Visayan Customs & Marriage PDF

LESSON 2.3: HISTORICAL SOURCE DURING THE ENCOMPASSING YEARS OF THE SPANISH PERIOD Reporters: Rejalijon Rufin Manguilimotan Jemalyn L.  Lesson Summary This lesson will be focused on the events that took place during the encompassing years of colonial admini...

LESSON 2.3: HISTORICAL SOURCE DURING THE ENCOMPASSING YEARS OF THE SPANISH PERIOD Reporters: Rejalijon Rufin Manguilimotan Jemalyn L.  Lesson Summary This lesson will be focused on the events that took place during the encompassing years of colonial administration. The selected primary source in this study is about the culture of the Visayans.  Learning Outcomes At the end of this lesson, you are expected to: 1. Name and familiarize elements of Visayan culture at the time of colonization. 2. Compare the customs and practices of the Visayans of the past given by the historical text to their present customs and practices. 3. Dissect and analyze primary source information about the Visayan culture. 4. Recognize the importance of the primary source information to the formation of the Filipino identity. Motivation Question Figure 1 The Pintados from the Boxer Codex (from http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/metsnav/common/navigate.do? pn=116&size=screen&oid=VAB 8326) Look at the picture. Have you seen this picture anywhere? Did you know that this image was a painting from a book now known as Boxer Codex? The said book contains descriptions of the natives of the islands of the Pacific encountered by the colonizers. This particular picture is an image of the Pintados of the Visayas. How well do you know the old Visayan culture?  Discussion In this particular lesson, you will be asked to read about the work of Miguel Lopez de Loarca from the compilation of translated primary sources in the book “The Philippine Islands (1493-1898)” by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson (1903). Miguel Lopez de Loarca was one of the soldiers who came with Legazpi (the 1560s) to the Philippines. As a reward for the services he rendered to the Spanish Crown in the pacification and conquest of the Philippines, he was given an Encomienda in Panay. He wrote in 1582 an account of the Philippines and its people under the title,Relascion de las Islas Filipinas.  Discussion It tells, in the words of Loarca himself, “of all the islands and peoples reduced to the obedience of his royal majesty... and of the form of government among both the Spaniards and the natives. And of some customs of the Indians and Moros of these islands.” Of the marriage customs of the Visayas, Loarca gives the following interesting account:  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs When any man wishes to marry, he, since the man always asks the woman, calls in certain timaguas who are respected in the village. (This is what the chiefs do, for there appear to be three ranks of men in these islands - namely, chiefs, timaguas, who are freemen, and slaves - each class having different marriage customs.) The chiefs, then, I say, send as go-between some of their timaguas, to negotiate the marriage.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs One of these men takes the young man's lance from his father, and when he reaches the house of the girl's father he thrust the spear into the staircase of the house; and while he holds the lance thus, they invoke their gods and ancestors, requesting them to be propitious to this marriage. · If the marriage takes place, the lance belongs to the go- between, or it is redeemed.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs After the marriage; is agreed upon - that is to say, after fixing the amount of the dowry which the husband pays to the wife (which among the chiefs of these islands is generally the sum of one hundred taels, in gold, slaves, and jewels, and is equivalent to one hundred pesos) - they go to bring the bride from the house of her parents. One of the Indians takes her on his shoulders; and on arriving at the foot of the stairway to the bridegroom’s house, she affects coyness and  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs says that she will not enter. When many entreaties have proved useless, the father-in-law comes out and promises to give her a slave if she will go up. She mounts the staircase for the slave;but when she reaches the top of the stairway and looks into her father-in-law’s house and sees the people assembled -within, she again pretends to be bashful, and the father-in-law must give her another slave, After she has entered, the same thing takes place; and he must give her a jewel to make her sit down, another to make her begin to eat, and  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs another before she will drink. While the betrothed pair are drinking together the old man rises, and in a loud voice calls all to silence, as he wishes to speak. He says: “So-and-so marries so-and-so, but on the condition that if the man should through dissolute conduct fail to support his wife, she will leave him, and shall not be obliged to return anything of the dowry that he has given her; and she shall have freedom and permission to marry another man. And therefore, should the woman betray her husband, he can take away the dowry  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs that he gave her, leave her and marry another woman. Be all of you witnesses for me to this compact.” When the old man has ended his speech, they take a dish filled with clean, uncooked rice, and an old woman comes and joins the hands of the pair, and lays them upon the rice. Then, holding their hands thus joined, she throws the rice over all those who are present at the banquet. Then the old woman gives a loud shout, and all answer her with a similar shout, and the marriage contract or ceremony is completed.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs Up to this time, her parents do not allow the young couple to eat or sleep together; but by performing this ceremony they deliver her up as his wife. But if, after the marriage contract has been negotiated by a third party, the man who seeks marriage should repent the bargain and seek to marry another woman, he loses the earnest-money that he has given, even if he has had an intercourse with the former; because when they commence negotiations for the marriage they begin to give the dowry.If a man says in conversation, or at a drunken feast  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage of the chiefs “I wish to marry so-and-so., daughter of so-and-so,” and afterward break his promise and refuse to marry her, he is fined for it; and they take away a great part of his property. Regarding the dowry, neither the husband nor the wife can enjoy it until they have children; for until then, it belongs to the father-in-law. If the bridegroom is not of' age to marry, or the bride is too young, both still work in the house of the father-in-law until they are of age to live together.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage among the timaguas The timaguas do not follow these usages, because they have no property of their own. They do not observe the ceremony of joining hands over the dish of rice, through respect for the chiefs; for that ceremony is for chiefs only. Their marriage is accomplished when the pair unite in drinking pitarrilla from the same cup. Then they give a shout, and all the guests depart; and they are considered as married, for they are not allowed to drink until late at night. The same ceremony is observed by rich and respectable slaves.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriage among the timaguas The timaguas do not follow these usages, because they have no property of their own. They do not observe the ceremony of joining hands over the dish of rice, through respect for the chiefs; for that ceremony is for chiefs only. Their marriage is accomplished when the pair unite in drinking pitarrilla from the same cup. Then they give a shout, and all the guests depart; and they are considered as married, for they are not allowed to drink until late at night. The same ceremony is observed by rich and respectable slaves.  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriages among slaves But the poor slaves, who serve in the houses, marry each other without drinking and without any go-between. They observe no ceremony, but simply say to each other, “Let us marry.” If a chief has a slave, one of his ayoiys, who serves in the house, and wishes to marry him to a female slave of the same class belonging to another chief, he sends an Indian woman as an agent to the master of the female slave, saying that her master wishes to marry one of his male slaves to the other's female slave. After the marriage has been arranged, he gives his slave an earthen jar or three or four dishes, and there is no other ceremony. Half of the children born to this  Visayan Customs Regarding Marriage Marriages among slaves couple will belong to the master of the female slave, and the other half will belong to the master of the male slave. When the time comes when their children can work for their masters, the parents are made tumaranpoques, as we have said; because when a male slave of one chief married the female slave of another chief they immediately receive a house for their use, and go out to work for their masters. If a free man marries a female slave or vice-versa, half of a children are a slave. Thus, if there are two children, one is free and the other is a slave, as the parents may choose.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs PINTADOS-THE PAINTED ONES. IT IS HOW THE SPANIARDS CALLED Belief regarding the dead THE NATIVES WHO WERE TATTOOED. If those who die from the disease are young, the Pintados say that the mangalos, who are goblins, are eating their bowels, wherefore they die; for these people do not know that the corruption of humor causes diseases. They say of those who die in old age that the wind comes and snatches away their souls.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs PINTADOS-THE PAINTED ONES. IT IS HOW THE SPANIARDS CALLED Belief regarding the dead THE NATIVES WHO WERE TATTOOED. And of those who die thus the Arayas (which is a certain alliance of villages), they say, go to a very high mountain in the Island of Panay, called Mayas. The soul, of the Yligueynes, who comprise the people of Cubu (Cebu), Bohol, and Bantay, go with the god called Sisiburanan, to a very high mountain in the island of Burney.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Sidapa They say that there is in the sky another god, called Sidapa. This god possesses a very tall tree on mount Mayas. There he measures the lives of all the new-born, and places a mark on the tree; when the person's stature equals this mark, he dies immediately.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Belief concerning the destination of souls It is believed that at death all souls go directly to the infernal regions; but that, through the maganitos, which are the sacrifices and offerings made to the god Pandague insight of the mount of Mayas, they are redeented from Simuran and Siguinarugan, gods of the lower regions. "It is said that, when the Yligueynes die, the god Maguayen carries them to Inferno. When he has carried them thither in his  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Belief concerning the destination of souls barangay, Sumpoy, another god, sallies forth, takes them away, and leads them to Sisiburanen, the god before mentioned, who keeps them all. Good or bad alike, he takes them all on equal terms when they go to Inferno. But the poor, who have no one to offer sacrifices for them, remain forever, in the inferno, and the god of those regions eats them or keeps them forever in prison. From this, it will be seen how little they're being good or bad avails them, and how much reason they have to hate poverty.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Baylanes (tabaylan) The natives of these islands have neither time nor place set apart for the offering of prayers and sacrifices to their gods. It is only in case of sickness, and in times of seed-sowing or of war, that sacrifices are offered. Those sacrifices are called baylanes, and the priestesses, or the men who perform this office, are also called baylanes. The priestesses dress very gaily with garlands on their heads and are resplendent with gold. They bring to the place of sacrifice some pitarrillas (a kind of earthen jar full of rice-wine, besides a live hog and a quantity of prepared food.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Baylanes (tabaylan) Then, the priestess chants her songs and invokes the demon, who appears to her all glistening in gold. Then he enters the body and hurls her to the ground foaming at the mouth as one possessed. In this state, hee declares whether the sick puten All these over or not. Concerning she decatters, she foretells the future all these take place to the sound of bells and kettle-drums. Then she finds and taking a spear, she pierced the heart of the hog.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Baylanes (tabaylan) They dress it and prepare a dish for the demons theon an altar erected there, they place the dressed hog, rice, bananas, Upon and all the other articles of food that they have brought. All this is done on behalf of sick persons, or to redeem those who are confined in the infernal regions. When they go to war or on a plundering expedition, they offer prayers to Varangao who is the rainbow, and to their gods, Ynaguinid and Macanduc. For the redemption of souls detained in the inferno above mentioned, they invoke also their ancestors, and the dead, claiming to see them and receive answers to their questions.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Belief concerning the world Macaptan- They believe that the world has no end. They say that Macaptan dwells highest in the sky. They consider him a bad god, because he sends disease and death among them, saying that because he has not eaten anything of this world, or drink any pitarrillas, he does not love them, and so kills them. Lalahon. It is said that the divinity Lalahon dwells in a volcano in Negros island when she hurls fire. The volcano is about five leagues from the town of Arevalo. They invoke Lalahon for their harvest; when she does not choose to grant a good harvest, she sends the locusts to destroy and consume the crops. This Lalahon is a woman.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Burials These natives bury their dead in certain wooden coffins, in their own houses. They bury with the dead, gold, cloth, and other valuable objects saying that if they depart rich, they will be well received in the other world, but coldly if they go poor. Guarding the dead When anyone dies, the people light many fires near his house, and at night armed men go to act as sentinels about his coffin, for fear that the sorcerers (who are in this country also) may come and touch the coffin, for then the coffin would immediately burst open, and a great stench issue from the corpse, which could not any longer remain in the coffin. For this reason, they keep watching for several nights.  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Mourning the dead One of the observances which are carried out with most rigor is that called larao. This rule requires that, when a chief dies, all must mourn him, and must observe the following restrictions: No one shall quarrel with any other during the time of mourning, and especially at the time of the burial. Spears must be carried point downward, and daggers are carried in the belt hilt reversed. No gala or colored dress shall be worn during that time. There must be no singing on  Visayan Customs Regarding religious beliefs Mourning the dead He who transgresses the law must - pay the penalty, without fail. If he who does this wrong be a slave - one of those who serve without the dwelling - and has not the means to pay, his owner pays for him; but the latter takes the slave to his own house, that he may serve him, and makes him an ayoey. They say that these rules were left to them by Lubluban and Panas. To some, especially to the relicious, it has seemed as if they were too rigorous for these people; but the were general among chiefs, timaguas, and slaves.  In closing, you need to know that there are other writings about the natives of the old Philippines. There are other works such as from Fr. Pedro Chirino and Fr. Juan Plasencia who also described natives of the Philippines with particular stress on the dwellers of the island of Luzon and the Tagalogs. THANK YOU!!!