The document discusses the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the earliest known written document found in the Philippines. It was discovered in 1989 in Laguna de Bay and has provided insights about Philippine history and civilization in the 10th century CE. The LCI suggests the Philippines had contact and trade with neighboring regions like Malaysia and Indonesia at that time. It has been translated and discusses an agreement between a leader named Namwaran and a chief that forgave his debts. This inscription challenges the belief that the Philippines was isolated prior to Spanish colonization by showing evidence of an existing advanced civilization and interactions with other Asian societies.

1. READINGS IN PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY:
LAGUNA COPPERPLATE INSCRIPTION
MR. MICHAEL P. MAGANA
4

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
SELECTED PRIMARY SOURCES IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY:
LAGUNA COPPERPLATE INSCRIPTION
a. Restate the English translation of the inscription in
the copperplate.
b. Explain the relevance of the discovery of the
copperplate to Philippine historiography.
c. Justify the existence of advanced Philippine
civilization prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Material evidences that
signify the maritime
contact of Philippines to
other Asian Regions

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: An Ancient
Text That Changed the Perception of the History
of the Philippines

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The Laguna Copperplate
inscription (LCI) is the
earliest known written
document found in the
Philippines. The plate was
found in 1989 by Alfredo
Evangelista in Lumban river
near Laguna de Bay.

10. NO. 4
READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Evangelista was dredging
sand in the mouth of the
river when he uncovered this
sheet of copper with strange
writing on it. He sold it to the
Philippine National Museum
for some 2000 pesos.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Thin copper plate
measuring less than
8 × 12 inches (20 × 30
cm) in size and
inscribed with small
writing that had been
hammered into its
surface.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
The Laguna Copperplate
Inscription has great
significance for the
understanding of the
history of the Philippines
during the 10th century
AD – a time when many
scholars believed that the
area was isolated from the
rest of Southeast Asia.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
A Dutch anthropologist who
married into and lived among
the Hanunuo, a Mangyan sub-
tribe in southeastern Mindoro,
Philippines. He is best known for
being the first to decipher the
Laguna Copperplate Inscription,
and for documenting the
Hanunó'o script, paving the way
for its preservation and
understanding.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Dutch Anthropologist Antoon Postma’s
translation of the LCI’s text shows the
Saka date of 822, or 900 CE, the start of
King Belitung of Central Java’s reign. The
LCI suggests a contract that existed
between the Philippines and its
neighbors in the Southeast Asian region,
particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

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READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
INSCRIPTION (IN TAGALOG)
“Mabuhay! Taóng Siyaka 822, buwán ng Waisaka,
ayon sa aghámtalà. Ang ikaapat na araw ng pagliít
ng buwán, Lunes. Sa pagkakátaóng itó, si Dayang
Angkatán sampû ng kaniyáng kapatíd na
nagngangalang Buka, na mga anák ng Kagalang-
galang na si Namwarán, ay ginawaran ng isáng
kasulatan ng lubós na kapatawarán mulâ sa Punong
Pangkalahatan sa Tundún sa pagkatawán ng Punong
Kagawad ng Pailáh na si Jayadewa.”

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“Sa atas na itó, sa pamamagitan ng Tagasulat,
ang Kagalang-galang na si Namwarán ay
pinatawad na sa lahát at inalpasán sa
kaniyáng utang at kaniyáng mga náhulíng
kabayarán na 1 katî at 8 suwarna sa harapán
ng Kagalang-galang na Punong Kagawad ng
Puliran na si Ka Sumurán, sa kapangyarihan
ng Kagalang-galang na Punong Kagawad ng
Pailáh.”

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“Dahil sa matapát na paglilingkód ni
Namwarán bilang isáng sakop ng Punò,
kinilala ng Kagalang-galang at batikáng
Punong Kagawad ng Binwangan ang
lahát ng nabubuhay pang kamag-anak ni
Namwarán na inangkín ng Punò ng
Dewatà, na kinatawán ng Punò ng
Medáng.”

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- Antoon Postma
Dutch Anthropologist

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