2. 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.
Pre-Spanish Period
3. • 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”.
House
• Some of them built tree houses to protect themselves against
their enemies or from being attacked by wild animals.
4. 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”.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Power 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 population was very
small.
8. •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
chieftain’s family members were enjoying
exemption from paying taxes. Non-payment of
taxes was already punishable during this
period.
Taxation
9. 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.
10. Trial 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 elders in the
barangay that acted as members of the jury.
11. Courtship 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 groom’s parent gave a gift called “panghimuyat”.
“himaraw” – was another payment for raising the future bride
during her infancy period, to be paid by the groom’s parent also.
Including the bride’s wet nurse received a share of dowry; it was
called “bigay-suso”.
•Mixed marriage, that was marriage between couples 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
4. And insanity
12. • 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.
Religious Beliefs
13. 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.
Superstitious Beliefs
15. 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.
16. •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 mothers in
managing the household taught
females.
Education
17. •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.
Economic life
18. • 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)
Music
19. •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.
Dances
20. • 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.
Language and System of Writing
22. • 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)
Literature
