Philippine Maritime Trade Relations in the Pre-Colonial Period
Liberty V. Bendaen
SSt 216 Special Topics in World History
Professor Stanley Jr. F. Anongos
July 2021
Bendaen 2
Throughout history, it is a fact that ‘trade’ has been a significant event which greatly
contributed to the development and continuous shaping of the world today. It made
connections and networks to every nation that made it salient even up to this time. “Trade
intensified the link between the east and the west because of the ‘seas’ that served as an
avenue of commerce and cultural contact”.1 Specifically, in the Philippines, ‘maritime trade’
had been evident because of some archaeological facts discovered in the dwelling of early
living Filipinos and in the shipwrecks discovered and excavated in its waters. “The earliest
boats recovered archaeologically in the Philippines proved its involvement in long-distance
exchange with China. Accordingly, these boats may have carried trade goods brought by the
larger Chinese junks to other islands in the archipelago.”2
For instance, the Pandanan shipwreck discovered in Palawan in the year 1993 shows
that it is probably owned by Chinese (South-China) or Indo-Chinese (Vietnam). They
discovered archaeological artefacts totaled more than 4,700 which consists of Vietnamese
wares (e.g. Champa stone wares and blue and white porcelains), Sukhotai and Sawankhalok
stone wares from Thailand and Chinese blue and white porcelains that were dated to the
Yuan dynasty in 1279 to 1368 CE. Moreover, the Lena Shoal shipwreck that was accidentally
discovered by fishermen in Busuanga, Palawan in the year 1996 carried with it 7,000
archaeological specimens which includes porcelain, porcelain bowls, porcelain plates and
dishes, green-glazed globular Sawankhalok jars, small ovoid stoneware jars from the Tao
Maenam Noi site in Thailand, glass beads, Siamese celadon, Chinese celadon, Vietnamese
Bobby C. Orillaneda, “Maritime Trade in the Philippines During the 15th Century CE,”
Moussons. Recherche en sciences humaines sur l'Asie du Sud-Est (Presses Universitaires de
Provence, May 13, 2016), https://journals.openedition.org/moussons/3529?lang=en, 2.
2
Elisabeth A. Bacus, “The Archaeology of Philippine Archipelago,” pdfcoffee.com
(PDFCOFFEE.COM), accessed July 9, 2021, https://pdfcoffee.com/qdownload/bacus2004archaeology-of-philippine-archipelago-pdf-free.html, 267 Bacus, The Archaeology of
Philippine Archipelago, 267.
1
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stoneware jars, tin ingots and brass bracelets and elephant tusks. It was said that these
ceramic wares lead back to 1488 to1505 CE during the reign of Chinese emperor Hong-Zhi.3
In addition, the Santa Cruz shipwreck found in Santa Cruz, Zambales uncovered
almost 15,000 artefacts that comprised predominantly of high-fired, glazed stoneware and
porcelain ceramics from China, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma.4Hence, it is believed that this
evidences uncovered by Archaeologists sheds light to how associated is the Philippines with
the other regions in Southeast Asia and eventually to the world before the time of Spanish
conquest.
On the other hand, Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
Philippines and others have made contacts with each other through the trading routes that
they had created even before the colonizers came. This means that there have a vibrant
trading network already in place. Also, among its neighboring countries in Asia, China was
mentioned to have an intimate contact and trading relations with the Philippines during the
so-called “Proto-Historic” beginning probably in the 10th century A.D.5 Therefore, it was the
eventual involvement of China that was to significantly impact the scale of trade from the late
first millennium onwards.6 Moreover, pottery and other products from China arrived in the
Archipelago which became the primary item of trade which according to Fox “survived in
the graves and habitation sites of the early Filipinos”. Surprisingly, Filipino traders and
raiders went to the south China coast, usually via the northern route to Taiwan, before
Chinese came to the Philippines. Sources mention Philippine ports in 982, and in 1001 the
Chinese court welcomed a tribute mission from what is described as a small country in the
Orillaneda, “Maritime Trade in the Philippines during the 15th Century CE, 4-6.
Ibid.
5
Robert B. Fox, "The Archeological Record of Chinese Influences in the
Philippines." Philippine Studies 15, no. 1 (1967): 41-62. Accessed June 23, 2021.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/42720173.
6
Bacus, “The Archaeology of Philippine Archipelago”, 266-267.
3
4
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sea east of Champa called Pu-duan (today's Butuan).7 Furthermore, there were several places
in the Philippines mentioned in some sources where evidence of active commercial exchange
between the country and other regions of Southeast Asia took place. In particular, Cebu was
an important commercial area prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century.8
Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan, described that the place was a commercial
entrepôt with local merchants who exchanged local and inter-archipelagic goods with traders
from Java, Sumatra, Ayutthaya and China.9
In addition, prior to Spanish colonization in 1521, the Filipinos were also trading with
the Japanese which according to history, had established a ‘trading post’ at Aparri in
Northern Luzon during the 1400’s.10 With all these things mentioned, it only proves that the
Philippines had been actively involved with a ‘regional’ maritime trade long before the
coming of the Spaniards that will later on make a significant breakthrough with its relations
to the world.
It is then the aim of this paper to argue and bring light to the roles and contribution of
the Philippines to the regional and eventually to the ‘world maritime trade’. Another is to
understand how the Philippines integrated itself to the world before the coming of the
Spaniards.
7
Paul Vauthier Adams, "Toward a World History of Small Countries: The Philippines as a
Global Connector," World History Connected October 2017
<https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/14.3/forum_adams.html> (8 Jul. 2021).
8
Orillaneda, Maritime Trade in the Philippines during the 15th Century CE, 6.
9
Ibid.
10
He Shan, “History of Philippines,” History of Philippines_中菲友好网 | The ChinaPhilippines Portal, February 28, 2012, http://cn-ph.china.org.cn/201202/28/content_4841397.htm.
Bendaen 5
VIBRANT TRADING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA IN THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD
“Because of the peculiar geography of South-East Asia, the sea represents a link
between the various countries of the region.”11 The sea formed a connection and allowed
‘economic’ and cultural exchange. Moreover, history wrote about how the ‘spice trade’
became a driving force for the conquest of Southeast Asian nations by the Europeans. “It was
Europe which, with a little help from Chinese ‘middlemen’, had intruded upon and broken
open Southeast Asia’s age-old self-sufficiency.”12 Perhaps, if Europe had not set foot in the
region, there would still be an interdependent trading relationship between the countries of
Southeast Asia at most without their interference and selfish interest.
On the other hand, Southeast Asia was referred to as ‘Nusantaria’ by Philip Bowring
who is an editor and journalist. He wrote the book “Empire of the Winds: The Global Role of
Asia’s Great Archipelago''. “The term comes from the Sanskrit-derived, Malay
Indonesian nusantara (‘the islands between’), referring to the archipelagos that stretch from
China and South-East Asia towards Australasia.” Bowring focused on the islands of
Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, including the surrounding
coastal waters along the Straits of Melaka. He described these areas as a “distinct cultural
region which developed its own maritime technology, trade routes and civilization
considerably more than a thousand years before European powers overran the region in
the early 16th century.”13 From ancient times the islands of Nusantaria supplied key trade
Nguyễn Quốc-Thanh, “The Sea Beyond All Borders: The Link between Southeast Asian
Countries,” Moussons. Recherche en sciences humaines sur l'Asie du Sud-Est (Presses
Universitaires de Provence, May 13, 2016), https://journals.openedition.org/moussons/3498,
5-12.
12
David Henley, "Ages of Commerce in Southeast Asian History." In Environment, Trade
and Society in Southeast Asia: ALongue DuréePerspective, edited by Henley David and
Nordholt Henk Schulte, 120. LEIDEN; BOSTON: Brill, 2015. Accessed June 25, 2021.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w76vg1.11.
13
Jonathan Best, “Before the Europeans Came,” BusinessWorld, June 25, 2019,
https://www.bworldonline.com/before-the-europeans-came/.
11
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commodities including the rarest and most costly spices – cloves, nutmeg and mace –
exported in its own ocean-going ships. But more crucially, these home waters were the crossroads of all the extensive sea trade between East Asia and the Indian Ocean.14Thus, it
portrays that there is definitely an established route that leads to the exchanges of goods in
Asia.
Moreover, “during the period 1405–1630, Reid argued, a long boom in pepper and
spice exports to Europe (first via Arabia and the Mediterranean, later via Portugal) and to
China led a general expansion of commerce throughout Southeast Asia, triggering in turn a
series of new developments in the cultural, social and political spheres.”15 This then shows
the development and advancement of trade and other aspects of life caused by the interaction
of Asia and Europe. “Beyond Africa and the Eurasian mainland, the great Asian
archipelagoes connect all the rest of the world of human habitation, even the Americas, which
are the largest of the Pacific islands.” 16Thus, the commercial dynamism of Southeast Asia
and the many exotic and high-value goods that were exchanged throughout the region played
no small part in drawing in merchants and European explorers.17
THE ROLE OF THE PHILIPPINES IN THE MARITIME TRADE (PRE-SPANISH
PERIOD)
“The Philippine archipelago became the easternmost edge of a vast network of
Chinese, Southeast Asian, Indian, and Arab traders that circulated porcelains, silks, glass
Jeffrey Mellefont, “Millenia of Maritime Mastery: Philip Bowring's 'Empire of the Winds',”
New Mandala, July 5, 2019, https://www.newmandala.org/millenia-of-maritime-masteryphilip-bowrings-empire-of-the-winds/.
15
David Henley, Ages of Commerce in Southeast Asian History, 121.
16
Best, “Before the Europeans Came”
17
Andrew Christian Peterson, “Making the First Global Trade Route: the Southeast Asian
Foundations of the Acapulco-Manila Galleon Trade, 1519-1650” (dissertation, August 2014),
50.
14
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beads, and other luxury goods throughout the South China Sea and through the Malacca
Straits into the Indian Ocean as early as the beginning of the first millennium A.D.”18 The
figure below suggests a trade and cultural orientation during the fourteenth to fifteenth
century. It also shows the main trading routes that starts from Manila to Moluccas, then to
Malacca.
Figure 1. Trading Routes of the Philippine Islands between its neighbor countries in Asia
Source: http://malacanang.gov.ph/75822-ph-trades-routes-infographic/
“Although the Philippine archipelago was on the periphery of this region, it was an
integral part of it and unquestionably heavily influenced by the ebb and flow of languages,
religions, political systems, and cultural practices which were steadily evolving and changing
Laura Lee Junker, “Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine
Chiefdoms,” 1999, https://sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/proletarianlibrary/books/41a52e1dbb925c4eeb9b743b6555fa48.pdf, 3.
18
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throughout the region.19 “Absolutely, the Philippines contributes to the development of trade
and cultural exchanges through its active and harmonious participation in maritime trade with
its neighboring countries. In relation to this, “the Philippines is described to be part of a great
chain of archipelagoes that extend across the entire coastal range of East Asia from the Indian
Ocean, along the southern rim of Southeast Asia, bend northward and continue along the
eastern coast, continue beyond the Kamchatka Peninsula, and arc eastward to terminate at the
northeastern corner of North America. It is depicted that they provide island stepping stones
that connect Asia to the Americas, Australia and the Pacific islands.”20 Positively, “the
Philippines is a vital link in the network of interconnected humanity.”21
“Before and after the Spanish invasion the Philippines had many harbors big and
small through which cargoes passed freely.” 22 The Philippines could be seen as an important
‘trading destination’ which includes Cebu and Butuan. “Nutmeg, cloves, mace,
sandalwood, tropical birds, and other exotic commodities flowed from the Moluccas where
pearls, wax, hardwoods, and other locally gathered maritime and forest products were added
to the export cargo at Jolo. These export cargoes were then channeled westward to Java and
Melaka or northward through the Philippines, where local commodities were again added to
the export stream to be exchanged with Chinese traders at Philippine ports or transported by
Philippine vessels to South China ports.”23 This then proves that the Philippines is also a
‘transporter of goods’ both of exports and imports.
Best, “Before the Europeans Came”
Adams, “Toward a World History of Small Countries: The Philippines as a Global
Connector”,5
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid, 7.
23
Ibid.
19
20
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Figure 2. Chinese Imports and Exports in the fourteenth century Philippine polities
Source: Junker, Laura Lee. “Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of
Philippine Chiefdoms,” 1999, p.193.
In connection to this, “while trade wares were clearly the dominant imports, cargo
remains together with contemporary accounts indicate the importation of other types of goods
including those not archaeologically recoverable (or that could be sourced as foreign), such as
silks and other textiles, lacquerware and wine. Iron and glass were probably imported objects
that were subject to reworking. In exchange for these foreign goods, Philippine polities
offered a range of items, most of which, because of their perishable nature, are primarily
known from Chinese and Spanish descriptions. They included forest products such as resins,
aromatic woods, rattan and beeswax, textiles of cotton and other plant fibers, unwoven
cotton, gold, and marine products such as pearls, beche-de-mer (sea cucumber),
tortoiseshell, and bird's nests.”24
24
Bacus, “The Archaeology of Philippine Archipelago”, 268
Bendaen 10
“The emerging fourteenth to sixteenth-century Sulu, Maguindanao, and Brunei
sultanates as well as other Philippine complex chiefdoms served as trade intermediaries
between China and the Moluccas.”25 Chinese documentary sources and early Spanish
accounts also strongly suggest that Filipino voyagers served as an important group of
middlemen traders in the Chinese-Maluku spice trade by the fourteenth century. Chinese
merchants may have regularly exchanged their porcelains for spices in Brunei or Philippine
ports like Manila and Sulu, and it was these smaller and easy to manipulate Philippine and
Bornean ships and their knowledgeable navigators who made the final journey to obtain the
precious spices. Thus, the historical evidence supports the view that Philippine traders were
regular and frequent voyagers to Ternate and other Maluku ports by at least the fourteenth
century.26 This suggests that the Filipinos during this period are really well versed with the
trading routes connecting to its neighbor countries in Southeast Asia in the pre-Spanish era.
CONCLUSION
Certainly, the active exchange of goods happening in Southeast Asia caught the
attention and interest of the Europeans that caused them to send expeditions and later on
conquer countries of the region which includes the Philippines. It is believed that the
Philippines did not go global upon their arrival. The history of the country, not in any way
started when they entered the land. The maritime trading history of the Philippines is
evidence that it has been building its own history not until the coming of the Spaniards and
the introduction of historical scholarship. However, as Paul Adams presented, the limiting
factor to studying a ‘small country’ like the Philippines, is “whether adequate information or
Junker, “Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine
Chiefdoms”,195
26
Ibid, 197.
25
Bendaen 11
sources are available”.27 But thanks to the contribution of archaeology and historical genetics,
he said, that unties history from the bondage of written materials.
In conclusion, the Philippine maritime trade relations in the Pre-Spanish era shows
that there is an undeniably, active participation of the country to the vibrant trade in the
Southeast Asian region. It is derived that there are two roles that the Philippines have played
in maritime trade during the Pre- Spanish period. First is that, the Philippines in its own way
provided and offered its port as an avenue for the exchange of goods by the countries of the
region particularly of the Chinese and Moluccan goods, making it a vital ‘link’ of trade in the
region. In short, it became an important ‘trading destination’ especially for the Chinese,
Moluccan, and other products of the different countries in the region. It can be depicted that
the Philippines became a trading destination because according to early Spanish accounts, in
the early and mid-sixteenth, large trade ships were regularly arriving at what are identified as
some of the larger Philippine coastal ports which includes Manila, Mindoro, Pangasinan,
Cebu, Jolo (Sulu), and Cotabato (Magindanao).28
In connection to this, as a trading destination, it is where the Filipinos became
intermediaries or middlemen between China and the Moluccas. Secondly, this paper also
revealed that it also served as a ‘transporter of goods’ back and forth to Chinese and
Philippine ports containing the different products of the countries of the region such as
Vietnam, Thailand, and others. This is supported by the archaeological artefacts from the
shipwrecks discovered in its waters. That is why, probably, the navigation knowledge and
skills of the Filipinos in transporting these goods would later on benefit the Spaniards in the
commencement of the Galleon Trade in 1565. Although the Philippines only played a small
Adams, “Toward a World History of Small Countries: The Philippines as a Global
Connector”, 3
28
Junker, 195.
27
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part in the trading history in the pre-Spanish era of being a ‘global connector’29, the trading
relationship and network that it has built is thought to be only the beginning of something that
is bigger and worse for the next 333 years.
29
Adams, Paul Vauthier, "Toward a World History of Small Countries: The Philippines as a
Global Connector”
Bendaen 13
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