Philippine progress prior to 1898

by Austin Craig; Conrado O. Benitez

The language of the Philippines was divided into many different dialects, of which the Tagalog, an abundant and copious tongue, was the most perfect specimen. These, together with the languages of various outlying groups, can be traced to the same origin by unequivocal marks of affinity, both in word formation and grammatical construction. In spite of various linguistic changes it has been noted by Le Gobien that the language of the Carolines bears a strong resemblance to the Tagalog, and the same may be said of the ancient Chamorro tongue. The Battak speech of Sumatra is said to be closely allied to the Tagalog. Prichard states that the Malagasi resembles Tagalog more than it does any other Malayan tongue. The Tagalog-Bisayan-languages are said by several writers to be the most highly developed of this family, and are in a transition state between the agglutinative and inflective stages. Von Humboldt considered the Tagalog to be the parent language of the Malay type, but this was denied by Crawfurd. In the Javanese, one hundred and ten words per thousand are Sanscrit, in Malay fifty, in the Bugi, seventeen, in Tagalog one and a half, and in Malagasi there are none. It might be inferred from this that the Tagalog-Bisayan migrations from the southwest took place prior to, or about, the sixth century of our era, about which time the Hindu religion was introduced into the East Indies, bringing with it many Sanscrit terms. The native languages hold their own in the Philippines. Pickering, in his “Races of Man,” states that the Tagalog is still the chief language of Luzon, being in general use in all the interior towns.

In respect to religion, the more advanced of the tribes appeared to have arrived at the stage of intellectual progress when Nature worship begins to give place to a dim idea of a Supreme Being, a Maker of all things. This protecting genius, to whom they offered sacrifices, was called Bathalang Meicapal. These people had a vague conception of a future state in which the good were rewarded and the wicked punished. Among the Bisayans, Ologan was the term for Heaven in their ancient religion, and their Hell was Solad. The souls of their dead were said to pass to the mountain of Medias in the Oton district. Tigbalan was the name of a forest demon among the northern tribes, who was treated with great respect. In passing beneath a tree a native would invariably say “Tavit po,”—that is, “By your leave, my lord.” They practised fire worship and fetishism and paid homage to the Sun, Moon, rainbow, to animals, birds, and even to trees, and to rocks of peculiar appearance. The worship of birds appears to have been confined to two species, the bathala, a small blue bird, and the maylupa, a species of crow or kite. The trees, rocks, and headlands which were close to contrary currents, or places dangerous to navigation, were objects of veneration and dread, and the deities of these places were propitiated by offerings of food, or were supposed to be quelled by a flight of arrows being discharged against them. Influenced by terror, they venerated the crocodile, calling it nono, or grandfather, and it was sometimes tamed and cherished by the priests. These huge saurians were extremely dangerous, and many natives lost their lives by them, for which reason they constructed enclosures for bathing purposes. The Manobos revered the lightning, and believed thunder to be its voice. The Bisayans held that all who perished in battle or were killed by crocodiles became divata. The divata or anito were guardian spirits, and among some tribes were represented by idols of gold, ivory, or stone. There were anito of the cultivations, of the rains, of the sea, cocoanut trees, also of newly-born children, and of children during the period of lactation. Again there were family anito, a species of household gods, who protected the family, and who were principally deified ancestors, having, it is said, ascended to heaven on the rainbow (balangao). Images representing these were kept in the houses, or in the vacant space beneath them, and slaves were sometimes sacrificed in their honor. It has been denied by some writers that the Philippine natives had any idols or images, or any places set apart for religious ceremonies, but the account of Cavendish, the adventurous English navigator, who visited the Philippines in 1588, states: “These people wholly worship the Devil, who appears unto them in divers horrible forms, and they worship him by making figures of these forms, which they keep in caverns and special houses, offering to them perfumes and food, and calling them anito or licha.” The MS. which we quote says: “These people lacked capacious temples, neither had they sacred days set apart for religious practices, but they had at the entrances to their towns, and even close to their houses, small chapels or rooms consecrated to the anito, and to the offering of sacrifices. In these places were deposited offerings of food to sustain the souls of the dead in their journey of three days which divided death from the re-incarnation which ensued. Before the figures also were placed small braziers burning perfumes, and plates of sago and fruits.”

The priests of these tribes were known as catalona in the north, and as babailan among the Bisayans. They were the sorcerers, or “medicine men,” and rude beyond measure was their art in curing, consisting generally of the imaginary extraction of pebbles, leaves, or pieces of cane from the affected part. The priests possessed great authority among the people. In their invocations to the anito they sometimes deceived the spectators by a peculiar sound produced by burning the kernels of the cashew (casuy); “and at all times,” says the padre, “they were assisted by the devil.” The secret of these frauds was transmitted by inheritance, or was sold to the highest bidder, and after being consecrated the priests did no other work than net-making or weaving cloth.

As to their sacrifices, the object of them in many cases was to gain a knowledge of the future. Among other modes, they practised divination by an examination of the victim’s entrails, and also by the stars, both widely spread customs. In the case of prolonged illness a new house was built, and the patient removed to it. The priestess being summoned, she sacrificed according to the wealth of the offerers, sometimes a tortoise, and sometimes as many as three slaves. The house was filled with small tables, on which were placed refreshments, and which correspond with the number of guests. The priestess performed a sacred dance, purified and sacrificed the victim, and with the warm blood sprinkled the most distinguished of the guests, distributing to the remainder small copper bells. After repeating an incantation the entrails were examined after the manner of the Roman augurs, by the priests, who were often seized with convulsions, made grotesque contortions, foamed at the mouth, and finally announced the sentence of the death, or recovery of the patient. If the omen was of health, a revel was held, and the valor of the patient’s family and ancestors celebrated with songs. If the omen was of death, they diverted the mind of the patient by dancing, drinking, singing his praises, and persuading him that the gods removed him from this world in order to elevate him to the dignity of anito. At the close of the proceedings the priest received presents of gold and food from the guests. Sacrifices which were offered before undertaking a war or assault were conducted in a similar manner. Others, which were arranged by the chiefs, and dedicated to the principle of good, were celebrated with feasting and dancing to the sound of their primitive music. The best dancer was invited by the priest to give the fatal thrust, and the flesh of sacrificed hogs was distributed among the guests, who looked upon it as sacred food.

The Philippine natives had a firm belief in omens and superstitions of many kinds. Thus, in the house of the fishermen, new nets were not spoken of until they had been tested and found reliable, and among hunters the merits of dogs recently acquired were not discussed until they had been successful in catching game. A belief in the invulnerability (anting) of certain persons was a common superstition. A pregnant woman was not allowed to cut her hair for fear the infant should be bald. Much importance was attached to dreams, of which they were anxious to divine the meaning. In order to navigate their seas with safety it was not permitted to carry in the vessel either animals or land birds, nor even to name them; and in like manner, when travelling by land, they did not mention things which pertained to the sea. Before embarking on a voyage they caused the boat to oscillate and observed carefully to which side it inclined the most. If to the right, it was accepted as a good omen, but if to the left, it was an evil omen. They also tied together many cords, and one end being made fast, would rub the other between the hands, and by observing the manner in which the cords became entangled, they inferred the good or evil fortune which fate had in store for them.

The geogony of primitive and semi-civilized races always contains an element of interest, and that of the Philippine natives was certainly a singular belief. The creators of the earth were the sky and the kite, and the sea. After the bird had flown many times across the ocean, and found nothing to alight upon, the sky, in quarreling with the sea, caused the bird to throw huge rocks with the aim of subduing it. These rocks became islands, and the earth generally.

The tradition of the origin of man is as follows: “Two logs of bamboo, impelled by the waves, were cast on shore at the feet of the bird, which becoming enraged, began to pick them to pieces, when there appeared from the first log a man, and from the second a woman, thus proving the monogeny of the human species.” The man succeeded in gaining the affections of the woman, and from them are descended the whole human race. The dispersion of the race throughout the world was caused by a family quarrel. The many children of the primal couple lived independent in the house of the parents, which displeased the father, who belabored them with a cudgel, and expelled them from the house. Some concealed themselves in the house, and from them are descended the maguinoo, or chiefs. Others went out openly from the house, and these were the fathers of the timagua (timawa) or freemen, and yet others took refuge in the cooking-sheds and beneath the house. From these last sprang the slaves. Finally, those who were banished, and never returned, became the ancestors of distant people, and remote tribes. It is worthy of note that, on the arrival of the Spanish, they were supposed by the natives to be the descendants of the last-mentioned migration. The various animals are also said by tradition to have been derived from other logs of bamboo; and the fact that the monkey came from one close to that which contained man, explains satisfactorily the resemblance between them.

Respecting their idea of a future life, the belief was, that preceding the state of happiness after death, there was a series of incarnations or purifications of the soul, which successive transmigrations took place in a cluster of one and fifty islands, on which were sheltered the souls of the dead. In those beautiful isles departed spirits enjoyed perpetual youth. In this paradise there were trees always loaded with ripe fruits, and fastened to the earth by chains of gold, which served as roots. Of gold also were the ornaments, the bells, ear-rings (panica), the cloths (isine), and many other things. The shores of the sea were formed of pure rice, and there was also a sea of milk, and another of linogao, which is rice boiled with milk or fat. Yet another sea was of blood, and on the bank of this grew plants, whose flowers had petals of flesh ready for eating.

These people held primitive notions concerning original sin, and also cherished a belief in the punishments and rewards of a future life. They accounted for the coming of death into the world in the following manner: Far back in the very night, the god Laon possessed a most beautiful fish which was his delight, also a tree which bore the most luscious fruits. The offenders killed the fish and plucked the fruit. For this offence Laon caused men to die in all ages.

Such was then the state of civilization among the Tagalog-Bisayan tribes at the time when the Malay Mohammedans, and the Spanish conquistadores attempted, from opposite points, to introduce their religions into the archipelago. The Moros of the Sulu Islands were beginning to overrun the Philippines on the arrival of the Spanish, and would eventually have Mohammedanised the entire group. The Philippine natives at this time were in a singularly interesting stage of intellectual progress. They had lived through the crude fetishism of savagedom, and were emerging from the second stage of religious feeling, during which they had evolved, out of the contemplation of Nature, one of those wonderful mythologies which are met with among so many nations. They were beginning to renounce the old Nature worship, of which the central figure was a Supreme Maker.