The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume 40 of 55, 1690-1691 / 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

497. The dowry, which is called bigaycàya, was always given by the man (and it is even yet given), the parents of the girl determining the sum beforehand, at the time when they discussed the marriage. The parents of the bride received that dowry, and neither the bride nor her parents contributed any fund. The dowry was set according to the rank of the contracting parties; and if, perchance, the parents of the bride asked more than the ordinary sum, they were under obligations to bestow some gift to the married couple to suit the occasion as, for instance, a couple of slaves, some small gold jewel, or a bit of cleared land—for cultivation, as I have seen practiced even yet, and which they called pasonòr. In this bigaycaya was included what they called panhimùyat, which was the sum that had to be paid to the mother of the bride in return for her care and labor in the rearing and education of her daughter. In it was also included the pasòso, or the sum that was to be paid to the chichiva, or nurse, who had reared her. At present, if perhaps there is no bigaycaya in any marriage, for any reason, they never fail to collect these revenues from the groom, upon which there is generally a suit.

498. This dowry or bigaycaya was and is given before the marriage with all the solemnity that they can muster up, amid a great concourse of maguinoos, relatives, and friends of the lovers. The latter are given the crosses on the money to kiss, which is counted and exhibited in public, in confirmation of the pact; and then the marriage is immediately celebrated with feasting and rejoicing. The employment of this bigaycaya is not the same in all the villages. In some it is all converted into the property of the parents of the bride, by way of trade, they selling their daughter (as do those of Mesopotamia) for a reasonable price. If the men do not possess the wherewithal with which to buy them promptly, innumerable sins follow and the two live in improper relations, even to the knowledge of the parents themselves—the young man serving as a servant in the houses of the latter to do their will, but in the capacity of a son, as far as familiarity and permission for evil are concerned. Many efforts are employed to extirpate this diabolical abuse, but it still costs great toil. Under the title of catipàdos (thus they call those who are engaged for marriage) are some concubinages legitimate for all time, for which the bigaycàya is not necessary. Having given up the bigaycàya, the poor couple are left destitute, for the parents of the bride take charge of everything.

499. That money is better used in some villages; for it serves to provide all kinds of clothes for the bride, and for one-half the expenses of the wedding (which are generally very great), and the parochial fees of the marriage, so that scarcely any is left for the parents of the couple. This is the practice that I have seen observed where I have been. These and other ogalis (which are customs) can only have their origin in the past, and come from father to son, and even there is variety in them, according to their distinct origins.

500. That which in España is called “the exchange of rings,” in order to give security to the marriage contract and the wishes of those who are to contract it, has also been observed here, the couple giving each other some jewel. This has been called talingbòhol. This was followed by the habìlin, which is the sign that they have given the dowry which they had promised. And this was like the sign in shops to show that the price was fixed and that the article could not be sold at another price. Some fathers have maintained the custom of asking the same price for their daughter as they paid for the mother when they were married; but as fortunes are unequal, this cannot be maintained inexorably, nor at all times, nor with all.

501. The dowry was never returned to the one who gave it, unless the son-in-law were so obedient to his parents-in-law that he should win their affection, in which case they returned him the dowry, at the death of any one; but this was rather a matter of charity than of obligation, as all confess. If the woman who was to be married was alone, and had neither parents nor grandparents, she herself and no other received the dowry. At present, the greed of the Indians must be greater; for this poor lone woman is never without either the chichiva who gave her the breast, who will not be left without her payment, or uncle, aunt, or other relative in whose care she has been because of the loss of her legitimate parents. And since the above consider themselves as her parents in this matter (the pinaca ama, as the Indians call it) they take upon themselves the place of her parents, and get all the money, just as if they were the true parents.

502. All the relatives and friends who go to weddings were also wont to take each some little present. These gifts were set down very carefully and accurately, in an account, noting whatever each one gave. For if Pedro So-and-so gave two reals at this wedding, two reals were also given to him if he had another wedding in his house. All this money is spent, either in paying, if anything is due for the wedding, or as an aid in the expenses. Or if the parents of both the young couple are niggardly, they divide it and keep it. If they are generous, they use it in the pamamuhay, or furnishing of the house of the couple. Consequently, there is no regular custom in this. The nearest relatives give the couple a jewel as a mark of affection, but do not give money. These jewels belong to the bride, and to no one else.

503. Three days before the wedding all the relatives of both parties assemble at the house where it is to be celebrated, to make the pàlapàla, which is a sort of bower, by which they make the house larger so that all the guests may be accommodated easily. They spend three days in making this. The next three days are those customary to the wedding and its feast. Consequently, there are six days of expense, of racket, of reveling, of dancing and singing, until they fall asleep with fatigue and repletion, all helter-skelter without any distinction. Often from this perverse river the devil in turn gets his little harvest—now in quarrels and mishaps which have happened, and now in other more common sins; the greatest vigilance of the father ministers is insufficient to stop these wrongs, and there are no human forces (although there ought to be) which can banish these pernicious ogalis.

504. In the olden days they employed certain ridiculous ceremonies, which had but little decency attending the intercourse of the couple upon the night of the wedding, customs which have now been totally uprooted. The least indecent was the coming of the catalona or babaylana to celebrate the espousals. They brought a hog for this purpose, and with it and on it performed their rites as in other sacrifices. The young couple seated themselves on their bridal bed, in the laps of certain old women who played the part of godmothers of the espousal. These women fed the young couple with their own hands from one dish, and they both drank from one vessel. The groom said that he loved the bride, and she that she loved the groom. Thereupon the shouts of joy broke out, and cries, and there was singing and dancing and drinking. Then the catalona arose with great gravity, and so many were the blessings that she showered down upon the young couple that, according to some that I have heard among these natives, they would exceed without any doubt the flatteries of our gypsy men and women, when they tell the fortune of one who has given them a large reward.

505. If the recently-married couple did not agree well, the groom danced, spear in hand, before a hog, and then gave it the death-thrust, praying meanwhile to his anito, and this was sufficient to make the young couple agree. Now the couple go in festal procession in the manner of a masquerade, to the house where they are to live. Then they form another such procession, in order to convey the godparents to their abodes, and with this the festival is at an end. And after so great expense, they usually remain indebted for the small parochial marriage fees, if the father minister has not been very prompt.

506. In regard to heirs, all the legitimate children equally inherited all the property of their parents. If there were no legitimate children, then the nearest relatives inherited. If one had two or more children by two wives, all legitimate, each child inherited what belonged to his mother, both of the wealth of her time, and of the profits made from it, which could have belonged to her. As to the dowry, it is inferred that the child’s grandparents received it, and spent it at the time of the wedding. If there were other children who were not legitimate, who had been had by a free woman, they had one-third of the property, and the legitimate children the other two thirds. But in case that there were no legitimate children, then the illegitimate children of a free woman were the absolute heirs. Some property was given to the children of slave women according to the wishes of the legitimate heirs, and the mother became free, as has been stated above—as did the children also, in the manner already explained.