REPORT INDIGENOUS

DIFFERENT THEORIES OF THE PEOPLING OF THE PHILIPPINES

Good morning, everyone. Today is Thursday I’m your reporter for today. My name is
Ronibe B. Malingin and I’m a 2nd-year student taking the course of Bsed- Social
Studies. Today, I will discuss my assigned topic, which is the peopling of the
Philippines.

In today’s lesson our objectives are:

 Explain the different theories of the peopling of the Philippines.
 Participates in class discussions

So, before we start our topic, let’s have a game first. A series of questions will pop out,
and you need to answer them. Anyway, the questions are simple because this game is
a scrambled words but with a twist. We have a comment section here and if I said type
letter A or number 5, you need to comment on letter A or number 5. Kung sino yung last
na mag comment siya ang mag answer. Okay? Hahah pabilisan ng pag type. So Let’s
start!
Type number 5. So for your first question.
 They are considered the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines . They are
located in isolated regions along the foothills of Mount Pinatubo in the
Zambales Range in the province of Pampanga. – AETA Negrito. Dapat
Type big letter Q. So for your 2nd question
 They were the first immigrants to reach the Philippines by sea. -INDONESIAN
Type number 8. So for your 3rd question
 It was the first wooden boat that was excavated in Southeast Asia. These boats
were instrumental in the settlement of Austronesian peoples in the Philippines
and the Malay archipelago. - BALANGAY
Type small letter a. So for your 4th question
A prehistoric or primitive human living in caves. – CAVEMAN
Type number 7. So for your 5th questions
What country am I? I am an 11 letter word.123456 is a common name, 456 is a part of
the face, 7891011 is a type of plant.-PHILIPPINES
So, thank you for your participating guys, so now let’s go to our lesson. Again our
lesson for today is about Peopling of the Philippines.
So, let’s define first What is peopling?
 According to findwords.com, peopling means “To stock with people or
inhabitants; to fill as with people; to populate.”
 A body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition or sense of
kinship, that are typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and
that often constitute a politically organized group(Merriam-Webster
Dictionary©2011)

So, in Philippine prehistory, peopling was a controversial topic within the disciplines of

anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics up to this day. There is a variety of
data that has been sifted through to come up with several theories on how this
archipelago, as well as its neighboring set of islands, was colonized by the human
species thousands of years ago. So today, we will discuss different theories about the
peopling of the Philippines. These theories are the Austronesian Theory, the Migration
Theory, and the Evolution Theory. These theories will be discussed individually, so let’s
start!

AUSTRONESIAN THEORY OF PETER BELLWOOD

The Austronesian theory was proposed by Peter Bellwood. 
WHO IS PETER BELLWOOD?
 Peter Stafford Bellwood is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology in the School of
Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University (ANU) in
Canberra.
According to him…
AUSTRONESIAN THEORY
 According to the Austronesian Theory, the Philippines’ growth is the result of a
group of Asians known as the Austronesian. These Austronesian people are from
Southern China. They travelled to Taiwan and entered the Philippines with the
use of balangay (small boat). The balangay was the first wooden boat that was
excavated in Southeast Asia. These boats were instrumental in the settlement of
Austronesian peoples in the Philippines and the Malay archipelago. 
In order to expound these, ang Austronesian Theory ay nangaling Kay Peter Bellwood
at sinasabi dito sa kanyang theorya na ang mga Austronesian ay mga taong nangaling
sa Asya. Ang mga Austronesian ay nagmula din ito timog china, then pumunta sila
Taiwan. Haggang sa naglakbay sila sa Pilipinas with the use of balangay(boat). Nang
nakapunta na sila dito sa Pilipinas they populated the archipelago of the Philippines
thousand years ago.

WHILHELM SOLHEIM’S NUSANTAO HYPOTHESIS

Who is Wilhelm Solheim and what is Wilhelm Solheim’s Nusantao Hypothesis?

Who is Wilhelm Solheim?

 He was an American anthropologist recognized as the most senior practitioner of
archaeology in Southeast Asia, and as a pioneer in the study of Philippine and
Southeast Asian prehistoric archaeology.

Wilhelm Solheim’s Nusantao Hypothesis

 Wilhelm Solheim’s Nusantao hypothesis was an alternative theory that focused
on the maritime nature of the people of the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
 The cradle or “homeland” of these Austronesian-speaking peoples was not in
Taiwan or Southern China, but rather in the Sulu and Celebes Sea areas.
 He thought of them as Nusantao, and they’d be similar to indigenous groups like
the Badjao and Samal, who are still seafaring.
To expound these explanation, So, In the Wilhelm Solheim’s Nusantao hypothesis,
he actually disputes the Theory of Bellwood. He called Austronesian as Nusantao.
These Nusantao ay nanggaling daw sa Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea sila at namuhay
through balangay (boat). Hindi daw nagmula ang mga Austronesian or Nusantao sa
timog china.
He also states that these Nusantao would probably be similar to the indigenous
groups like the Badajo and Samal.

WAVES OF MIGRATION THEORY OF HENRY OTLEY BEYER

Actually, these theory have been taught (and continue to be) at elementary levels as
one of the first lessons in basic Philippine history, and I know you will be familiar with
these Migration Theory.

Who is Henry Otley Beyer?

 He is actually an anthropologist known for founding member of the Anthropology
Department at the University of the Philippines in 1914. He is known as the
Father of Philippine Anthropology.
 He believes that Filipinos descended from different groups that came from
Southeast Asia in successive waves of migration. Each group had distinct culture
with its own customs and traditions.
So, ano kaya tong different groups ang tinutukoy ni Beyer? So let’s go to the Migration
Theory of Henry Otley Beyer. Beyer’s popular theory suggests that the ancestors of
modern Filipinos traveled to the archipelago in different “waves of migration”.
NEGRITOS
 The first immigrants was composed of dark-skinned people with black and kinky
hair, a flat nose and thick lips, but with well proportioned bodies, called Negritos,
who crossed the land bridge from Malaya, Borneo, and Australia until they
reached Palawan, Mindoro, and Mindanao.
To expound this, Ang mga negrito ang unang nakarating at nanirahan sa Pilipinas.
Naglakad sila mula sa Malaya, Borneo, at Australia Hanggang nakarating sila sa
Palawan, Mindoro, and Mindanao gamit ang tulay na lupa noon ng Pilipinas at Asya.
Kasi nga diba dati hindi pa magkahiwalay ang ibang bansa.
 Aslo, They were pygmies (small people) who went around practically naked and
they are good in hunting, fishing and food gathering. They used spears and small
flint stone weapons.
 They’re are nomadic in nature.

When we say Nomadic these are people in a communities who move from one place to
another, rather than settling permanently in one location. Actually, when the land
bridges disappeared due to the thinning of the ice glacers (pagnipis ng mga ice glacier)
and the subsequent increase in sea water level (pagtaas sa antas ng tubig sa dagat).
These natural events forced them na manatili dito sa Pilipinas and become it’s first
permanent inhabitants.
INDONESIAN
Because of the disappearance of the land bridges, the third wave of migrants was
necessarily skilled in seafaring.
 These were the Indonesians who arrived by boat on the island.
  They were more advanced than Negritos.
Because they had tools made out of stone and steel which enabled them to build
sturdier(matibay) houses. They engaged mining and farming and used materials made
of brass (tanso).
MALAY
 The Malay people were the last to arrive in the Philippine using the  boats.
 They were believed to have come from Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay
peninsula more than 2,000 years ago.
Like the Indonesians, they also traveled in boats. They were brown- skinned and of
medium height, with straight black hair , brown pigmentation , dark eye, and flat noses,
Their technology was said to be more advanced. They engaged in farming
(introduction of the irrigation system in rice planting), pottery, weaving, jewelry-making
and metal-smelting, building of houses from trees
So, we are done with the Wave Migration Theory of Beyer. Again, according to his
theory, he believes that Filipinos descended from different groups that came from
Southeast Asia in successive waves of migration. The first immigrant is the Caveman,
the second is the Negritos or Aetas, the third is Indonesian, and lastly, Malay. So now
let’s go to the last Theory which the Evolution Theory of Jocano.

EVOLUTION THEORY OF FELIPE LANDA

Who is Felipe Landa Jocano
 Felipe Landa Jocano, Professor Emeritus, is one of the country’s foremost
anthropologists. He was a former student of Otley Beyer. Also, he disproved the
Waves of Migration theory of Beyer.

Evolution Theory of Jocano

 According to his theory, it is difficult to prove that Negritoes were the first
inhabitants of this country. The only thing that can be positively concluded from
fossil evidence. He says that the first men who came to the Philippines also went
to New Guinea, Java, Borneo, and Australia.
To expound this theory, Ayon Kay Joccano it is difficult to prove that Negritoes were the
first inhabitants of this country. Para sa kanya may mga taong nag evolve na daw
Pilipinas. That’s why in 1962, may tagpuan na skullcap and a portion of a jaw—
presumed to be of human origin—were found in the Tabon Caves of Palawan by
archaeologists Robert Fox and Manuel Santiago. Sinasabing nabuhay ito 28,000 ,
7,000 or 5,000 BC. Ngunit sa pagsusuri nag experto Hindi pala ito lalaki kundi isang
babae.
So based again ni Jocano, there weren’t actually particularly clear or distinct ‘waves’ of
migration taking place in the Philippines. Instead, he suggested that may mga taong
nag evolve na daw Pilipinas. At magpapatibay sa origin ng tao dito sa Pilipinas ay ang
mga fossils ng Taong Tabon na nakita sa palawan

References
Jaimee Manio. (n.d.). PEOPLING OF THE PHILIPPINES HAU A-131 [Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Kurw4ZvIUMg
Philippine History. (2020, January 11). The first Filipinos. Philippine History | Filipino
History. https://www.philippine-history.org/early-filipinos.htm
Xiao Chua. (2020, May 29). Xiao time: Austronesians, ang Pinagmulan Ng Lahi at
Kulturang Pilipino [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/331I3Uw2pAE

True or False.
Directions. Write T if the statement is TRUE, and write F if otherwise. Write the letter
of your answer on the blank provided at the left side.

_____1.There were three groups of people who first came to the Philippines according
to Henry Otley Beyer.
_____2.According to Wilhelm Solheim, it is difficult to prove that Negritoes were the first
inhabitants of this country.
_____3. Austronesian people are from Southern China, and they traveled to Taiwan
and entered the Philippines with the use of bangay.
_____4.According to Waves of Migration Theory, the Negritos, Indonesians, and Malays
were the three groups who first came to the Philippines.
_____5. Austronesian-speaking peoples were not in the Sulu and the Celebes Sea, but
rather in Taiwan and Southern China, based on Wilhelm Solheim’s Nusantao
Hypothesis.
Multiple Choice.
Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer and write it on the blank provided at
the left side.
_____1.Who were the first immigrants, according to the Waves of Migration Theory?
_____2.Who was a former student of Otley Beyer and did he disprove the Waves of
Migration theory?
_____3.What was the first wooden boat that was excavated in Southeast Asia?
_____4.What indigenous groups are similar to Nusantao based on Wilhelm Solheim’s
Nusantao Hypothesis?
_____5.Who were the last people to arrive in the Philippines using boats?