QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, Quirino
3401

www.qsu.edu.ph

Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected Primary Sources

Competenci 1. Analyze the content, context, and perspective of the document;

es 2. Explain the relationship among the members of a barangay;
3. Discuss the religious and spiritual practices and beliefs of early
Filipinos; and
4. Explain the importance of Pigafetta’s account on the study of
Philippine history.
I. Excerpts from Customs of the Tagalogs (Fray Juan de Plasencia)

A. Historical Context
During the first century of Spanish rule, the colonial government had difficulty in
running local politics because of the limited number of Spaniards who wanted to live
outside of Intramuros. This situation forced Spanish officials to allow Filipinos to hold
the position of gobernadorcillo. Ensuring the loyalty of the gobernadorcillos, the friars
ended up performing the administrative duties that colonial officials should have
been doing at the local level. Soon after, they became the most knowledgeable and
influential figure in the pueblo. Most of what we know about Philippine history
during the first century of the Spanish period were derived from the accounts of the
Spanish friars.

B. About the Author

Joan de Portocarrero (his real name) was a member of the Franciscan Order who
came together with the first batch of missionaries to the Philippines on 1578. He
and Franciscan Fray Diego de Oropesa, were assigned to do mission works in the
Southern Tagalog area. Due to his continuous interaction with the people he
converted to Christianity, it enabled him to write a work titled Relacion de las
Costumbres de Los Tagalogs where he vividly described the political, social,
economic, and cultural practices of the Filipinos before they were Christianized.

C. Customs of the Tagalogs

This people always had chiefs, called by them datos, who governed them and were
captains in their wars, and whom they obeyed and reverenced. The subject who
committed any offense against them, or spoke but a word to their wives and
children, was severely punished.

These chiefs ruled over but few people; sometimes as many as a hundred houses,
sometimes even less than thirty. This tribal gathering is called in Tagalog a barangay.
It was inferred that the reason for giving themselves this name arose from the fact (as
they are classed, by their language, among the Malay nations) that when they came
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to this land, the head of the barangay, which is a boat, thus called—as is discussed
at length in the first chapter of the first ten chapters—became a dato. And so, even at
the present day, it is ascertained that this barangay in its origin was a family of
parents and children, relations and slaves. There were many of these barangays in
each town, or, at least, on account of wars, they did not settle far from one another.
They were not, however, subject to one another, except in friendship and relationship.
The chiefs, in their various wars, helped one another with their respective barangays.

In addition to the chiefs, who corresponded to our knights, there were three
castes: nobles, commoners, and slaves. The nobles were the free-born whom they call
maharlica. They did not pay tax or tribute to the dato, but must accompany him in
war, at their own expense. The chief offered them beforehand a feast, and afterward
they divided the spoils. Moreover, when the dato went upon the water those whom he
summoned rowed for him. If he built a house, they helped him, and had to be fed for it.
The same was true when the whole barangay went to clear up his lands for tillage. The
lands which they inhabited were divided among the whole barangay, especially the
irrigated portion, and thus each one knew his own. No one belonging to another
barangay would cultivate them unless after purchase or inheritance. The lands on the
tingues, or mountain-ridges, are not divided, but owned in common by the barangay.
Consequently, at the time of the rice harvest, any individual of any particular
barangay, although he may have come from some other village, if he commences to
clear any land may sow it, and no one can compel him to abandon it. There are some
villages (as, for example, Pila de la Laguna) in which these nobles, or maharlicas,
paid annually to the dato a hundred gantas of rice. The reason of this was that,
at the time of their settlement there, another chief occupied the lands, which the
new chief, upon his arrival, bought with his own gold; and therefore the members of
his barangay paid him for the arable land, and he divided it, among those whom he
saw fit to reward. But now, since the advent of the Spaniards, it is not so divided.

The chiefs in some villages had also fisheries, with established limits, and
sections of the rivers for markets. At this no one could fish, or trade in the markets,
without paying for the privilege, unless he belonged to the chief's barangay or village.

The commoners are called aliping namamahay. They are married, and serve their
master, whether he be a dato or not, with half of their cultivated lands, as was agreed
upon in the beginning. They accompanied him whenever he went beyond the island,
and rowed for him. They live in their own houses, and are lords of their property and
gold. Their children inherit it, and enjoy their property and lands. The children, then,
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enjoy the rank of their fathers, and they cannot be made slaves (sa guiguilir) nor can
either parents or children be sold. If they should fall by inheritance into the hands of
a son of their master who was going to dwell in another village, they could not be
taken from their own village and carried with him; but they would remain in their
native village, doing service there and cultivating the sowed lands.

The slaves are called aliping sa guiguilir. They serve their master in his house and on
his cultivated lands, and may be sold. The master grants them, should he see fit,
and providing that he has profited through their industry, a portion of their harvests,
so that they may work faithfully. For these reasons, servants who are born in the
house of their master are rarely, if ever, sold. That is the lot of captives in war, and of
those brought up in the harvest fields.

If there should not be more than one child he was half free and half slave. The only
question here concerned the division, whether the child were male or female. Those
who became slaves fell under the category of servitude which was their parent's, either
namamahay or sa guiguilir. If there were an odd number of children, the odd one was
half free and half slave. I have not been able to ascertain with any certainty when or
at what age the division of children was made, for each one suited himself in this
respect. Of these two kinds of slaves the sa guiguilir could be sold, but not the
namamahay and their children, nor could they be transferred. However, they could
be transferred from the barangay by inheritance, provided they remained in the same
village.

The maharlicas could not, after marriage, move from one village to another, or
from one barangay to another, without paying a certain fine in gold, as arranged
among them. This fine was larger or smaller according to the inclination of the
different villages, running from one to three taels and a banquet to the entire
barangay. Failure to pay the fine might result in a war between the barangay which
the person left and the one which he entered. This applied equally to men and
women, except that when one married a woman of another village, the children were
afterwards divided equally between the two barangays. This arrangement kept them
obedient to the dato, or chief, which is no longer the case—because, if the dato is
energetic and commands what the religious fathers enjoin him, they soon leave him
and go to other villages and other datos, who endure and protect them and do not
order them about. This is the kind of dato that they now prefer, not him who has the
spirit to command. There is a great need of reform in this, for the chiefs are spiritless
and faint-hearted.

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Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place in the
presence of those of his barangay. If any of the litigants felt himself aggrieved, an arbiter
was unanimously named from another village or barangay, whether he was a dato or
not; since they had for this purpose some persons, known as fair and just men, who
were said to give true judgment according to their customs. If the controversy lay
between two chiefs, when they wished to avoid war, they also convoked judges to act as
arbiters; they did the same if the disputants belonged to two different barangays. In this
ceremony they always had to drink, the plaintiff inviting the others.

They had laws by which they condemned to death a man of low birth who insulted
the daughter or wife of a chief; likewise witches, and others of the same class.

They condemned no one to slavery, unless he merited the death- penalty. As for
the witches, they killed them, and their children and accomplices became slaves of
the chief, after he had made some recompense to the injured person. All other
offenses were punished by fines in gold, which, if not paid with promptness, exposed
the culprit to serve, until the payment should be made, the person aggrieved, to
whom the money was to be paid.

This was done in the following way: Half the cultivated lands and all their
produce belonged to the master. The master provided the culprit with food and
clothing, thus enslaving the culprit and his children until such time as he might
amass enough money to pay the fine. If the father should by chance pay his debt, the
master then claimed that he had fed and clothed his children, and should be paid
therefor. In this way he kept possession of the children if the payment could not be
met. This last was usually the case, and they remained slaves. If the culprit had some
relative or friend who paid for him, he was obliged to render the latter half his service
until he was paid—not, however, service within the house as aliping sa guiguilid, but
living independently, as aliping namamahay. If the creditor were not served in this
wise, the culprit had to pay the double of what was lent him. In this way slaves were
made by debt: either sa guiguilid, if they served the master to whom the judgment
applied; or aliping namamahay, if they served the person who lent them wherewith to
pay.

In what concerns loans, there was formerly, and is today, an excess of usury,
which is a great hindrance to baptism as well as to confession; for it turns out in
the same way as I have showed in the case of the one under judgment, who gives half
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DIFFUN CAMPUS
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3401

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of his cultivated lands and profits until he pays the debt. The debtor is condemned to
a life of toil; and thus borrowers become slaves, and after the death of the father the
children pay the debt. Not doing so, double the amount must be paid. This system
should and can be reformed.

As for inheritances, the legitimate children of a father and mother inherited

equally, except in the case where the father and mother showed a slight partiality by
such gifts as two or three gold taels, or perhaps a jewel.

When the parents gave a dowry to any son, and, when, in order to marry him to
a chief's daughter, the dowry was greater than the sum given the other sons, the
excess was not counted in the whole property to be divided. But any other thing
that should have been given to any son, though it might be for some necessity, was
taken into consideration at the time of the partition of the property, unless the parents
should declare that such a bestowal was made outside of the inheritance. If one had had
children by two or more legitimate wives, each child received the inheritance and
dowry of his mother, with its increase, and that share of his father's estate which fell
to him out of the whole. If a man had a child by one of his slaves, as well as legitimate
children, the former had no share in the inheritance; but the legitimate children were
bound to free the mother, and to give him something—a tael or a slave, if the father
were a chief; or if, finally, anything else were given it was by the unanimous consent of
all. If besides his legitimate children, he had also some son by a free unmarried
woman, to whom a dowry was given but who was not considered as a real wife, all these
were classed as natural children, although the child by the unmarried woman
should have been begotten after his marriage. Such children did not inherit equally with
the legitimate children, but only the third part. For example, if there were two children,
the legitimate one had two parts, and the one of the inaasava one part.

When there were no children by a legitimate wife, but only children by an unmarried
woman, or inaasava, the latter inherited all. If he had a child by a slave woman, that
child received his share as above stated. If there were no legitimate or natural child,
or a child by an inaasava, whether there was a son of a slave woman or not, the
inheritance went only to the father or grandparents, brothers, or nearest relatives of
the deceased, who gave to the slave-child as above stated.

In the case of a child by a free married woman, born while she was married, if
the husband punished the adulterer this was considered a dowry; and the child
entered with the others into partition in the inheritance. His share equaled the part

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left by the father, nothing more. If there were no other sons than he, the children and
the nearest relatives inherited equally with him. But if the adulterer were not
punished by the husband of the woman who had the child, the latter was not
considered as his child, nor did he inherit anything. It should be noticed that the
offender was not considered dishonored by the punishment inflicted, nor did the
husband leave the woman. By the punishment of the father the child was fittingly
made legitimate.

Adopted children, of whom there are many among them, inherit the double of what
was paid for their adoption. For example, if one gold tael was given that he might be
adopted when the first father died, the child was given [in inheritance] two taels. But if
this child should die first, his children do not inherit from the second father, for the
arrangement stops at that point.

This is the danger to which his money is exposed, as well as his being protected
as a child. On this account this manner of adoption common among them is
considered lawful.

Dowries are given by the men to the women's parents. If the latter are living, they
enjoy the use of it. At their death, provided the dowry has not been consumed, it is
divided like the rest of the estate, equally among the children, except in case the father
should care to bestow something additional upon the daughter. If the wife, at the time
of her marriage, has neither father, mother, nor grandparents, she enjoys her dowry—
which, in such a case, belongs to no other relative or child. It should be noticed that
unmarried women can own no property, in land or dowry, for the result of all their labors
accrues to their parents.

In the case of a divorce before the birth of children, if the wife left the husband
for the purpose of marrying another, all her dowry and an equal additional amount
fell to the husband; but if she left him, and did not marry another, the dowry was
returned. When the husband left his wife, he lost the half of the dowry, and the other
half was returned to him. If he possessed children at the time of his divorce, the
whole dowry and the fine went to the children, and was held for them by their
grandparents or other responsible relatives.

I have also seen another practice in two villages. In one case, upon the death of the
wife who in a year's time had borne no children, the parents returned one-half the dowry
to the husband whose wife had died.

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 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
DIFFUN CAMPUS
Diffun, Quirino
3401

www.qsu.edu.ph

In the other case, upon the death of the husband, one-half the dowry was
returned to the relatives of the husband. I have ascertained that this is not a general
practice; for upon inquiry I learned that when this is done it is done through piety,
and that all do not do it.

In the matter of marriage dowries which fathers bestow upon their sons when
they are about to be married, and half of which is given immediately, even when they
are only children, there is a great deal more complexity. There is a fine stipulated in
the contract, that he who violates it shall pay a certain sum which varies according to
the practice of the village and the affluence of the individual. The fine was heaviest if,
upon the death of the parents, the son or daughter should be unwilling to marry
because it had been arranged by his or her parents. In this case the dowry which the
parents had received was returned and nothing more. But if the parents were living,
they paid the fine, because it was assumed that it had been their design to separate
the children.

The above is what I have been able to ascertain clearly concerning customs
observed among these natives in all this Laguna and the tingues, and among the
entire Tagalo race. The old men say that a dato who did anything contrary to this
would not be esteemed; and, in relating tyrannies which they had committed, some
condemned them and adjudged them wicked.

Others, perchance, may offer a more extended narrative, but leaving aside
irrelevant matters concerning government and justice among them, a summary of the
whole truth is contained in the above. I am sending the account in this clear and
concise form because I had received no orders to pursue the work further. Whatever
may be decided upon, it is certainly important that it should be given to the alcal-
des-mayor, accompanied by an explanation; for the absurdities which are to be found
in their opinions are indeed pitiable.

May our Lord bestow upon your Lordship His grace and spirit, so that in every
step good fortune may be yours; and upon every occasion may your Lordship deign to
consider me your humble servant, to be which would be the greatest satisfaction and
favor that I could receive. Nagcarlán, October
21, 1589.

References Torres, J. (2018) “Batis: Sources in Philippine History”

Candelaria, JL., Alporha, V. (2018) “Readings in Philippine
History”, First Edition
Halili, MC. (2004) “Philippine History”, First Edition

VISION MISSION
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and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”