Filipino Culture

During
Pre-Spanish
Period
Francois MarZeus
Pogi.com

Pre-Spanish Period
Long before the arrival of the Spaniards,
ancient Filipinos were living in scattered
barangays and ruled by different chieftains.
Although, they were living separately, they
were similar in many ways, their religion,
mode of dressing, houses, system of
government and marriage practices and
economic activities, in short, they wee
refined and civilized; they possessed a
distinct culture that distinguish them from
other race.

Hous
e
Houses were made of light

materials like wood, bamboo and

nipa palm. A ladder was placed to
prevent strangers from intruding
when the owner was not around.
Strong post at the lower part of the
house was enclosed. A jar of heart
was placed in a gallery called
batalan.
Some of them built tree houses to protect
themselves against their enemies or from being
attacked by wild animals.

Dress
Male clothing
- consisted of the upper and lower parts. The
upper part was a jacket with short sleeves called
kangan while the lower part was a strip of cloth
wrapped around the waist and in between the
legs called bahag. Males used a piece of cloth
or a headgear called putong.
- Putong symbolized the number of persons the
wearer had killed.
Female clothing
- they wore baro or camisa, a jacket with
leeves. The lower part was called saya.

Social Classes
Nobles who
were composed
of rulers and
their families,
occupied the
highest class.
They were
usually
addressed as
Gat, Lakan, Raja
or Datu.
Freemen

were the
working class

Slaves were
classified into
two;

* Aliping namamahay were not

full pledge slave. They had their
own respective families and their
own houses. They were required
to serve their masters only during
planting and harveting period.
* Aliping sagigilid were the real
slaves, they were homeless,
forbidden to form their own
families, required to stay in their
masters dwelling and they could
be used as a payment for debt.

Government
The government was called barangay.
There was no national government. There
were many independent barangays and
datus. But there was no datu strong
enough to unite the archipelago into one
nation. Some barangays, however, united
to form a confederation.
It was headed by a ruler called datu or
raja.

wer and Functions of Datu

Implementing laws.
Maintaining peace and order.
Giving protection to his
subjects.
He also made the law, with the
assistance of group of elders
who gave advice.
(a newly enacted law was
made known to the public
through town crier called
umalokohan)
He acted also as a judge
during trial.
(it was easy for the datu to run
for the barangay since the

Taxation
Ancient Filipinos started the practice
of paying taxes. The purpose of
paying taxes was simple, it was for
the protection they received from the
datu. The collected tax was called
buwis. The chieftains family members
were enjoying exemption from paying
taxes. Non-payment of taxes was
already punishable during this period.

Alliances
Like community of nations, alliances
among barangay were formed. The
purpose of forming alliances was for
trade, peace and mutual protection.
An alliances was sealed through blood
compact (sanduguan), to ensure
conformity, sincerity and commitment of
the chieftains.

al and Determination of Guilt

Judicial process was influenced by religion. The manner of
determining guilt of the accused showed the religiosity of
the natives.
They waited for the intervention of the deities.
Their judicial process was called trial by ordeal, example;
- Holding lighted candles by the suspected offenders.
The man whole candle died out first would be declared as
the culprit.
- Another form of this trial was ordering the suspects to
plunge into deep river with their lances. The first come to
the surface would be adjudged as the guilty party.
Datu served as chief judge who was assisted by group of

ourtship and Marriage

The man was required to give a dowry.
Bigay-kaya was the type of dowry consisted of a
piece of land or gold.
The grooms parent gave a gift called
panghimuyat.
himaraw was another payment for raising the
future bride during her infancy period, to be paid by
the grooms parent also.
Including
the brides
received
a share
of
Mixed
marriage,
that wet
was nurse
marriage
between
couples
dowry; it was
called bigay-suso.
belonging
to different
social classes were not

common. Early Filipinos practiced divorce. Several

grounds of divorce were:
1. Adultery
2. Abandonment on the part of the husband
3. Cruelty

Religious Beliefs
Before Roman Catholism and Islam were introduced, natives

worshipped many gods and goddesses.

Bathala supreme being
Idiyanale god of agriculture
Sidapa god of death
Agni god of fire
Balangaw god of rainbow
Mandarangan god of war
Lalahon god of harvest
Siginarugan god of hell
They also believed in the immortality of souls and life after death.
There were sacred animals, which they venerate like white
monkey (manaul) and crocodiles.
There were aslo sacred place and sacred trees, which nobody
was allowed to cut down.
They also worshipped the sun and the moon.
Regular sacrifices and prayers were offered to placate deities and
spirits. Reward and punishment after death was dependent upon
behavior in this life.

uperstitious Beliefs
Natives believed in;
aswang (witch)
dwende (tiny creatures like humans)
kapre (tall and apelike creatures smoking
cigarettes, usually found on trees.
mangkukulam (an old lady capable of harming
others using a doll and a pin)
tikbalang (half-man and half-horse creature)
tiyanak (a baby that sucks blood on human.
They also believed in magical power of amulets
and charms such as anting-anting, kulam and the
use of gayuma or love potion.

Aswang
Dwende
Kapre

Tiyanak
Mangkukul
am

Tikbalan
g

Ornaments
The natives wore ornament made of gold
and precious stones. Women including men
wore armlet, leg lets, bracelets, gold rings
and earring. Putting tattoos in their body
was practiced.
Males having many tattoos were admired
because it signified bravery in war. They
also inserted gold between their teeth as an
ornament.

Education
To transmit knowledge, it was
acquired through observation,
imitation and practice. There
was no formal education during
pre-Spanish period. Children
were taught to read and write
by their parents. It was fair to
say that they were literate.
The purpose of education
during their time was for
survival. Their father on
hunting animals taught males,
fishing, agriculture and other
economic activities while their

Economic life
Domestic trade of different barangays
from different regions and islands were
made possible using boats.
Foreign trade was carried on with
countries like Borneo, China, Japan,
Cambodia, Java and Siam (Thailand).
Other means of livelihood were
shipbuilding, weaving, poultry raising,
mining, weaving and lumbering.

Music
Natives were without a doubt, music lovers. Each
community had their own sets of musical
instrument. In the account of Pigafetta, the official
historian of Magellan expedition, women from Cebu
were harmoniously playing
- cymbals (plantiles)
- nose flutes, bamboo mouth organs (aphiw)
- brass gong (gansa)
- flute (bansic)
- long drum (colibao)
- bamboo harp (subing)
- water whistle (paiyak)
- guitar (bugtot)
- xylophone (agong)
- drum (tugo)

Dances
The most ancient dances could be traced to
the war dance in order to incite the warlike
enthusiasm of the natives.
They danced primarily to please their gods,
anitos ad the spirit who it was believed,
were always jealous of the action of the
natives.
Their dance could be described as the
pantomimes today.
They also danced during festivals and other
merry-making occasions.

nguage and System of Writing

Eight are considered major languages, namely:
-Tagalog
-Ilocos
-Pangasinan
-Pampangan
-Sugbuhanon
-Hiligaynon
-Magindanaw
-Samarnon
They also had their system of writing. The ancient
Filipinos alphabet consisted of three vowels and
fourteen consonants.
Natives wrote on many different materials; leaves,
palm fronds, tree bark and fruit rinds, but the most
common material was bamboo.

Baybayin ancient Philippine

alphabet.

Literature
The early form of literature during pre-Spanish
period was a classified into written or oral.
Examples of oral literature consisted of;
-maxims (sabi)
-Bugtong (riddles)
-Boat song (talindaw)
-Victory songs (tagumpay)
-Lullaby (uyayi)
-Wedding song (ihiman)
-War song (kumintang) etc.
examples of written literature are;
-Biag ni Lam-Ang (Ilocano epic)
-Indarapatra at Sulayman and Bidasari (Muslim
Epics)
-Handiong (Bicolanos)

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