Politics and Governance

• Barangay


  Kinship-based communities where precolonial Filipinos lived
• Most barangays were small, with 10 to 30 houses each, but larger communities consisted of a hundred or more houses
• Precolonial Filipinos were capable of governing themselves, with each settlement having its own government and laws
• Balangay


  Sailing vessel commonly used for transportation and trading in precolonial Philippines
• The Tagalog word "barangay" came from the Malay word "balangay"
• Each balangay boat would have families in it led by a chieftain or datu, and the barangay on land also consisted of related families headed by the datu
• Precolonial barangays were independent from one another and not under the control or authority of a larger political organization
• There was no central government that dictated how barangays should be governed in precolonial Philippines
• More complex political institutions like the Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao also existed in precolonial Philippines, with monarchs called sultans having power over vast areas of land
• Precolonial Philippine settlements


  • Located near coastal areas, along rivers, and in well-watered inland plains
  • Agriculture was the primary source of livelihood, with rice as the main crop
• Ordinary houses in precolonial barangays were usually made out of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm, while chieftains had larger homes
• Precolonial Filipinos believed in spirits and deities representing elements of the natural world, and had high respect for their ancestors
• Spiritual leaders in precolonial Philippines dispensed curative waters and made amulets
• Settlements in precolonial Philippines


  • Located near coastal areas, along rivers, and in well-watered inland plains
  • Agriculture was the primary source of livelihood
  • Rice was the main crop, together with some fruits and vegetables
  • Depended on fishing and raising livestock
• Ordinary houses in the barangays

  • Made out of wood, bamboo, and nipa palm
  • Each house was separate and was not built adjoining another
• Chieftains' homes


  • Larger than ordinary houses
• Precolonial Filipinos' beliefs


  • Believed in spirits and deities that represent elements of the natural world
  • Had very high respect for their ancestors
• Spiritual leaders


  • Dispensed curative waters and made amulets
• Barangays

  • Independent from one another
  • Geographical separation paved the way for various languages or dialects to develop
• Social classes in the barangay

  • Nobles or maginoo
  • Freemen or maharlika
  • Dependents or alipin
• Nobles or maginoo


  • Community leaders and their family members
  • Held tremendous power and enjoyed rights not given to ordinary members of the community
• Freemen or maharlika


  Freemen and some dependents who had earned their freedom
• Dependents or alipin


  • Aliping namamahay who had their own houses
  • Aliping sagigilid who lived with their master
• Inter-baranganic relations


  • Conducted to build alliances and negotiate influence
  • Established mainly through trade
  • Products were exchanged throughout the islands
  • Had trading ties with Chinese and Indians long before the Spanish colonizers came
• The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) dated 922 CE can explain precolonial Philippine political structure
• Tondo in Manila


  • An organized polity in the 10th century
  • Ruled by Rajah Lakandula (Lakan Dula)
  • A flourishing settlement on the northern bank of the Pasig River
  • Had established connections with China, Japan, Borneo, Siam, and the Malay peninsula even before the Spanish trade center was relocated to Manila
• Political link and network among 10th-century precolonial Philippine polities

  • Polities of Pailah, Puliran, and Binwangan (theorized to be in present-day Bulacan)

  
• Alliances between barangays


  • Strengthened through marriages between ruling families and holding of feasts for allies
  • Datus used these means to negotiate power and influence among themselves
• Blood compact ritual (sanduguan)


  • Contracting parties drew blood from their arms and poured it in a cup with wine to share between them
  • Precolonial Filipinos considered the blood compact as binding
• Reasons for wars between barangays

  • Murder of a man from one barangay in another barangay
  • Kidnapping of wives of men belonging to another barangay
  • Maltreatment of men from one barangay by men from another
• There was very little to no attempt for reconciliation of conflicts during those times
• Chieftain or datu


  • Derived from the Malay words dato and datuk, used for royalties
  • Datu was mainly used in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, while the titles lakan and apo were used as counterparts in Northern and Central Luzon
  • Today, datu is still being used for native royalties in Mindanao along with the titles sultan and rajah
• Choice of datu

  • Formerly passed on through inheritance
  • Later based on qualifications rather than inheritance due to more differentiated social hierarchy and conflicts with other tribes
• Responsibilities of the datu

  • Govern his subjects and promote their welfare and interests
  • Subjects helped the datu cultivate the land and build his house, served him in times of war and accompanied him during voyages
  • Subjects paid tributes (buwis) in the form of crops
  • Family members and descendants of the datu were exempted from paying tributes and rendering services
• Barangays lived independently


  But interacted through trade to build alliances and negotiate influence
• Datu


  Chieftain or ruler of a barangay, derived from Malay words dato and datuk meaning royalty
• Other titles for datu

  • Lakan
  • Apo
  • Sultan
  • Rajah
• Datu


  • Exercised extensive control over the social and economic life of the community
  • Exercised all the functions of government: executive, legislative, and judicial
• Precolonial society in the barangay was divided into nobles (maginoo), freemen (maharlika), and dependents (alipin)
• Barangays formed alliances with one another through trade, intermarriages, and feasting