The Inhabitants of the Philippines

by Frederic H. Sawyer

Chapter XXXIII.

The Visayas Race.

Appearance—Dress—Look upon Tagals as foreigners—Favourable opinion of Tomas de Comyn—Old Christians—Constant wars with the Moro pirates and Sea Dayaks—Secret heathen rites—Accusation of indolence unfounded—Exports of hemp and sugar—Ilo-ilo sugar—Cebú sugar—Textiles—A promising race.

The most numerous and, after the Tagals, the most important race in the Philippines is the Visaya, formerly called Pintados, or painted men, from the blue painting or tattooing which was prevalent at the time of the conquest. They form the mass of the inhabitants of the islands called Visayas and of some others.

They occupy the south coast of Masbate, the islands of Romblon, Bohol, Sibuyan, Samar, and Leyte, Tablas, Panay, Negros, and Cebú, all the lesser islands of the Visayas group and the greater part of the coast of the great island of Mindanao. In that island the Caragas, a very warlike branch of the Visayas, occupy the coast of the old kingdom of Caraga on the east from Punta Cauit to Punta San Agustin.

Another branch of the Visayas distinguished by a darker colour and by a curliness of the hair, suggesting some Negrito mixture, occupies the Calamiancs and Cuyos Islands, and the northern coasts of Paragua or Palawan as far as Bahia Honda.

In appearance the Visayas differ somewhat from the Tagals, having a greater resemblance to the Malays of Borneo and Malacca. The men wear their hair longer than the Tagals, and the women wear a patadion instead of a saya and tapis.

The patadion is a piece of cloth a yard wide and over two yards long, the ends of which are sewn together. The wearer steps into it and wraps it round the figure from the waist downward, doubling it over in front into a wide fold, and tucking it in securely at the waist. The saya is a made skirt tied at the waist with a tape, and the tapis is a breadth of dark cloth, silk or satin, doubled round the waist over the saya.

In disposition they are less sociable and hospitable than the Tagals, and less clean in their persons and clothing. They have a language of their own, and there are several dialects of it. The basis of their food is rice, with which they often mix maize. They flavour their food with red pepper to a greater extent than the Tagals. They are expert fishermen, and consume large quantities of fish. In smoking and chewing betel they resemble the other races of the islands. They are great gamblers, and take delight in cock-fighting. They are fond of hunting, and kill numbers of wild pig and deer. They cut the flesh of the latter into thin strips and dry it in the sun, after which it will keep a long time. It is useful to take as provision on a journey, but it requires good teeth to get through it.