Customs of Tagalog

• Juan de Plasencia was a Spanish friar, one of the first Franciscan missionaries who arrived in the Philippines on July 2, 1578. He was the author of the first printed book in the Philippines, entitled "Doctrina Cristiana."
• Juan de Plasencia was born in the early 16th century in an illustrious family of Portocarreros in the region of Extremadura, Spain, during the time of Spain's Siglo de Oro.
• Juan de Plasencia's real name is Joan de Puerto Carrero del convento de Villanueva de la Serena.
• There is no concrete reason on why Juan de Plasencia entered the Order of the Franciscans.
• Juan de Plasencia's life in the Philippines

  1. Arrived in the Philippines in 1578 at a port in Cavite

  2. Started preaching with Fray Diego de Oropesa in Laguna de Bay and Tayabas, Quezon

  3. Also preached in the provinces of Bulacan and Rizal

  4. Converted natives, taught catechisms, and organized towns and barangays

  5. Promoted the understanding of Spanish language to natives and local languages to Spanish missionaries, to effectively facilitate Christianity

  6. Passed away in Liliw, Laguna in the year 1590
• Other literary works by Juan de Plasencia

  • Arte de la Lengua (Art of Language)
  • Vocabulario
  • Coleccion de frases tagala (Collection of Tagalog Phrases)
  • Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristiana (1581)
  • Diccionario Tagalog (1580)
  • La Santina (1585) – Opus on prayer and meditation
  • Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalogs (1589) – First Civil Code of the Philippines
  • Customs of the Tagalogs
• Customs of the Tagalogs is a part (either chapters or subsections) of longer monographs, and it became the basis for historical reconstructions of Tagalog society. It is a proof that even before the pre-Hispanic period Filipinos have a government as well as sets of beliefs and practices.
• Dato


  The one who governs and serves as captain in wars. Whoever goes against them will be severely punished.
• Barangay


  A family of parents and children, relations and slaves, ruled over by a dato who governs a hundred or less than thirty houses.
• The Three Castes


  • Nobles (Maharlica)
  • Commoners (Aliping Namamahay)
  • Slaves (Aliping sa guiguilir)
• Nobles (Maharlica)


  People who don't pay taxes to the dato but must accompany him in a war.
• Commoners (Aliping Namamahay)


  People who are married and serve their master.
• Slaves (Aliping sa guiguilir)


  People who serve their masters and can be sold.
• Situations


  • Situation 1: Those who are born with both maharlica parents will continue to be a maharlica. They could become slaves through marriage
  • Situation 2: If a maharlica would have a children among their slaves, the children and their mother will be free
  • Situation 3: When a maharlica would have a children to a slave-woman of another, the slave woman is obligated to give her master half of a gold tael. The children would be free if he/she is recognized. If not, he/she will be a whole slave
  • Situation 4: If a free woman had children with a slave they will be all free. Unless they will not be married
  • Situation 5: If two persons married whom one was a maharlica and the other a slave (namamahay or sa guiguilar) the children were divided - 1st whether male or female belong to the father as did the 3rd and 5th. 2nd, 4th and 6th belong to mother side. If there should not be more than one child he was half free and half slave
  • Situation 6: Maharlicas could not after marriage, move from one village to another without paying certain fee in gold
  • Situation 7: When one married a woman of another village, the childen afterwards divided equally between the barangays
  • Situation 8: Investigation made and sentences passed by the datu must take presence of those his barangay
  • Situation 9: They condemned no one to slavery, unless he merited the death penalty. As for witches, they kill them, and their children and accomplices become slaves of the slaves chief
  • Situation 10: All the offense were punished by fines in gold which if not paid with promptness. This done in the following ways: Half the cultivated lands and all their produce belonged to the master, the master provided the culprit with food and clothing, enslaving the culprit and his children until such time as he might amass enough money to pay the fine, last and usually the case is they remain slaves
  • Situation 11: They do service within the house called slaves or aliping sa guiguilar and commoners or aliping namamahay by serving their master in the house but living independently
  • Situation 12: Slaves can be emancipated through: By forgiveness, By paying debt, By condonation, By bravery
• Marriage Customs


  • Courtship begins with paninilbihan
  • Prior to marriage the man requires to give a dowry: Bigay-kaya, Panghihimuyat, Bigay-suso
  • Marriage between couples belonging to different social classes were not common
  • Several grounds for divorce are adultery and abandonment; on the part of the husband, the cruelty and insanity
  • If the wife left the husband for the purpose of marrying another, all her dowry will be given back to the husband; but if she left him and did not marry another, the dowry was returned
  • If the husband left his wife, he lost half of the dowry and the other half was returned to him
  • If they have children at the time of the divorce, the whole dowry and the fine will go to the children
  • Upon the death of the wife who had born no children, the parents should return the one-half of the dowry to the husband
  • Upon the death of the husband, one-half of the dowry was returned to the relatives of the husband
• Inheritance


  • The first son of the chief of barangay inherits his father's position
  • The legitimate children inherited equally, except if the parents showed a slight partiality by such gifts as two or three gold taels or perhaps jewelry
  • If a man had a children by two or more legitimate wives, each child will receive the inheritance and dowry of his mother
  • If a man had a child by one of his slaves as well as legitimate children, the former had no share in the inheritance
  • Besides his legitimate children, if a man had also sons (natural children) by a free unmarried woman (inaasaya) they will not be inherited equally, but only the third part. If there were no children by a legitimate wife, but only children by inaasaya, the latter will inherit it all
  • If a man had a child by a slave woman, the child will not be inherited equally, but only the third part
  • If there are no legitimate child the inheritance will be given to the father or nearest relatives
  • Adopted children will inherit double of what was paid for their adoption
• The Worship of the Tagalogs

  • They don't have any temples
  • They have a place of adoration that is called simbahan where they celebrate festivals (pandot/worship)
  • Simbahan has a temporary shed on each side and a roof (sibi) to protect the people from getting wet when it rained
  • In a simbahan, small lamps (sorhile) were placed on posts, while one large lamp was placed in the center
  • Simbahan has drums which they beat successively while the feast lasted. It usuallys lasted for four days
  • During the celebration the whole barangay or family is united and joined in the worship (nagaanitos)
  • The worshipped Bathala, who they believed to be the maker of all things
  • They also worshipped sun, moon and stars
  • They had another idol called Diana Masalanta – who was the patron of lovers and generation
  • Lacapati and Idianale who were the patrons of cultivated lands and of husbandry
  • They also paid reverence to the crocodiles (or also known as buaya) from fear of being harmed by them
  • They had a habit of offering what they have to animals by throwing portions of what they carried in the water
  • The natives had no established division of years, months and days
  • Their manner of offering sacrifice was to proclaim a feast. This was done in of the idol, and they praise it by poetic songs sung by the officiating priest (Catolonan)
  • Reasons for offering sacrifices and adoration: For the recovery of the sick person, For prosperous voyage of those embarking on the sea, To have a good harvest, For a propitious result in war, Successful delivery in child birth, A happy outcome in married life
  • Young girls who first had their monthly courses are blindfolded for four days and four nights, at the end of this period the catalonan will take the young girl to bath her and wash her head then the blindfold will be removed
• Distinctions made among the priests of the devil

  • Catalonan (all Philippines) - Priest or priestess, someone who communicates with spirits
  • Mangagauay (all Philippines) - Witches, someone who pretends to heal the person with sickness
  • Manyisalat (all Philippines) - Applies remedy to lovers to abandon and despise their own wives
  • Mancocolam (all Philippines) - Emits fire that cannot be extinguished, causes death and illness
  • Hocloban (Catanduanes) - A witch that is greater than mangagauay, causes death by only raising a hand
  • Silagan (Catanduanes) - Kills anyone who is clothed in white by tearing his liver and eating it
  • Magtatangal (Catanduanes) - Shows himself at night without his head or entrails
  • Osuang (Visayas) - Sorcerer, can fly and eats flesh
  • Mangagayoma (all Philippines) - A witch who makes charms to deceive people to falling in love
  • Sonat (all Philippines) - A preacher, helps people to die in the time he predicted
  • Pangatahojan (all Philippines) - Soothsayer, predicts the future
  • Bayoguin (all Philippines) - Cot quean, homosexual
• Manner of Burying the Dead

  • Tagalogs: The deceased is buried beside his house. When it's the chief or datos he's buried beneath a little house or porch we is specifically made for this purpose. The dead is mourned for four days and four nights. If the deceased is a warrior, a living slave is tied beneath his body until he dies and the relative will sing praises about his good quality. This grief is accompanied by eating and drinking.
  • Aetas or Negrillos: They dug a deep hole and place the deceased body in it with its head or crown unburied covering the head with a coconut as a shield. Then they hunt an Indian for retribution of their Negrillo. They wear a certain token on their neck until they have procured the death of the innocent one.
• Customs


  • Maca - What they believed as heaven or a place of rest. Only the people who lived without doing any harm or possessed moral virtues can go to this place.
  • Casanaan - What they believed as a place of punishment, grief and affliction.
  • Sitan - The demon that can be dealt in Casanaan.
  • Vibit - Ghosts
  • Tigbalaang - Phantoms
  • Patianac - A woman who died in childbirth. The mother and the child are suffering. Thus, it can be heard at night.
• Agrarian Reform on the Different Eras of the Philippines

  • Pre-Colonial or Pre-Spanish Period: Land is owned by the barangay with 30-100 families. Lands can be accessed by anyone regardless of nobility. Any resources from the land are mutually shared. They give importance to the relationship of man to nature. Land cultivation is done through kaingin wherein they burn the bushes to plant new crops. Maybe the oldest recorded land sale transaction is the Maragtas Code wherein Panay Island is sold by the natives to ten bornean datus for a golden salakot and a gold necklace.
  • Spanish Era (1521-1896): Pueblo Agriculture is introduced – a system wherein native rural communities were organized into pueblo and Christianized family is given four to five hectares of land to cultivate. The families are just landholders and not owners because the land was just given by the government and by the law it is owned by the Spanish king, it is paid through products of it. The Spanish king has given: A friar land for religious activities, Repartiamentos – a land given for the Spanish army as a reward for their work, Encomienda – a land given to Spanish encomienderos to handle and they're fit to receive products from the natives within their lands. There are abusive encomienderos that have more tributes because they make the products they receive from the natives as their rentals. Compras y vandalas – a practice that was made for the natives to sell their products at a very low price or forcefully give their products to Spanish authority, so that the encomienderos will receive more products.
• Pueblo Agriculture


  A system wherein native rural communities were organized into pueblo and Christianized family is given four to five hectares of land to cultivate
• Landholders


  The families are just landholders and not owners because the land was just given by the government and by the law it is owned by the Spanish king, it is paid through products of it
• Land given by the Spanish king

  • To a friar for religious activities
  • Repartiamentos - to the Spanish army as a reward for their work
  • Encomienda - to Spanish encomienderos to handle and they're fit to receive products from the natives within their lands
• There are abusive encomienderos that have more tributes because they make the products they receive from the natives as their rentals
• Compras y vandalas


  A practice that was made for the natives to sell their products at a very low price or forcefully give their products to Spanish authority, so that the encomienderos will resell it with a bigger profit
• The encomiendas are demanded to work on public and religious work and in the household help to the encomienderos
• The Spanish king made a law in 1865 wherein he orders landholders to register their landholdings. Only those aware of this law took advantage of this, mostly Spanish people and name the lands after them. As a result, natives were kicked out of the lands
• More native landholders and farmers were abused, causing for the Revolution of Farmers in 1896 and ignite their need for agrarian reform
• Women are part of the revolution and contributed great effort in the planning and implementation of activities
• Friar lands are confiscated with the help of the revolutionary government and declared these as government properties. (Malolos Constitution, 1896, Article XVII)
• Americans saw the casualties of the last colonization and passed different land policies that help the farmers
• Philippine Bill of 1902


  Regulates distribution of lands, that states that private individuals can own up to 16 hectares of land while corporate holdings can own up to 1,024 hectares. Also gave rights to Americans to own agricultural lands
• Torren System


  A system made as a solution to last era's problem of lack of records of issued titles
• Homestead Program of 1903


  A program that allows enterprising tenants to acquire a land as farm to at least 16 hectares. Though, this program is not applied nationwide but only in parts of Mindanao and Northern Luzon where there are more disposable lands
• There is a widespread of poor farmers uprising, headed by a group of poor farmers known as Colorum and Sakdalista of Luzon and Northeastern Mindanao
• This revolt caused social disorder in the 1920's and 1930's
• This has led to the Communist Party of the Philippines because of the growth in members of the said organizations fighting against the abusive landlords and unjust land ownership
• President Quezon realized that land reforms should be implemented immediately
• They perceived that purchase of friar lands as a solution to the unjust land ownership