Customs of the

Tagalogs
Juan de Plasencia
Presented By: Group 2
 Customs of the Tagalogs
Customs of the Tagalogs written by Juan de Plasencia in 1589, if we are to put socio-
political context into the text – first, the issue of authorship; second, the discourse of
power in colonial writing; and third, the logic of binarism or the Occident-Other
dichotomy. These are interrelated threads that probably constitute major segments of
colonial historical writing in the Philippines.

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 Contents:
✣ Short Biography of Juan De Plasencia ✣ Government and Administration of Justice
✣ Arrival of Plasencia in the Philippines ✣ Inheritance
✣ Purpose ✣ Marriage Customs
✣ Governing System lead by Datos ✣ Religious Beliefs
✣ The Caste ✣ Superstitious Beliefs
✣ Maharlica ✣ Economic Life
✣ Commoners or Aliping Saguiguilir ✣ Language and System of Writing
✣ Houses ✣ The Worships of the Tagalogs
✣ Mode of Dressing Female ✣ Distinction of devils according to priests
✣ Mode of Dressing Male ✣ Manner of Burying

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 1.
Short Biography of Juan De Plasencia
 Short Biography of Juan De Plasencia

✣ Born to the illustrious family of Portocarreros in Plasensia in the

region of Extremadura, Spain in the early 16th century. He was
one of the seven children of Pedro Portocarrero, a captain of a
Spanish schooner.
✣ Juan de Plasencia grew up during the period known as the Siglo
de Oro, a Golden Age when arts and literature flourished in many
parts of Spain, among them his native Extremadura.
✣ Fray Joan de Puerto Carrero, del convento de Villanueva de la
Serena. Was his real name.

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 Short Biography of Juan De Plasencia

✣ Notably, de Plasencia wrote the Doctrina Cristiana, an early book

on catechism and is believed to be the first book ever printed in
the Philippines.

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 2.
Arrival of Plasencia in the Philippines
 Arrival of Plasencia in the Philippines

✣ Fray Juan de Plasencia came together with the first batch of

Franciscan missionaries in the Philippines.
✣ Arrived at a port in Cavite, a few kilometers south of Manila on
the 2nd of July 1578.

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 3.
Purpose
 Purpose

✣ He was tasked by the King of Spain to document the customs and

traditions of the colonized (“natives”) based on, arguably, his
own observations and judgments.
✣ To put an end to some injustices being committed against the
natives by certain government officials.

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 Relacion de las Costumbres and
Instruccion

“The chronicler, Francis enemies, and so I can hardly express the sadness I feel
any time the news of such incidents reach my ears or I myself am involved;
however, if one is to choose between enmity and friendship and between peace
and war, I believe enmity is to be preferred. For considering the kind of
persons most of the alcaldes mayores are nowadays, nothing indicates that
friendship with them will help the missions in any way. On the contrary, it will
destroy them. Because, as I have observed, you can hardly find one that is not
blinded and moved by greediness, thus destroying his own soul as well as the
lives and possessions of the poor Indians.”

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 4.
Governing System lead by Datos
 Governing System lead by Datos

✣ Governs only few people between 30- 100

✣ This tribal gathering is called barangay
✣ They don’t settle far from others
✣ They are not subject to one another, except friendship and
relationship
✣ The chief (datu) help one another in wars

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 5.
The Caste
The Caste

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 The Caste

✣ Commoners
✣ Slaves
✣ If Maharlica marries a slave, the first child
✣ goes to the father and so on.
✣ The children will inherit the status of the
✣ parent it belonged.

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 Slaves

✣ ✣ A person becomes slave by:

(1) by captivity in war, (2) by reason of debt, (3) by inheritance,
(4) by purchase, and (5) by committing a crime.

✣ ✣ Slaves can be emancipated through:

(1) by forgiveness, (2) by paying debt, (3) by condonation, and
(4) by bravery (where a slave can possibly become a Datu) or by
marriage.

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 6.
Maharlika
 Maharlika

✣ Free-born and do not pay taxes.

✣ No moving from one village to another without complying the
following:
• Fine and gold ( depend from barangay to barangay)
• A banquet to the entire barangay
• If they marry from other barangay the
children will be divided
• Sentences are passed by the datu
• They condemn a man at low caste who
disrespect his daughter or wife of datu.
• The children of the accomplices are turned to slave
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 7.
Commoners or Aliping Namamahay
 Commoners or Aliping Namamahay

✣ living independently; served the person who lent them where

with to pay.
✣ They live in their own houses and lords of their property and
gold.

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 8.
Slaves or Aliping saguiguilid
 Slaves or Aliping saguiguilid

✣ service within thehouse; serve the master to whom the

judgement applied.
✣ They serve their master in his house and his cultivated lands and
can be sold.

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 9.
Houses
 Houses

✣ Made of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm.

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 10.
Mode of Dressing Male
 Mode of Dressing Male

✣ Headgear is called Putong (symbolizes the number of persons the

wearer had killed)
✣ (Upper) a jacket with short sleeves called kanggan.
✣ (Lower) bahag

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 11.
Mode of Dressing Female
 Mode of Dressing Female

✣ (Upper) Baro or Camisa

✣ (Lower) Saya

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 12.
Ornaments
 Ornaments

✣ A decorative object or detail that adds quality or distinction to a

person, place or thing.

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 13.
Government and Administration Of Justice
 Government and Administration Of
Justice

✣ The unit of government is called Barangay ruled by a chieftain,

and consist of 30 to 100 families together with their relatives and
slaves.
✣ The chieftain’s executive function includes implementing laws,
ensuring order and giving protection to his subject.
✣ Disputes between individuals were settled by a court made up of
the chieftain and council of elders.

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 14.
Inheritance
 Inheritance

✣ The 1st son of the barangay chieftain inherits his father’s

position; if the 1st son dies, the 2nd son succeeds their father; in
the absence of male heirs, it is the eldest daughter that becomes
the chieftain.
✣ Legitimate children of a father and mother will be inherited
equally not unless the father and mother showed a slight partiality
by gifts such as 2 to 3 taels or a jewel.

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 15.
Marriage Customs
 Marriage Customs

✣ Men were in general, monogamous; while their wives are called

Asawa.
✣ Courtship begins with Paninilbihan.
✣ Prior to marriage the man requires to give a dowry: (1) Bigay-
kaya (a piece of land or gold); (2) Panghihimuyat (a gift for the
brides parents); (3) Bigay-suso (for brides wet nurse).
✣ Marriage between couples belonging to defferent social classes
were not common. ✣ Several grounds of divorce are: (1)
Adultery, (2) Abandonment on the part of the husband, (3)
Cruelty, and (4) Insanity.

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 16.
Religious Beliefs
 Religious Beliefs

✣ They worship many gods and goddesses: (1) bathala, supreme

being; (2) Idayanale, god of agriculture; (3) Sidarapa, god of
death; (4) Agni, god of fire; (5) Balangaw, god of rainbow; (6)
Mandarangan, god of war; (7) Lalahon, god of harvest; and (8)
Siginarugan, god of hell.
✣ Also believe in sacred animals and tress.

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 17.
Superstitious beliefs
 Superstitious beliefs

✣ Believes in aswang, dwende, kapre, tikbalang,

patyanak/tiyanak.
✣ They also believes in magical power of amulet and
charms such as anting-anting,kulam and gayuma or love potion.

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 18.
Economic Life
 Economic Life

✣ Agriculture
✣ Hunting
✣ Fishing
✣ Domestic Trade
✣ Shipbuilding, weaving, poultry, mining and lumbering
✣ Foreign Trade

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 19.
Language and systems of writing
 Language and systems of writing

✣ Major languages originated from the malayo-polenisian

language.
✣ Tagalog, pangasinan, pangpangan, sugbuhanon, hiligaynon,
magindanaw, and samarnon.
✣ System of Writing
✣ 3 vowels and 14 consonants called baybayin
✣ They used tap of trees as ink and pointed stick as pencil
✣ They wrote on large plant leaves, bark of a tree or bamboo tubes

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Language and systems of writing

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 20.
The worships of the tagalogs
 The worships of the tagalogs

✣ No temples
✣ Simbahan
✣ Temple or place of adoration.
✣ Pandot or a festival celebration
✣ Nagaanitos
✣ Bathala
✣ Tala

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 20.
The worships of the tagalogs
 The worships of the tagalogs

✣ No temples
✣ Simbahan
✣ Temple or place of adoration.
✣ Pandot or a festival celebration
✣ Nagaanitos
✣ Bathala
✣ Tala

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 21.
Distinctions of devils according to the priests
 Distinctions of devils according to the
priests

✣ Mancocolam
✣ Hoclobon
✣ Magtatanggal (manananggal)
✣ Osuang
✣ Mangagayoma

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 22.
Manner of Burying
 Manners of Burying

✣ The deceased was buried beside his house.

Manner of burying for:

⨳ Deceased chief
⨳ Deceased warrior
⨳ Aetas or negritos

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Want big impact?
Use big image.

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 Thanks!
By: Group 2
Beltran, James Bryan T.
Tan, Han Vincent
Tuzon, Dimemore
Cordero, Joshua

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