Las Costumbres de Los

Indios Tagalos en Filipinas

by: Juan de Plasencia, O.S.F.

©quintojeizellemariet
 Juan de Plasencia O.S.F.

● A Spanish priest of the Franciscan Order, he spent

A in
most of his missionary life Venetian scholar and explorer
the Philippines

● He & Fray Diego de Oropresa founded and

organized numerous towns in Quezon, Laguna,
Rizal and Bulacan.

● His continuous interaction with the people he

converted to Christianity enabled him to write a
book entitled Relacion de las Costumbres de Los
Tagalos (Customs of the Tagalogs, 1589).
 Juan de Plasencia O.S.F.
Customs of the Tagalogs, 1589
A Venetian
● It vividly describes the political, scholar
social, and explorer
economic
and cultural practices of the Filipinos before they
were Christianized.

Doctrina Christiana en Lengua Espanola Y Tagala,

1593
● the first printed book in the Philippines

● He used it as reading material for those Filipinos who

wanted to deepen their faith in the newly accepted
religion.
CONTEXT
ANALYSIS

©quintojeizellemariet
● During the first century of
Spanish rule, colonial A Venetian scholar and explorer
officials had the hard time
running local politics
because of the limited
number of Spaniards who
wanted to live outside
Intramuros.

● This situation forced them to

allow Filipinos to hold the
position of gobernadorcillo.
A Venetian scholar and explorer
● To ensure that they would remain loyal
to the Crown, they instructed the friars
assigned in the parishes to supervise and
monitor the activities of the
gobernadorcillo.

● Hence, the friars ended up performing the

administrative duties that colonial officials
should have been doing in the local level.
● Some duties of friars assigned in mission
territories:

1. inform periodically their superiors of what

was going on in their respective
assignments.

2. report the number of natives they converted,

the people’s way of life, their socio-
economic situation and the problems they
encountered.

3. submit short letters, while others who were

keen observers and gifted writers wrote long
dispatches.
● It contains numerous informationthat
historians could use in reconstructing
the political and socio-cultural
history of the Tagalog region

● His work is a primary source because he

personally witnessed the events and
observations that he discussed in his
account.
Other Friar Accounts

● Miguel de Loarca wrote RELACIÓN DE

LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS (1582) described
the way of life of Filipinos living in
Western Visayas area.

● Antonio de Morga’s SUCESOS DE LAS

ISLAS FILIPINAS gives us a lot of
information about the state of the
Philippines at the latter part of the 16th
century.
Many of the what we know about Philippine history during the
first century of the Spanish period were derived from the
accounts of the Spanish friars
CONTENT
ANALYSIS

©quintojeizellemariet
 COMMUNITY
Barangay
● tribal gathering ruled by chiefs

● It is called a “barangay” because they

associate themselves with the “Malay” who
are one of the first people to arrive in the
Philippines through a boat in which they call
“barangay”.

● Some consisted of around 30-100 houses

● Barangays have some sort of diplomacy.

● They were all equal in status.

 GOVERNMENT
Datu
● the chief of the village

● he governed the people as captain even in

wars, was obeyed, and revered

● any subject who committed any offense

against him, or spoke to his wives and
children, were severely punished.
SOCIAL HIERARCHY

Maharlica - nobles

Aliping Namamahay
- commoners

Aliping Saguiguilir
- slaves
 SOCIAL HIERARCHY
Aliping Aliping
Maharlica Namamahay Saguiguilir
● People who are born ● They have their own ● They serve their
free properties but has to master in their
serve their own houses and lands
● Do not need to pay masters ● Can be sold off
taxes ● The master can
● Children belonging to
● Must accompany the this caste inherit the reward his/her slaves
datos in war status of their parents by giving them a
● Cannot be treated as portion of the harvest
a slave nor can be so that the slaves
sold off. would be faithful to
him/her
 SOCIAL HIERARCHY

Maharlica
● He would keep their status for a lifetime
however, this can be taken if he/she marries
a slave.

● In this case, the kids would be divided and

they would inherit the status of their mother
or father.
 PROPERTY
● The land area was divided among the
whole barangay, especially the irrigated
portions.

● No one from a different barangay could

cultivate land unless they inherit or buy
the land

● The lands on the mountain ridges, are not

divided but owned by the barangay as a
whole.

● At the time of rice harvest, any individual

(regardless of their barangay) that starts
to clear any land area may sow in it.
PROPERTY

● Fisheries of chiefs had

established limits, and sections of
the rivers for markets

● Unless you were a member of

the chief’s barangay, you had to
pay for the privilege of fishing or
selling in the chiefs’ fisheries
 MARRIAGE

● In the case of a divorce, if the wife

would leave her husband for the
sake of marrying another man, all
her belongings plus a certain
amount would be given to her
former husband

● If she chooses to leave and do not

have any plans to marry, then all
of her dowry will be returned to
her.
 MARRIAGE

● In the case of an adoption, the

children would receive double the
value of how much they were
bought to be adopted;

● Investigations and sentences for

the accused shall be presented
and read in front of the tribe.
 WORSHIP AND BELIEF

● There were no temples or sacred

places in which Filipinos would
worship

● The word simbahan means a

place to worship which is
constructed at a large house of the
chief where people of the tribe go
to celebrate festivals (aka pandot
or worship)

● They beat large and small drums

successively during the feast
which usually lasted four days
 WORSHIP AND BELIEF

buaya - crocodiles; were

respected by the Tagalogs due
to their fear of being harmed by
them; they offered a portion of
what they carried in their boats
to them
WORSHIP AND BELIEF
WORSHIP AND BELIEF
WORSHIP AND BELIEF
WORSHIP AND BELIEF
WORSHIP AND BELIEF
 ‘12 Priests of the Devil’
1. MANGAGAUAY- They pretend to heal
the sick in order to deceive others

2. MANYISALAT- They can cast remedies

to couples for them to abandon one
another

3. MANCOCOLAM- Can emit fire from

himself which cannot be extinguished

4. HOCLOBAN- Much more powerful than

a mangagauay in which they can kill
anyone without the use of any medicine.
They can also heal those who are ill.
 ‘12 Priests of the Devil’

5. CATOLONAN- Priest from a

people of rank; Officiates the offering
sacrifice for a feast and the food to
be eaten being offered to the devil

6. SILAGAN- They would tear out

and eat the liver of those they saw
were wearing white

Catolonans were the Tagalog

equivalent of Visayan babaylan
 ‘12 Priests of the Devil’

7. MAGTATANGAL- They would go out

at night without their heads and put it
back into their bodies before the sun rise

8. OSUANG- Tribesmen reported that

they saw the “osuang” who can fly and
murdered a man and ate his flesh..

9. MANGAGAYOMA- They would seduce

their partners with charms and other
accessories so they can deceive them.
 ‘12 Priests of the Devil’

10. SONAT- This devil helped people to die.

They can also know if the soul they helped
to die can either be saved or not.

11. PANGATAHOJAN- They can predict

the future.

12. BAYOGUIN- These are men who are in

the nature of a woman.
 ‘12 Priests of the Devil’

● Placencia’s referred to certain ‘devil-ish belief’s e.g. the

mangagauay and mangagayoma.

● He regarded them both as “witches” who performed

deceitful healing procedures, a judgment made by an
outsider who knew nothing about the complexity of
indigenous psyche.

● What he failed to realize is that in traditional cultures, these

so-called “evil” practices were an integral part of Filipino
folk beliefs
 SUPERSTITION

● They find omens in events they

witness (i.e. when someone sneezed,
met on their way a rat or serpent, or
the Tigmamanuguin bird sang they
would go home in fear that evil would
befall them if they ontinued their
journey)

● The Tigmamanuguin bird’s (a

blue bird as large as a turtle-dove)
song had two forms: a good omen,
and a bad omen.
 SUPERSTITION

● In burying the dead, the corpse

would be placed beside its house
and be mourned at for 4 days.

● It will then be laid on a boat which

serves as a coffin which is guarded
by a slave.

● The grief of the relatives of the

deceased is followed by eating
and drinking.
 HISTORICAL RELEVANCE

A very popular primary

source because it vividly
described the situation
of the Philippines before
it was tainted with
Spanish and Christian
influences.
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE

It preserved and popularized the

unwritten customs, traditions,
religious and superstitious
beliefs of the Filipinos.
 HISTORICAL RELEVANCE

Priests and missionaries

read Plasencia’s books
to get a lot of insights
that help and inspire
them to become
effective evangelizers.
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE

It disproves the claim of

some Spaniards that
when they arrived in the
Philippines, Filipinos
were still uncivilized and
lacking in culture.
©quintojeizellemariet