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i - FOOD and DRINKS

staple food of the early Filipinos was rice


aside from rice, their food consisted of carabao meat, pork, chickens, sea turtles, fish, bananas and other
fruits and vegetables.
They cooked their food in earthen pots or in bamboo tubes.
They ate with their fingers, using banana plants as plates and coconut shells as drinking cups.
Made fire to cook their food by rubbing two pieces of dry wood which when heated, produced a tiny flame.
They stored their drinking water in big earthen jars or in huge clean bamboo tubes.
Tuba - popular wine which was made from coconut.
Other wines being manufactured was basi (an Ilocano wine made from sugarcane); pangasi (Bisayan wine
made from fermented rice); lambanog (tagalog wine taken from the coconut palm); and the tapuy (an
Igorot wine distilled from rice).
ii - MODE OF DRESSING
Men
Wore a collarless, Short-sleeve jacket called kangan and strip cloth, called bahag wrapped around the
waist and in between legs.
Kangan reached slightly below the waist
o It was dyed (tining) either in blue or black, except that of the chief which was red.
Men use the putong, a piece of cloth wound around the head.
They had jewels, (gold necklaces, gold armlets called kalombigas and the anklets filled with agates,
carnelians and other colored glass).
Women
Wore a wide-sleeved jacket called baro.
Their skirt was called patadyong.
o it was a piece of cotton cloth which they wrapped about their waists and let fall to their feet.
Jewels consisted of gold necklaces, gold bracelets, large gold earrings, and gold rings.
Men and Women went barefoot and inserted gold between their teeth as an ornament.
iii - TATTOOS
Tattoos served 2 purposes:
1. To enhance their bodily beauty
2. To show their war record.
The more a man warrior had killed in a battle, the more tattooed he was.
Women have less tattooed than men.
iv HOUSE
Houses were made of wood, bamboo, and palm leaves.
Each house had a bamboo ladder that could be drawn up at night or when the family was out.
Batalan - this is where jars of water were kept for household purposes.
Some of them lived in tree-houses (house built on the top of trees) for better protection from enemies
Badjaos - (sea-gypsies) of the Sulu Sea still live in boat-houses, as their forefathers did.
v - NATURAL COURTESY and POLITENESS
early Filipinos were courteous and polite
o when two persons of equal rank met on the road, they removed their putong (turban) as a sign of
courtesy
o when a person addressed his superior, he took off his putong, put it over his left shoulder like a
towel, and bowed low,
He addressed his superior with the word 'po', which is equivalent to 'sir'.
he spoke in polite language
When walking, women walks ahead, and the men followed behind.
vi - CLEANLINESS and NEATNESS
Filipinos were clean and neat in their personal habits.
they bathed daily
They washed their hair regularly with gugo and water. They anointed it coconut oil and other lotions
They washed mouth and clean their teeth. They chewed buyo which made their teeth colored but strong.
They kept their homes clean.
Father Francisco Collin said "they keep a vessel full of water at the door of every home, and every person,
whether belonging to the house or not, upon entering, takes water from the vessel and washes his feet,
especially during the rainy season."
vii - AMUSEMENTS
they held banquets to celebrate a good harvest, a wedding, a religious sacrifice, and a victory in a war
These banquets were celebrated with much eating drinking, singing, and dancing.
Other forms of amusements are: games as carabao races, wrestling, fencing, boat races, and stone-throwing
contests.
viii - MUSIC
They had various musical instruments and numerous dances and songs for different occasions.
among their musical instruments were :
kudyapi - tagalog guitar
kalaleng - tinggian nose-flute
kulintang - moro xylophone
tultogan - bisayan bamboo drum
silbay - Ilocano reed flute
surcan - subanum cymbal
Folk dances of the early Filipinos were charming.
kumintang - tagalog love dance
mahinhin - tagalog courtship dance
dandansoy - bisayan tuba dance
paujalay - moro wedding dance
tadok - tinggian love dance
their songs expressed all aspects of life - love, war, labor, religion, and death
tagumpay - tagalog song of victory
dallu - Negrito religious song
ayog-ku - igorot serenade song
bactal - tagbanua death song
dallot - ilocano ballad song
kuilay-kuilay - tingian wine song
tudob - agusan harvest song
ix - MARRIAGE CUSTOMS
it is customary for them to marry within their rank
However, there was no strict prohibition against intermarriages between the nobility and the commoner and
between the rich and the poor.
Before marriage:
The groom gave a dowry (bigaykaya) to the family of the bride. it consisted of gold, land, slaves, or
anything else of value.
the groom had to work in the house of the girl for a certain period of time
They already practiced divorced. The grounds for divorce were:
adultery on the part of the wife
desertion on the part of the husband
loss of affection
cruelty
insanity
childlessness
x - The WEDDING CEREMONY
On the day of the wedding:
wedding ceremony would take place at the groom's house
The friends of the groom went to bride's house to bring her to the home of the groom.
The priestess, joined the hands of the couple over a bowl of uncooked rice and pronounced them man and
wife.
xi - GOVERNMENT
Barangay - a Hispanized form of the Malayan word balangay, which means "sailboat".
they applied the name barangay to their settlement in honor of the sailboat that brought them to Philippine
shores
Each barangay consisted of about 100 families.
Ruler of barangay was called datu.
he was also known a hari or raja
in time of peace, he was the chief executive, legislator, and judge
in war, he was the commander of the barangay warriors
He usually obtained his position by inheritance.
His son will inherit the datuship, if the datu dies.
If the datu died childless, the barangay chose a man to be the datu on the basis of his wisdom, physical
strength, or wealth.
xii - LAWS
ORAL laws:
customs (ugali) of the race which were handed down orally from generation to generation
Lubluban - a woman, legendry law-giver
the great granddaughter of the first man and woman of the world
WRITTEN laws:
were promulgated by the datus with the help of the elders, and were put into writing
Written laws were announced to the people by a barangay crier known as umalahokan.
These laws were put on the barks of trees, wood, leaves or cloth.
Code of Kalantiaw - a well-known code of laws supposedly given by Datu Kalantiaw of Aklan in 1433 is a clever
hoax. The hoax was done by Jose E. Marco, an antique collector from Negros Occidental who gave the document to
James E. Robertson of the National Library in 1914. It could not be authentic because of its suspicious origin, the
strange writing and modern words in the text, and the un-Filipino harshness of its laws (e.g. flogging, exposure to
ants, swimming for hours).
xiii - RELIGION

Ancient Filipinos were pagans. Their supreme God was Bathala, creator of heaven, earth, and men.
early Filipinos worshipped ancestral spirits called anitos (Tagalog) or diwatas (Bisayan)
Sacrifices called maganito were offered.
Sacrifices were performed by a priest or priestess called katalona or baylana.
They believed in life after death
xiv -BURIAL and MOURNING CUSTOMS
In burying their dead, the corpse was embalmed and was buried amidst deep sorrow ner his home, in cave,
or on a headland overlooking the sea.
During the period of mourning, relatives wore rattan bands around their necks, arms, and legs.
They abstained from eating meat and drinking wine.
larao - mourning custom for deceased datu
no colored clothes were worn by the grieving people
all wars and quarrels were suspended
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.
xv - SUPERSTITIONS
They believed in witches, such has the asuang who assumed the form of a dog, a bird, or any other animal
mangkukulam - who caused people to die or to be sick by pricking a toy with his magic pin
tianak - who sucked the baby's entrails by means of his elongated proboscis
tikbalang - who appeared in the form of a dog, a horse, or an old man to deceive his victims
They believed in the magical power of amulets or charms, such as the:
anting-anting - which was believed to make its possessor invulnerable to iron weapons
gayuma - a love potion which can arouse an adamant woman's affection
odom - a Bicol magic herb which makes its possessor invisible to the human eye
ouija- Bisayan charm which enables any man to cross a river without getting wet
xvi LANGUAGES
Early Filipinos had different languages and dialects.
All of them originated from a common linguistic source - the Malayo-Polynesian language, the mother
tongue of the Pacific races.
xvii - WRITING
Early Filipinos used sharp pointed iron instrument called sipol as pen.
they wrote on banana leaves, tree-barks, and bamboo tubes
the direction of their writing was from left to right
ancient alphabet consisted of three vowels and 14 consonants
xiii - LITERATURE
ORAL literature -
1. myths and legends which recounted of the world and the origin of man, woman, and other creatures
2. songs and poems which chanted the deeds of their gods and heroes
3. fables, proverbs (sawikain) and riddles (bugtong)
Darangan of the Maranaws and the Ilim and the Hud-hud of the Ifugaos are examples of the existing specimens of
ancient oral poetry
WRITTEN literature - tarsilas - surviving pre-Spanish specimen. It is a Muslim genealogy of Mindanao and Sulu.
xix - EDUCATION
They had I NFORMAL SYSTEM OF EDUCATI ON
The children studied in their own homes with their parents or with some old men in the barangay as tutors.
they were taught how to read, write, perform simple arithmetic operation, the use of weapons, lubus (art of
acquiring amulets and talismans) and tribal customs
Boys - were trained to be warriors, hunters, fisherman, farmers, mariners and craftsmen.
girls - were taught household chores
xx - ARTS
Arts were part of their cultural heritage
Architecture bahay-kubo- style of home
their houses of bamboo, wood , nipa, and palm-leaves which were cool, cozy,
and suitable shelters
Painting - was shown in their ancient tattoo art.
o the used of dagger or knife as brush, black soot and jungle spas as colors, and human body as
canvas
Sculptors carved statues in wood, clay, gold, and ivory.
o Statues were called likha (in Tagalog) or landang (Bicol), were made in memory of their anitos or
ancestors.
o they also made fine carvings on the handles of daggers, krises, bolos, and knives
xxi - SCIENCES
They possessed some knowledge of science.
they knew curative value of medicinal plants and herbs
medical men - had herbs as antidotes for all kinds of poison
medical lore - was associated with religion and magic
they knew astronomy
also engineering - construct forts(kuta)
irrigation ditches and rice terraces
could perform arithmetic operation
Native name for numerals:
o isa (one)
o puo (ten)
o daan (hundred)
o libo (thousand)
o angao (one million)
o kati (ten million)
o gahala (one hundred million)
xxii - WEIGHTS and MEASURES
Early Filipinos had their own weights and measures.
Weighting things:
o talaro - a kind of balance scale.
Measures of capacity:
o kaban - (25 gantas)
o salop - (one ganta)
o kaguitna - (one-half ganta)
o gatang - (one chupa)
Measures of length:
o dipa - the length between the tip of the thumb and that of the middle finger when extended.
o tumuro - the length between the tip of the thumb and that of forefinger when extended
o sandamak - the width of the hand with the five fingers pressed together
o sandali - the width of one finger
xxiii - CALENDARS
Early calendars of the Bisayans contained seven days in a week and twelve months a year.
each of the 12 months contained 30 days, except the last month which had 26 days or total of 365 days a
year.
Ifugao calendars
contains 13 months a year, each having 28 days
The Ifugao have a tribal keeper called tumunoh, 13 strings representing the 13 months of
the year.
xxiv COINAGE
Early Filipinos knew the art of coinage.
Several specimens of their ancient coins were found in jars (GUI's) which had been excavated in Bataan
and Manila.
coins were:
o Cone-shaped gold pieces, usually bearing the imprint of the Malayan letter M on their flat bases.
o They are called piloncitos by local numismatists, or collectors of coins.
xxv - DOMESTIC and FOREIGN TRADE
Domestic trade was carried on by means of BARTER.
Captain Miguel de Loarca said: "Filipinos of the inland region exchanged their rice and cotton for fish,
salt, and other products raised by the dwellers of coastal district"
The usual method of trading with foreign merchants was by barter in which they offered their own products in
exchange for the products of other countries.
Chao Ju-kua (1225) and Wng Tayuan (1349), Chinese writers observed that they were honest in their
commercial transaction
xxvi - AGRICULTURE and INDUSTRIES
Farming was the main industry of ancient Filipinos.
Two methods of cultivation were used:
1. Kaingin method - in which the land was cleared by setting fire to the shrub s and bushes, after which holes
were bored in the ground with pointed sticks and seeds were then planted there.
2. Regular means of tillage using wooden plows and harrows drawn by carabaos.
Other industries of early Filipinos were fishing, mining, lumbering, weaving, mea work, making tools and weapons,
and manufacturing of wines, rising of poultry and stock, tanning and shipbuilding.

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