PRE-

COLONIAL
PERIOD
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 SOCIETY
 MODE IF DRESSING
 ORNAMENTS
 HOUSES
 SOCIAL CLASSES
 STATUS OF WOMEN
 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 POLITICS
 GOVERNMENT
 LAWS
 LEGISLATION
 JUDICIAL PROCESS
 TRIAL BY ORDEAL
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 RELIGION
 RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
 BURIAL
 DIVINATION AND MAGIC CHARMS
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 ECONOMIC LIFE
 AGRICULTURE
 LIVESTOCK
 FISHING
 MINING
 LUMBERING AND SHIPBUILDING
 WEAVING
 TRADE
PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
 CULTURE
 LANGUAGES
 SYSTEM OF WRITING
 LITERATURE
 MUSIC AND DANCE
 ART
Long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Filipinos
had a civilization of their own. This civilization partly came
from the Malay settlers and partly from their response to the
new environment. Many of these customs and traditions,
government and way of life, have come down to the present
day, despite the changes brought about by westernization
and modernization. This is why it is possible to know about
our distant past by simply observing some customs and
practices that have resisted change and modernization.
Society
Philippine pre-colonial society is both different and the
same as in the present. Some aspects of the pre-colonial
period have survived into our time.
Mode of Dressing
 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 of the individual wearing
it.
Mode of Dressing
 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.
Ornaments
 men and women wore ornaments to look attractive
 both wear kalumbiga, pendants, bracelets, and leglets.
 these ornaments were made of gold.
 some wore gold fillings between the teeth.
 tattoos were also fashionable for some pre-colonial
Filipinos; they also exhibit a man’s war record.
 Islas del Pintados – term coined by the Spaniards for the
Visayans.
Houses
 built to suit the tropical climate.
 bahay kubo, made of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm; it was
built on stilts and can be entered through ladders that can be
drawn up
 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
 the society was made up of three classes: nobles (made up
of the datu and their families), mahadlika or maharlika
(freemen) and the alipin (dependents)
 members of the nobility were addressed with the title Gat
or Lakan among the Tagalogs.
Social Classes
 alipin or dependents acquired their status by inheritance,
captivity, purchase, failure to settle debts, or by committing
a crime
 there were two kinds of dependents: aliping namamahay
and aliping sagigilid
 in the Visayas, dependents were of three kinds : tumataban,
tumarampok, and the ayuey
Status of Women
 women in pre-colonial Philippine society had the right to
inherit property, engage in trade and industry, and 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
Marriage Customs
 Men were in general, monogamous; while their wives are
called asawa, while concubines are called “friends”
 In order to win the hand of his lady, the man has to show
his patience and dedication to both the lady and her parents
 Courtship usually begins with paninilbihan.
Marriage Customs
 If the man wins the trust of the parents, he does not
immediately marry the woman, but he has to satisfy several
conditions:
 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)
Marriage Customs
 One he had settled all of the above requirements, he brings his
parents to meet with the bride-to-be’s parents to haggle and make
the final arrangements; this is called pamamalae or
pamamanhikan or pamumulungan
 The wedding ceremonies vary depending on the status of the
couple; but normally, those from the upper class, a go-between was
employed
 Weddings are officiated by the priestess or babaylan
 Uncooked rice is thrown on the couple after the wedding ceremony.
Marriage Customs
 Muslim Filipino have similar marriage customs; the first
stage was called pananalanguni or bethrothal; it was
followed by the consultation with the girl’s parents, who
relays their decision to the village chief, who in turn
informed the suitor’s parents of the decision.
Marriage Customs
Dowry was also settled by the chief (pedsungud). This was of seven
kinds;
 Kawasated money given to the bride’s close relatives
 Siwaka money given to those who helped arrange the wedding
 Enduatuan brassware or animals for the village chief
 Pangatulian jewelry given to the girl’s unlce
 Langkad money given to the girl’s parents as fine for having by
passed the girl’s elder sister if she had any
 Lekat amount of money given to the girl’s attendant
Marriage Customs
Once everything is settled, the pegkawing, or the wedding ceremony
follows
 The wedding ceremony is officiated by the hadji
 Six days of festivities followed, and only on the seventh day the
couple could sleep together.
 Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and
Succession
Mixed marriage were allowed in pre-colonial society
 The status of children were dependent upon the status of the parents
 Often, the status of children in mixed marriages is divided evenly
between the parents
 Single children of mixed marriage were half-free and half-dependent
 Legitimate children inherited their parent’s property even without
any written will and was divided equally among the children
 Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and
Succession
 Natural children inherited only a third of the inheritance of
legitimate children
 Children of dependent mother are given freedom and a few things
 Nearest relatives inherit the property of childless couples
 In succession, the first son of the barangay chieftain inherits his
father’s position; if the first son dies. The second son succeeds their
father; in the absence of male heirs, it is the eldest daughter that
becomes the chieftain.
Politics
Government
 Unit of government was the barangay, which consisted of from 30
to 100 families. The term came from the Malay word balangay,
meaning boat.
 Barangays were headed by chieftains called datu
 The subjects served their chieftain during wars, voyages, planting
and harvest, and when his house needs to be built or repaired; they
also paid tributes called buwis.
Government
 The chief or datu was the chief executive, the legislator, and the
judge; he was also the supreme commander in times of war
 alliances among barangays were common and these were formalized
in a ritual called sangduguan.
 Conflicts between or among barangays were settled by violence;
those who win by force is always right.
Imaginary posthumous
portrait of Lapulapu by
Carlo Caacbay for the
National Historical
Commission of the
Philippines, 2019
Laws
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, adoption, loans, etc.
 Those found guilty of crimes were punished either by fine or by
death; some punishments can be considered as torture by modern
standards.
 However, it must be noted that ancients did not believe in
endangering society by letting loose a gang of thieves of recidivists
who are incapable of reform.
Laws
 Before laws are made, the chief consults with a council of elders
who approved of his plan.
 They are not immediately enforced until the new legislation is
announced to the village by the umalohokan, who also explains the
law to everyone.
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.
 Both took an oath to tell the truth; most of the time, the one who
presents the most witnesses wins the case.
 If the losing party contests the decision, he is bound to lose in the
end because the chief always take the side of the winner.
Trial by ordeal
 To determine the innocence of an accused, he is made to go through
a number of ordeals which he must pass
 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.
 Among the Ifugaos, ordeal by combat was common, i.e. bultong
(wrestling), alaw (duel)
B
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Religious Beliefs
Religious Beliefs
 Pre-colonial Filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul and in
life after death.
 They also believed in the existence of a number of gods whom they
worship and made offerings to according to rank
i.e. Bathalang Maykapal (Creator), Idinayale (god of agriculture),
Sidapa (god of death), Balangaw (rainbow god), Mandarangan (war
god), Agni (fire god) Lalahon (goddess of harvest), Siginarugan (god
of hell), Diyan Masalanta (goddess of love), etc.
Religious Beliefs
 Also showed respect for animals and plants like the crocodile, crow,
tigmamanukin; some trees were not also cut because they were
thought to be divine.
 Diseases were thought to be caused by the temper of the
environmental spirits.
 Filipinos also venerated the dead by keeping alive their memory by
carving idols of stones, gold or ivory called likha or larawan; food,
wine and other things were also shared with the dead.
Religious Beliefs
 Adored idols called anitos or diwata to whom they made offering.
 Some anitos were considered bad; however, they made offering to
them too in order to appease them or placate their anger.
 Priestesses such as the babaylan/baylana or katalona acted as
medium to communicate with these spirits.
Burial
 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.
 professional mourners were hired to accentuate the depth of
mourning.
Burial
 Sometimes, the relatives of the dead wore rattan bands around their
arms, legs and neck and they abstained from eating meat and
drinking wine.
 The ancients distinguished mourning for a woman from that of a
man – morotal (for women) and maglahi (for men)
 Mourning for a dead chief is called laraw, and this was
accompanied by certain prohibition like engaging in petty quarrels,
wars, carrying daggers with hilts in the normal position, singing in
boats coming from the sea or river, and wearing loud clothes.
Burial
 some ancients fasted and limited their nutrition to vegetables; among
the Tagalogs, this is called sipa.
 relatives of the dead who was murdered would not end their
mourning until they have exacted vengeance or balata.
 the celebration held on the ninth night after the death of the person is
called pasiyam, in which a play called tibaw is staged to honor the
dead.
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.
 They also consulted with the pangatauhan, or soothsayers, to tell
their fortunes.
Divination and Magic Charms
 There was also a belief in the existence of the aswang,
mangkukulam, manggagaway, tiyanak, and the tikbalang.
 Amulets and charms were also used by the ancients like the anting-
anting, gayuma, odom or tagabulag, wiga or sagabe, and
tagahupa.
 These beliefs were not eradicated with the coming of western
civilization and most of them were practiced behind the backs of the
Christian missionaries.
 The result was a blending of pagan and Christian beliefs that made
Filipino Catholicism unique.
Economic Life
Agriculture
 Main source of livelihood.
 Rice, coconuts, sugar cane, cotton, hemp, bananas, oranges, and
many species of fruits and vegetables were grown.
 Done in two ways : kaingin system (slash and burn) and tillage.
 When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, they noted that Cebu
and Palawan were abundant in many agricultural foodstuffs.
Agriculture
 Agricultural productivity was enhanced by use of irrigation ditches
like those found in the Ifugao Rice Terraces.
 Landholding was either public (less arable land that could be tilled
freely by anyone) and private (rich and cultivated lands belonging to
nobles and datus)
 Some rented land and paid in gold or in kind.
 The daily fare consisted of rice and boiled fish, or sometimes pork
or venison, carabao or wild buffalo meat.
 Fermented the sap of palm trees and drank it as liquor called tuba.
BANAUE RICE TERRACES
Livestock
 Pre-colonial Filipinos raised chickens, pigs, goats, carabaos, and
small native ponies.
Fishing
 Was a thriving industry for those who live in the coast or near rivers
and lakes.
 Various tools for fishing such as nets, bow and arrow, spear, wicker
basket, hooks and lines, corrals and fish poisons were used.
 Pearls fisheries also abound in Sulu.
Mining
 Comparatively developed before the coming of the Spaniards.
 The ancients mined gold in many parts of the archipelago and were
traded throughout the country and with other countries.
Lumbering and Ship Building
 Were flourishing industries.
 Filipinos were said to be proficient in building ocean-going vessels.
 All kinds of boats or ships were built, which the Spaniards later call
banca, balangay, lapis, caracoa, virey, vinta and prau.
Weaving
 Home industry that was
dominated by women.
 Using crude wooden looms,
textiles such as sinamay
from hemp, medrinaque from
banana, cotton, linen, and
silk, were woven.
 Trade
 It was conducted between or
among barangays, or even
among the islands.

 There was trade too with