Philhistory Week 2

Early Philippines
Learning Outcomes
• Identify the origin of the Filipino people
• Describe the settlers and their form of government
• Describe the customs and practices of the Filipinos
• Evaluate the structure of society of the ancient Filipinos
Origin of the Filipino People
The Aetas or Negritos
• The first group of people who came to the Philippines, through the land
bridges.
• They were small, about four feet tall. They had dark skin, flat noses, thick
lips and black kinky hair.
• They used bows and arrows as weapons. They used leaves and barks of
trees for their clothing.
The descendants of the Aetas can still be found in the mountains of Luzon,
Mindanao, Panay, Mindoro and Palawan. They are sometimes called Ita, Baluga,
Agta or Ati.
2nd wave of settlers
• The Indonesians
• They came by canoes and boats after the Great Ice Age about 3000 B.C.
• tall, with light skin, large forehead, high nose and thin lips
• shorter and darker, large nose, thick lips
• They drove the Negritos to the mountains
• They introduced bronze and rice terraces.

3rd wave of settlers
• The Malays
• They settled in Mindanao and Sulu
• They were navigators, potters, weavers and blacksmiths.
• Filipinos and Moros were the descendants of Malays
• More civilized than the Indonesian
• They lived in larger villages, had government, writing, music, arts, and
sciences.
• They lived by agriculture, fishing, mining and trading.
Ancient Filipino Clothing
• male attire was composed of the kanggan
(sleeveless jacket) and bahag (loincloth)
• the color of the kanggan indicates rank –

red for the chief, black or blue for the
commoners
• men also wear a turban called putong,

which also tell the social status/achievement
Bogobo man & woman of the individual wearing it
• female attire consisted of baro or camisa

(jacket with sleeves) and saya or patadyong
(a long skirt); some women wore a piece of
red or white cloth on top of their skirt called
tapis
Kalinga & Subuanon women

• kalumbiga, pendants, bracelets,
and leglets made of gold
• some wore gold fillings between

the teeth
• tattoos were also fashionable

for some pre-colonial Filipinos
as exhibited a man’s war record
Houses
• bahay kubo, made of wood,
bamboo, and nipa palm
• some Filipinos, such as the

Kalingas, Mandayas and
Bagobos built their houses on
treetops
• others, such as the Badjaos,

built their houses on boats
Social Classes
• nobles (made up of the Datu and their
families),
• mahadlika or maharlika (freemen)
• the alipin (dependents)
• members of the nobility were

addressed with the title Gat or Lakan
among the Tagalogs
Maguindanao Sultan, nobles & Alipins
Status of Women
• had the right to inherit property, engage in trade and industry
• succeed to the chieftainship of the barangay in the absence of a male heir
• had the exclusive right to name their children
• men walked behind them as a sign of respect

Marriage Customs
• men were monogamous;
• wives were called asawa, while concubines are called “friends”
• Paninilbihan was practiced by men to win the hands of the lady
• The men had to satisfy the following before marriage:
- give a dowry or bigay-kaya
- pay the panghihimuyat
- pay the wet nurse bigay-suso
- pay the parents himaraw
- bribe for the relatives called sambon (among
the Zambals)
Religious Beliefs
• Ancient filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul; the life after death
• Religious rituals were based on the deities
• Bathalang maykapal – was the head of the deities
• They believed that some trees were considered divine, so they were not
cut
• They adored idols called anitos or diwatas to whom they made offerings
• Priestesses such as the babaylan/ baylana or katalona acted as mediums
to communicate with these spirits
Burial Customs and Practices
• The dead was placed in a wooden coffin and buried under the house
complete with cloth, gold and other valuable things
• Upon the death of the person, fires were made under the house and
armed men acted as sentinels to guard the corpse from sorcerers
Divination and Magic Charms
• Ancient filipinos are quite superstitious and put much stock into auguries,
and magic charms
• They interpreted signs in nature like the flight of birds, the barking of dogs,
the singing of lizards, and the like, as good or bad omens depending on
the circumstances
Politics
• Barangay – the unit of government
• Composed of 30 – 100 families
• Datu – chieftain of the barangay

Laws
• were either customary (handed down from generation to generation orally)
or written (promulgated from time to time as necessity arose)
• dealt with various subjects such as inheritance, property rights, divorce,

usury, family relations, divorce, adoption, loans, etc.
Legislation
• The chief consulted with a council of elders who approved of his plan
• Umalohokan, explained the law to everyone before its implementation

Judicial Process
• Disputes between individuals were settled by a court made up of the

village chief and the council of elders; between barangays, a board made
up of elders from neutral barangays acted as arbiter
• The accused and the accuser faced each other in front of the “court” with
their respective witnesses
Trial by Ordeal
• The accused had to pass by a number of ordeals to determine his

innocence
• Examples include dipping one’s hand in boiling water, holding a lighted

candle that must not be extinguished, plunging into a river and staying
underwater for as long as possible, chewing uncooked rice and spitting,
etc.
Thank you!

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Early Philippines

• They drove the Negritos to the mountains

• They introduced bronze and rice terraces.

• the color of the kanggan indicates rank –

• men also wear a turban called putong,

• female attire consisted of baro or camisa

Kalinga & Subuanon women

• some wore gold fillings between

• tattoos were also fashionable

• some Filipinos, such as the

• others, such as the Badjaos,

• mahadlika or maharlika (freemen)

• the alipin (dependents)

• members of the nobility were

• succeed to the chieftainship of the barangay in the absence of a male heir

• had the exclusive right to name their children

• men walked behind them as a sign of respect

• Barangay – the unit of government

• Composed of 30 – 100 families

• Datu – chieftain of the barangay

• dealt with various subjects such as inheritance, property rights, divorce,

• Umalohokan, explained the law to everyone before its implementation

• Disputes between individuals were settled by a court made up of the

• The accused had to pass by a number of ordeals to determine his

• Examples include dipping one’s hand in boiling water, holding a lighted

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