HIGHLIGHTS FROM CUSTOMS OF THE TAGALOGS

The CUSTOMS

On the Barangay

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 ruled over a few people; sometimes as many as a hundred houses, 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 one 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, which corresponded to our knights, there were three castes: nobles, commoners, and
slaves. The nobles were 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 with 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, and 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 other village, if he commences clearing any land may sow it, and no one can
compel him to abandon it. There are 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 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 so 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 guiguilir) 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
village and carried with him; but they would remain in their native 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 may
be 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, many have been classed as slaves who are not. The Indians seeing that the alcaldes-mayor do not
understand this, have adopted the custom of taking away the children of aliping namamahay, making use of them as
they would of the aliping sa guiguilir, as servants in their households, which is illegal, 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,

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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 a document that they give him.

In these three classes, those who are maharlicas on both the 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 of 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 free—namely, the half
belonging to his father, who supplied the child 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 all
free, provided he was not her husband.

If two persons married, of whom one was a maharlica and the other a slave, whether namamahay or sa guiguilir,
the children were divided; the first, whether male or female, belonged 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 was 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 village to another, or from one barangay to another,
without paying 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 entire barangay. Failure to
pay the fine might result in a war between the barangay which 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
afterward 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.

On the Laws and the Punishments

Investigations made, and sentences passed by the dato must take place in the presence of those in his barangay. If
any of the litigants felt aggrieved, an arbiter was unanimously selected from another village or barangay, whether he
was 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 the
chief; likewise, witches of the same class.

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 with promptness, exposed the culprit to serve,
until the payment should be made, the person was aggrieved, to whom the money was paid. This was done in the
following way: Half 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 his children until he might amass enough money to pay
the fine. If the father should by chance pay his debt, the master then claimed that he had fed and clothed his children
and should be paid therefor. In this way he kept possession of the children if the payment could not be met. This last
was usually the case, and they remained slaves. If the culprit had some relative or friend who paid for him, he was

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obliged to render the latter half his service until he was paid—not, however, service within the house as aliping sa
guiguilir, but living independently, as aliping namamahay. If the creditor were not served in this wise, the culprit
had to pay the double of what had 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.

On the Dowries

Dowries are given by the men to the women's parents. If the latter are living, they enjoy the 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 divorce before the birth of children, if the wife left the husband to marry another, all her 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 the 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.

The above is what I have been able to ascertain concerning customs observed among these natives in all this Laguna
and the tingues, and among the entire Tagalog race. The old men say that a dato who did anything contrary to this
would not be esteemed; and, in relating tyrannies which they had committed, some condemned them and adjudged
them wicked.

Others, perchance, may offer a more extended narrative, but leaving aside irrelevant matters concerning government
and justice among them, a summary of the whole truth is contained in the above. I am sending the account in this
clear and concise form because I had received no orders to pursue the work further. Whatever may be decided upon,
it is certainly important that it should be given to the alcaldes-mayor, accompanied by an explanation; for the
absurdities which are to be found in their opinions are indeed pitiable.

May our Lord bestow upon your Lordship His grace and spirit, so that in every step good fortune may be yours; and
upon every occasion may your Lordship deign to consider me your humble servant, to be which would be the
greatest satisfaction and favor that I could receive. Nagcarlán, October 21, 1589.

THE WORSHIP

On the Place of Worship

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 name simbahan,
which means a temple or place of adoration; but this 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 the assembled people, a temporary shed on each side of the house, with a roof, called sibi, to
protect the 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 house 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 many
designs. They also brought together many drums, large and small, which they beat successively while the feast

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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, was called a temple.

On the Object of Worship

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 universally respected and honored by 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— except 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 who was brave in war and endowed with
special faculties, to whom they commended themselves for protection in their tribulations. They had another idol
called Dian Masalanta, who was the patron of lovers and generation. The idols called Lacapati and Idianale were the
patrons of the cultivated lands and of husbandry. They paid 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 in 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 as 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 a dagger or
knife, were useful and lucky for their possessor whenever occasion should offer.

On the Concept of Years, Months, and Days

These natives had no established division of years, months, and days; these are determined by the cultivation of
the 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 ice.

On the Manner of Offering Sacrifices

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. The participants made responses to the
song, beseeching the idol to favor them with those things of which they were in need, and, by offering repeated healths, they all
become intoxicated. In some of the idolatries, they were accustomed to place a good piece of cloth, doubled, over the idol, and over
the cloth a 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 is 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 in 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 regions—as well as fried
food and fruits. All the above-mentioned articles were eaten by the guests at the feast; the heads [of the 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

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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.

On the Priests of the Devil

The distinctions made among the priests of the devil were as follows: The first, called catolonan, as above stated,
was either a man or a 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 they 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 they called manyisalat, which is the same as magagauay. These priests had the power
of applying such remedies to lovers that they would abandon and despise their wives, and in fact, could prevent
them from having intercourse with the latter. If 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 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
the use of medicine, and by simply saluting or raising the hand, they killed whom they chose. But if they desired to
heal those whom they made ill by their charms, they did so by using other charms. Moreover, if they wished to
destroy the house of some 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 his liver and eat
it, thus causing his death. This, 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 Mérida.

The seventh was called magtatangal, and 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 me to be a fable, although the
natives affirm that they have seen it because the devil probably caused them so to believe. This occurred in
Catanduanes.

The eighth they called using, which is equivalent to “sorcerer;” they say that they have seen him fly and that he
murdered men and ate their flesh. 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 to 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 all the islands.

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

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On the Manner of Burying the Dead

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 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. In the course of time, all suffered to 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….

On the Concept of Another Life

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 just, and the valiant,
and those who lived without harming, or who possessed moral virtues. They also said 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 heard lamenting. This is called patianac. May honor and glory be God our Lord, that among all the
Tagalogs not a trace of this is left; and that those who are now marrying do not even know what it is, thanks to the
preaching of the holy gospel, which has banished it.