GROUP I

CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS

 BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR
• Fray Juan was born in the famous Portocarreros family in the early 16th century in Plasencia, in the Extremadura
region of Spain. Juan is D. Alfonsopa Czech Porto Carrero, D. He was one of seven companions, including Pedro
Porto Carrero, D. Rodrigo Pacheco, Dona Beatrice, Doña Ana, and Donyaines Porto Carrero. Fray Juan de Plasencia
came to the Philippines with the first Franciscan missionaries. The list of Filipino missionaries sent by the Casa de
Contratación of Seville on May 21, 1577 includes the names of Fray Joan de Puerto Carrero, Convento de Villanueva
de la Serena. This name belongs to Juan de Plasencia.
• On May 31, the same year, Freyfan left Seville with other companions for the port of San Lucarde Barameda and set
sail on the high seas on the night of June 24. They arrived in Mexico in September. After spending about six months
here, on March 15, 1578, he continued his voyage from the port of Acapulco, anchoring off the Mariana Islands or
the Radron Islands in search of the necessary supplies. After a short break, they sailed to the Philippines. Finally, on
July 2, 1578, a ship carrying Juan de Plasencia arrived at the port of Cavite, a few kilometers south of Manila.
 BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR
• In 1580 the friars held their first Chapter withinside the Philippines, a wellknown assembly that served as an
assessment in their nearly years enjoy withinside the country. Of the various resolutions approved, one
changed into to rent Fray Juan to the challenge of composing a grammar and a dictionary of the Tagalog
language. Fray Juan changed into now no longer an alien to Tagalog. As quickly as he arrived in Manila, he
commenced to study the language thru the younger Miguel de Talavera. The latter "who had come together
along with his dad and mom at the excursion with Legaspi, then pretty younger, have become in a way of
talking a disciple of Plasencia, and at the same time as the Father taught him Latin, he, in turn, taught
Plasencia the factors of Tagalog which he had picked up." One must take word that in spite of his tutorship
beneathneath the younger Miguel, Fray Juan nonetheless needed to study a language that changed into
absolutely overseas to him without the assist of grammars, dictionaries, and different published books, and he
controlled to study it in a relatively brief period, and particularly nicely too.
 BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR
• This changed into attested via way of means of the numerous works he wrote slightly
after years of his arrival withinside the Philippines.
• As a writer, his biographer recognizes him many literary works of different personalities,
some of which are few, but others may be lost forever. After years of hard work, he finally
succumbed to Sister Death after converting indigenous peoples, teaching catechism, and
organizing towns and barangays. He died in 1590 in Liliw, Laguna.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE DOCUMENT
• The discovery of the archipelago by the Magellan Expedition, the designation of Las Islas
Pilipinas by the Villalobos Expedition, and the establishing of the first permanent colony
in the country by the Legaspi Expedition are all recorded in the Tagalog Customs.
Spanish missionaries were dispatched to the Philippines by Spain. Fr. Fr. Francisco Alcina
was sent to the Visayas, and Fr. Francisco Alcina was assigned to the Visayas. The story
of Juan de Plasencia takes place in the Tagalog region. The King of Spain charged Juan de
Plasencia with documenting the customs and traditions of the colonized (natives) based
on his observations and judgments through a letter.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE DOCUMENT
• He gathered Indios from several areas, older males, and those with the greatest potential.
After weeding out much nonsense about their governance, administration of justice,
inheritance, slaves, and dowries, he had gotten the bare truth from them. Furthermore,
"Tagalog Customs" is part of lengthy monographs published by chroniclers of Spanish
missions to the Philippines in the early 16th and 17th century (either chapters or
subsections). Given the author's numerous prejudices and, to a large part, erroneous
judgments and pretensions, the material was not intended for local consumption, but rather
for Western readers. The Tagalog Customs was created with the goal of providing an
eroticized portrayal of Tagalog indigenous, evidently fueled by politics and propaganda.
 CONTENT PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INFORMATION FOUND
IN THE DOCUMENT

• The narrative was able to depict the nativeFilipinos' governing system at the time, which was led by a Datu. The
executive responsibility of the Datos involves enforcing laws, maintaining peace and order in the barangay, and
providing protection to his subjects. The Datu also serves as the commander of their armies. Datos oversee
between 30-100 families.
• In Tagalog, the tribe assembly is referred to as a barangay. The reason for giving themselves this name, according
to the natives, emerged from the boat when they arrived on this area. The primary account included a detailed
description of the caste system within the barangay, which consisted of three social classes: nobles (Maharlika),
commoners (Aliping Namamaay), and slaves (Aliping Sagigilid), as well as their functions and limitations within
and outside of the barangay In terms of dowries and marriage between individuals of the sam, the natives inferred
that the reason for giving themselves this name arose from the boat In most cases, the male gives dowries to the
female's parents.
 CONTENT PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INFORMATION FOUND
IN THE DOCUMENT

• Plasencia's narrative also included guidelines for dowries in the event of divorce. The primary
source went into great detail about how children are divided between spouses or between two
distinct barangays. It contains a detailed record of the guidelines for determining a child's social
standing based on his or her parents' position. Plasencia provides a full explanation of the
procedures and regulations governing the partition of inheritances. Laws, sentences, and
punishments for those at-fault within the barangay and between two barangays, such as inbirth and
marriage, were also presented. The Tagalogs do not have any dedicated temples where they can
worship their gods. When they want to hold a feast called "pandot" or "worship" in a magnificent
mansion of the chief, they use the name "simbahan," which means "a place of adoration." The
account contained details regarding the Tagalogs' religious practices.
 CONTENT PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INFORMATION FOUND
IN THE DOCUMENT

• The feast is accompanied by drums, and during this time, the barangay or family gathers to
worship, which they refer to as "nagaanitos." The Tagalogs also have a number of idols that
they worship for specific occasions. Bathala means "all-powerful" or "creator of all things,"
and is the god they most revere. They are prone to looking for omens in everything they
come across, as well as using divination to demonstrate their good fortune. The story was
able to show that the Natives had no set division of years, months, or days; only the
acknowledgment of sun-time and water-time; and that time is determined by land cultivation
by moon phases, seasons of fruits, flowers, and leaves they are yielding. The Tagalogs also
have a way of adoration, offering, and sacrifice that is represented in the record.
 CONTENT PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTANT HISTORICAL INFORMATION FOUND
IN THE DOCUMENT

• A feast is declared, and everything they ate is offered to the devil. Adoration is performed
in front of an idol, which they anoint with scented oil from musk, civet, or gum, as well as
aromatic woods. The poeticsinging and responsive people, the "Catalonan," are done by
an officiating priest or priestess in Tagalog. Fray Placencia was also able to incorporate
the characteristics of devils present in Luzon. The concept of Life After the Rest of the
Native Tagalogs was discussed. Because the original work is the result of observations
and judgements, it is likely that Juan de Plasencia's work will involve partiality in the
presentation of his observations and assessments.
 CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING GRAND NARRATIVE OF
PHIL. HISTORY

• The literary text “Las Costumbres de los Indios Tagalos de Filipinas” or Customs of the Tagalog’s
provides us a view of our early government, laws, culture, tradition and belief system. It gives us
Filipinos in the modern time a scope on our ancestor’s thoughts and processes, and it shows us the
differences of our culture from then on and now. We can see the drastic change from back then on how
the Spanish colonization has drastically changed a lot of our culture, tradition and beliefs. Albeit the text
does provide us context on the events of our ancestors, it is also heavily biased by the views of the
colonizer just like any form of colonial presence that where happening during that time. It depicts our
culture in a exoticize manner on the Tagalog natives, mixed with politics and propaganda that twists and
molds it to better fit a Westerners point of view. The text also favors the Spaniards as the people who
brought unity and stability in a land they nearly portray as filled with savages of disjointed tribes.
 CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING GRAND NARRATIVE OF
PHIL. HISTORY

• It was stated that with the advent of the colonizers that they have put order into the
divisiveness of the barangay. Our former belief systems where categorized as devilish
akin to some people being referred to as witches. As Filipinos the Customs of the
Tagalog’s may give us information of our ancestors but we must also remember that this
was a document filled with conflicting factual basis, and a biased skewed perception
towards our own people. It has generalized the observation he has seen in Laguna as the
entirety of the tradition on Tagalog’s. But our customs and tradition are far vast than what
has been generalized.
 PERSONAL INSIGHTS
• The author Juan de Plasencia, not in Tagalog, first arrived in the Philippines in 1577 and was asked
by the King of Spain to record and document the customs and traditions of the Filipino people
based on him. I was a monk. He wrote their own observations and judgments, and Tagalog customs
to end some injustices committed against indigenous peoples by certain government officials.
Tagalog customs were one of his writings dealing with the daily lives of ancient Filipinos, their
social status, customs, traditions and Tagalog beliefs. He also provided the first form of civil law
used by the local governor to govern the judiciary. The text avoided discussing conflicting
explanations of the indigenous people through expert supervision to achieve the truth. This issue is
important in deciding how Spain will govern Filipinos during the Spanish era. Today, it's less
valuable in the modern world, but it's still important to trace your roots in the past.