Pre-spanish

As I’ve read the pre-Spanish era given by Mr.Ralph, there are a lot of things I’ve learned, things that recalled me about the history of the Philippines and the situation we had in the arms of the Spaniards. First, when it comes to the people who were involved in the whole history about our country, many of them exert their efforts and their ideas on how things are possible and how it can work. Different places also contributed their ideas to the development of the history by observations that they had recorded.
Next is how did the word “balangay” turned into “barangay”? As far as I know, when I was in my 4th High school, we had talked about the story behind that issue. Spaniards can’t pronounce the letter “L” so that they called the fossilized boat as “balangay” then many years had been passed, Filipino’s called it, as of now, as “Barangay”, and a tagalog barangay was a group of people ruled over a Datu. But then, the Spaniards retained both the term and the institution as a convenient means of collecting tribute through the barangay heads.
Filipino, Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was a Spanish expeditionary commander, he was the one who had named the islands of Leyte and Samar as “Filipinas”, and then “Las Islas Filipinas” continuing to “Indios” but then, it ends for the term “Filipino” because of the Filipino citizens who resided in the archipelago in the 16th century and who had spoken Philippine languages.
Origin of the Filipino people, based on what I’ve read, there are 4 kinds of people who belonged in the history about the Filipino people. One was the Tagalog described as one race of medium stature, black hair, and dark skin, also called as Kayumanggi. Second was the Negritos, include the Muslim-Filipinos, Christian Filipinos and the Taosug Muslims in Sulu. Also the Chinese people are also recognized as another race, and lastly, the Malay people. Since the word “Malay” was also used to mean people of the same physical type as Malay speakers.
The Philippine languages, varies in the dialect of the Filipinos. Then have the similarities that were accounted in two ways, “outward borrowing from other languages, or “Inheritance from a common ancestral stock”. And there are various examples written at the book such as “Malay kuda for horse in Manobo and T’boli, or Spanish caballo, that is kabayo in tagalog, Ilocano, and Visayan. Or they may reflect the prestige in which the donor language is held. Malay binibini or female was taken for princess in tagalog, while daddy and papa have replaced ama or father in many Philippine households today”
Now let’s moved on the Island of Visayas, it was written there that Juan de la Isla (1565-232) described Visayan social structure in 1565 in just one simple sentence: “That have three classes: they call the chiefest, datos who are like knights, and those like citizens, timagua (timawa) and the slaves, orip (oripur)”. But then, this all tree classes were offspring of a divine primordial pair, who had fled or hiid from their father’s wrath.-Boxer Version.
The datu was said to be the head of the Visayan community, Spaniards called it as “principal”, chief or a “lord of vessals,” and kadatoan. There are lots of rule on how to be a datu, so this are the rules: a man who became a datu simply by marrying one was called sabali. They married within their rank, either at home or abroad , limited their heirs by birth control and, and kept their daughters secluded as binokot, even their young sons according to the epic Humadapnon, there is a relation between rulers of Butuan, Limasawa, Cebu and Maktan in Magellan’s day.
But one thing I’ve confused about is that, Datus also took secondary wives which are called sandil who produced a lesser order of nobility called tumao, if they were rank themselves, or timawa if they were slaves or commoners. And one of the responsibility of the Datu was expected to govern his people his people, settle their dispute, protect them from the enemies, and lead them in any battle they have encountered.
His chief minister was called atubang sa datu. Literally, “facing the datu” as what was written in the book. As the datu have made his efforts doing his responsibility as the chief or a leader, in return of these responsibilities and services he had accomplished, he will be receiving a kind of labor and tribute from his people or his member. Examples of those labor done by his people, they harvested his fields, rowed his boats, and built his houses, and joined his hunting parties or fishing crews. Also, they gave him a share of their crops, either as regular seasonal tribute or in lieu of personal labor, and a variety of “gifts” for example, Himuka from a timawa for permission to marry, or Bawbaw from any litigant to whom he had awarded the decision in a lawsuit. Takay was to divide his palay among his people to be milled for him, cotton to be spun, or chickens to be raised. It was a kind of their thanksgiving to their datus as they are giving a harmonious life and also a peaceful and a safe life. I hope that this kind of tradition is present in our government today, as I imagining the relationship of the people to their politicians if that was applied to our country, we will also having harmonious and peaceful life.
Let’s now proceed in the timawa or the freemen/freedmen as how they defined it. It was said there that it is the offspring or descendants of a datus commoner wives or slaves concubines and they were free because their progenitor had granted it. There paid tribute was called Buhis or Handug.