PHILIPPINE HISTORY WITH GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTION

History - is a science that deals with the scientific study of the past events

- It is subjective and factual.

Bases of History

1. Artifacts

2. Fossils

3. Written records

4. Arts

Pre-Historic Period

Archaeological Discoveries

250,000 B.C. – man first appeared in the Philippines during ice age of the Middle

Pleistocene Period.

“The Dawn Man” - he came to the Philippines from Asia via land bridges at the

dawn of time. They are known also as the Homo Erectus.

- Cousin of Java and Peking Man and other prehistoric men in Asia.

Economic Life

 Hunting

 Fishing

 Gathering wild fruits and edible plants.

He might have reached the Philippines while hunting

 Boars

 Deer

 Elephants

 Rhinoceros and other Pleistocene animals found in Pangasinan and Cagayan Valley.

Until now , none of his primitive crude stone found yet in any archeological sites.

Prehistoric Ancestors.

 Negritos
  Indonesians

 Malays

Negritos - aborigins or first inhabitants

- came from mainland Asia 25,000 years B.C.

- by land- bridges which then linked our country with the Asian

Continent.

.Upheavals of nature caused the land bridges to disappear under the seas so the Negritos were
marooned in our archipelago.

Indonesians - They arrived by boats from the mainland of Southeast Asia in two successive
waves of migration.

 First wave – 3,000 B.C.

 Second wave - 1,000 B.C.

Economic Life

 First seafaring immigrants

 Mongolian origin

 Hunting

 Fishing

 Crude farming

 Used bows and arrows, knives, blowguns (sumpit)

 Spears and shields

Malays

Homelands

 Java

 Sumatra

 Borneo

Sailboats called balangay

Came in 3 waves

 First wave - 200 B.C. and A.D. 1000

 Third wave - between A.D. 1300 and 1500

First migratory wave – head hunting Malays

- Ancestors of the

- Bontoks

- Ilongots

- Kalingas

- And other head-hunting tribes in Northern Luzon

Second migratory wave - alphabet using Malays

- Ancestors of the Bisayans

- Bicolanos

- Ilocanos

- Pampanguenos

- Tagalogs

Third migratory wave - ancestors of the Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu

(Moros)

Prehistoric Malays were the first discoverers, colonizers and conquerors of the Pacific world.
Unfortunately, their maritime exports were never recorded. There were no historians among them;
hence, they are unsung in written history.

Enrique Malacca – Magellan’s faithful slave was a Malayan from Sumatra.

Emergence of the Filipino people.

Inter-racial marriages took place among them emerged the Filipino people.

Early contacts with Asia’s Great Civilizations.

Long before the coming of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, the native Filipinos came
in contact with India, China and Arabia and other Western nations.

Government

The early Filipinos had their own form of government. Each settlement was an independent
kingdom called barangay – sailboat.
Pre-Spanish Period

Datu/Rajah/Sultan – Chief executive of the barangay

Autocratic- form of government

Big Barangay with more than 2000 population

1. Sugbu - Cebu

2. Mactan

3. Vigan

4. Manila.

Datu/Raja/Sultan - leader

Powers possessed

1. Legislative

2. Executive

3. Judicial

4. Ecclesiastical

5. Military - commander in chief of the Barangay warriors.

Mode of succession - inheritance

The son we will inherit the position but if the will datu is childless. The barangay chose a man on the
basis of his wisdom, physical strength or wealth.

There was no national government in ancient Philippines. There were many independent barangay and
many datus. But there was no datu strong enough to unite the archipelago into one nation.

Laws

Early Filipinos have both oral and written laws.

Written laws - promulgated by the datus with the help of the elders and were put into writings

These written laws were announced to the people by a barangay town crier as
UMALOHOKAN .

Written laws were put on the bark of the trees, wood, leaves or cloth.

Datu Kalantiaw - Aklan 1433

Religion

Ancient Filipinos were pagans except Muslims in Mindanao and Sulu.

Bathala - Supreme God

-they worship Anitos in Tagalog and Diwatas in Bisayans

Maganitos or sacrifice were offered.

They worshipped nature : rivers, mountains, old trees, crocodiles, fields.

They believed such natural objects were the habitats of the spirits. They also believed that
there were life after death for punishment and reward.

Burial and Mourning

Corpse was embalmed as an ancient Egypt and was buried amidst deep sorrow near his home,
in a cave or on a headland overlooking the sea. Clothes, food, weapons and sometimes slaves were
buried with the dead.

During the period of mourning the relatives of the dead were rattan beads around their necks
and arms and legs. They also abstained from eating meat and drinking wine.

No colored clothes were worn by the grieving people.

,All wars and quarrels were suspended and singing in boats returning from the sea was prohibited. All
warriors carried their spears with their tips pointed downward and their daggers with hilts reversed.

Superstitions

They believed in witches

-Aswang.

-Mangkukulam

-Tiyanak

-Tigbalang

-Magical power of amulets

-Anting-anting

-Gayuma.

Odom - Bicol magic herb - invisible to the human eye.

Uiga - enables man to cross a river without getting wet

Writing

-used sharp pointed iron instrument called Sipol as pen.

,-used banana leaves, tree-barks and bamboo tubes

-from left to right directions

Literature

Oral Literature

1. Myths and legends

2. Songs – which chanted the deeds of their gods and heroes

3. Fables

4. Proverbs (sawikain)

5. Riddles (bugtong)

Education

Informal education - they studied in their own homes with their parents and some old men in
the barangay as their tutors. They taught reading, writing, arithmetic and tribal customs.

Boys had been trained as warriors, hunters, fisherman, farmers, mariners and craftsman.

Girls were trained/taught cooking, sewing, stockraising and other domestic work to make them good
housewives.

Arts - cultural heritage

-bahay kubo

-painting/tattoo - they use dagger or knife as brush

-black root and jungle sapa as colors. Human body as canvas.

-stars -crocodiles

-flowers -birds

They are expert mixers of colors

Sciences

-herbs as their medicines

They knew astronomy. They steered their vessels by the direction of the stars, the moon and the sun.

Weights and Measures

-kaban - 25 gantas

-salop - 1 ganta

-kagitna

- ½ ganta
 -gatang - one chupa

Length

-dipa - tip of the thumb to the middle finger when extended

-htumuro - tip of the thumb to forefinger

-sandanak - with of the hand with the five fingers pressed together

Coins - found in jars (gusi)

-excavated in Bataan and Manila

-cone shaped gold pieces

-imprint by letter “M” on their flat bases

-gold

Foreign Trade

Ancient Filipinos also carried on commerce with China, Japan, Siam (Thailand), Malacca, Borneo, Java,
India, Sumatra.

They were honest in their commercial transactions.

Agriculture and. Industries

-kaingin method

-using wooden plows and harrows drawn by carabaos

-in some regions, irrigation was used to increase production as evidenced by the famous Ifugao
terraces of Northern Luzon.

The mountain slopes and less arable lands were considered public property of the barangay.

The cultivated lands were owned privately by the different families. These private lands were
acquired by occupation, purchase or inheritance.

Early industries

-fishing -lumbering -metal works

-mining -weaving -making of tools

-making of weapons -manufacturing wines

-raising of poultry and stock

-tanning and ship building

1. Give the three social classes in the ancient Filipino society? Who composed each social classes?

2. Explain briefly the position of woman in the society of our ancestors.

3. What were the different kinds of slaves among the ancient Tagalog?/Bisayans?

4. Describe the marriage customs of our ancestors.

5. What were the coinage among the Filipino before the coming of the Spaniards ? Explain your
answer.