[4] PRE-COLONIAL FILIPINO SOCIETY

• Position of Women in Society:

  • Women had a high position in society before the arrival of the Spaniards
  • Women were considered equal to men, they could own, inherit property, and sell it
  • They could engage in trade and industry
  • Women could succeed to the chieftainship of their community/barangay in the absence of a male heir
• Marriage Customs:

  • In most cases, a woman of one class marries into the same class
  • A man could marry multiple women as long as he could support them
  • Children from the first wife were considered his heirs
  • The man would serve the parents of the woman he wishes to marry (paninilbihan)
  • The man must give a dowry (bigay-kaya), usually consisting of land or gold
  • The man must also give gifts to the woman's parents (panghimuyat) and wet-nurse (bigay-suso)
• Government:

  Barangay:

  • Composed of 30 to 100 families
  • Derived from "balangay," a boat that transported Malay immigrants
  • People paid tribute, or buwis
  • Children and relatives of the chieftain were exempt from tribute and personal services
  • The chieftain had executive, legislative, and judicial powers
• Religious Beliefs:

  • Pre-Hispanic Filipinos believed in the immortality of the soul and the afterlife
  • They worshipped a supreme being called Bathalang Maykapal or Bathala
  • Worshipped minor deities like Idiyanale (agriculture), Sidapa (death), Agni (fire), Balangaw (rainbow), Mandarangan (war), Lalahon (harvest), Siginarugan (hell)
  • They respected nature, animals, and the dead
  • Offered prayers and sacrifices to idols (anitos) for favor or to placate anger
• Burial:

  • Ancient Filipinos respected the dead and believed in the afterlife
  • Body placed in a coffin under the house with clothes, gold, and valuables
  • Belief that this would ensure a good reception in the afterlife
  • When a chieftain died, quarrels and wars stopped, and specific prohibitions were observed
• Economic Life:

  • Pre-Hispanic Filipinos practiced agriculture as the main livelihood
  • Cultivation done through kaingin (slash and burn) or tillage
  • Irrigation was practiced to increase crop production
  • Fishing, mining, shipbuilding, poultry, stock-raising, lumbering, and weaving were also common
  • Domestic and foreign trade existed before the arrival of the Spaniards
• Language and Writing:

  • Over a hundred Filipino languages and dialects
  • Major languages include Cebuano, Tagalog, Iloko, Pangasinan, Hiligaynon, Kapampangan
  • Ancient Filipinos had a syllabic writing system called Baybayin
• Early Literature:

  • Oral literature included maxims, riddles, victory songs, lullabies, wedding songs, and war songs
  • Written literature included epics like Hudhud and Alim (Ifugao), Biag ti Lam-ang (Ilokano), Handiong (Bikolano), Bantugan, Indarapatra and Sulayman, Bidasari, and Parang-Sabil (Muslims in Mindanao)
• Batuk:

  • Ancient Filipinos practiced traditional tattooing/body ornamentation called Batuk
  • Done through hand-tapped pricking by a manbatek (tattoo artist)
  • Symbols of male valor and beauty, sometimes used as talismans or rites of passage