Lesson No.

4 (3 Hours)

Description:
This lesson requires the students to critically analyze The Customs of the Tagalogs written by
Juan de Plasencia, a Franciscan Missionary in the Tagalog region in 1578 to 1590. This would
also elicit appreciation among the students on how rich are the Tagalogs’ practices and belief
systems. Besides, this would also give us insights on how Spaniards view these customs during
their occupation in the archipelago.
Content:
The authorship plays a pivotal role in putting meaning(s) to this colonial text. The author, Juan
de Plasencia was, in the first place, not a native Tagalog but a Franciscan missionary who first
arrived in the Philippines in 1577.
He was tasked by the King of Spain to document the customs and traditions of the colonized
(“natives”) based on, arguably, his own observations and judgments. Notably, de Plasencia
wrote the Doctrina Cristiana, an early book on catechism and is believed to be the first book
ever printed in the Philippines and The Customs of the Tagalogs describing the way of life of
the Tagalogs. Such initiatives were an accustomed practice of the colonizer during the Age of
Discovery to enhance their superiority over the colonized and validity of their so-called duties
and legacies to the World. It is a common fact that during this era, the Spanish colonizers,
spearheaded by missionaries, drew a wide variety of texts ranging from travel narratives and
accounts of the colony to even sermons (Mapanoo, 2015).
In this particular text, we are not just to look at it as a window of the
past but as a mirror to reflect if the descriptions used by Plasencia
really match the customs of the Tagalogs in the context of the
Filipinos, the Tagalogs in particular. We are to critically examine its
content and context validity. Did Plasencia made biases in writing the
Juan de Plasencia:
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEw
je2rLprfniAhWHMt4KHfZnABIQjRx6BAgB
EAU&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.revolvy.com%2Fpage%2FJuan-
de-
Plasencia&psig=AOvVaw2xXDJAXKuIGkGh
mOPwG3tB&ust=1561164600876825
account? How did he view these customs that are completely strange of him? Is his account a
credible source of our history? etc.

Excerpt from Customs of the Tagalogs

This people always had chiefs, called by them datos, who governed them and were captains in
their wars, and whom they obeyed and reverenced. The subject who committed any offense
against them, or spoke but a word to their wives and children, was severely punished.
These chiefs rules over a few of people; sometimes as many as a hundred houses, sometimes
as may as a hundred house, sometimes even less than thirty. This tribal gathering is called in
Tagalog a barangay. It was inferred that the reason for giving themselves this name rose from
the fact ( as they are classed, by their language among the Malay nations) that when they
came to this land, the head of the barangay, which is a boat, thus called- as is discussed at
length in the first chapter of the first ten chapters- became the dato. And so, even at present
day it is ascertained that the barangay in its origin was a family of parents, children, relations
and slaves. There were many of these barangays in each town, or at least, on account of wars,
they did not settle far from another. They were not, however, subject to one another, except in
friendship and relationship. The chiefs, in their various wars, helped one another with their
respective barangays.
In addition to these chiefs, who corresponded to our knights, there were three castes: nobles,
commoners, and slaves. The nobles were the freeborn whom they call maharlica. They did not
pay tax or tribute to the dato, but must accompany him in war, at their own expense. The chief
offered them beforehand a feast, and afterward they divided the spoils. Moreover, when the
dato went upon the water those whom he summoned rowed for him. If he built a house, they
helped him, and had to be fed up for it. The same was true when the whole barangay went to
clear up his lands for tillage. The lands which they inhabited were divided among the whole
barangay, especially the irrigated portion, thus each one knew his own. No one belonging to
another barangay would cultivate them unless after purchase or inheritance. The lands on the
tingues, or mountain ridges, are not divided, but owned in common by the barangay.
Consequently, at the time of the rice harvest, any individual of any particular barangay,
although he may have come from some villages ( as, for example, Pila de Laguna) in which
these nobles, or maharlicas, paid annually to the dato a hundred gantas of rice. The reason of
this was that, at the time of their settlement there, another chief, upon his arrival, bought with
his own gold; and therefore, the members of his barangay paid him for arable land, and he
divided it, among those whom he saw fit to reward. But now, since the advent of the Spaniards,
it is not divided.
The commoners are called aliping namamahay. They are married, and serve their master,
whether he be a dato or not, with half of their cultivated lands, as was agreed upon in the
beginning. They accompanied him wherever he went beyond the island, and rowed for him.
They live in their own houses, and are lords of their property and gold. Their children inherit it,
and enjoy their property and lands. The children, then, enjoy the rank of their fathers, and they
cannot be made slaves ( sa guigilir) nor can either parents or children be sold. If they should
fall by inheritance into the hands of a son of their master who was going to dwell in another
village, they could not be taken from their own village, they could not be taken from their own
village, doing service there and cultivating the sowed lands.
The slaves are called aliping sa guiguilir. They serve their master in his house and on his
cultivated lands, and maybe sold. The master grants them, should they see fit, and providing
that he has profited through their industry, a portion of their harvests, so that they may work
faithfully. For these reasons, servants who are born in the house of their master are rarely, if
ever, sold. That is the lot of captives in war, and of those brought up in the harvest fields…
The difference between the aliping namamahay and the aliping sa guiguilir, should be noted;
for, by a confusion of the two terms, may have been classed as slaves who really are not. The
Indians sseing that the alcalses- mayor do not understand this, have adopted the custom of
taking away the children aliping namamahay, making use of them as they would af aliping sa
guiguilir, as servants in their households, which is llegal, and if the aliping namamahay should
appeal to justice, it is proved that he is an alipin as well as his father and mother before him
and no reservation is made as to whether he is aliping namamahay or aliping sa guiguilir, He is
at once considered an alipin, without further declaration. In this way he becomes a sa guiguilir,
and is even sold. Consequently, the alcaldes-mayor should be instructed to ascertain, when
anyone asks for his alipin, to which class he belongs, and to have the answer put in document
that they give him.
In these three classes, those who are maharlicas on both father's and mother's side continue to
be so forever; and if it happens that they should become slaves, it is through marriage, as I
shall soon explain. If these maharlicas had children among their slaves, the children and their
mothers became free; if one f them had children by a slave-woman of another, she was
compelled. When pregnant, to give her master half of the gold tael, because of her risk of
death, and for her inability to labor during the pregnancy. In such case half of the child was the
free child namely, the half belonging to his father, who supplied the did child not with food. If
he did not do this, he showed that he did not recognize him as his child, in which case the latter
was wholly a slave. If a free woman had children by a slave, they were al free was wholly a
provided he were not her husband.
If two persons married, of whom one was a maharlica and the other a slave, whether
namamahay or sa guiguilir, belonged the children were divided; the first, whether male or
female, belonged uilir, the to the father, as did the third and fifth; the second, the fourth and
the sixth fell to the mother, and so on. In this manner, if the father were free, all those who
belonged to him were free; if he were a slave, all those who belonged to him were slaves; and
the same applied to the mother. If there should not be more than one child, he was half free
and half slave. The question here concerned the division, whether the child were male or
female Those who became slaves fell under the category of servitude which was their parent's,
either namamahay or sa guiguilir. If there were an odd number of children, the odd one was
half free and half slave. I have not been able to ascertain with certainty when or what age the
division of children was made, for each one suited himself in this respect. Of these two kinds of
slaves the sa guiguilir could be sold, but not the namamahay and their children, nor could they
be transferred However, they could be transferred from the barangay by inheritance, provided
they remained in the same village.
The maharlicas could not, after marriage, move from one large to another or from one
barangay to another, without paying 4 a certain fine in gold, as arranged among them. This fine
was larger or smaller according to the inclination of the different villages, running from one to
three taels and a banquet to the entre barangay, Failure to pay the fine might result in a war
between the barangay where the person left and the one which he entered. This applied
equally to men and women except that when one married a woman of another village, the
children were afterwards divided equally between the two barangays. This arrangement kept
them obedient to the dato, or chief, which is no longer the case-because if the dato is energetic
and commands what the religious fathers enjoin him, they soon leave him and go to other
villages and other datos, who endure and protect them and do not order them about. This is
the kind of dato that they now prefer, not him who has the spirit to command. There is a great
need of reform in this, for the chiefs are spiritless and faint- hearted.

Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place in the presence if those
in his barangay. If any of the litigants felt himself aggrieved, an arbiter was unanimously
selected from another village or barangay, whether he were a dato or not; since they had for
this purpose some reasons, known as fair and just men, who were said to give true judgment
according to their customs. If the controversy lay between two chiefs, when they wished to
avoid war, they also convoked judges to act as arbiters; they did the same if the disputants
belonged to two different barangays. In this ceremony they always had to drink, the plaintiff
inviting the others.

They had laws by which they condemned to death a man of low birth who insulted the
daughter or wife of chief; likewise, witches of the same class. death penalty.

They condemned no one to slavery, unless he merited the death penalty. As for the witches,
they killed them, and their children and accomplices became slaves of the chief, after he had
made some recompense to the injured person. All other offenses were punished by fines in
gold, which, if not paid promptness, exposed the culprit to serve, until the payment
should be made, the person was aggrieved, to whom the to whom the money was paid. This
was done in the following way: Half of the cultivated lands and all their produce belonged to
their master. The master provided the culprit with food and clothing, thus enslaving the culprit
and bis children until such time as he a amass enough money to pay the fine. If the father
should by chance pay his debt, the master then claimed that he has fed. And clothed his
children, and should be paid therefor. In this he kept possession of the children if the payment
could not be met. This last was usually the case, and they remained slaves
the culprit had some relative or friend who paid for him, he was obliged to render the latter half
his service until he was paid not, however, service within the h0use as aliping sa guiguilir but
living independently, as alipin namamahay. If the creditor were not served in this wise, the
culprit had to pay double of what was lent him. In this way slaves were made by debt; either
sa guiguilir, if they served the master to whom the judgment applied; or aliping namamahay, if
they served the person who lent them wherewith to pay.

***

Dowries are given by the men to the women's parents. If the latter are living, they enjoy use of
it. At their death, provided the dowry has not been consumed, it is divided like the rest of the
estate, equally among the children, except in the case the father should care to bestow
something additional upon their daughter.If the wife, at the time of her marriage, has neither
father, mother ,nor grandparents, she enjoys her dowry-which in such a case belongs to no
other relative or child. It should be noticed that unmarried women can own no property, in land
or dowry for the result of all their labors accrues to their parents.

In the case of a divorce before the birth of the children, if the wife left the husband for the
purpose of marrying another, all her the dowry and an equal additional amount fell to the
husband; but if she left him, and did not marry another, the dowry was returned. When the
husband left his wife, he lost half of the dowry, and the other half was returned to him. If he
possessed children at the time of his divorce, the whole dowry and the fine went to the
children, and was held for them by their grandparents or other responsible relatives.

In the matter of marriage dowries which fathers bestow upon their sons when they are about to
be married, and half of which is given immediately, even when they are only children, there is a
great deal more complexity. There is a fine stipulated in the contract, that he who violates it
shall pay a certain sum which varies according to the practice of the village and the affluence of
the individual. The fine was heaviest if, upon the death of the parents, the son or daughter
should be unwilling to marry because it had been arranged by his or her parents. In this case
the dowry which the parents had received was returned and nothing more. But if the parents
were living, they paid the fine, because it was assumed that it had been their design to
separate the children.

Worship of the Tagalogs

In all the villages, or in other parts of the Filipinas Islands, there are no temples consecrated to
the performing of sacrifices, the adoration of their idols, or the general practice of idolatry. It is
true that they have the simbahan, which means a temple or place of adoration; but it is
because, formerly, when they wished to celebrate a festival, which they called pandot or
"worship," they celebrated it in a large house of a chief.

There they constructed, for the purpose of sheltering e house, assembled people, a temporary
shed on each side of the h the with a roof called sibi, to protect people from the wet when it
rained. They so constructed the house that it may contain. people-dividing it after the fashion
of ships, into three compartments. On the posts of the bouse they set small lamps, called
sorihile; in the center of the house they placed one large lamp, adorned with leaves of the
white palm, wrought into man designs. They also brought together many drums, large and
small, which they beat successively while the feast lasted, which was usually four days. During
this time the whole barangay, or family, united and joined in the worship which they called
nagaanitos. The house, for the above-mentioned period of time was called a temple.

Among their many idols there was one called Bathala whom they especially worshipped. The
title, seems to signify "all powerful," or "maker of all things." They also worshipped the sun,
which, on account of its beauty, is almost universal respected and honored by the heathens.
They worshipped too, the moon, especially when it was new, at which time they had great
rejoicings, adoring it and bidding it welcome. Some of them also adored the stars, although
they did not know them by their, names, as the Spaniards and other nations know the planets
with the exception of the morning star they called Tala. They knew, too, the "seven little goats"
[The Pleiades]-as we call them-and, consequently, the change of seasons, which they call
Mapolon; and Balatic, which is our Greater Bear. They possessed many idols called lic-ha, which
were images with different shapes; and at times they worshipped any little trifle, in which they
adored, as did the Romans, some particular dead man w0 was brave in war and endowed with
special faculties, to who they commended themselves for protection in their tribulatios They had
another idol called Dian Masalanta, who was the and patron of lovers and of generation. The
idols called Lacapati and Idianale were patrons of the cultivated lands and of husbandry.
aid reverence to water-lizards called by them buaya or crocodiles, for fear of being harmed by
them. They were even in the bait of offering these animals a portion of what they carried
their boats, by throwing it into the water, or placing it upon the bank.

They were, moreover, very liable to find auguries in things they witnessed. For example, if they
left their house and met on the way a serpent or rat, or a bird called tigmamanuguin which was
singing in the tree, or if they chanced upon anyone who sneezed, they returned at once to their
house, considering the incident as an augury that some evil might befall them if they should
continue their journey-especially when the abovementioned bird sang. This song has two
different forms: in the one case it was considered an evil omen; in the other, as a good omen,
and then they continued their journey. They also practiced divination, to see whether weapons,
such as dagger or knife, were useful and lucky for their possessor whenever occasion should
offer.

These natives had no established division of years, months, and days; these are determined by
the cultivation of soil, counted by moons, and the different effect produced upon the trees
when yielding flowers, fruits, and leaves: all this helps them in making
up a year. The winter and summer are distinguished as sun-time and water-time-the latter term
designating winter in those regions, where there is no cold, snow, or rice.

****

Their manner of offering sacrifice was to proclaim a feast, and offer to the devil what they had
to eat. This was done in front of an idol, which they anoint with fragrant perfumes, such as
musk and civet, or gum of the storax-tree and other odoriferous woods, and praise it in poetic
songs sung by the officiating priest, male or female, who is called catolonan. Th participants
made responses to the song, beseeching the idol to favor them with those things of which they
were in need and generally, by offering repeated health, they all become me intoxicated. In
some of the idolatries they were accustomed to place a good piece of cloth, doubled, over the
idol, and over the cloth chain or large gold ring, thus worshipping the devil without having sight
of him. The devil was sometimes liable to enter into the body of the catolonan, and, assuming
her shape and appearance, filled her with so great arrogance-he being the cause of it-that she
seemed to shoot flames from her eyes; her hair stood on end, a fearful sight to those
beholding, and she uttered words of arrogance and superiority. In some districts, especially the
mountains, when in those idolatries the devil incarnated himself and took on the form of his
minister, the latter had to be tied to a tree by his companions, to prevent the devil in his
infernal fury from destroying him. This, however, happened but rarely. The objects of sacrifice
were goats, fowls, and swine, which were flayed, decapitated, and laid bare before the idol.
They performed another ceremony by cooking a jar of rice until the water was evaporated.
After which they broke the jar, and the rice was left as an intact mass which was set before the
idol and all about it, at intervals, were placed a few buyos-which is a small fruit wrapped in a
leaf with some lime, a food generally eaten in these regions4s well as fried food and fruits. All
these above-mentioned articles were eaten by guests at the feast; the heads [of animals], after
being "offered," as they expressed it, were cooked and eaten also.

The reasons for offering this sacrifice and adoration were, in addition to whatever personal
matters there might be, the recovery of a. sick person, the prosperous voyage of those
embarking on the sea, a good harvest in the sowed lands a propitious result in wars, a
successful delivery in childbirth, and a happy outcome in married life. If this took place among
people of rank, the festivities lasted thirty days.

The distinctions made among the priests of the devil were as follows: The first, called
catolonan, as above stated, was either man or woman. This office was an honorable one
among the natives, and was held ordinarily by people of rank, this rule being general in all the
islands.

The second was called mangagauay, or witches who deceived by pretending to heal the sick.
These priests even induced maladies by their charms, which in proportion to the strength and
efficacy of witchcraft, are capable of causing death. In this way, if they wished to kill at once
they did so; or they could prolong life for a year by binding to the waist a live serpent, which
was believed to be the devil, or at least his substance. This office was general throughout the
land. The third was called manyisalat, which is the same as mangagauay. These priests had the
power of applying such remedies to lovers that they would abandon and despise their own
wives, and in fact could prevent them from having intercourse with the latter. f the woman,
constrained by these means, were abandoned, it would bring sickness upon her; and on
account of the desertion she would discharge blood and matter. This office was also general
throughout the land.

The fourth was called mancocolam, whose duty it was to emit fire from himself at night, once
or oftener each month. This fire could not be extinguished; nor could it be thus emitted except
as the priest wallowed in the ordure and filth which falls from the houses; and he who lived in
the house where the priest was wallowing in order to emit this fire from himself fell ill and died.
This office was general.

The fifth was called hocloban, which is another kind of witch, of greater efficacy than the
mangagauay. Without use of medicine, and by simply saluting or raising the hand, they killed
whom they chose. But if they desired to heal those whom he hey made ill by their charms, they
did so by using other charms. Moreover, if they wished to destroy the bouse of the same Indian
hostile to them, they were able to do so without instruments This was in Catanduanes, an
island off the upper part of Luzon.

The sixth was called silagan, whose office it was, if they saw anyone clothed in white, to tear
out bis liver and eat it thus causing his death. His, like the preceding, was in the island of
Catanduanes. Let no one, moreover, consider this a fable: because in Calavan, they tore out in
this way through the anus all the intestines of a Spanish notary, who was buried in Calilaya by
father Fray Juan de Merida.
The seventh was called magtatangal, his purpose was to show himself at night to many
persons, without his head or entrails. In such wise the devil walked about, carried, or pretended
to carry, his head to different places; and, in the morning, returned it to his body-remaining as
before, alive. This seems to be a fable, although the natives affirm that they have seen it,
because the devil probably caused them to believe. This occurred in Catanduanes.

The eighth they called osuang, which is equivalent to a "sorcerer:" they say that they have seen
him fly, and that he murdered men and ate their flesb. This was among the Visayas Islands;
among the Tagalogs these did not exist.

The ninth was another class of witches called mangagayoma They made charms for lovers out
of herbs, stones, and wood, which would infuse the heart with love. Thus, did they deceive the
people, although sometimes, through the intervention of the devil, they gained their ends.

The tenth was known as sonat, which is equivalent to "preacher." It was his office to help one
die, at which time he predicted the salvation or condemnation of the soul. It was not lawful for
the function of this office to be fulfilled by others than people of high standing, on account of
the esteem in which it was held. This office was general throughout the islands.

The eleventh, pangatahojan, was a soothsayer, and predicted the future. This office was
general in the islands.

The twelfth, bayoguin, signified a "cotquean," a man whose nature inclined toward that of a
woman.

Their manner of burying the dead was as follows: the deceased was buried beside his house;
and, if he were a chief, he was placed beneath a little house or porch which they constructed
for this purpose. Before interring him, they mourned him for four days; and afterward laid him
on boat which served as a coffin or bier, placing him beneath the porch, where guard kept over
him by a slave. In place of rowers, various animals were placed within the boat, each one being
assigned a place at the oar by twos-male and female of each species being together-as for
example two goats, two deer, or two fowls. It was the slave's care to see that they were fed. If
the deceased had been a warrior, a living slave was tied beneath his body until in this way he
died. 1n course of time, all suffered decay; and for many days the relatives of the dead man
bewailed him, singing dirges, and praises of his good qualities, until they wearied of it. This
grief was accompanied by eating and drinking. This was a Custom of the Tagalogs.

These infidels said that they knew that there was another life of rest which they called maca,
just as if we should say "paradise," or, in other words, "village of rest." They say that those
who go to this place are the just, and the valiant, and those who lived without doing harm, or
who possessed moral virtues, They said also, that in the other life and mortality, there was a
place of punishment, grief, and affliction called casanaan, which was a "place of anguish;" they
also maintained that no one would go to heaven, where there only dwelt Bathala, "the maker of
all things," who governed from above. There were also other pagans who confessed more
clearly to a hell, which they called, as I have said, casanaan; they said that all the wicked went
to that place, and there dwelt the demons, whom they called sitan.

****
There were also ghosts, which they called vibit; and phantoms, which they called tigbalaang.
They had another deception-namely, if any woman died in childbirth, she and the child suffered
punishment; and that, at night, she could be beard lamenting. This is called patianac. May
honor and glory be to God our Lord, that among the tagalogs not a trace of this is left: and that
those who are now marrying ado not even know what it is, thanks to the preaching of the holy
gospel, which has banished it.

Process Questions:
1. Did Plasencia made biases in writing the account?
2. How did he view these customs that are completely strange of him? Is his account a
credible source of our history?