History

• Juan de Plasencia's report was written in response to the request of the monarchy in Spain to provide information about the government, administration of justice, inheritances, slaves, dowries, worship, burials, and superstition of the "Indians" in the colony
• Tagalog tribal gathering


  Called a barangay, inferred to have originated from the head of the barangay, which is a boat, becoming a dato
• Nobles in Tagalog society were called maharlica, did not pay tax or tribute to the dato, but had to accompany him in war at their own expense
• Commoners in Tagalog society were called aliping namamahay, served their master with half of their cultivated lands, and accompanied him on journeys
• Ownership of lands in Tagalog society

  Lands inhabited by the whole barangay were divided among them, while lands on mountain-ridges were owned in common
• Customs of the Tagalogs

  Narrative on the established culture of the Tagalogs in Luzon written by Juan de Plasencia, a Franciscan missionary
• The document aimed to rectify previous reports about the people's way of life in the region
• Nobles were offered a feast by the chief beforehand, and after war, they divided the spoils
• Commoners lived in their own houses, were lords of their property and gold, and their children inherited their possessions
• Castes in Tagalog society

  • Nobles
  • Commoners
  • Slaves
• Rice harvest in Tagalog society

  Individuals could sow and cultivate land during the rice harvest without being compelled to abandon it
• The children inherit the property and lands of their parents
• If the slaves fall by inheritance into the hands of a son of their master who is going to dwell in another village, they remain in their native village, doing service there and cultivating the sowed lands
• The master may grant the slaves a portion of their harvests if he sees fit and has profited through their industry, so that they may work faithfully
• If a person made a slave through war, by the trade of goldsmith, or otherwise, happened to possess any gold beyond the sum owed to his master, he could ransom himself and become a namamahay or commoner
• If two persons married, one a maharlica and the other a slave, the children were divided
• An amusing ceremony accompanied the custom of ransom, involving the division of possessions and breaking of items
• Maharlicas on both the father's and mother's side continue to be so forever, and if they become slaves, it is through marriage
• Children of aliping namamahay were taken away and used as servants, which is illegal
• Slaves called aliping sa guiguilir serve their master in his house and on his cultivated lands, and may be sold
• The individuals described live in their own houses and are lords of their property and gold
• The children enjoy the rank of their fathers and cannot be made slaves
• Debts owed by wretched debtors were transferred to others, reducing the debtors to a slavery which was not their natural lot
• There is a difference between aliping namamahay and aliping sa guiguilir, and confusion of the terms has led to misclassification of individuals as slaves
• If a free woman had children by a slave, they were all free, provided he was not her husband
• The price of ransom was never less than five taels, and if more were given, the person became wholly free
• Alcaldes-mayor should ascertain the class of an alipin before granting them to anyone
• Children of a free woman and a slave

  All children were free if the father was a slave and not the woman's husband
• Enslavement for failure to pay fines

  Culprit and his children became slaves of the master until the fine was paid
• Children when there is only one

  Half free and half slave
• Division of children when one marries a woman from another village


  Children were divided equally between the two barangays
• Movement restrictions for maharlicas after marriage

  They could not move between villages or barangays without paying a fine in gold
• Condemnation to slavery

  Only if the individual merited the death penalty
• Children of a marriage between a maharlica and a slave

  Children were divided: the first, third, and fifth belonged to the father; the second, fourth, and sixth belonged to the mother, and so on
• Division of children when there is an odd number


  The odd one was half free and half slave
• Recognition of a child as a slave

  If the father did not recognize the child as his own, the child was wholly a slave
• Consequences of failure to pay the fine for movement

  It might result in a war between the barangays
• Punishment for offenses other than death-worthy


  Fines in gold; failure to pay could lead to servitude until the fine was paid
• Condemnation to death for certain offenses

  Men of low birth who insulted the daughter or wife of a chief, witches, and others of the same class
• Inheritances