PRE-

COLONIZATION
Pre-Colonial Philippines
A. Society
1. Mode of Dressing
2. Ornaments
3. Houses
4. Social Classes
5. Status Of Women
6. Marriage Customs
7. Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and Succession
Pre-Colonial Philippines
B. Politics C. Religion
1. Government 1. Religious Belief
2. Laws 2. Divination and Magic Charms
3. Legislation
4. Judicial Process
5. Trial by Ordeal
D. Economic Life
1. Agriculture
2. Live Stock
3. Fishing
4. Mining
5. Lumbering and Shipbuilding
6. Weaving
7. Trade
E. Culture
1. Languages
2. System of Writing
3. Literature
4. Music and Dances
5. Art
Long before the Spaniards came to the
Philippines, Filipinos had their own
civilization of their own. This civilization
partly came from the Malay settlers and
partly from their responses to the new
environment. Many of these customs
and traditions, government and way of
life, have come down to the present
day, despite the changes brought by
westernization and modernization.
 SOCIETY
Philippine pre-colonial society is both different and the same as the
present. Some aspects of the pre-colonial period have survived into our
time. The following is a description of the way of life of pre-colonial
Filipinos.
Mode of Dressing
• Male attire was composed of the kanggan
(sleeveless jacket) and bahag (loincloth)
• The color of the kanggan indicates rank – red
for the chief, black or blue for the commoners.
• Men also wear a turban called putong, which
also tell the social status/achievements of the
individual wearing it
• Female attire consisted of baro or
camisa(jacket with sleeves) and saya or
patadyong (a long skirt): some women wore a
piece of red or white cloth on top of their skirt
called tapis
Ornaments
• Men and women wore ornaments to look
attractive
• Both wear kalumbiga, pendants,
bracelets, and leglets
• These ornaments were made of gold
• Some wear gold fillings between the teeth
• Tattoos were also fashionable for some
pre-colonial Filipinos
Houses
• Built to suit the tropical
climates
• Called bahay kubo, made of
wood, bamboo, and nipa palm
• Some Filipinos, such as the
Kalingas, Mandayas and
Bagobos built their houses on
treetops
• Others, such as the Badjaos,
built their houses on boats
Social classes

Nobles
(gat or lakan)

Type of Dependents
Freemen (Tagalog)
1. Aliping namamahay
(maharlika) 2. Aliping sagigilid

Dependents Type of Dependents

(Bisayans)
(alipin, ulipon, or adipen) 1. Tumataban
2. Tumarampuk
3. Ayuey
Status Of Women
• Occupied a high position
• Laws and custom were equal with
men
• Had the exclusive right to name
their children
• Men should walk behind women as
a sign of respect
Marriage Customs
• A man belonging to one class married a Adultery or
woman of the same class but this custom desertion

was not rigid. Lack of

Loss of
sexual
• Except Muslims, they practice monogamy but satisfaction
Grounds
affection

in some cases, a man could marry as many as

he could but only the first wife was for
considered legitimate spouse
Childishness
Divorce Cruelty
• Courtship usually begins with paninilbihan
and has to satisfy several conditions. Insanity
• Once he had settled all of the requirements,
he brings his parents to meet with the bride-
to-be’s parents: this is called pamamalae or
pamamanhikan
Mixed Marriages, Inheritance and
Succession
• Mixed marriages were allowed in pre-colonial society
• The status of children were dependent upon the status pf the parents
• Often, the status of children in mixed marriages is divided evenly between the
parents
• Single children of mixed marriage were half-free and half-dependent
• Legitimate children inherited their parents’ property even without any written
will and was divided equally among the children
• Children of dependent mothers are given freedom and a few things
• Nearest relatives inherit the property of childless couples
• In succession, the first son inherits his father’s position; if the first son dies the
second son succeeds their father; in the absence of male heir, it is the eldest
daughter that succeeds the father’s position
Politics
Government
When wives
• Unit of government was the barangay, which
consisted of 30-100 families. The term came
or husband
from the Malay word balangay, meaning boat. are stolen
from them
• Barangays were headed by chieftains called
datu or rajah
• The subjects served their datu during wars,
voyages, planting and harvest, and when his
Cause
house needs to be built or repaired; they also of war
paid tributes called buwis.
When one goes When going
• Alliances among barangays were common and to another to another
these are finalized in a ritual called sangduguan. village and village in
• Conflicts between or among barangays were killed someone the guise of
settled by violence; those who win by force is without a cause friendship
always right
Laws
Customary and written laws
Covered Subjects
• Family relations, property, rights, inheritance, contracts,
partnership, loans, usury, crimes, and their punishment,
adoption and divorce
Major Crimes
• Rape, incest, murder, witchcraft, insult, trespassing,
sacrilegious act, and larceny
• Punishment: death
Minor Crimes
• Misdemeanors like adultery, cheating, petty theft, perjury,
disturbance of peace at night by singing, and destroying
Legislation
• Before laws are made, the chief consults with a council of elders who
approved of his plan
• They are not immediately enforced until the new legislation is
announced to the village by the umalohokan, who also explains the
law to everyone
 Judicial process
• Dispute between datus or
between residents of different
barangays were sometimes
settled by arbitration Barangay
Plaintiff Witnesses
• The accused and the accuser Trial were and took an
court
faced each other in front of the held in favors a
defendant oath to
“court” with their respective litigant
public plead tell the
witnesses with more
their case truth
proofs
• Both took an oath to tell the
truth; most of the time, the one
who presents the most
witnesses wins the case
Trial by Ordeal
Boiling water ordeal,
River Ordeal, suspects
suspects pick a stone in a
plunge into the river with
pot of boiling water and
spears and who rises first
he whose arm or hand is
is guilty
burned the most is guilty

Candle ordeal, suspect

Ordeal by combat,
are given lighted candles
among the Ifugaos
of the same sizes and the
bultong (wrestling), alaw
owner of the candle that
(duel) is common.
died out first is guilty
Religion
Religious Beliefs and Practices
• They were animistic
• Worshipped a supreme god, called Bathala
by the tagalogs
• Believed in spirits called anitos or diwatas
• Religious leaders were called babaylan,
baylana, or katalona.
• Believed in afterlife and heaven and hell
Divination or Magic Charms
• Fond of interpreting signs in nature as good or bad omens depending
upon circumstances
• Believed in black magic and manogbarang or manoghiwit
• Believed in aswang or witches and many more
• Believed in the efficacy of anti-aging or amulets as well as lumay or
gayuma
Economic Life
Agriculture
• Main source of livelihood
• Rice, coconuts, sugar cane, cotton, hemp, bananas, oranges, and
many species of fruits and vegetables were grown
• The daily fare consisted of rice and boiled fish, or sometimes pork or
venison, carabao or wild buffalo meat
• Fermented the sap of palm trees and drank it as liquor called tuba

Livestock
• Pre-colonial Filipinos raised chickens,
Fishing
• Was a thriving industry for those who live in the coast or near river
and lakes
• Various tools for fishing such as nets, bow and arrow, spear, wicker
basket, hooks and lines, corrals and fish poisons were used
• Pearls fisheries also abound in Sulu
Culture
Languages and System of Writing
• More than an hundred languages
and dialects exist
• A syllabary made of 17 symbols, 3
vowels and 14 consonants
• Wrote on bark of trees, leaves, and
bamboo nodes, using knives,
daggers, pointed stick or iron as
pens and colored sap of trees and
fruit as ink
Literature
• Had oral and written literature
• Consist of proverbs, sayings, riddles, epics, myths, and legends

Riddles
Riddles are generally poetic in form and come in one, two, three or four
lines. During the pre-colonial period, riddles serve as a form of folk
speech and are about the battle of wits.
Folk Narrative
Folk narrative consist of myths, legends and folktales. Myths are prose
narratives explaining how the world and people came to be in their form.
 Proverbs

The proverbs or aphorisms express norms or codes of behavior,

community beliefs or they instill values by offering nuggets of wisdom
in short, rhythm verse.
example: Kung may tinanim, may aanihin.

Folk Songs

The folk song, a form of folk lyric which expresses the hopes and
aspirations, the people’s lifestyles as well as their loves. These are often
repetitive and sonorous.
Epics

Epics in the Philippines during the pre-colonization are considered

ethno-epics because they are histories of various ethnic groups. The
epics come in various names: Guman (Subanon); Darangen (Maranao);
Hudhud (Ifugao); and Ulahingan (Manobo).
Music and Dances
• Had their own musical
instruments, songs, and
dances
• Most popular musical
instruments: kudyapi
• Songs included love songs,
religious songs, rice planting
songs, harvesting songs,
rowing songs, battle songs,
vending songs, and others.
• Had colorful folk dances
Arts
• Native artistry was found in beads, amulets, bracelets, earrings. And
other body ornaments made of gold, green jade, red carnelian, and
other attractive stones
• Dyed and ornamented their clothes with designs and picturesque
colors
• Carves statues of anitos in wood gold, ivory, stone, and crocodiles
teeth
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