THE FILIPINO PEOPLE BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS.
Position of Tribes.--On the arrival of the Spaniards, the population
of the Philippines seems to have been distributed by tribes in much
the same manner as at present. Then, as now, the Bisaya occupied the
central islands of the archipelago and some of the northern coast of
Mindanao. The Bicol, Tagalog, and Pampango were in the same parts of
Luzon as we find them to-day. The Ilocano occupied the coastal plain
facing the China Sea, but since the arrival of the Spaniards they
have expanded considerably and their settlements are now numerous in
Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya, and the valley of the Cagayan.
The Number of People.--These tribes which to-day number nearly
7,000,000 souls, at the time of Magellan's discovery were, probably,
not more than 500,000. The first enumeration of the population made
by the Spaniards in 1591, and which included practically all of these
tribes, gives a population of less than 700,000. (See Chapter VIII.,
The Philippines Three Hundred Years Ago.)
There are other facts too that show us how sparse the population must
have been. The Spanish expeditions found many coasts and islands in
the Bisayan group without inhabitants. Occasionally a sail or a canoe
would be seen, and then these would disappear in some small "estero"
or mangrove swamp and the land seem as unpopulated as before. At
certain points, like Limasaua, Butuan, and Bohol, the natives were
more numerous, and Cebu was a large and thriving community; but the
Spaniards had nearly everywhere to search for settled places and
cultivated lands.
The sparsity of population is also well indicated by the great scarcity
of food. The Spaniards had much difficulty in securing sufficient
provisions. A small amount of rice, a pig and a few chickens,
were obtainable here and there, but the Filipinos had no large
supplies. After the settlement of Manila was made, a large part of
the food of the city was drawn from China. The very ease with which
the Spaniards marched where they willed and reduced the Filipinos
to obedience shows that the latter were weak in numbers. Laguna and
the Camarines seem to have been the most populous portions of the
archipelago. All of these things and others show that the Filipinos
were but a small fraction of their present number.
On the other hand, the Negritos seem to have been more numerous,
or at least more in evidence. They were immediately noticed on the
island of Negros, where at the present they are few and confined to
the interior; and in the vicinity of Manila and in Batangas, where they
are no longer found, they were mingling with the Tagalog population.
Conditions of Culture.--The culture of the various tribes, which
is now quite the same throughout the archipelago, presented some
differences. In the southern Bisayas, where the Spaniards first entered
the archipelago, there seem to have been two kinds of natives: the
hill dwellers, who lived in the interior of the islands in small
numbers, who wore garments of tree bark and who sometimes built
their houses in the trees; and the sea dwellers, who were very much
like the present day Moro tribes south of Mindanao, who are known as
the Samal, and who built their villages over the sea or on the shore
and lived much in boats. These were probably later arrivals than the
forest people. From both of these elements the Bisaya Filipinos are
descended, but while the coast people have been entirely absorbed,
some of the hill-folk are still pagan and uncivilized, and must be
very much as they were when the Spaniards first came.
The highest grade of culture was in the settlements where there was
regular trade with Borneo, Siam, and China, and especially about
Manila, where many Mohammedan Malays had colonies.
Languages of the Malayan Peoples.--With the exception of the Negrito,
all the languages of the Philippines belong to one great family,
which has been called the "Malayo-Polynesian." All are believed to
be derived from one very ancient mother-tongue. It is astonishing how
widely this Malayo-Polynesian speech has spread. Farthest east in the
Pacific there is the Polynesian, then in the groups of small islands,
known as Micronesian; then Melanesian or Papuan; the Malayan throughout
the East Indian archipelago, and to the north the languages of the
Philippines. But this is not all; for far westward on the coast of
Africa is the island of Madagascar, many of whose languages have no
connection with African but belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family. [6]
The Tagalog Language.--It should be a matter of great interest to
Filipinos that the great scientist, Baron William von Humboldt,
considered the Tagalog to be the richest and most perfect of all
the languages of the Malayo-Polynesian family, and perhaps the type
of them all. "It possesses," he said, "all the forms collectively
of which particular ones are found singly in other dialects; and it
has preserved them all with very trifling exceptions unbroken, and in
entire harmony and symmetry." The Spanish friars, on their arrival in
the Philippines, devoted themselves at once to learning the native
dialects and to the preparation of prayers and catechisms in these
native tongues. They were very successful in their studies. Father
Chirino tells us of one Jesuit who learned sufficient Tagalog in
seventy days to preach and hear confession. In this way the Bisayan,
the Tagalog, and the Ilocano were soon mastered.
In the light of the opinion of Von Humboldt, it is interesting to
find these early Spaniards pronouncing the Tagalog the most difficult
and the most admirable. "Of all of them," says Padre Chirino, "the
one which most pleased me and filled me with admiration was the
Tagalog. Because, as I said to the first archbishop, and afterwards
to other serious persons, both there and here, I found in it four
qualities of the four best languages of the world: Hebrew, Greek,
Latin, and Spanish; of the Hebrew, the mysteries and obscurities; of
the Greek, the articles and the precision not only of the appellative
but also of the proper nouns; of the Latin, the wealth and elegance;
and of the Spanish, the good breeding, politeness, and courtesy." [7]
An Early Connection with the Hindus.--The Malayan languages contain
also a considerable proportion of words borrowed from the Sanskrit,
and in this the Tagalog, Bisayan, and Ilocano are included. Whether
these words were passed along from one Malayan group to another,
or whether they were introduced by the actual presence and power of
the Hindu in this archipelago, may be fair ground for debate; but the
case for the latter position has been so well and brilliantly put by
Dr. Pardo de Tavera that his conclusions are here given in his own
words. "The words which Tagalog borrowed," he says, "are those which
signify intellectual acts, moral conceptions, emotions, superstitions,
names of deities, of planets, of numerals of high number, of botany,
of war and its results and consequences, and finally of titles and
dignities, some animals, instruments of industry, and the names
of money."
From the evidence of these works, Dr. Pardo argues for a period
in the early history of the Filipinos, not merely of commercial
intercourse, like that of the Chinese, but of Hindu political and
social domination. "I do not believe," he says, "and I base my opinion
on the same words that I have brought together in this vocabulary,
that the Hindus were here simply as merchants, but that they dominated
different parts of the archipelago, where to-day are spoken the
most cultured languages,--the Tagalo, the Visayan, the Pampanga,
and the Ilocano; and that the higher culture of these languages comes
precisely from the influence of the Hindu race over the Filipino."
The Hindus in the Philippines.--"It is impossible to believe that the
Hindus, if they came only as merchants, however great their number,
would have impressed themselves in such a way as to give to these
islanders the number and the kind of words which they did give. These
names of dignitaries, of caciques, of high functionaries of the court,
of noble ladies, indicate that all of these high positions with
names of Sanskrit origin were occupied at one time by men who spoke
that language. The words of a similar origin for objects of war,
fortresses, and battle-songs, for designating objects of religious
belief, for superstitions, emotions, feelings, industrial and farming
activities, show us clearly that the warfare, religion, literature,
industry, and agriculture were at one time in the hands of the Hindus,
and that this race was effectively dominant in the Philippines." [8]
Systems of Writing among the Filipinos.--When the Spaniards arrived in
the Philippines, the Filipinos were using systems of writing borrowed
from Hindu or Javanese sources. This matter is so interesting that
one can not do better than to quote in full Padre Chirino's account,
as he is the first of the Spanish writers to mention it and as his
notice is quite complete.
"So given are these islanders to reading and writing that there is
hardly a man, and much less a woman, that does not read and write in
letters peculiar to the island of Manila, very different from those
of China, Japan, and of India, as will be seen from the following
alphabet.
"The vowels are three; but they serve for five, and are,
a e, i o, u
The consonants are no more than twelve, and they serve to write both
consonant and vowel, in this form. The letter alone, without any
point either above or below, sounds with a.
Ba ca da ga ha la
ma na pa sa ta ya
Placing the point above, each one sounds with e or with i.
Bi qui di gui hi li
be que de gue he le
mi ni pi si ti yi
me ne pe se te ye
Placing the point below, it sounds with o or with u.
bo co do go ho lo
bu cu du gu hu lu
mo no po so to yo
mu nu pu su tu yu
For instance, in order to say 'cama,' the two letters alone suffice.
ca ma
If to the ka there is placed a point above, it will say
que ma
If it is given to both below, it will say
co mo
The final consonants are supplied or understood in all cases, and so
to say 'cantar,' they write
ca ta
barba,
ba ba
But with all, and that without many evasions, they make themselves
understood, and they themselves understand marvellously. And the
reader supplies, with much skill and ease, the consonants that are
lacking. They have learned from us to write running the lines from
the left hand to the right, but formerly they only wrote from above
downwards, placing the first line (if I remember rightly) at the left
hand, and continuing with the others to the right, the opposite of
the Chinese and Japanese.... They write upon canes or on leaves of a
palm, using for a pen a point of iron. Nowadays in writing not only
their own but also our letters, they use a feather very well cut,
and paper like ourselves.
They have learned our language and pronunciation, and write as well
as we do, and even better; for they are so bright that they learn
everything with the greatest ease. I have brought with me handwriting
with very good and correct lettering. In Tigbauan, I had in school a
very small child, who in three months' time learned, by copying from
well-written letters that I set him, to write enough better than I,
and transcribed for me writings of importance very faithfully, and
without errors or mistakes. But enough of languages and letters;
now let us return to our occupation with human souls." [9]
Sanskrit Source of the Filipino Alphabet.--Besides the Tagalog,
the Bisaya, Pampango, Pangasinan, and Ilocano had alphabets, or
more properly syllabaries similar to this one. Dr. Pardo de Tavera
has gathered many data concerning them, and shows that they were
undoubtedly received by the Filipinos from a Sanskrit source.
Early Filipino Writings.--The Filipinos used this writing for setting
down their poems and songs, which were their only literature. None
of this, however, has come down to us, and the Filipinos soon adopted
the Spanish alphabet, forming the syllables necessary to write their
language from these letters. As all these have phonetic values,
it is still very easy for a Filipino to learn to pronounce and so
read his own tongue. These old characters lingered for a couple of
centuries, in certain places. Padre Totanes [10] tells us that it was
rare in 1705 to find a person who could use them; but the Tagbanua,
a pagan people on the island of Paragua, use a similar syllabary
to this day. Besides poems, they had songs which they sang as they
rowed their canoes, as they pounded the rice from its husk, and as
they gathered for feast or entertainment; and especially there were
songs for the dead. In these songs, says Chirino, they recounted the
deeds of their ancestors or of their deities.
Chinese in the Philippines.--Early Trade.--Very different from the
Hindu was the early influence of the Chinese. There is no evidence
that, previous to the Spanish conquest, the Chinese settled or
colonized in these islands at all; and yet three hundred years
before the arrival of Magellan their trading-fleets were coming here
regularly and several of the islands were well known to them. One
evidence of this prehistoric trade is in the ancient Chinese jars and
pottery which have been exhumed in the vicinity of Manila, but the
Chinese writings themselves furnish us even better proof. About the
beginning of the thirteenth century, though not earlier than 1205,
a Chinese author named Chao Ju-kua wrote a work upon the maritime
commerce of the Chinese people. One chapter of his work is devoted to
the Philippines, which he calls the country of Mayi. [11] According
to this record it is indicated that the Chinese were familiar with
the islands of the archipelago seven hundred years ago. [12]
Chinese, Description of the People.--"The country of Mayi," says this
interesting classic, "is situated to the north of Poni (Burney, or
Borneo). About a thousand families inhabit the banks of a very winding
stream. The natives clothe themselves in sheets of cloth resembling
bed sheets, or cover their bodies with sarongs. (The sarong is the
gay colored, typical garment of the Malay.) Scattered through the
extensive forests are copper Buddha images, but no one knows how they
got there. [13]
"When the merchant (Chinese) ships arrive at this port they anchor
in front of an open place ... which serves as a market, where they
trade in the produce of the country. When a ship enters this port,
the captain makes presents of white umbrellas (to the mandarins). The
merchants are obliged to pay this tribute in order to obtain the
good will of these lords." The products of the country are stated to
be yellow wax, cotton, pearls, shells, betel nuts, and yuta cloth,
which was perhaps one of the several cloths still woven of abaca,
or pina. The articles imported by the Chinese were "porcelain, trade
gold, objects of lead, glass beads of all colors, iron cooking-pans,
and iron needles."
The Negritos.--Very curious is the accurate mention in this Chinese
writing, of the Negritos, the first of all accounts to be made of
the little blacks. "In the interior of the valleys lives a race
called Hai-tan (Acta). They are, of low stature, have round eyes of
a yellow color, curly hair, and their teeth are easily seen between
their lips. (That is, probably, not darkened by betel-chewing or
artificial stains.) They build their nests in the treetops and in
each nest lives a family, which only consists of from three to five
persons. They travel about in the densest thickets of the forests, and,
without being seen themselves, shoot their arrows at the passers-by;
for this reason they are much feared. If the trader (Chinese) throws
them a small porcelain bowl, they will stoop down to catch it and
then run away with it, shouting joyfully."
Increase in Chinese Trade.--These junks also visited the more central
islands, but here traffic was conducted on the ships, the Chinese
on arrival announcing themselves by beating gongs and the Filipinos
coming out to them in their light boats. Among other things here
offered by the natives for trade are mentioned "strange cloth,"
perhaps cinamay or jusi, and fine mats.
This Chinese trade continued probably quite steadily until the arrival
of the Spaniards. Then it received an enormous increase through the
demand for Chinese food-products and wares made by the Spaniards,
and because of the value of the Mexican silver which the Spaniards
offered in exchange.
Trade with the Moro Malays of the South.--The spread of Mohammedanism
and especially the foundation of the colony of Borneo brought the
Philippines into important commercial relations with the Malays of the
south. Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards these relations seem
to have been friendly and peaceful. The Mohammedan Malays sent their
praos northward for purposes of trade, and they were also settling
in the north Philippines as they had in Mindanao.
When Legaspi's fleet, soon after its arrival, lay near the island
of Bohol, the "Maestro de Campo" had a hard fight with a Moro vessel
which had come up for trade, and took six prisoners. One of them, whom
they call the "pilot," was closely interrogated by the Adelantado
and some interesting information obtained, which is recorded by
Padre San Augustin. [14] Legaspi had a Malay slave interpreter with
him and San Augustin says that Padre Urdaneta "knew well the Malayan
language." The pilot said that "those of Borneo brought for trade with
the Filipinos, copper and tin, which was brought to Borneo from China,
porcelain, dishes, and bells made in their fashion, very different from
those that the Christians use, and benzoin, and colored blankets from
India, and cooking-pans made in China, and that they also brought iron
lances very well tempered, and knives and other articles of barter,
and that in exchange for them they took away from the islands gold,
slaves, wax, and a kind of small seashell which they call 'sijueyes,'
and which passes for money in the kingdom of Siam and other places;
and also they carry off some white cloths, of which there is a great
quantity in the islands."
Butuan, on the north coast of Mindanao, seems to have been quite a
trading-place resorted to by vessels from all quarters. This country,
like many other parts of the Philippines, has produced from time
immemorial small quantities of gold, and all the early voyagers
speak of the gold earrings and ornaments of the natives. Butuan
also produced sugarcane and was a trading-port for slaves. This
unfortunate traffic in human life seems to have been not unusual,
and was doubtless stimulated by the commerce with Borneo. Junks from
Siam trading with Cebu were also encountered by the Spaniards.
Result of this Intercourse and Commerce.--This intercourse and
traffic had acquainted the Filipinos with many of the accessories
of civilized life long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Their
chiefs and datos dressed in silks, and maintained some splendor of
surroundings; nearly the whole population of the tribes of the coast
wrote and communicated by means of a syllabary; vessels from Luzon
traded as far south as Mindanao and Borneo, although the products of
Asia proper came through the fleets of foreigners; and perhaps what
indicates more clearly than anything else the advance the Filipinos
were making through their communication with outside people is their
use of firearms. Of this point there is no question. Everywhere in
the vicinity of Manila, on Lubang, in Pampanga, at Cainta and Laguna
de Bay, the Spaniards encountered forts mounting small cannon, or
"lantakas." [15] The Filipinos seem to have understood, moreover,
the arts of casting cannon and of making powder. The first gun-factory
established by the Spaniards was in charge of a Filipino from Pampanga.
Early Political and Social Life.--The Barangay.--The weakest side
of the culture of the early Filipinos was their political and social
organization, and they were weak here in precisely the same way that
the now uncivilized peoples of northern Luzon are still weak. Their
state did not embrace the whole tribe or nation; it included simply
the community. Outside of the settlers in one immediate vicinity,
all others were enemies or at most foreigners. There were in the
Philippines no large states, nor even great rajas and sultans such
as were found in the Malay Archipelago, but instead on every island
were a multitude of small communities, each independent of the other
and frequently waging war.
The unit of their political order was a little cluster of houses from
thirty to one hundred families, called a "barangay," and which still
exists in the Philippines as the "barrio." At the head of each barangay
was a chief known as the "dato," a word no longer used in the northern
Philippines, though it persists among the Moros of Mindanao. The
powers of these datos within their small areas appear to have been
great, and they were treated with utmost respect by the people.
The barangays were grouped together in tiny federations including
about as much territory as the present towns, whose affairs were
conducted by the chiefs or datos, although sometimes they seem to have
all been in obedience to a single chief, known in some places as the
"hari," at other times by the Hindu word "raja," or the Mohammedan
term "sultan." Sometimes the power of one of these rajas seems to
have extended over the whole of a small island, but usually their
"kingdoms" embraced only a few miles.
Changes Made by the Spaniards.--The Spaniards, in enforcing their
authority through the islands, took away the real power from the
datos, grouping the barangays into towns, or "pueblos," but making
the datos "cabezas de barrio," or "gobernadorcillos." Something of
the old distinction between the dato, or "principal," and the common
man may be still represented in the "gente illustrada," or the more
wealthy, educated, and influential class found in each town, and the
"gente baja," or the poor and uneducated.
Classes of Filipinos under the Datos.--Beneath the datos, according
to Chirino and Morga, there were three classes of Filipinos; the
free persons, or "maharlica," who paid no tribute to the dato,
but who accompanied him to war, rowed his boat when he went on a
journey, and attended him in his house. This class is called by Morga
"timauas." [16]
Then there was a very large class, who appear to have been freedmen or
liberated slaves, who had acquired their own homes and lived with their
families, but who owed to dato or maharlica heavy debts of service;
to sow and harvest in his ricefields, to tend his fish-traps, to
row his canoe, to build his house, to attend him when he had guests,
and to perform any other duties that the chief might command. These
semi-free were called "aliping namamahay," and their condition of
bondage descended to their children.
Beneath these existed a class of slaves. These were the
"siguiguiliris," and they were numerous. Their slavery arose in several
ways. Some were those who as children had been captured in war and
their lives spared. Some became slaves by selling their freedom in
times of hunger. But most of them became slaves through debt, which
descended from father to son. The sum of five or six pesos was enough
in some cases to deprive a man of his freedom.
These slaves were absolutely owned by their lord, who could
theoretically sell them like cattle; but, in spite of its bad
possibilities, this Filipino slavery was ordinarily not of a cruel
or distressing nature. The slaves frequently associated on kindly
relations with their masters and were not overworked. This form of
slavery still persists in the Philippines among the Moros of Mindanao
and Jolo. Children of slaves inherited their parents' slavery. If
one parent was free and the other slave, the first, third, and fifth
children were free and the second, fourth, and sixth slaves. This
whole matter of inheritance of slavery was curiously worked out in
minute details.
Life in the Barangay.--Community feeling was very strong within the
barangay. A man could not leave his own barangay for life in another
without the consent of the community and the payment of money. If a man
of one barrio married a woman of another, their children were divided
between the two barangays. The barangay was responsible for the good
conduct of its members, and if one of them suffered an injury from
a man outside, the whole barangay had to be appeased. Disputes and
wrongs between members of the same barangay were referred to a number
of old men, who decided the matter in accordance with the customs of
the tribe, which were handed down by tradition. [17]
The Religion of the Filipinos.--The Filipinos on the arrival of
the Spaniards were fetish-worshipers, but they had one spirit whom
they believed was the greatest of all and the creator or maker of
things. The Tagalog called this deity Bathala, [18] the Bisaya,
Laon, and the Ilocano, Kabunian. They also worshiped the spirits
of their ancestors, which were represented by small images called
"anitos." Fetishes, which are any objects believed to possess
miraculous power, were common among the people, and idols or images
were worshiped. Pigafetta describes some idols which he saw in Cebu,
and Chirino tells us that, within the memory of Filipinos whom he knew,
they had idols of stone, wood, bone, or the tooth of a crocodile,
and that there were some of gold.
They also reverenced animals and birds, especially the crocodile,
the raven, and a mythical bird of blue or yellow color, which was
called by the name of their deity Bathala. [19] They had no temples
or public places of worship, but each one had his anitos in his own
house and performed his sacrifices and acts of worship there. As
sacrifices they killed pigs or chickens, and made such occasions
times of feasting, song, and drunkenness. The life of the Filipino
was undoubtedly filled with superstitious fears and imaginings.
The Mohammedan Malays.--The Mohammedans outside of southern Mindanao
and Jolo, had settled in the vicinity of Manila Bay and on Mindoro,
Lubang, and adjacent coasts of Luzon. The spread of Mohammedanism
was stopped by the Spaniards, although it is narrated that for a
long time many of those living on the shores of Manila Bay refused to
eat pork, which is forbidden by the Koran, and practiced the rite of
circumcision. As late as 1583, Bishop Salazar, in writing to the king
of affairs in the Philippines, says the Moros had preached the law
of Mohammed to great numbers in these islands and by this preaching
many of the Gentiles had become Mohammedans; and further he adds,
"Those who have received this foul law guard it with much persistence
and there is great difficulty in making them abandon it; and with
cause too, for the reasons they give, to our shame and confusion,
are that they were better treated by the preachers of Mohammed than
they have been by the preachers of Christ." [20]
Material Progress of the Filipinos.--The material surroundings of
the Filipino before the arrival of the Spaniards were in nearly every
way quite as they are to-day. The "center of population" of each town
to-day, with its great church, tribunal, stores and houses of stone
and wood, is certainly in marked contrast; but the appearance of a
barrio a little distance from the center is to-day probably much as it
was then. Then, as now, the bulk of the people lived in humble houses
of bamboo and nipa raised on piles above the dampness of the soil;
then, as now, the food was largely rice and the excellent fish which
abound in river and sea. There were on the water the same familiar
bancas and fish corrals, and on land the rice fields and cocoanut
groves. The Filipinos had then most of the present domesticated
animals,--dogs, cats, goats, chickens, and pigs,--and perhaps in Luzon
the domesticated buffalo, although this animal was widely introduced
into the Philippines from China after the Spanish conquest. Horses came
with the Spaniards and their numbers were increased by the bringing
in of Chinese mares, whose importation is frequently mentioned.
The Spaniards introduced also the cultivation of tobacco, coffee,
and cacao, and perhaps also the native corn of America, the maize,
although Pigafetta says they found it already growing in the Bisayas.
The Filipino has been affected by these centuries of Spanish
sovereignty far less on his material side than he has on his spiritual,
and it is mainly in the deepening and elevating of his emotional and
mental life and not in the bettering of his material condition that
advance has been made.