Lesson 5.1
The Government in
Precolonial Philippines
Philippine Politics and Governance
General Academic Strand | Humanities and Social Sciences
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What do you know about
the life of the early
Filipinos before the
arrival of the Spaniards?
A Visayan noble couple
3
How did
precolonial
Filipinos govern
themselves?
A painting of the Sultan of Sulu accepting French visitors
4
Learning
Competencies
● Relate the evolution of Philippine politics and
governance (HUMSS_PG12-If-g-19).
● Describe the different stages in the evolution
of Philippine politics and governance
(HUMSS_PG12-If-g-20).
5
Learning
Objectives
● Describe the precolonial barangay system
of government.
● Explain the different functions of a
chieftain or datu.
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My Barangay Profile
Explore
1. Pair with your seatmate.
2. Recall the following basic information about the
barangay where you currently reside:
a. origin of the name of barangay
b. main livelihood
c. name of barangay chairman
d. names of barangay councilors
e. establishments
3. After five minutes, share your answers with your
partner.
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Explore
Were you and your partner able to
provide all the needed information about
your barangay?
8
Explore
Can you say that you know your barangay
well enough?
9
Explore
Why should we be aware of the basic
information about our barangay?
10
Essential
Question
What comparisons can we make between
the precolonial and modern-day barangay?
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The Barangay
● Filipinos were already capable of self-governance even
before the Spaniards arrived.
● The barangay was the earliest form of government in
precolonial Philippines.
● It was a kinship-based community composed of 30–
100 families.
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The Barangay
It came from the Malay
word balangay, which is
a sailing vessel used for
transportation and
trading.
Modern-day depiction of the balangay
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The Barangay: Setting
Location within the natural environment determined
the size of the barangays. They lived independently.
coastal areas
riversides
well-watered
inland plains
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The Barangay: Livelihood
● Main sources of
livelihood were
agriculture, fishing,
and raising livestock.
● Rice was the main
crop.
● Nature was revered.
15
The Barangay: Language
● The geographical
separation of the
barangays resulted in the
development of different
languages and dialects.
● These languages were all
part of the MalayoIndonesian family of
languages.
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
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The Barangay: Social Classes
nobles
freemen
dependents
● The members of the
barangay were
socially classified into
three levels.
● The dependents were
the slaves (aliping
sagigilid and aliping
namamahay).
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Check
Your
Progress
How will you describe the condition of the
Philippine society before the arrival of the
Spaniards?
18
Inter-Baranganic Relations
Precolonial barangays lived independently, but
interactions still happened between them.
commerce
(trading)
agreements
(friendship and
alliances)
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Inter-Baranganic Relations
● Trading occurred between barangays and other
settlements beyond the Philippine archipelago.
● Friendship and alliances between barangays were
sealed by an ancient blood compact ritual called
sanduguan.
● Alliances were also strengthened through marriages
between ruling families and holding of feasts for allies.
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Wars between Barangays
● Disagreements and conflicts
were inevitable between the
barangays.
● Wars usually happened
because of three main
reasons.
murder
kidnapping
maltreatment
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Check
Your
Progress
Why was it inevitable for barangays to
interact even though they lived
independently?
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The Chieftain or Datu
● Each barangay was ruled by a
chieftain or datu.
○ It is derived from the Malay
words dato and datuk.
● Datu was mainly used in the
Visayas and Mindanao regions
while the titles lakan and apo
were used as counterparts in
Northern and Central Luzon.
Precolonial noble couple
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The Chieftain or Datu
● The datu was the patriarchal head of his family. He
would pass on his leadership to his descendants.
● By the 1500s, the choice of datus was made on the
basis of qualifications rather than inheritance.
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The Chieftain or Datu
It was the main responsibility of the datu to rule and govern his subjects
and to promote their welfare and interests. In return, the subjects:
helped the datu
cultivate the
land
helped the datu
build his house
served the datu
during wars and
voyages
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Check
Your
Progress
How important were chieftains or datus in
precolonial barangays?
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The Chieftain or Datu
executive
The datu had extensive
powers, for he exercised
all the functions of the
government.
datu
judge
legislator
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The Chieftain or Datu: Government Powers
● Each barangay had a council of elders who
○ helped out the datu whenever he wanted to enact
new laws,
○ immediately approved the rules and regulations
made by the datu, and
○ served as the jury in the judicial process when the
datu was the judge.
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The Chieftain or Datu: Government Powers
● Laws were either customary or written.
○ Customary laws were unwritten and passed on
orally from one generation to another.
○ Written laws were occasionally done by the datu
with the help of his council of elders.
● Subjects were informed about new laws through the
public announcer or umalohokan.
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The Chieftain or Datu: Government Powers
● Laws covered various aspects of the people’s lives.
● Major crimes were murder, stealing, rape, incest,
insult, trespassing, witchcraft, and irreligious acts.
● Minor crimes were cheating, adultery, petty theft,
violation of an oath, disturbance of the peace of the
night, and destroying properties owned by the datu.
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The Chieftain or Datu: Government Powers
● Trials were held publicly. The side with more witnesses
usually won the case.
● Punishments differed according to the offense.
● Conflicts between different barangays were resolved
by arbitration where a board was composed of elders
from other neutral barangays.
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Check
Your
Progress
Do you agree with the amount of power
the chieftains or datus held back then?
Why or why not?
32
Identify the concept described by the statement.
Try This!
1. It
is
an
ancient
transportation
and
boat
commonly
trading
in
used
for
precolonial
Southeast Asia.
33
Identify the concept described by the statement.
Try This!
2. They served as the jury during trials in precolonial
barangays.
34
Identify the concept described by the statement.
Try This!
3. The early Filipinos relied greatly on this economic
activity for their everyday living.
35
Identify the concept described by the statement.
Try This!
4. This is known as a blood compact ritual that was
done to seal friendship and alliance between the
barangays.
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Identify the concept described by the statement.
Try This!
5. It is the social class consisting of freemen and
some dependents who had earned their freedom.
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Wrap-Up
● The precolonial Filipinos lived in kinship-based
communities known as the barangay. It consisted
of 30 to 100 families. The word barangay came
from the Malay word balangay, a boat commonly
used for transportation and trading in precolonial
Southeast Asia.
● Precolonial society in the barangay was divided
into nobles (maginoo), freemen (maharlika), and
dependents (alipin).
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Wrap-Up
● The barangays formed alliances with one another
through trade, intermarriages, and feasting.
These alliances also involved negotiating political
power between datus.
● The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the
oldest document found in the Philippines,
mentioned that a political link and network
existed among the 10th-century precolonial
Philippine politics.
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Wrap-Up
● A chieftain or datu ruled each barangay. The word
datu is derived from the Malay words dato and
datuk, which are titles used for the royalties. Other
names used to pertain to the datu were lakan, apo,
sultan, and rajah.
● The datu had extensive control over the social and
economic life of the community. He exercised all
the functions of the government: executive,
legislative, and judicial.
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Challenge
Yourself
Do you think the precolonial barangay system
is applicable to modern-day Philippine politics?
Why or why not?
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Photo Credit
Slide 13: Balangay boat in Maimbung by Fung360 is
licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Bibliography
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People. 8th ed.
Quezon City: Garotech Publishing, 1990.
Alejado, Dean T. and Aquino, Belinda A. Age of Discovery:
Impact on Philippine Culture and Society. 2nd ed.
Manoa: Hawaii Correctional Industries, 1993.
Dela Costa S.J., Horacio. Readings in Philippine History.
Metro Manila: Bookmark, Inc., 1992.
Encyclopædia Britannica. “Barangay.” Accessed January 4,
2021. https://www.britannica.com/topic/barangay.
“Pre-colonial Manila.” (n.d.). Presidential Museum and
Library.
Accessed
May
19,
2021.
http://malacanang.gov.ph/75832-precolonialmanila/.
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