Lesson 1  Social Organization of the Early Filipinos

At the end of the lesson, the learners are able to:

• Discuss the social classes in the different parts of the Philippines

• Explain the relationship of the different social classes in early Filipino society

• Discuss the role of laws in maintaining peace and order in Filipino society

Even before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the early Filipinos already had their own social organization. They established communities called barangays. Each barangay was comprised of about 30 to 100 families, headed by a datu, and consisted of different classes of people. The early Filipino society was divided into three classes—the nobles, the freemen, and the slaves.

THE NOBLES 

The nobles belonged to the highest social class. In the Tagalog region, they usually carried the title Lakan or Gat. This group included the datu and the members of his family and the rich families who could afford to have slaves. They had so much influence and enjoyed privileges which were not enjoyed by the other members of society.

The datu was the leader of the barangay. A datu was appointed based on inheritance, wealth, bravery, and wisdom. When a datu dies, the position usually goes to the eldest son. If the datu has any son, then the eldest daughter inherits the position. Bravery was measured by the number of beheaded enemies (especially in some parts of Luzon) and his/her involvement in interisland and international tradings. Wealth, on the other hand, was measured by the number of slaves, quantity and quality of gold, and his/her vast land properties. The datu took charge of promoting the welfare and protection of his/her people from enemies. He/She also maintained peace and order in the barangay and helped those who were sick and in need of advice for their problems.

THE FREEMEN

The freemen belonged to the middle class and made up the largest population in the barangay. They were called timawas in the Visayan region. They were born free and they did not have to pay tributes to the datu. Furthermore, they could choose their own occupation, own lands, and enjoy the produce of their land. This group performed tasks which were assigned to them by the datu such as planting and harvesting, fishing, accompanying the datu in his/her journeys, or helping the datu in constructing his/her house.

THE SLAVES

The slaves belonged to the lowest class in the early Filipino society. There were two kinds of slaves—aliping namamahay and aliping saguiguilid.

The aliping namamahay lived separately from the datu. Among their duties were to pay a yearly tribute that was equivalent to 100 gantas of rice and all the seeds that they would plant, and supply the datu with a big jar of wine made from sugarcane called quilan. They prepared the food and all the things that the datu needed for his/her journey. They also helped in preparing for big celebrations.

On the other hand, the aliping saguiguilid lived in the datu’s house and served him/her at all times. This group depended on the datu for their livelihood. Among the Visayans, there were three kinds of slaves: ayuey, tumarampok, and tumataban. The ayuey belonged to the lowest class and served the datu at all times. The tumarampok served only once a week and could substitute palay for his/her services. The tumataban served the datu only when he/she was told to do so. There were also three social classes among the Muslims in Mindanao. They were the malai-i-bangsa, mabubai-bangsa, and alipin. Among the three, malai-i-bangsa was considered the highest social class. These social classes, similar to those in Luzon and Visayas, had the same composition, duties, and privileges.

During the early times, one becomes a slave if one steals, covets another’s spouse, is unable to pay debt, or trespasses the datu’s property. In some cases, the poor people actually preferred to become slaves in order to obtain food and other basic necessities. A slave could buy his freedom by paying 18 taels (measurement) of gold. Once a slave marries someone belonging to a higher social class, his/ her social class would change.

GOVERNMENT LAWS

The early Filipinos lived in communities called barangays. Each barangay was composed of 30 to 100 families and was ruled by a datu. The datu wielded absolute power in the barangay. He was the chief executive, lawmaker, and judge in all the trials that involved offenders. It was the primary duty of the datu to promote the welfare and interests of his subjects, and to maintain peace and order in the barangay. The subjects paid tributes in the form of crops.

Inter-barangay relations also existed during the early times basically for commerce and trade and for friendship and alliance. A treaty of friendship and alliance was carried out through a blood compact (sanduguan) wherein both datus slit their wrist, draw some blood, and mix it with wine in a cup. Both datus drink from the same cup, thus, becoming “blood brothers.”

BARANGAY LAWS

  Every barangay was independent from each other. Each one had its own set of laws be it written or customary. Customary laws constituted the bulk of the laws and were handed down from generation to generation. Some written laws were inscribed on barks of trees, leaves, or cloths. As such, these were not properly preserved. The laws dealt with various subjects such as family relations, adoption, property rights, inheritance, usury, loans, partnerships, and divorce. The acts that were considered major crimes were rape, murder, witchcraft, incest, insult, trespassing, or sacrilegious acts. Meanwhile, minor crimes consisted of cheating, petty theft, adultery, perjury, disturbance of the night’s peace by singing, and stealing documents that were owned by the chief.

When a datu wanted a law to be made, he/she called the elders of the community and consulted with them. Upon the approval of the law, a public announcer or crier called the umalohokan went around the barangay to announce the new law. While ringing a bell furiously, he summoned the people to come to him and listen to the provisions of the new law.

JUDICIAL PROCESS

The barangay court was composed of the datu as the judge and the community elders as the jury. Trials of cases were usually done in public. The party which brought more witnesses in his/her favor was usually adjudged the winner.

If the court could not clearly determine the guilt or innocence of both parties, they resorted to trial by ordeal (pagsubok). In the case of theft, the suspects were ordered to retrieve a stone from a pot of boiling water. The person whose hand was more scalded was adjudged guilty. In some instances, the suspects were ordered to chew uncooked rice. The person whose saliva was the thickest was adjudged guilty. In some cases, both parties were given lighted candles. The person whose candle died out first was proclaimed guilty.

The barangays in the Cordilleras had a more decisive form of trial by ordeal. They ordered the parties concerned to undergo a trial by combat. The loser in the fight would be adjudged guilty. Among the Ifugaos, the ordeal was carried out through wrestling combats called bultong and alaw, which were duels. Just like in other fights, the losers were adjudged guilty.

REMEMBER THESE

• During the early times, a barangay had its own independent government.  It was composed of 30 to 100 families with the datu as its head.  With the council of elders, the datu performed executive, legal and judicial duties.

• People in the barangay lived in harmony and mutual cooperation.

• Two barangays could enter into a friendship treaty, and the bond between the two could be strengthened by blood