CHAPTER 1

THE PHILIPPINES: ITS LAND AND PEOPLE

LOCATION AND CLIMATE

●The country is situated in the southeast portion of Asian continent. Three large water forms
bound it. South china sea on the north and west, Philippine sea on the east, and Calibes sea on
the south.
● It consisting of 7107 islands and islets, with a total area of approximately 300,000 sq.km. The
largest of these islands are Luzon, Mindano, Palawan, Samar, Negros, Panay, and Mindoro.
● These islands encompassing the country are divided into three main groups:
▪ Luzon is in the north
▪ Visayas is in the centre of archipelago
▪ Mindano in the south
● The north most point of the country is ‘Yami Isle’. And the south most point is ‘Saluag Isle’.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

❖ MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS
▪ The surface of the land is basically rugged or mountainous from Visayas to Luzon.
▪ There are three large ranges in the mountain system of Luzon namely; Caraballo del Sur,
Siera Madre and Caraballo de Baler.
▪ Visayas Range is divided into two from northwest to southeast, with Kanlaon as the
notable peak.
▪ Four distinct mountain ranges found in the island of Mindano namely; Surigao range,
Butuan range, central western range, and western range.
▪ Mt.Apo, the highest mountain in the country, is found in Mindano.

❖ RIVER SYSTEMS
▪ The river system of the country are extensive.
▪ The Fluvial System of Luzon is represented by : Rio Grande de Cagayan, Agno Grande,
Abra River System and Rio Grande de Pampanga.
▪ Mindano has the largest river system in the Philippines namely the Rio Grande de
Mindanao

❖ VALCANOS EAND EARTHQUAKES:

▪ Numerous Volcanos are found in Luzon, Visayas and Mindano.
▪ At least 10 of the volcanoes are considered active; the rest are dormant. The most
famous of this are from north to south, Iraya in Batanes Island; Taal in Batangas;
Banahaw in Quezon; Mayon in Albay; Hibok-Hibok in Camiguin Island; Makaturing in
Lanao; and Apo in Davao
▪ Mt. Mayon with its perfect cone, is the most active and popular volcano. It erupted
more than thirty times since 1615.
 ▪ Taal Volcano, the smallest in the world and situated in the middle of Taal Lake, has
erupted no less than thirty three times.

❖ COASTLINE:
▪ The coastline of the country is quite irregular, which extends to 10,850 statute miles. All
the big and small islands in the country have natural harbors.

PRODUCTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES

❖ PRODUCT :
▪ The Philippines is rich in natural resources that are yet largely undeveloped.
▪ Rice, the staple crop of the country is produced largely in Central Plain Luzon but total
production is not sufficient. However a breakthrough of rice production was made
during the first four years of President Marcos administration called miracle rice.
▪ Other product, however have been raise for export. Copra, abaca, gums, resins, rubber,
and sugar have found ready markets abroad.

❖ MINERAL RESOURCES :
▪ Deposits of gold, silver, chromic, copper, lead, nickel and manganese are available in
commercial quantities.
▪ It is the second largest country in the producer of gold in Asia. The country’s dominant
metallic resource is copper, while limestone is its leading non- metallic resource.

THE PEOPLE

● Filipino belongs to a mixture of races, although basically he is a malay.

● The inter marriage between the Filipino and the foreigner, particularly the white led to a class
known mestizo class also humorously called the mestizoisie.

FILIPINO TRAITS AND VALUES

● Hospitality: A Filipino trait of being receptive and generous in treating visitors.

● Close Family Ties: A Filipino trait of giving highest importance to family above other thing.
Family member must be given attention and should not be abandoned.
● Respect for Elders: A Filipino trait of being courteous both in words and in action to the older
people.
● Fatalism: Filipinos are generally fatalitic. They believe that what happens to us is due to their
fate or destiny. This fatalistic outlook in life is often manifested in our expression Bahala na.
● Loyalty: A Filipino trait of being loyal to their friends and fellowmen in order to ensure the peace
in the group.

● Sensitive: The Filipino would not tolerate anyone berating his countryman. He is easily
piqued when a foreigner, for instance, makes a sweeping generalization that is not flattering
to the Filipinos, no matter how true the observation may be.
 ● Tendency to be Indolent: A fact which makes the Filipino exert less effort in the belief that
he does not have to work hard to make both ends meet.
● Lack of Initiative: This trait is explained by a natural fear of competition, for Filipino society
is cooperative, not competitive.
● Segurista: A man who wants to be sure that he does not lose.
● Curious: The Filipino, being childlike, is naturally curious. The trait, having a desire to learn
or know more about something or someone.
● Individualistic: A person who does things without being concerned about what other people
will think
● Jealousy: The Filipino does not look with favor on a woman who flirts with several men. To
him the sweetheart’s or the wife’s eyes are meant only for him and for no other.
● Regionalistic: This regionalistic feeling that the Filipino of one region looks down upon his
countryman of another region. And it may traced to the Spanish administrators who pursued
a policy of “divide and conquer”.
● Pakikisama: In its original connotations, it may be translated loosely as the intensive
signification of camaraderie or spirit of comradeship, the main elements of which are
unselfishness and good faith. There are two terms which are mabuting makisama and its
opposite, masamang makisama, really refer to a person’s way of dealing with his fellowmen.
Regional Traits

That the milieu or environment exerts an influence in moulding the character of a people is
proved in the Philippines, where different regions exhibit different and oftentimes, opposite
traits.
● Isolated regions – they are frugal and industrious.
● More Opulent areas – they are known for their careless abandon and love of the finer things
of life.

CHAPTER 2: PEOPLING THE PHILIPPINES

Dr. Fitjof Voss- a german scientish who study the geology of the philipines.
-disputed the Pleistocene/IceAge/Land bridge theory.

ISLAM
Mudum, 11th century
- an Arabian Scholark
- laid the foundation of Islam in Old Malay.
- 1380, he came to Sulu to preached the doctrine of Muhammad.

Raja Bujanda,1390- arrived to Sulu and converted some natives to Islam.

Abu Bakr,1450
- left Palembang for Sulu.
- married Raja Bajiranda' daughter, Paramisuli
- established government pattern after the Sultanate of Arabia.
Serif Kabungsuan
- layed the foundation of Islam
- made himself the first Sultan of Mindanao.
Relations to:
- Orang dampuans
- Banjarmasin
- China
- Ten bornean Datu
(Datu Puti, Bankaya, Dumalugdog,Sumakwel,Lubay,Paiburong,Dumangsil,Balensusa,Paduhinog and Datu
Dumangsol)

The Code of Rajah Kalantiaw was a purported legal code in the epic history Maragtas that is said to have
been written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief on the island of Negros in the Philippines.

Article I

Ye shall not kill, neither shall ye steal nor shall ye hurt the aged, lest ye incur the danger of death. All
those who this order shall infringe shall be tied to a stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.

Article II

Ye shall punctually meet your debt with your headman. He who fulfills not, for the first time shall be
lashed a hundredfold, and If the obligation is great, his hand shall be dipped threefold in boiling water.
On conviction, he shall be flogged to death.

Article III

Obey ye: no one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall they be more than what he can take care
of, nor spend much luxury. He who fulfils not, obeys not, shall be condemned to swim three hours and,
for the second time, shall be scourged with spines to death.

Article IV

Observe and obey ye: Let not the peace of the graves be disturbed; due respect must be accorded them
on passing by caves and trees where they are. He who observes not shall die by bites of ants or shall be
flogged with spines till death.

Article V

Obey ye: Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He who complies not shall be lashed for an
hour. He who repeats the act shall, for a day be exposed to the ants.

Article VI

Ye shall revere respectable places, trees of known value, and other sites. He shall pay a month's work, in
gold or money, whoever fails to do this; and if twice committed, he shall be declared a slave.

Article VII
 They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at night shoot with arrows the aged men and the
women; he who enters the house of the headman without permission; he who kills a fish or shark or
striped crocodile.

Article VIII

They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away the women of the headmen; he who possesses dogs
that bite the headmen; he who burns another man's sown field.

Article IX

They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in their night errands, kill manual birds, tear documents
belonging to the headmen; who are evil-minded liars; who play with the dead.

Article X

It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her daughter secretly the things that are lacivious, and
prepare them for womanhood; men shall not be cruel to their wives, nor should they punish them when
they catch them in the act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn to pieces and thrown to the
caymans.

Article XI

They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have mocked at and eluded punishment, or who have
killed two young boys, or shall try to steal the women of the old men (agurangs).

Article XII

They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their superiors or their lords and masters; all those who
abuse their luxury; those who kill their anitos by breaking them or throwing them away.

Article XIII

They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a black cat during the new moon or steal things
belonging to the headmen.

Article XIV

They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful daughters shall deny them to the sons of the
headman, or shall hide them in bad faith.

Article XV

Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be scourged, who eat bad meat of respected
insects or herbs that are supposed to be good; who hurt or kill the young manual bird and the white
monkey.

Article XVI

Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay idols in their olangangs and places of oblation;
he who breaks Tagalan's daggers for hog killing, or breaks drinking vases.
 Article XVII

They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred objects of their diwatas or headmen are buried.
He who gives way to the call of nature at such places shall be burned.

Article XVIII

Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if they are headmen, shall be stoned and crushed
to death, and if they are old men, shall be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and crocodiles.

Chinese influences: Economic, use of umbrellas, gongs, lead, porcelain and the manufacture of gun
powder and etc.

Indian influences: Sanskrit words, the modern Philippine Barong Tagalog is the same cut as embroidery
as the Kurta of, Lucknow India, Cord and Veil Ceremonies.

CHAPTER 3: EARLY CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES

CUSTOMS &
MALAYS TRADITIONS
CIVILIZATION
NEW ENVIRONMENT GOVERNMENT
MODE OF LIVING

CLOTHING

● Male Attire
➢ Kanggan – Upper part; a black/blue/red collarless jacket with short sleeves.
➢ Bahag – Lower part; a strip of cloth wrapped about the waist, passing down
between thighs.
➢ Putong – wrapped around his head.
● Female Attire
➢ Baro/Camisa – a jacket with sleeves.
➢ Saya/Patadyong – Loose skirt.
➢ Tapis – a piece of red/white cloth that was usually wrapped about the waist.

ORNAMENTS

➢ Kalumbiga
➢ Pendants
➢ Bracelets
➢ Gold rings
➢ Earrings
➢ Leglets
 ➢ Tattoo

HOUSES

➢ Nipa hut
➢ Tree house
➢ House on stilts

SOCIAL CLASSES

➢ Nobles – made up of datu and their families.

➢ Freemen – maharlika/mahadlika
➢ Dependents – aliping namamahay/aliping sagigilid

THE POSITION OF WOMEN

They gave them the right to be the equal of men, engage in trade and industry and succeed
to the chieftainship of a barangay in the absence of a male.

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
● Conditions
➢ To give a dowry
➢ Must also give the bride-to-be’s parents a certain amount of money
➢ Bigay-suso
➢ The man must give the girl’s parents another sum of money as reimbursement
➢ Sambon
● Pamumulungan/Pamamalae
- State of courtship immediately before the marriage.
● MARRIAGE CUSTOMS IN MUSLIM
➢ First Stage – courtship/panalanguni
➢ Second Stage – settlement of the dowry
❖ Seven kinds of dowry:
▪ Kawasateg
▪ Siwaka
▪ Enduatuan
▪ Pangatulian
▪ Tatas
▪ Langkad
▪ Lekat

GOVERNMENT

● Barangay – unit of government which consisted of from 30 to 100 families and ruled by a
chieftain.
LAWS

● Customary Laws – were handed down orally from generation to generation and constituted the
bulk of the laws of the barangay.
● Written Laws – those that the chieftain and his elders promulgated from time to time as
necessity arose.
● Criminal Laws – dealt with felonies, or major and minor crimes.

How a law was made

Chieftain of barangay

Elders (for approval)

after approval:

Public announcer
umalohokan

Judicial Process
Chieftain- "Judge"
Elders- "Jury"
More witness, the winner

Trial by Ordeal
⚫ Filipino practice trial of ordeal under certain circumstances.
Ifugao:
▶ Combat was common
- wrestling called 'bultóng'
- alaw

Religious Beliefs
⚫Immortality of the soul
⚫Life after death
Deity- Bathalang Maykapal
Bathala=Dios

God of Agriculture : Idiyanale

God of death : Sidapa
Rainbow God : Balangaw
War God : Mandarangan
Fire God : Agni
God of the other world : Magwayen
Goddess of harvest : Lalahon
God of hell : Siginarugan
God of Love : Diyan Masalanta
⚫Disease and illness was attributed to the temper of the environmental spirits of the dead
relatives.
- Blue bird called "tigmamanukin"
- crow
- Idols; called anito in tagalog and diwata in Visayan
-they offer sacrifices to either good or bad anitos: to the good, in order to win their goodwill, and
to the bad in order to plavate their anger. Sacrifices are performed by priests 0r priestesses called
baylana or katalona.

Burial
⚫ Filipinos are very respectful of their dead. The deceased relative was placed in a wooden
coffin and burried under the house, complete with cloth, gold and other valuable things.
⚫ Filipinos in Luzon, relatives of the dead wore white shirts or skirts. Among the other tribes in
Luzon and Mindanao, the relatives showed their deep mourning by going berserk. Sometimes
they wore rattan bands around their arms, legs and necks. Usually, the mourning relatives
abstained from eating meat amd drinking wine.
▶Ancient distinguished mourning for a woman from that of a man.
- For woman, it is called morotal
- For man, it is called maglahi
-mourning for the dead chief is called "laraw", the higher the rank of the deceased and more
drinking and eating there was.
Fasting= sipa
Avenging the death= balata
Ninth night= 'pasiyam', activities made like stageplay called tibawan, and the play so staged is
called tibaw.

Divination and Magic Charms

-Ancient Filipinos interpreted signs in nature as a good or bad omens depending upon the
circumstances.
-Black magic and sorcerers like asuwang, known among Europeans as Poltergeist. The
mangkukulam, manggagaway, the tiyanak, and the tikbalang.
- Magic charms like:
Anting-anting or agimat- insured a man against dangers.
Gayuma- made a man lovable to all ladies.
Odom- similar to the Tagalog tagabulag, made the bicolano invisible.
Wiga- in Tagalog, Sagabe, could make the possessor of this charm walk in a storm or swim in a
river without getting wet.
Tagahupa (Bicolano)- was mixed in a drink and made the unfortunate drinker a sort of vassal to
the man with the magic potion.

Economic life
-Agriculture was the main source of livelihood
-Sabong was not of Spanish Origin.
- Land rent
Other industries:
- Poultry
- Stock-raising
- Fishing
- Mining
- Lumbering
- Shipbuilding
- Weaving
There was foreign trade too, with China, Japan, Siam, Cambodia, Borne, Sumatra, Javra and
other islands of the old Malaysia.
A Spanish document of 1586 noted that the Fiipinos were "keen traders and have traded with
China for many years, and before the advent of the Spaniards they sailed to Moluco (Mollucas),
Malacca, Hazian ( Ache), Parami, Burnei (Borneo), and other kingdoms", These business
transactions are made through Barter System.

CHAPTER 4: PRE-COLONIAL CULTURE

Language – there are more than a hundred languages and dialects in the Philippines.

8 Major Languages in the Philippines

1. Tagalog
2. Iloko
3. Pangasinan
4. Pampangan
5. Sugbuhanon
6. Hiligaynon
7. Samarnon or Samar-Leyte
8. Maguindanao

A comparative study of some of the Philippine languages and Primitive Austronesian shows that
the former were derived from the latter.

Primitive National Iloko Sugbuhanon English

Austronesian Language
Ama amá amá amá Father
Babaji Babae Babae Babae Female
Hat’ang Bagáng Bagáng Bagáng Molar
Valuh waló waló walú eight

Among the Philippine languages, Tagalog and Pampangan show a cloe affinity to the Malay
language, whether Bahasa Indonesia or that of Malaya. An enumeration of some Malay and
Tagalog words shows affinity:
Malay Tagalog English
Abu Abó Ash
Aku Akó I
Babi Baboy Pig
Bacha Basa read

System of Writing – Foreign students of the Philippine languages are practically unanimous
in considering Tagalog the richest among them.

Father Pedro Chirino said to the Filipinos: “I found in this language (Tagalog) four qualities of
the four greatest languages in the world.
1. Hebrew- mysticism and difficulties
2. Greek - distinctive terms, not only in the common but also in the proper name
3. Latin - fullness and elegance
4. Spanish - civility and courtesy
The Filipinos before the arrival of the Spaniards had a syllabary which was probably of Sanskrit
or the Arabic provenance. The syllabary consisted of seventeen (17) symbols, or which three
were vowels standing for the present five (5) vowels and fourteen (14) consonants.

Literature – The literature of the early Filipinos may be classified into floating or oral
literature and written literature. The literature of the Tagalog consisted of the ff:

• Sabi (Maxim)
• Sawikain (Saying)
• Bugtong (Riddle)
• Suliranin and Indulanin (Street songs)
• Talindaw (Boat songs)
• Diyuna (Song of Reverly)
• Kumintang (War song which evolve into a love song)
• Dalit and Umbay (Dirge)
• Tagumpay, Balikungkong, Dupayinin, Hiliraw (War song)
• Uyayi and Hele (Lullabies)
• Ihiman (Bridal Song)
• Tagulaylay (Mournful Song)
• Tigpasin (Rowing Song)
• Tingad ( Household Song)
• Kutang-kutang (Couplets usually chanted by the blind)
• Kundiman
• Kutang-kutang – Humorous and shows the light-heartedness of the singer
 The latter was written in verse, and maxims and proverbs were employed profusely. The plays
were staged in open spaces, in the houses of the nobles and in place of worship or sambahan.
As they were staged on different occasions, and consequently developed into Pagbati,
Karagatan developed into the Duplo (Spanish time) in turn, developed in Balagtasan
(American regime) in 1924; Tagayan, Pananapatan, Sabalan and Tibaw

Although by nature lrical, The Filipinos also wrote sustained poetry. They wrote folk epics
which to date number no less than twenty.

1. Hudhud (Ifugao) – glorifies Ifugao history, and the story centering around the hero
Aliguyon. Portions of Hudhud were usually sung during wedding feasts and on other
festive occasions.
2. Alim (Ifugao) – resembles the Indian epic Ramayana.
3. Biag ni Lam-ang (The life of Lam-ang) from Ilocanos, whose origins dated from pre-
spanish period
Muslim had several epics which are:
4. Bantugan
5. Idarapatra at Sulayman
6. Bidasari

Music, Dance and Art

Cebu Percussion Instruments

*Timbal
*Timbrel
*Cymbal
*a kind of drum

Much later in 1543, Bernardo de la Torre, one of Villalobos' officers attended a dance in
Samar and saw a stringed instrument known as the kudyapi, a kind of small guitar.

Negritos of Bataan and Zambales favorite musical instruments

*Jew's harp made of bamboo
*Bansic made of mountain cane with four holes
*Bamboo violin with abaca strings
*Gangsa a sort of guitar
Negritos Favorite Dance
*Potato Dance- in which a man represented as stealing sweet potatoes in the field.
*Duel Dance - represented by a pair of warriors staging a fight with bolos, bows and arrows.
*Lover's Dance - in which a man dance around a woman who kept her feet in time of music.

Bontok Igorots of Northern Luzon's Musical instruments

*Jew's harp made of bamboo or brass- a bamboo flute
*Gangsa- an instrument struck with a skin covered drumstick

Bontok Igorots sang and danced to the tune of their

*Mang-ay-u-weng - a laborer's song
*Mang-ay-yeng
*Mang-ay-lu-kay
*The Ting-aw

Tagbanuas of Palawan musical instruments

*Jew's harp- the drum with shark skin heads
*The bamboo flute
*The guitar with abaca strings and brass gongs

Macasla- their favorite dance performed during the macasla festival

Ilocanos musical instruments

*Kutibeng- a sort of guitar with fire strings
* The flute
*Kudyapi

Ilocanos favorite dance

*Kinnotan or ants dance- in which a group of dancers gesticulated towards a person being
attacked by ants and made a motion of scratching a man.
*Kinnallogong- show a man and woman facing each other with a man remaining stationary
and the woman singing and dancing toward him.

Visayans musical instruments

*drums
*Timbrel
*a violin like instrument with metallic strings and a sort of flageolet

Visayans Dance
*Balitaw- a man and woman facing each other singing a love ditty.
*Dandansoy

Among Tagalogs Music and Dance

*Balatong
*Dalit
*hiliraw
*Kutang-kutang
*Lulay
*Indulanin
*Kumintang
*Salampati
*Tagulaylay
*Subli
*Barimbaw
*Tagayan

Tinguians instruments
*Kalaleng- it was a nose flute and used by a young man in serenading his lady love.
*Diwdiw-as - a panpipe musical instrument made of fire or seven bamboo reeds.

Art
New stone Age - the primitive inhabitants began to show signs of artistic improvement in the
form of beads, amulets, bracelets and other body ornaments made of green jade, red
cornelian and other attractive stone.
Broze Age- implements were manufactured in broze and shape and sizes improved
considerably. Bello, drums, and gongs made of bronze indicate the independent of such
social arts as dancing and music.
Early Iron Age- the artistic variety of the ancient Filipinos reached its apogee. Ornaments
with different forms and sizes began to appear burnening the body not only with rings,
bracelets, armlets, strings of breads and headbands but also with tattoos of various designs.