Pre-colonial Period

• Indigenous animism was predominant at the time, but Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism were also embrace
• Philippines is also considered as predominantly Islamic since it was introduced in the 14th century as a foreign religion.
• Although, there was no formal education, early Filipinos already had their own government system.
• Daily experiences and religious rites and ceremonies mostly reflect the type of literature produced at that time
• Certain events in the Philippines during pre-colonial period started to be recorded in the year 1521
• Filipinos were ruled by chieftains of different barangay.
• There was no formal education. Learning was merely through imitation and practice
• Early Filipinos heavily believed on spirits and supernatural entities (animism)
• Social ranking and classes were practiced.
• Economic and political dimensions involved trading, marriage, feasting, and alliance.
• ✔ Philippine literature during the pre-colonial era is mostly based on oral traditions passed down from generation to generation.
• ✔ The language used pertains to daily life
• ✔ Common forms of oral literature are riddles, proverbs, and songs to express a thought or emotion
• ✔ Epic was considered as the most exciting poetic and narrative form of literature in which the ASEAN-sponsored study of Filipino asserted that there are more than 100 epics discovered where majority came from Palawan
• ✔ Majority of proverbs, epigrams, and proverbs collected by researchers come from Tagalog, Cebuano, and Ilocano dialects.
• ✔ The ancient pre-Spanish form of writing called Baybayin which was often cited in the work of Pedro Chirino during the 1500s, was later on approved as the National Writing System of the Philippines through House Bill No. 1022.
• ✔ The experiences of the people during pre-colonial period such as food hunting, work at home, caring for the children, and creatures or objects of nature served as the common subject in oral literature.
• ✔ All important events such as rites and ceremonies reflect religious observance where people commonly recite, sing, or utter a chant
• ✔ Folk Tales. These are stories which can be characterized as anonymous, timeless, and placeless tales circulated orally among a group of people
• ✔ Legends. These are a form of prose which deal with the origin of a thing, location or name
• ✔ Myths. Unlike legends where the characters have realistic human qualities, the characters here usually have supernatural powers where the main purpose is to provide explanation about the existence of something or someone
• ✔ Epics. These pertain to a type of a long narrative poem mainly focusing on the heroic achievements and deeds of the main character.
• ✔ Folk Songs. These can be considered as the oldest forms of Philippine literature that mirror the culture which expresses hopes, aspirations, lifestyles, and emotions of early Filipinos. Some examples are kundiman, kumintang, oyayi or hele and some drinking songs.
• ✔ Other Forms. Some examples are proverbs (salawikain), riddles (bugtong), chant (bulong), maxims or those with rhyming couplets of 5, 6, or 8 syllables, sayings (kasabihan), and idiom (sawikain). Tanaga is another favorite poem consisting of four rhyming lines of 7 syllables each.