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History of the Philippine Islands Vols 1 and 2

A >> Antonio de Morga >> History of the Philippine Islands Vols 1 and 2




[279] See VOL. IV, p. 222, note 31; also Delgado (ut supra),
pp. 667-669. Delgado says that bonga signifies fruit.

[280] Tagál, tukõ.--Rizal.

[281] This word in the original is visitandolas; Rizal makes it
irritandolas (shaking or irritating them), but there are not sufficient
grounds for the change.

[282] The Indians, upon seeing that wealth excited the rapacity of
the encomenderos and soldiers, abandoned the working of the mines,
and the religious historians assert that they counseled them to a
similar action in order to free them from annoyances. Nevertheless,
according to Colin (who was "informed by well-disposed natives")
more than 100,000 pesos of gold annually, conservatively stated,
was taken from the mines during his time, after eighty years of
abandonment. According to "a manuscript of a grave person who had
lived long in these islands" the first tribute of the two provinces
of Ilocos and Pangasinan alone amounted to 109,500 pesos. A single
encomendero, in 1587, sent 3,000 taheles of gold in the "Santa Ana,"
which was captured by Cavendish.--Rizal.

[283] This was prohibited later.--Rizal.

[284] See VOL. XIV, pp. 301-304.

According to Hernando de los Rios the province of Pangasinan was said
to contain a quantity of gold, and that Guido de Labazaris sent some
soldiers to search for it; but they returned in a sickly state and
suppressed all knowledge of the mines in order not to be sent back
there. The Dominican monks also suppressed all knowledge of the mines
on account of the tyranny of which gold had been the cause in the
West Indies.--Stanley.

[285] Pearl-fishing is still carried on along the coasts of Mindanao
and Palawan, and in the Sulu archipelago. In the latter region pearls
are very abundant and often valuable; the fisheries there are under
the control of the sultan of Sulu, who rents them, appropriating for
himself the largest pearls.

[286] Probably the cowry (Cypræa moneta). Crawfurd states
(Dict. Ind. Islands, p. 117) that in the Asiatic archipelago this
shell is found only on the shores of the Sulu group, and that it
"seems never to have been used for money among the Indian Islanders
as it has immemorially been by the Hindus."

[287] Jagor, Travels in the Philippines (Eng. trans., London, 1875),
devotes a portion of his chapter xv to these jars. He mentions the
great prices paid by the Japanese for these vessels. On p. 164, occurs
a translation of the above paragraph, but it has been mistranslated
in two places. Stanley cites the similar jars found among the Dyaks
of Borneo--the best called gusih--which were valued at from $1,500 to
$3,000, while the second grade were sold for $400. That they are very
ancient is proved by one found among other remains of probably the
copper age. From the fact that they have been found in Cambodia, Siam,
Cochinchina, and the Philippines, Rizal conjectures that the peoples
of these countries may have had a common center of civilization at
one time.

[288] "Not many years ago," says Colin (1663), "a large piece [of
ambergris] was found in the island of Joló, that weighed more than
eight arrobas, of the best kind, namely, the gray."--Rizal.

[289] This industry must now be forgotten, for it is never heard
of.--Rizal.

[290] Perhaps Morga alludes to the sinamay, which was woven from abaká,
or filament of the plant Musa textilis. The abaká is taken from the
trunk and not the leaf.--Rizal.

[291] This name seems to be Malay, Babu-utan, wild swine.--Stanley.

[292] The men of these islands were excellent carpenters and
ship-builders. "They make many very light vessels, which they take
through the vicinity for sale in a very curious manner. They build
a large vessel, undecked, without iron nail or any fastening. Then,
according to the measure of its hull, they make another vessel that
fits into it. Within that they put a second and a third. Thus a large
biroco contains ten or twelve vessels, called biroco, virey, barangay,
and binitan." These natives were "tattooed, and were excellent rowers
and sailors; and although they are upset often, they never drown." The
women are very masculine. "They do not drink from the rivers, although
the water is very clear, because it gives them nausea.... The women's
costumes are chaste and pretty, for they wear petticoats in the
Bisayan manner, of fine medriñaque, and lamboncillos, which resemble
close-fitting sayuelos [i.e., woolen shifts worn by certain classes
of religious]. They wear long robes of the same fine medriñaque. They
gather the hair, which is neatly combed, into a knot, on top of the
head, and place a rose in it. On their forehead they wear a band of
very fine wrought gold, two fingers wide. It is very neatly worked and
on the side encircling the head it is covered with colored taffeta. In
each ear they wear three gold earrings, one in the place where Spanish
women wear them, and two higher up. On their feet they wear certain
coverings of thin brass, which sound when they walk." (The citations
herein are from Colin.) These islands have also retrograded.--Rizal.

[293] Cavite derives its name from the Tagál word cavit, a creek,
or bend, or hook, for such is its form.--Stanley.

[294] This province had decreased so greatly in population and
agriculture, a half century later, that Gaspar de San Agustin said:
"Now it no longer has the population of the past, because of the
insurrection of that province, when Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara
was governor of these islands, and because of the incessant cutting
of the timber for the building of his Majesty's ships, which prevents
them from cultivating their extremely fertile plain." Later, when
speaking of Guagua or Wawà, he says: "This town was formerly very
wealthy because of its many chiefs, and because of the abundant
harvests gathered in its spacious plains, which are now submerged by
the water of the sea."--Rizal.

[295] Now the port of Sorsogón.--Rizal.

[296] Now the port of Mariveles (?).--Rizal.

[297] Subik (?).--Rizal.

[298] Mindoro is at present [1890] so depopulated that the minister of
the Colonies, in order to remedy this result of Spanish colonization,
wishes to send there the worst desperadoes of the peninsula, to see
if great criminals will make good colonists and farmers. All things
considered, given the condition of those who go, it is indubitable
that the race that succeeds must know how to defend itself and live,
so that the island may not be depopulated again.--Rizal.

[299] Samar. This proves contrary to the opinion of Colin, who places
Tendaya in Leite.--Rizal.

[300] Southeastern part of Samar.--Rizal.

[301] Colin says, however, that they did tattoo the chins and
about the eyes [barbas y cejas]. The same author states also that
the tattooing was done little by little and not all at once. "The
children were not tattooed, but the women tattooed one hand and
part of the other. In this island of Manila the Ilocos also tattooed
themselves, although not so much as did the Visayans." The Negritos,
Igorrotes, and other independent tribes of the Filipinas still tattoo
themselves. The Christians have forgotten the practice. The Filipinas
used only the black color, thus differing from the Japanese, who
employ different colors, as red and blue, and carry the art to a
rare perfection. In other islands of the Pacific, the women tattoo
themselves almost as much as the men. Dr. Wilhelm Joest's Tätowiren
Narbenzeichnen und Körperbemahlen (Berlin, 1887) treats the matter
very succinctly.--Rizal.

[302] This is a confused statement, after what just precedes it and
according to the evidence of Father Chirino (see VOL. XII, chapter
vii). Morga must mean that they wore no cloak or covering when they
went outside the house, as did the Tagáls (both men and women),
who used a kind of cape.--Rizal. [This is the sense in which Stanley
understood and translated this passage.]

[303] Gûbat, grove, field, in Tagál. Mangubat [so printed in the text
of Rizal's edition] signifies in Tagál "to go hunting, or to the wood,"
or even "to fight."--Rizal.

[304] "At the arrival of the Spaniards at this island (Panay)" says
San Agustín, "it was said to have more than 50,000 families. But
they decreased greatly ... and at present it has about 14,000
tributarios--6,000 apportioned to the crown, and 8,000 to individual
encomenderos." They had many gold-mines, and obtained gold by
washing the sand in the Panay River; "but instigated by the outrages
received from the alcaldes-mayor," says the same historian, "they
have ceased to dig it, preferring to live in poverty than to endure
such troubles."--Rizal.

[305] This entire paragraph is omitted in the Rizal edition. In the
original it is as follows:

La Lengua de todos, los Pintados y Bicayas, es vna mesma, por do se
entienden, hablando y escriuiendo, en letras y caratores que tienen
particulares, que semejan á los Arabigos, y su comun escribir entre
los naturales, es en hojas de arboles, y en cañas, sobre la corteza;
que en todas las islas ay muchas, de disforme grueso los cañutos,
y el pie es vn arbol muy grueso y maciço.

[306] This difference is no greater than that between the Spanish,
Portuguese, and Italian.--Rizal.

[307] See Chirino (Relacion de las islas Filipinas) VOL. XII, chapters
xv-xvii. His remarks, those of Morga, and those of other historians
argue a considerable amount of culture among the Filipino peoples prior
to the Spanish conquest. A variety of opinions have been expressed
as to the direction of the writing. Chirino, San Antonio, Zúñiga,
and Le Gentil, say that it was vertical, beginning at the top. Colin,
Ezguerra, and Marche assert that it was vertical but in the opposite
direction. Colin says that the horizontal form was adopted after
the arrival of the Spaniards. Mas declares that it was horizontal
and from left to right, basing his arguments upon certain documents
in the Augustinian archives in Manila. The eminent Filipino scholar,
Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera has treated the subject in a work entitled
"Contribucion para el estudio de los antiguos alfabetos filipinos"
(Losana, 1884). See Rizal's notes on p. 291 of his edition of Morga.

[308] This portion of this sentence is omitted in Stanley.

[309] Báhay is "house" in Tagál; pamamáhay is that which is in the
interior and the house. Bahandin may be a misprint for bahayín,
an obsolete derivative.--Rizal.

[310] Cf. this and following sections with Loarca's relation, VOL. V,
of this series; and with Plasencia's account, VOL. VII, pp. 173-196.

[311] Timawá.--Rizal.

[312] The condition of these slaves was not always a melancholy
one. Argensola says that they ate at the same table with their masters,
and married into their families. The histories fail to record the
assassination for motives of vengeance of any master or chief by
the natives, as they do of encomenderos. After the conquest the evil
deepened. The Spaniards made slaves without these pretexts, and without
those enslaved being Indians of their jurisdiction--going moreover,
to take them away from their own villages and islands. Fernando de los
Rios Coronel, in his memorial to the king (Madrid, 1621) pp. 24-25,
speaks in scathing terms of the cruelties inflicted on the natives
in the construction of ships during the governorship of Juan de
Silva. A letter from Felipe II to Bishop Domingo de Salazar shows
the awful tyranny exercised by the encomenderos upon the natives,
whose condition was worse than that of slaves.--Rizal.

[313] For remarks on the customs formerly observed by the natives of
Pampanga in their suits, see appendix to this volume.

[314] This fundamental agreement of laws, and this general uniformity,
prove that the mutual relations of the islands were widespread, and the
bonds of friendship more frequent than were wars and quarrels. There
may have existed a confederation, since we know from the first
Spaniards that the chief of Manila was commander-in-chief of the
sultan of Borneo. In addition, documents of the twelfth century that
exist testify the same thing.--Rizal.

[315] This word must be sagigilid in its Tagál form. The root gílid
signifies in Tagál, "margin," "strand," or "shore." The reduplication
of the first syllable, if tonic, signifies active future action. If
not tonic and the suffix an be added, it denotes the place where the
action of the verb is frequently executed. The preposition sa indicates
place, time, reference. The atonic reduplication may also signify
plurality, in which case the singular noun would be sagílid, i.e.,
"at the margin," or "the last"--that is, the slave. Timawá signifies
now in Tagál, "in peace, in quietness, tranquil, free," etc. Maginoo,
from the root ginoo, "dignity," is now the title of the chiefs; and
the chief's reunion is styled kaginoóhan. Colin says, nevertheless,
that the Chiefs used the title gat or lakan, and the women dayang. The
title of mama applied now to men, corresponds to "uncle," "Señor,"
"Monsieur," "Mr.," etc.; and the title al of women to the feminine
titles corresponding to these.--Rizal.

[316] Namamahay (from bahay, "house"), "he who lives in his own
house." This class of slaves, if they may be so called, exists even
yet. They are called kasamá (because of being now the laborers of
a capitalist or farmer), bataan ("servant," or "domestic"), kampon,
tao, etc.

[317] This class of slavery still exists [1890] in many districts,
especially in the province of Batangas; but it must be admitted that
their condition is quite different from that of the slave in Greece or
Rome, or that of the negro, and even of those made slaves formerly by
the Spaniards. Thanks to their social condition and to their number in
that time, the Spanish domination met very little resistance, while
the Filipino chiefs easily lost their independence and liberty. The
people, accustomed to the yoke, did not defend the chiefs from
the invader, nor attempt to struggle for liberties that they never
enjoyed. For the people, it was only a change of masters. The nobles,
accustomed to tyrannize by force, had to accept the foreign tyranny,
when it showed itself stronger than their own. Not encountering love
or elevated feelings in the enslaved mass, they found themselves
without force or power.--Rizal.

[318] Inasawa, or more correctly asawa (consort).--Rizal.

[319] This dowry, if one may call it so, represented to the parents
an indemnity for the care and vigilance that they had exercised in
their daughter's education. The Filipina woman, never being a burden
to any one (either to her parents or to her husband), but quite the
contrary, represents a value, whose loss to the possessor must be
substituted.... The Tagál wife is free, and treated with consideration;
she trades and contracts, almost always with the approbation of her
husband, who consults her in all his acts. She takes care of the money,
and educates the children, half of whom belong to her...--Rizal.

[320] Bigay-káya, "to give what one can," "a voluntary offering,
a present of good will" ... This bigay-káya devolved entire to
the married couple, according to Colin, if the son-in-law was
obedient to his parents-in-law; if not, it was divided among all the
heirs. "Besides the dowry, the chiefs used to give certain gifts to
the parents and relatives, and even to the slaves, which were great
or less according to the rank of the one married." (Colin).--Rizal.

[321] This good custom still exists, ... although it is gradually
passing away.--Rizal.

[322] Such is the law throughout most parts of Asia; in Siam the
woman becomes free without having children. It is only in America that
fathers could and did sell their own children into slavery.--Stanley.

[323] This condition of affairs and the collection of usury is true
still [1890]. Morga's words prove true not only of the Indian, but also
of the mestizos, the Spaniards, and even of various religious. So far
has it gone that the government itself not only permits it, but also
exacts the capital and even the person to pay the debts of others,
as happens with the cabeza de barangay [head of a barangay].--Rizal.

[324] The tam-tam and the pum-piang are still used.--Rizal.

[325] The early Filipinos had a great horror of theft, and even the
most anti-Filipino historian could not accuse them of being a thievish
race. Today, however, they have lost their horror of that crime. One
of the old Filipino methods of investigating theft was as follows:
"If the crime was proved, but not the criminal, if more than one was
suspected ... each suspect was first obliged to place a bundle of
cloth, leaves, or whatever he wished on a pile, in which the thing
stolen might be hidden. Upon the completion of this investigation
if the stolen property was found in the pile, the suit ceased." The
Filipinos also practiced customs very similar to the "judgments of
God" of the middle ages, such as putting suspected persons, by pairs,
under the water and adjudging guilty him who first emerged.--Rizal.

[326] The Filipino today prefers a beating to scoldings or
insults.--Rizal.

[327] From bago, new, and tao, man: he who has become a man.--Rizal.

[328] In speaking of a similar custom in Australia, Eyre (Central
Australia, i, p. 213), says: "This extraordinary and inexplicable
custom must have a great tendency to prevent the rapid increase of
the population."--Stanley. [Stanley does not translate this paragraph
of the text.]

[329] It appears that the natives called anito a tutelary genius,
either of the family, or extraneous to it. Now, with their new
religious ideas, the Tagáls apply the term anito to any superstition,
false worship, idol, etc.--Rizal.

[330] Others besides Morga mention oratories in caves, where the idols
were kept, and where aromatics were burned in small brasiers. Chirino
found small temples in Taitay adjoining the principal houses. [See
VOL. XII. of this series, chapter xxi.] It appears that temples were
never dedicated to bathala maykapal, nor was sacrifice ever offered
him. The temples dedicated to the anito were called ulañgo.--Rizal.

[331] San Agustín says that hell was called solad, and paradise,
kalualhatian (a name still in existence), and in poetical language,
ulugan. The blest abodes of the inhabitants of Panay were in the
mountain of Madias.--Rizal.

[332] Cf. the "wake" of the Celtic and Gaelic peasants. Cf. also the
North-American Indian burial ceremonies, and reverence paid to the
dead, in Jesuit Relations, i, p. 215; ii, pp. 21, 149; viii, p. 21;
x, pp. 169, 247, 283-285, 293; xiii, 259; xxi, 199; xxiii, 31; lxv,
141; etc.

In the Filipino burials, there were mourners who composed panegyrics
in honor of the dead, like those made today. "To the sound of this
sad music the corpse was washed, and perfumed with storax, gum-resin,
or other perfumes made from tree gums, which are found in all these
woods. Then the corpse was shrouded, being wrapped in more or less
cloth according to the rank of the deceased. The bodies of the more
wealthy were anointed and embalmed in the manner of the Hebrews,
with aromatic liquors, which preserved them from decay.... The
burial-place of the poor was in pits dug in the ground under their
own houses. After the bodies of the rich and powerful were kept and
bewailed for three days, they were placed in a chest or coffin of
incorruptible wood, adorned with rich jewels, and with small sheets
of gold in the mouth and over the eyes. The coffin was all in one
piece, and the lid was so adjusted that no air could enter. Because
of these precautions the bodies have been found after many years,
still uncorrupted. These coffins were deposited in one of three
places, according to the inclination and arrangement of the deceased,
either on top of the house among the treasures ... or underneath it,
but raised from the ground; or in the ground itself, in an open hole
surrounded with a small railing ... nearby they were wont to place
another box filled with the best clothes of the deceased; and at
meal-time they set various articles of food there in dishes. Beside
the men were laid their weapons, and beside the women their looms or
other implements of work" (Colin).--Rizal.

[333] Kasis. This is another instance of the misapplication of this
Arabic term, which means exclusively a Christian priest.--Stanley.

[334] This custom has not fallen into disuse among the Filipinos,
even among the Catholics.--Rizal.

Lieutenant Charles Norton Barney, of the medical department of the
U. S. Army, has an article in Journal of the Association of Military
Surgeons for September, 1903, on "Circumcision and Flagellation
among the Filipinos." In regard to circumcision he states that
it "is a very ancient custom among the Philippine indios, and so
generalized that at least seventy or eighty per cent of males in the
Tagál country have undergone the operation." Those uncircumcised at
the age of puberty are taunted by their fellows, and such are called
"suput," a word formerly meaning "constricted" or "tight," but now
being extended to mean "one who cannot easily gain entrance in sexual
intercourse." The "operation has no religious significance," nor is
it done for cleanliness, "but from custom and disinclination to be
ridiculed," probably [as Morga proves] having been learned from the
Moros. The friars were unable to check the custom. Among the Tagáls
the operation is called "tuli," and the method of circumcising is
described at length. The author derives his information from a mestizo
and a full-blooded native. The custom is mentioned by Foreman.

[335] Appellation given to their ecclesiastical sages by Mahometans.

[336] See the king's decree granting this coat-of-arms, in VOL. IX,
pp. 211-215, with two representations of the coat-of-arms.

[337] Convents occupy almost one-third part of the walled city.--Rizal.

[338] The walls did not even have any moats then; these were dug after
the English invasion of 1762. The walls were also rearranged at that
time, and perfected with the lapse of time and the needs that arose
in the city.--Rizal.

[339] Rizal misprints al cabo del lienço as al campo del lienzo.

[340] Now [1890] the gates of the city are open all night, and in
certain periods, passage along the streets and through the walls is
allowed at all hours.--Rizal.

[341] This powder-mill has several times changed its site. It was
afterward near Maalat on the seashore, and then was moved to Nagtahá,
on the bank of the Pasig.--Rizal.

[342] Probably on the same site where the great Tagál cannon-foundry
had formerly stood, which was burned and destroyed by the Spaniards
at their first arrival in Manila. San Agustin declares the Tagál
foundry to have been as large as that at Málaga.--Rizal.

[343] The Rizal edition omits the words, muy grande y autorizada,
capilla aparte, camara del sello real.

[344] The treasury building. The governor's palace was destroyed
in 1863.--Rizal.

[345] The Audiencia and cabildo buildings were also destroyed, but
the latter has been rebuilt.--Rizal.

[346] The Rizal edition misprints sacristan as sacristías.

[347] This is the largest convent in Manila.--Rizal.

[348] Among the Jesuits, that part of a college where the pensioners
or boarders live and receive their instruction.

[349] This college of San José was founded in 1601, although the royal
decree for it had been conceded in 1585. The number of collegiates to
enter was thirteen, among whom was a nephew of Francisco Tello and
a son of Dr. Morga. From its inception Latin was taught there. In
a suit with the College of Santo Tomás, the Jesuits obtained a
favorable decision; and it was recognized as the older institution,
and given the preference in public acts. The historians say that at
its inauguration the students wore bonnets covered with diamonds and
pearls. At present [1890] this college, after having moved from house
to house, has become a school of pharmacy attached to Santo Tomás,
and directed by the Dominican rector.--Rizal.

[350] After many varying fortunes, this institution has wholly
disappeared.--Rizal.

[351] The Confraternity of Mercy [Hermandad de la Misericordia]
was founded in 1594, by an ecclesiastic named Juan Fernández de
León.--Rizal.

[352] San Juan de Dios [St. John of God].--Rizal.

[353] Better, Maalat. The Spaniards pronounced this later
Malate. There lived the chief Tagáls after they were deprived of
their houses in Manila, among whom were the families of Raja Matanda
and Raja Soliman. San Augustín says that even in his day many of the
ancient nobility dwelt there, and that they where very urbane and
cultured. "The Men hold various positions in Manila, and certain
occupations in some of the local public functions. The women make
excellent lace, in which they are so skilfull that the Dutch women
cannot surpass them." This is still true of the women.--Rizal.

[354] Now the town of Paco.--Rizal.

[355] Recopilación de leyes, lib. ii, tit. xv, ley xi, defines the
district of the Audiencia and states certain perogatives of the
governor and auditors as follows: "In the city of Manila, in the
island of Luzon, capital of the Felipinas, shall reside our royal
Audiencia and Chancillería, with a president who shall be governor and
captain-general, four auditors, who shall also be alcaldes of criminal
cases, one fiscal, one alguacil-mayor, one lieutenant of the grand
chancillor, and the other ministers and officials necessary. It shall
have as its district the said island of Luzon, and all the rest of the
Filipinas, the archipelago of China and its mainland as yet discovered
and to be discovered. We order the governor and captain-general of
the said islands and provinces and president of the royal Audiencia
in them, to hold personal charge in peace and war of the superior
government of all the district of the said Audiencia, and to make
the provisions and concessions in our royal name, which in accordance
with the laws of this Recopilación and of these kingdoms of Castilla,
and with the instructions and powers that he shall get from us, he
should and can make. In things and matters of importance that arise in
the government, the said president governor shall discuss them with
the auditors of the said Audiencia, so that they, after consulting,
may give him their opinion. He, after hearing them, shall take what
course is most advisable to the service of God and to ours, and the
peace and quiet of that province and community." Felipe II, Aranjuez,
May 5, 1583; Toledo, May 25, 1596, in ordinance of the Audiencia;
Felipe IV in this Recopilación.

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