The Inhabitants of the Philippines

by Frederic H. Sawyer

The common people are in a kind of bondage to the nobles, and cultivate their lands for them. In Lepanto they are called cailianes as in Ilocos. Their houses are square, and similar to those of the other natives in the outlying districts, being raised on posts above the ground-level. A framework of bamboos is supported on four trunks of trees, the roof is thatched with cogon (elephant grass) and the sides are closed in by canes, bamboos or pine planks. Each house stands in an enclosure of its own, strongly fenced with rough stones or posts. They are far inferior to the Christian natives in the arrangement of their houses. Instead of having a separate kitchen on a pantalan or raised platform, the fire is made in the centre of the house, and the smoke finds its way out through a hole in the roof. The rafters and inside of the thatch is blackened by the soot. They make no windows to their houses and only a small door, the ladder to which is drawn up when they retire to rest. They are not clean in their persons, and neglect to wash their clothes, or clean the interiors of their houses. They thus compare very unfavourably with the Tagals as regards cleanliness, although, as we shall see, in some other respects they are greatly above them. Each village has its Town Hall, which they call the Balta-oa. This is where the Town Council assembles to settle the affairs of the community, to hear requests for divorces, and to administer the law to offenders. Public festivities also take place here.

They are monogamous, and have the highest respect for the holiness of the marriage tie. It is not absolutely indissoluble, but can be dissolved by the village council on serious grounds; but apparently divorce is systematically discouraged, and the sacredness of marriage is upheld. In former times adulteresses were punished by beheading, but more lenient views now prevail, and a good whipping is considered sufficient to meet the case. Generally death only dissolves the tie, and even then only partially, as re-marriage is difficult; for it is not proper for the widow to marry again without the consent of her late husband’s family, which may not easily be obtained, and if she contracts new ties, the children of her first marriage are removed from her control. On the other hand, Igorrote respectability requires that a widower should entirely neglect his toilet and commune silently with his grief for several years before taking to himself a new wife. Like most heathen, they show the greatest respect and affection for their parents, and cherish them to their life’s end.

In sharp contrast with the license accorded to young girls by the Tagals and Visayas, the Igorrotes carefully guard the chastity of their daughters, and do not allow them to go about without a chaperon. The father even often accompanies them on their excursions. When they arrive at the age of puberty, the boys and girls are separated.

In each village there are two special buildings not too near each other. In one of these the girls sleep under the watchful guard of a duenna, who looks after their morals, and in the other the youths under the care of an elder. The youth caught violating the sanctity of the damsels’ dormitory, or the maiden who is detected in an intrigue, or shows signs of maternity, may expect a severe correction. They do not seem to raise as many difficulties about the marriage of their daughters as the Tagals do, and they do not make it a matter of a mercenary bargain. When a youth takes a fancy to a marriageable maiden of his own degree, he applies through his parents to the father of the girl, and if he and his daughter look with favour on the proposal, the young man is admitted to cohabit with the damsel. But if within a certain period the girl does not show signs of succession, the would-be bridegroom is sent about his business. On the other hand, if pregnancy is announced, the wedding takes place with all possible ceremony, including an invocation of the Anitos or ancestral gods, feasts and dances, which last eight or nine days, but the young couple are excused from attendance. The Igorrotes, in fact, openly recognise a custom which is practised to a great extent in the agricultural districts of England and Scotland, with this difference, that the Christian youth in the latter countries often evades the marriage, while the heathen Igorrote carries out his engagement. I think, on the whole, the heathen comes out best.

Although so desirous of offspring, they like to have them come one at a time, and they consider it to be an evil omen when one of their women brings forth twins. In such a case the last born is handed over to whoever desires to adopt it. This is held to avert the omen and straighten things out again.

Of late years the establishment of forts with the Tagal or Visayas garrisons in the Igorrote territory, and closer contact with Christians generally, have tended to demoralise the heathen, and, above all, to lower somewhat their lofty ideal of chastity.

Anitos of Northern Tribes.

[To face p. 258.