MODULE 2: CONTENT AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PRIMARY

SOURCE

LESSON 2: CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOG ( Juan de Plascencia, OFM)

Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Identify credible and authentic primary sources that could be used in

reconstructing and analyzing the history of the Filipino people from pre-colonial
times to the present;
2. Analyze the context, content, and perspective of selected primary sources and
determine how they affected the history of the Filipino people;
3. Develop critical and analytical skills as they are exposed to primary sources;

READ

I. Background of the Author

Juan de Plasencia (Spanish: ['xwan de pla'senθja]) was a Spanish friar of

the Franciscan Order. He was among the first group of Franciscan missionaries who
arrived in the Islands on July 2, 1578.

He spent most of his missionary life in the Philippines,

where he founded numerous towns in Luzon and authored
several religious and linguistic books, most notably
the Doctrina Cristiana (Christian Doctrine), the first book
ever printed in the Philippines. Juan de Plasencia was
born in the early 16th century as Juan Portocarrero
in Plasencia, in the region of Extremadura, Spain. He was
one of the seven children of Pedro Portocarrero, a captain
of a Spanish schooner.
Juan de Plasencia grew up during the period known as the Siglo de Oro, a Golden Age
when arts and literature flourished in many parts of Spain, among them his native
Extremadura.

It is not well known when or where he first entered the Order of the Franciscans.
Some scholars point at the Convento de Villanueva de la Serena, in Plasencia, while
others speculate that he might have traveled to Italy and joined a convent there, at a
time when a large part of Italy was under Spanish rule. According to researchers, he
took the habit as a young man at the Cloister of Saint Francis in Sorrento, Italy.

He is believed to have arrived to the Philippines in July 2, 1578,  after a stopover

in Mexico. As soon as he arrived, he joined forces with another missionary, Fray Diego
de Oropesa, and they both started preaching around Laguna de Bay and Tayabas,
Quezon, in Quezon Province, where he founded several towns.

During the following years they are also credited with the foundation of a large number
of towns in the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna and Rizal, such as Tayabas,
Caliraya, Lucban, Majayjay, Nagcarlan, Lilio (Liliw), Pila, Santa
Cruz, Lumban, Pangil, Siniloan, Morong, Antipolo, Taytay, and Meycauayan.

As a friar, Juan de Plasencia lived up to his pledge, leading a lifestyle devoid of

any luxury and in constant contact with the people he was trying to convert to
Christianity. He was also known to be a defender of the native population, looking after
the poor, ill, or neglected, and standing up for their rights on numerous occasions.

He was also very keen on creating primary schools, and requested official sanction for
the creation of educational centers where "Filipinos could not only learn Christian
doctrine, but also reading and writing, and some arts and crafts, so they would become
after, not only good Christians but also useful citizens", an initiative that was approved
by Domingo de Salazar, the first Bishop of the See of Manila (1512–1594).

Juan de Plasencia wrote a number of books designed primarily to promote the

understanding of both the Spanish language among the natives, and the local
languages among the missionaries, to facilitate the task of spreading Christianity. He
acknowledged at an early stage the need of mastering the language of the natives in
order to facilitate evangelization, and in a letter to the King of Spain, dated June 18,
1585, he mentioned some of his works to that effect:

In the language more common in these Islands, I have written some works like
the "Arte de la lengua tagala" and "Declaracion de toda la doctrina Cristiana," and now I
am writing the "Vocabulario." These are very necessary for all the ministers if they
would only be printed. It would be particularly favorable if Your Majesty would send me
a "cedula" so they could be sent for printing in Mexico at the expense of His Real
Hacienda. It would be of great use for these souls."

He is the author of what is believed to be the first book printed in the Philippines,
the Doctrina Cristiana, that was not only printed in Spanish, but also in Tagalog, in
both Latin script and the commonly used Baybayin script of the natives of the time, and
it even had a version in Chinese.

Other works attributed to him are the "Relacion de las Costumbres de Los
Tagalos" (1589), that not only helped understand and preserve many of the traditional
ways of the local population, but also provided the first form of Civil Code, used by local
governors to administer justice.

A mystical work which he entitled "La Santina", was an Opus number on prayer
and contemplation entirely done in the Tagalog language so the natives who did not
know Spanish could also engage in the spiritual exercises of their teachers.

Juan de Plasencia died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590.

II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE DOCUMENT

 During the first century of Spanish rule, colonial officials had the hard time
running local politics because of the limited number of Spaniards who wanted to
live outside Intramuros.

 This situation forced them to allow Filipinos to hold the position of

gobernadorcillo.
 To ensure that they would remain loyal to the Crown, they instructed the friars
assigned in the parishes to supervise and monitor the activities of the
gobernadorcillo.

 Hence, the friars ended up performing the administrative duties that colonial
officials should have been doing in the local level.

 They supervised the election of the local executives, helped in the collection of
taxes, directly involved in educating the youth and performed other civic duties.

 As years went by, the friars ended up the most knowledgeable and influential
figure in the pueblo.

 Some duties of friars assigned in mission territories:

 inform periodically their superiors of what was going on in their respective

assignments.
 report the number of natives they converted, the people’s way of life, their
socio-economic situation and the problems they encountered.
 some submitted short letters while others who were keen observers and
gifted writers wrote long dispatches.

 On top of the regular reports they submit, they also shared their personal
observations and experiences.

 Plasencia’s Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos (Customs of the

Tagalog, 1589) is an example of this kind of work.

 It contains numerous information that historians could use in reconstructing the

political and socio-cultural history of the Tagalog region.

 His work is a primary source because he personally witnessed the events and
observations that he discussed in his account.
 There were other friars and colonial officials who wrote about the Filipinos that
could further enrich our knowledge of Philippine history during the early part of
the Spanish period.

 Miguel de Loarca

 Arrived in 1576 and became an encomendero of Panay.

 He wrote Relación de las Islas Filipinas (1582) and his work described
the way of life of Filipinos living in Western Visayas area.

 Antonio de Morga.

 He came to the Philippines in 1595 as Asesor and Teniente General.

 His Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas gives us a lot of information about the
state of the Philippines at the latter part of the 16 th century.

 Other Spanish missionaries who continued the historiographical tradition

initiated by Loarca and Plasencia were:

 Fr. Pedro Chirino S.J. (Relación de las Islas Filipinas, 1604;

 Fr. Juan Delgado S.J. (Historia General, 1751);
 Fr. Francisco Colin S.J. (Labor Evangelica, 1663);
 Francisco Ignacio Alcina S.J. (Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad
de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas, 1668); and
 Fr. Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga O.S.A. (Historia, 1803).

 Many of the what we know about Philippine history during the first century of the
Spanish period were derived from the accounts of the Spanish friars.

About the Text:

 The work of Plascencia is considered by many historians as an example of a friar

account.
  This kind of writing is one of the most common contemporaneous account during
the early part of the Spanish period.

 The original text of Plascencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs is currently kept in

Archivo General de Indias (A.G.I.) in Seville, Spain.

 There is also a duplicate copy of it in the Archivo Franciscano Ibero-Oriental

(A.F.I.O.), in Madrid, Spain.

 In the Philippines, an English version of it appeared in volume VII of the Blair and
Robertson collections.

 Another English translation of it was published as part of the volume for pre-
Hispanic Philippines of the Filipiniana Book Guild series and what will be
presented below is from this version.

III. CONTENT PRESENTATION (SUMMARY)

Political Organization
o The community is gathered in a barangay. It is called a “barangay”
because they associate themselves with the “Malay” who are one of the
first people to arrive in the Philippines through a boat in which they call
“barangay”.
o Some consisted of around 30 - 100 houses
o Barangays also have some sort of diplomacy
o All barangays were equal in terms of status

Social Hierarchy

 There are three status/castes within a barangay: Maharlica, Aliping Namamahay,

Aliping sa Guiguilir.
 Maharlica are those who are born free;
  Aliping Namamahay are those who serve their masters however,
they can have their own properties
 Aliping sa Guiguilir are those considered to be slaves who serve
their masters or can be sold off.

Property

 The land area was divided among the whole barangay, especially the irrigated
portions.
  No one from a different barangay could cultivate land unless they inherit or buy
the land
 The lands on the tingues, or mountain ridges, are not divided but owned by the
barangay as a whole.
  At the time of rice harvest, any individual (regardless of their barangay) that
starts to clear any land area may sow in it.
 Fisheries of chiefs had established limits, and sections of the rivers for markets
  Unless you were a member of the chief’s barangay, you had to pay for the
privilege of fishing or selling in the chiefs’ fisheries

Marriage Customs

 In the case of a divorce, if the wife would leave her husband for the sake of
marrying another man, all her belongings plus a certain amount would be
given to her former husband however, if she chooses to leave and do not
have any plans to marry, then all of her dowry will be returned to her.
 In the case of an adoption, the children would receive double the value of how
much they were bought to be adopted;
 Investigations and sentences for the accused shall be presented and read in
front of the tribe.
Worship and Belief (Religion)

 There were no temples or sacred places in which Filipinos would worship

  The word simbahan means a place to worship which is constructed at a large
house of the chief where people of the tribe go to celebrate festivals (aka
pandot or worship)
  They beat large and small drums successively during the feast which usually
lasted four days.
 nagaanitos - worship; (anito - soul or spirit of ancestors)
 sibi - a temporary shed, made on each side of the chief’s house, for the
assembled people.
 Bathala - one of their many idols, whom they specially worshipped. 
   They worshipped the sun, the moon, and some, even the stars or a
particular dead man with special capability that fought bravely or protected
them in their time of need
 sun - almost universally respected and honored because of its beauty;
 moon - they would rejoice, especially when new
 stars - they did not name them except for the morning star, which they called
Tala
  “Seven little goats” - the Pleiades; a star cluster
 Balatic - the Greater Bear constellation
 Mapolon - the change of seasons
 lic-ha - idols; images with different shapes;
  Dian masalanta - an idol; patron of lovers and generation
  Lacapati and Idianale - idols; patrons of the cultivated lands and husbandry;
  buaya - crocodiles; were respected by the Tagalogs due to their fear of being
harmed by them; they offered a portion of what they carried in their boats to
them
12 Priests of the Devil
1. Catolonan
 Priest from a people of rank
 Officiates the offering sacrifice for a feast and the food to be eaten being offered
to the devil
2. Mangagauay
 They pretend to heal the sick in order to deceive others
3. Manyisalat
 They can cast remedies to couples for them to abandon one another
4.Mancocolam
 Can emit fire from himself which cannot be extinguished
5. Hocloban
 Much more powerful than a mangagauay in which they can kill anyone without
the use of any medicine. They can also heal those who are ill.
6. Silagan
 They would tear out and eat the liver of those they saw were wearing white
7.Magtatangal
 They would go out at night without their heads and put it back into their bodies
before the sun rise
8. Osuang
 Tribesmen reported that they saw the “osuang” who can fly and murdered a man
and ate his flesh.
9. Mangagayoma
 They would seduce their partners with charms and other accessories so they can
deceive them.
10. Sonat
 This devil helped people to die. They can also know if the soul they helped to die
can either be saved or not.
11. Pangatahojan
 They can predict the future.
12. Bayoguin
 These are men who are in the nature of a woman.

Superstition
 They find omens in events they witness
 (i.e. when someone sneezed, met on their way a rat or serpent, or the
Tigmamanuguin bird sang they would go home in fear that evil would befall them
if they continued their journey)
   The Tigmamanuguin bird’s (a blue bird as large as a turtle-dove) song had two
forms: a good omen, and a bad omen.

IV. CONTRIBUTION AND RELEVANCE OF THE DOCUMENT IN UNDERSTANDING

PHILIPPINE HISTORY

 Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs is a very popular primary source because it

vividly described the situation of the Philippines before it was tainted with
Spanish and Christian influences.
 Scholars like it because it covered numerous topics that are relevant in many
disciplines.
 Many of what we know about the duties and responsibilities of the datus,
maharlikas and alipins came from Plasencia’s account.
 Moreover, it also talks about property rights, marriage rituals, burial practices and
the manner in which justice is dispensed.
 Plasencia also preserved and popularized the unwritten customs, traditions,
religious and superstitious beliefs of the Filipinos.
 Priests and missionaries also read Plasencia’s Customs of the Tagalogs and
Doctrina Christiana because they get a lot of insights that help and inspire them
to become effective evangelizers.
  One insight they got from Plasencia is the the realization that one needs to
master the local language and study the culture of the people if you want to be a
successful missionary.
 They also learned from him that preaching should be accompanied with reading
materials that contain the basic elements of faith.
 These readings serve as their guide and reference when the missionaries are no
longer around.
 All these insights from Plasencia are applicable not only to missionaries but to
other professions as well.
 Plasencia’s historical writings also disprove the claim of some Spaniards that
when they arrived in the Philippines, Filipinos were still uncivilized and lacking in
culture.
 It is clear in the excerpts quoted above that at the time Plasencia was assigned
in the Tagalog region Filipinos were already politically and economically
organized.
 They have a functioning government, tax system, set of laws, criminal justice
system, indigenous calendar and long-standing customs and traditions.
 Moreover, they have already a concept of supreme being (Bathala), practiced
burial customs and believed in life after death.
 Lastly, Plasencia also mentioned that the people he met were wearing garments,
gold ornaments and their houses were decorated with idols.
 All of these lead to the conclusion that prior to the coming of the Spaniards,
Filipinos were already civilized and maintained a lifestyle that was at par or even
better than other countries in Southeast Asia.

ACTIVITY
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What was the document of Plascencia all about?
 2. What do you think is the bias inhibited by the author?

3. What is the importance of the Customs of the Tagalog in understanding the

Philippine History?
. II. Make a research on the following selected topics. Make sure to use primary
sources as much as possible for your references:
1. Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricatures of the American Era by Alfred McCoy
The format for a research work shall include the following:
I. Credibility of the Authors/ Background of the Author
II. Short description of the refence used (must be a primary source)
III. Content Presentation (Topic Summary)
IV. Contribution of the document in understanding Philippine history

SUGGESTED READINGS

Juan de Placencia, Costums of the Tagalogs, (Garcia 1979,pp.221-234) Friar Account

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898- Volume 07 of 55 eBook