The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 16 of 55 / 1609 / Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century

by Unknown

7. Item: If one timagua killed another timagua, and had nothing with which to pay the penalty—ten to twenty taes of gold—all the chiefs of the village killed him for it, if his own chief did not do this, by hanging him to a tree or arigue [i.e., prop of a house] or piercing him with many lance-thrusts.

8. If any woman killed any man, or another woman, by poison or steel or any other way, the judgment was in conformity with the one above, with consideration for the said conditions.

9. If a brother killed a brother or an uncle, or a nephew his uncle, he did not die for it; but they took all his property away from him for the heirs of the murdered man, of which they gave no share to the murderer, even though he should be an heir. This was determined by the chief of the barangay to which the murderer and the murdered belonged, if each party were of his barangay. The chiefs of the barangay were judges, and shared with the heirs of the deceased.

10. Concerning the murder of a child by a father, or a father by a child, no precise information could be secured regarding the punishment, because all asserted that they never remembered such a murder to have happened.

11. In case of the burning of any village or crops, if the incendiary was a chief, he paid for all the damage caused by the fire—which the chiefs of such town and those nearest it determined—according to the amount of the damage, even though they did not leave the chief who set the fire one mais of gold. If the damage did not exceed his property, and he had some property left over, he retained it. If the incendiary were a timagua, he was executed, and his goods were seized to repair the damage. If these did not suffice to pay for it, they sold his wife and children as slaves, to pay for the said damage.

12. Concerning thieves: If the thief were a chief, he returned the plunder, and was fined in proportion to the theft, according to the opinion of one of the chiefs of the village, whom the other chiefs selected as judge for that purpose. They say that they ordinarily appointed the oldest and the most intelligent. The latter could moderate the penalty, which was divided between the judge and the other chiefs, the judge taking one half.

13. If a timagua or slave committed a theft: If the thief were a timagua, they compelled him to return his booty, and fined him according to the regulations of the preceding section. If he had nothing with which to pay, they sold him in another village, in order to pay what he owed, as a penalty for the theft. If the thief were a slave, his master paid for him, or delivered the said slave to the party, and he was soundly lashed. If the owner of the said stolen goods caught the thief in the act of such robbery, he could kill or beat him without any penalty.

14. As for the old men, old women, and witches who committed murders by any of their practices, when it was ascertained that they had killed any person with their witchcraft or tricks, the chief of their barangay, or of the barangay of the murdered man, could kill them with daggers if he pleased; and if these chiefs did not do this, any of the other chiefs could kill the criminals. Their property was seized, and one half was given to the relatives of the murdered man, and the other half to him who executed the sentence upon such sorcerers and witches.

15. Insulting words caused great anger among these natives, and it was considered a very grave offense, especially among the chiefs. They fined the culprits in heavy sums therefor, inflicting this penalty in order not to cause murders, and in the following manner. The insulted person and he who insulted him named a chief, who must be greater than those in the whole province, to hear this suit, who accepted and decided it. If either of the two parties refused to conform to the agreement which the judge prescribed, there was a custom among them that each one lavished expense, on his own account, on feasts and assemblies, and he who spent the greater sum they considered the more powerful and honorable. From these debaucheries and gatherings sometimes resulted wars between them. If either one of the two was the most considerable chief of the province, three or four, chosen by the rest, judged the case. In case the injurious words were said by a timagua to a chief, if the said timagua had nothing wherewith to pay the penalty imposed—which was very excessive—he was made a slave; and if the insulted party were a great chief, the timagua's wife and children were made slaves. If the chief applied insulting words to any timagua, the penalty was very light, and many times nothing.

16. Their marriage custom was to have one wife—from whom they would separate and marry another, on any occasion or change of feeling—and to have three or four other women. They always considered that one the legitimate wife with whom they naturally cohabited. The man always gave the dowry, and this, together with certain gatherings in which they drank, was considered marriage. If the man separated from his wife, he lost the dowry which he had given her. If she separated from the man, she returned double the dowry which she had received, even though she had children. The property acquired during marriage, they always divided equally. They never disinherited the children in life or death, even though they were born of many women, if they had been married to these. The other children, born of other women, whom we call bastards, they called asiao yndepat. These did not inherit, but they always gave them something. Even if any one had no legitimate child at his death, the bastard could not inherit at all, but the property went to the nearest relatives of the deceased.