Ii. Philippines in Ancient Times4. Economic Life

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II. PHILIPPINES IN ANCIENT TIMES4.

ECONOMIC LIFE
Early Filipinos primarily engaged in the following economic activities: farming, fishing, poultry
and swineraising, gold mining and trade. Agricultural activities among early Filipinos had an
early beginning.Thepeople first used the slash-and-burn method of planting rice. Later, they
adopted wet agriculture. Theslash-and-burn method was common in the interior and high coastal
areas while wet agriculture waspracticed in the lowlands. During the planting season, the
early Filipinos performed certain rituals toensure a bountiful harvest. Work in the fields also
followed the changes in season. The methods used inwet agriculture are similar to what is being
done in the rural areas today. Other crops being raised asidefrom rice were millet, bananas, sweet
potato or camote, areca nuts, oil, cotton, wine and vinegar andcoconuts. Abaca was raised and its
fibers were gathered and made into ropes or fabrics.
5. SOCIAL LIFE
The family was, as it still is today, the smallest but the most significant unit of ancient society.
The fatherand mother were accorded complete obedience and respect by the children. The
Father was the head of the family while the mother managed household affairs. The early
Filipinos had close family ties. Therewere four social classes in ancient Filipino society: the
chiefs, nobles, freemen and the slaves. The datuor the chief headed a barangay or community.
His family, relatives and elders belonged to the maginooclass group of nobles. The freemen or
middle class belong to the timawa or maharlika group. Men whowere born free or were freed
from slavery composed the lowest social class because they had noproperty and were under
control of their master. A Filipino could become a slave through birth, in abilityto pay debts,
purchase, punishment for crimes or by being held captive in war. Slaves were of two
kinds:aliping namamahay and aliping saguiguilid. The aliping namamahay enjoyed certain
privileges such asthe right to own property, and the right to work for any master. the aliping
saguiguilid did not enjoy anyright and freedom at all. Women occupied a high position in early
society. They were regarded as equalsof men and were given the same respect conferred upon
the men. The mother of the family had thehonor of naming the children.
5.1. Women’s Position in Society
The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino
culture, standards, andmindsets.The Philippines is described to be a nation of strong
women, whodirectly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies
andhaciendas. Although they generally define themselves in the milieu of a masculine dominated
post-colonialAsian Catholic society,Filipinowomen live in a culture that is focused on the
community, withthe family as the main unit of society. It is in this framework
of Philippinehierarchical structure,class differences, religious justifications, and living in a
globally developing nation whereinFilipino women struggle for respect. Compared to other
parts of Southeast Asia,women inPhilippine society have always enjoyed a greater share of legal
equality. Some pre-colonial socialstructures of the Philippines gave equal importance to maternal
and paternallineage.Thisbilateralkinshipsystem accorded Philippine women enormous power
within aclan.They wereentitled to property, engage in a trade and could exercise their right to
divorce her husband.They could also become villagechiefsin the absence of a male heir. Before
the arrival of theSpaniards, Filipino women could also achieve status asmedicine women or high-
priestessesandastrologers.
5.2. Marriage CustomTraditional marriage customs in the Philippines and Filipino wedding
practices pertain to thecharacteristics of marriage and wedding traditions
established and whereFilipino communitiesexist. Kasalan is theFilipino wordfor "wedding",
while its root word

kasal

means "marriage".The present-day character of marriages and weddings in thePhilippineswere
primarilyinfluenced by the permutation of native,Christian,Catholic,Protestant,Spanish,
andAmericanmodels. A typical ancient traditionalFilipinowedding, duringpre-colonial times,is
held for threedays and was officiated by ababaylan,a tribal priest or priestess. The house of the
babaylan wasthe ceremonial center for the nuptial. On the first day, the couple was brought to the
priest'shome, where the babaylan blesses them, while their hands are joined over a container
of uncooked rice. On the third day, the priest would prick their chests to draw a small amount
of blood, which will be placed on a container to be mixed with water. After announcing
their lovefor each other for three times, they were fed by the priest with cooked rice coming from
a singlecontainer. Afterwards, they were to drink the water that was mixed with their blood. The
priestproclaimed that they are officially wed after their necks and hands were bound by a
cord or,sometimes, once their long hairs had been entwined together. In lieu of the babaylan,
thedatuor a wise elder may also officiate a pre-colonial Filipino wedding. After the ceremony,
weh wehweh weh weh a series of gift-exchanging rituals was also done to counter the
negativeresponses of the bride: if asked to enter her new home, if she refuses to go up the stairs
of thedwelling, if she denies to participate in the marriage banquet, or even to go into her
newbedroom, a room she would be sharing with her spouse.Spanish colonialismbrought changes
tothese marriage rituals because of the teachings and conversion efforts of Spanish
missionaries,which occurred as early as the 18th century. As a result, the majority of current-day
Filipinoweddings became predominantly Christian or Catholic in character, which is also
because of themostly Catholic population, although indigenous traditions still exist today in other
regions of the Philippines. Parts of Filipino wedding ceremonies have become faith-centered
and God-centered, which also highlights the concept that the joining of two individuals is a "life
longcommitment" of loving and caring. In general, the marriage itself does not only signify the
unionof two persons, but also the fusion of two families, and the unification two clans.5.3. Mixed
Marriages`Mixed marriages- or marriages between a man and a woman from different social
classes suchas a freeman with a slave-were rare. If it happened, the children of the couple were
equallydivided among the parents in terms of social status. For example, a marriage between a
fatherwho was a freeman to a mother who was a slave would result in the following division;
theeldest, the third, the fifth, and so on, whether male or female went to the mother. All
thechildren belonging thus became freemen and those belonging to the mother became slaves.
If there was only one child, he became half free and half slave.Among the ancient Filipinos-
Pinoy-the legitimate children or the children of a man by his first wife automatically inherited
theproperty of their parents even without a written agreement to that effect. The property
wasequally divided among the children although either parent could exercise some partiality
ingiving a favorite son or daughter an extra jewel or a few pieces of gold. Unless expressly
statedby the parents as outside the portion to be inherited, any property given in advance to a son
ordaughter was considered a part of the inheritance of the recipient. When there were
nolegitimate children, the natural children or children by the second or third marriage inherited

the entire father’s property. When there were no heirs, the property was given to the couple’s
nearest relatives.As for succession, the first son of the king or of the village chieftain succeeded

hus father. If the first son died without leaving an heir, the second son succeeded as king
orchieftain. If there was no male heir, the eldest daughter became the chieftain.
6. THE GOVERNMENT
The unit of government was the barangay. the barangay varied in population from 30-100
families. Theearly barangays were independent of each other. The head was called datu and was
the chief executive,legislator, judge and military commander. He made laws, enforced them and
judged all cases and trialsbrought by the villagers. However, he had a council of elders who
assisted him in his administration. Aperson could become a datu through inheritance, wealth,
wisdom and bravery. The Philippines wasdivided into hundreds of independent barrangays. For
mutual protection and cooperation, severalbarangays formed a confederation. The confederation
of Madya-as under Datu Sumakwel was formed inPanay during the 13th century. The barangay
had both oral and written laws. Oral laws were thecustoms and traditions which were handed
down through generations.6.1. How a Law was Made by Datu?The early Filipino named
Lubluban, the great granddaughter of the first Filipino man andwoman, was the legendary law-
giver. The written laws were promulgated by the datu andcouncil of elders. A town crier called
umalohokan announced the laws to the people. A law was
made by Datu and it will examine by the “Elders”. The “Elders” are the group of people who are
the senior of the datu which are also his advisers; they examine the law presented by datu
andevaluate the law if it is considerable, possible or fair enough to become an official law.6.2.
Deciding CasesThe contents of ancient laws involved family relations, property rights, domestic
affairs,inheritance, marriage conflicts, murder and business problems. Punishment for serious
crimeswas death, slavery or heavy fines. Minor crimes were punished through with exposure to
ants,long hours of swimming, whipping or fines.6.3. The Trial of OrdealThe datu acted as the
judge in the barangay. He conducted the trial in full view of hisconstituents. He conferred
judgment on crimes conducted within his barangay. In a civil case,the chief tried to have the case
settled amicably. When no amicable settlement was reached byparties concerned, the parties
involved were sworn to obey the judgment of the chief. Theparties concerned presented as many
witnesses as they could in order to bolster their defense.When a witness was called to the witness
stand, he took an oath that he would tell the truth byrepeating the following words: "May
lightning strike me if I am telling a lie. May the heavens orthe sun fall upon me if I will tell a
lie." The early Filipinos considered swearing as a sacred act. If an accused person refused to
accept the verdict of guilt upon him, the chief could use force tomake him obey the law. If
one was accused of committing a serious crime, the accused wassubjected to trial by ordeal.
It was assumed that if a person was guilty, he would not be able topass the ordeal that would
have be given to him. If some persons were suspected of stealing,they were brought to the
deepest part of the river and required to jump. Whoever came outfirst was considered the guilty
one. The elders believed that the gods punished those who wereguilty and absolved the innocent
ones.

The Ancient Philippine Archipelago

MAITUM ANTHROPOMORPHIC BURIAL JAR, 5 BCE TO A.D. 225

L ong a strategic location in the South China sea, the Philippines is not a single
entity, but an archipelago made up of more then 7000 islands, each with it’s own
history, ethnicity, and regional dialects if not languages. In ancient times these
differences were more pronounced, with various Kingdoms at times constituting
Luzon Island, Mindanao island, and many of the other islands, yet these failed to ever
unify the entire archipelago under one dominant empire until more recent times.
because of this tremendous diversity, it instilled in the ancient Filipinos a strong sense
of identity, that resulted in them being known as a fiercely independent group of
people, and extremely able warriors. This is further evidences by the fact that the
Chinese never had a complete dominance over this region, and centuries later the
Spanish had great difficulty in conquering this nation, in a historical parallel to their
incursions of the Americas.

The Early Philippines

AN MANUNGGUL JAR, PERHAPS USED FOR FUNERARY PURPOSES

C urrent archeological evidence demonstrates that humans existed in Palawan around 30,000
to 50,000 BCE. In later centuries these aboriginal people of the Philippine Islands came to be
known as the Negritos, and were a Melanesian ethnic group believed to be the original
inhabitants of the Islands. Another ethnic group, known as the Austronesian or Malayo-
Polynesian people, originated from the populations of Taiwanese aborigines who migrated from
mainland Asia approximately 6,000 years ago. This ethnic group settled in the Philippines, and
soon after, migrated to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Polynesian Islands, and Madagascar. Because
the Philippine Archipelago constitutes over 7000 islands, it will never be possible to develop a
fully accurate picture of the first inhabitants, on the contrary this strategic art of the south china
sea has seen an admixture of various groups of people that all have left an impression on the
ethnic character of these people.
The indigenous people of the Philippines traded with other Asian countries during the Prehistoric
period. Before the arrival of Islam; Animism mixed with Hinduism, and Vajrayna Buddhism.
Those were the religions practiced by various Philippine indigenous kingdoms. Islam was
brought to the Philippines by traders and proselytizers from Malaysia, and Indonesia. By the 13th
century, Islam were established in the Sulu Archipelago, and spread to Mindanao, the Visayas,
and Luzon by 1565. Muslims established Islamic communities. By the early 16th century there
were native villages (Barangays) ruled by Datus, Rajahs, or Sultans.
MAITUM POTTERY FORM THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF THE PHILIPPINES

There was no unifying political state encompassing the entire Philippine archipelago. Instead, the
region were ruled by competing thalassocracies such as the Kingdom of Maynila, Namayan,
Dynasty of Tondo, Madya-as Confederacy, the Rajahnates of Butuan, the Visayas, and sultanates
of Maguindanao, and Sulu. Some of these indigenous tribes were part of the Malayan empires of
Srivijaya, Majapahit, and Brunei.

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