MANNER OF OFFERING

Their sacrice was to proclaim a feast and oer

to the devil what they had to eat. This is done in
front of a an idol with fragrant perfumes.
Often they sacrice goats, fowls, and swine which

were decapitated and laid bare before the idol

They worship these idols sometimes by putting
wrappings of cloths in the heads of these idols,
thus it’s like worshipping the devil without seeing
him
 PURPOSE OF THESE OFFERINGS

Healing of the sick

Prosperous voyage of those embarking on
the sea
A good
goo d harvest
ha rvest
Successful child birth
Happy outcome of married life
 DISTINCTION OF PRIEST AND THE DEVIL
CATALONAN

The rst
 rst distinc
di stinction
tion
Was a man or woman, that ociates the

feast.
The devil
de vil was
w as sometimes
some times capab
capable
le of
entering the body of the catalonan, said to
take it’s shape and appearance with great
arrogance and would sometimes shoot
ame from his/her eyes
In some districts if the possession was

severethe
prevent they tie in
devil the person onthe
destroying a tree to
minister
MANGAGAUAY
 The second
second
distinction
 Witches who
deceived people
by pretending to
heal the sick
 They can instantly
kill a person or

MANYISALAT
• The third dis
distinc
tinction
tion,, the
th e same
sa me
as the mangagaguay
• Had a power of applying
remedies for lovers to make
them despise their own wives
• When the ritual was successful
the abandoned wives’ health
would deteriorate and would
discharge blood and matter
•
Oce is general throughout the
 land

MANCOCOLAM

• This is the
th e fourth
fou rth
distinction,
•
Duty was to emit re from
himself at night, once or
often each month
•
Fire could not be
extinguished and people
who wallowed with this
priest would fell ill and die
• Found throughout the land

HOCLOBAN
The fth distinc
d istinction
tion
More powerful than the
mangagauay
Without use of medicines but
just by saluti
saluting
ng or raising
ra ising his
hand they
chose orcan kill
heal whom
those they
who
became ill by their charms.

They are found

fo und in
 Catanduanes

SILAGAN
si xth distinct
The sixth di stinction
ion
If they saw anyone clothed in white,
they would tear out his liver and eat
it, causing death to the victim
Don’t let anyone believe this as a
fable, for a Spanish notary was
killed in Calauan, his intestines
pulled out from his anus, was later
buried in Calilaya by father Fray
Juan de
d e Merida
Mer ida
Found in the island of Catanduanes
 MAGTATANGAL

The seventh
seven th distinct
di stinction
ion
His purpose is to show
himself at night with no head
or entrails, pretends to carry

his
andhead in dierent
returns places
to his body in
the morning
Still occurred in Catanduanes
Still occurred in Catanduanes

OSUANG
ei ght distinc
The eight di stinction
tion
Equivalent to a sorcer
sorcerer,
er,
they say he has the
ability to y and murders
men and eats their esh
Exists in the Visayas and
not among the tagalogs
 MANGAGAYOMA
The ninth,
n inth,
and is another class
of witches
They made charms

for lovers
herbs, out and
stones, of
wood which would
 infuse their hearts
with love

SONAT

tenth,
The tenth,
equivalent to a
preacher
It was his job to help
one die, at which
time he predicted the

PANGATAHOJAN

The eleventh,
eleve nth, was a sooth
so othsayer
sayer
Predicted the future
Oce generally found in the
land

BAYOGUIN
 The twelfth, signied
signied a
“cotquean”
 A man whose nature is inclined
toward that of a woman

Their manner of burying the dead

dead was as
follows:

• The deceased was

was buried beside his
his house
If he were a chief, he was placed beneath a little house or porch which
they constructed for this purpose.

• Before interring him, they mourned him for four days. And afterward
laid him on boat which served as a con or bier, placing him beneath
the porch, where guard kept over him by a slave. In place of rowers,
various animals were placed within the boat, each one being assigned
a place at the oar by twos-
male female of each species being together.
Examples:
Two goats

It was the slave’s care to see that they were fed. If the
deceased had been a warrior, a living slave was tied
beneath his body until in this way he died. In
I n course of
time, all suer decay, and for many days the relatives of
the dead man bewailed him, singing dirges, and praises
of his good qualities, until they wearied of it. This grief
was accompanied by eating and drinking. This was a
customs of tagalongs.
 i ndels
There indel s said that they
t hey knew
k new that
t hat there
th ere was anothe
a notherr life
of rest which they called maca, just as if we should say
“paradise,” or in other words , “village o rest”. They say
that those who go to this place are the just, and the valiant,
and those who lived without doing harm, or who possessed
moral virtues. They said also, that in the other life and
mortality, there was a place of punishment, grief, and
aiction called casanaan, which was a “place o anguish” ,
they also maintained that no one would go to heaven, where whe re
there only dwelt bathala, “the maker o all things,” who

governed from above. There were also another pagans who

 confessed more clearly to hell, which they
th ey called as I have
said, casanaan; they said that all the wicked went to that
t hat

There were also

a lso ghosts,
gho sts, which
w hich they
t hey called
c alled vibit,
and phantoms, which they called tigbalaang.
They had
ha d another
ano ther decepti
d eception
on namely,
nam ely, if any
an y woman
wom an
died in childbirth, she and the child
c hild suered
punishment, and that, at night, she could be heard
lamenting.
This called
c alled patianac. May honor and glory be to
God our Lord, that among the tagalongs not a trace
of this is left, and that
tha t those who are now marrying
do not even know what it is, thanks to the

RELEVANCE
 Plasencia’s customs
customs of the tagalog is a very popular primary
pri mary source as it
vividly describes the way o life of the filipinos
before spanish and christian influences.

It also covers numerous topics that are relevant in many disciplines.

Political scientists, for instance, find it useful because it contains

information about the social classes, political stratifications and legal
system of the tagalog region.

Moreover,, it tackles property rights, marriage rituals, burial practices
Moreover
and the manner in which justice is dispensed.

Plasencia’s
Plasencia’s account also preserves and popularizes the unwritten

customs, traditions and religious and superstitious beliefs of us Filipinos.

Plasencia’s work also tackles our historical knowledge about
Plasencia’s
manananaggal, aswang, hukluban and gayuma.
 Priests and missionaries
mi ssionaries also read plasencia’s customs of the Tagalog's
Tagalog's
and Doctrina Christiana because they contain insights that can help and
inspire them to become evangelizers.

The realization that one needs to master local language and study of the
culture of the people to be a successful insight from Plasencia.

They also learned from Plasencia that preaching should be accompanied

with reading materials that contain the basic elements of faith.
 Plasencia’
Plasencia’s
s historical writings also disprove the claim of some Spaniards
that when they arrived in the Philippines, Filipinos
Fili pinos were still uncivilized and
lacking in culture.

It is clear in the excerpts quoted that at time plasencia was assigned in the
Tagalog region, Filipinos were already politically and economically organized,
they had functioning
functioning government tax system, set of of laws, criminal justice
system, indigenous calendar and long standing customs and traditions.
Moreover they had a concept of a supreme being (bathala),practiced burial

customs and believed in life after death.

customs and believed in life after death.

All of these lead to the conclusion that prior to the coming of the
spaniards, Filipinos were already civilized and maintained a lifestyle
l ifestyle that was
on a part with or even better than that of the people from other countries in
southeast Asia.