Laguna Copperplate Inscription (900 AD), a thin copperplate measuring less than 8x12 inches in size and is inscribed with small writing that had been hammered into its surface, shows heavy Indian cultural influence (by way of Srivijaya) present in the Philippines during the era previous to Spanish colonization in the 16th century

The transliteration is as follows:

Swasti. Ṣaka warṣatita 822 Waisakha masa di(ng) Jyotiṣa. Caturthi Kriṣnapaksa Somawāra sana tatkala Dayang Angkatan lawan dengan nya sānak barngaran si Bukah anak da dang Hwan Namwaran di bari waradāna wi shuddhapattra ulih sang pamegat senāpati di Tundun barja(di) dang Hwan Nāyaka tuhan Pailah Jayadewa. Di krama dang Hwan Namwaran dengan dang kayastha shuddha nu di parlappas hutang da walenda Kati 1 Suwarna 8 di hadapan dang Huwan Nayaka tuhan Puliran Kasumuran. dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Pailah barjadi ganashakti. Dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Binwangan barjadi bishruta tathapi sadana sanak kapawaris ulih sang pamegat dewata [ba]rjadi sang pamegat Medang dari bhaktinda diparhulun sang pamegat. Ya makanya sadanya anak cucu dang Hwan Namwaran shuddha ya kapawaris dihutang da dang Hwan Namwaran di sang pamegat Dewata. Ini gerang syat syapanta ha pashkat ding ari kamudyan ada gerang urang barujara welung lappas hutang da dang Hwa

English translation

Long Live! Year of Syaka 822, month of Vaisakha, according to Jyotisha (Hindu astronomy). The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Bukah, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in Chief of Tundun, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa. By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 Katî and 8 Suwarna before the Honourable Lord Minister of Puliran Kasumuran by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah. Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang. Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable Namwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata. This, in any case, shall declare to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the Honourable...

Code of Kalantiao

The so-called Code of Kalantiao has been considered as the "centerpiece" of Aklanon history by most Aklanons, especially by local historians in Aklan. It has been compared to the Code of Hammurabi.

The Code was described to have been "in use in 150 (?) since 1433" and was codified and enforced by a certain Datu Kalantiao -- later called Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw -- who ruled in an ancient civilization -- a sakup called Aklan, with Batan (or Batang) as its center of government.

According to William Henry Scott, the late historian who investigated the provenance and authenticity of the Code of Kalantiao, the real author of the Code was a certain Jose E. Marco of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, who also wrote La Loba Negra which was previously ascribed to Father Jose Burgos.

The fantastic story of the Code of Kalantiao originated from the two-volume manuscripts called Las Antiguas Leyendas de la Isla de Negros which, according to Marco, were written by Jose María Pavon. The manuscripts were actually a product of Marco's fertile imagination.

Wrote Prof. Scott: "The shift of the Code from Negros to Panay presumably began with [Josue] Soncuya's conclusion that Rajah Kalantiaw -- as he called him -- had written the code for Aklan because of the presence of two Aklanon, rather than Hiligaynon, words in the text." (Josue Soncuya, one of the founders of Centro Escolar de Señoritas, was from Banga, Aklan.)

1. You shall not kill, nor steal, nor wound the aged, or you shall be in danger of death. Whoever shall transgress these laws shall die by being drowned in a river with a stone or in boiling water.

2. You shall comply with all your debts due to the chief by fully paying said obligations. Whosoever is in default shall be lashed one hundred times for the first offense. If the debt is considerable, the offender's hand shall be put into boiling water. For the second offense he shall die by being beaten.

3. You shall obey by not having wives who are very young or more wives than you can take care of, nor shall you indulge in excessive lust. Whosoever shall not comply, obey and follow shall be sentenced to swim for three hours, and for the second offense, he shall die by being beaten with thorns.

4. You shall follow and obey: You shall not disturb the peace of the graves; upon passing by them, you shall respect them in the caves or trees where they may be. Whosoever violates this law shall be put to death by being exposed to ants or by being beaten with prongs.

5. You shall obey: Barters for food shall always be complied with strictly and to the letter. Whosoever violates this agreement shall be beaten for one hour. Whosoever shall repeat the offense shall be exposed to the ants for one day.

6. You shall be obliged to revere sacred places of trees of well known value and other spots. Whosoever shall not comply shall pay with his labor for one month., in gold or honey; for the second offense he shall become a slave.

7. The following shall suffer death: Whosoever shall fell trees of venerable aspect; whosoever at night shoot arrow at the aged and women; whosoever shall enter the chief's dwelling without permission; whosoever shall kill a shark or strip a crocodile.

8. Whosoever shall kidnap the wives of chiefs shall be reduced to slavery for one year; the same penalty shall be imposed upon whosoever shall keep dogs that have beaten chiefs and whosoever burns another's crop.

9. The following shall be beaten for two days: Whosoever shall sing as he travels at night or shall kill manual birds, or shall tear the documents of the chiefs or who shall tell lies with malice aforethought.

10. It shall be the duty of every mother to secretly impart sex education to her daughters and prepare them for womanhood; for men to refrain from being cruel or punishing their wives when caught in adultery.

11. The following shall be burned at the stake: Whosoever shall, by force or trickery, baffle or elude punishment, or shall kill two children, or shall attempt to kidnap the elder's wives.

12. The following shall be drowned: All slaves who resist their superiors or owners or masters; whosoever shall abuse their lust; whosoever shall kill their idols by breaking or throwing them away.

13. The following shall be exposed to ants for one half day: Whosoever shall kill cats during the New Moon, or shall steal things pertaining to the chiefs and elders, however small and inexpensive they may be.

14. Whosoever, having beautiful daughters, shall not consent to their marriage to the chief's sons or shall hide them in bad faith, shall be reduced to slavery for life.

15. Concerning beliefs and superstitions: Whosoever shall eat the bad meat of sacred animals, and herbs that are reputed to be good; whosoever shall kill manual chickens or white monkeys shall be whipped.

16. Whosoever shall break wooden or clay idols at their altars and places of offerings; or whosoever shall destroy the spear of priestesses with which to kill pigs, or shall break drinking vessels shall have their fingers cut off.

17. Whosoever shall profane places where sacred things of idols and chiefs are buried shall be put to death. Whosoever shall let his bowels moved or urinate on said spots shall be burned at the stake.

18. Whosoever shall fail to execute these mandates, if he be a chief, shall be stoned and crushed to death, and if he be an elder shall be thrown into a river to be devoured by sharks and crocodiles.

Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw

Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw (or Kalantiao), of course, was the so-called great ruler of a pre-hispanic civilization who codified a set of rules, the so-called Code of Kalantiao.

In 1956, Digno Alba (a native of Batan, Aklan who was a government pensionado to the US in 1903) wrote a pamphlet which stated -- without any supporting evidence -- that Kalantiaw chose Batan as the capital of the ancient sakup of Aklan.

In 1966, Sol Gwekoh wrote in the Sunday Times magazine that Datu Bendahara Kalantiaw was born in 1410 -- again, without any supporting evidence.

In 1970, Gregorio Zaide included in his book Great Filipinos in History other details: that the Datu's real name was Lakan Tiaw (which means, according to Zaide, "Chief of Brief Speech") and that the great Datu allegedly said "The law is above all men." The Datu was said to be the only son of Raja Bendahara Gulah. All these assertions had, of course, no supporting evidence.

Bornean Datus

The account of the voyage of ten datus and their followers from a foreign land to Panay and their subsequent settlement in this Visayan island is narrated in a book written in Hiligaynon by Pedro Monteclaro, a native of Iloilo.

In his book, Maragtas kon (historia) sg pulo nga Panay kutub sg iya una nga pamuluyo tubtub sg pag-abut sg mga taga Borneo nga amo ang ginhalinan sg mga Bisaya, kag sg pag-abut sg mga Katsila, Monteclaro narrated that the ten datus came from Borneo where the tyrant Datu Makatunao ruled. The datus and their wives were Puti and wife Pinangpang, Sumakwel and wife Kapinangan, Bangkaya and wife Katurong (who settled in Aklan and whose son Balingsanga could not pronounce the letter r ), Paiburong and wife Pabulanan, Padohinog and wife Ribongsapaw, Dumangsol and wife Kabiling, Dumalogdog, Lubay, Balensuela, and Dumangsil.

No archaeological evidence, however, has been unearthed to give credence to this tale. No historical support for the voyage of the datus and their subsequent settling in Panay exists.

In the Maragtas, Monteclaro wrote: "... akon diri igasambit nga duha ka talamdan ang akon naayap..." (I would mention here that I obtained two documents.) However, nobody has ever seen those two documents.

Code of Maragtas

The datus, who had settled in Panay, divided the whole of Panay among themselves. Definitely, they had to have some sanctions against polygamy, adultery, inter-racial marriage, robbery, and other cases contrary to their customs. So, a "code," later called the Code of Maragtas, (then, still a little later, called the Code of Sumakwel) was said to have been devised. La-di-da... Manuel Carreon wrote that the Code of Maragtas antedated the Code of Kalantiao by over two centuries!

Guillermo Santiago-Cuino surprised historians and other people interested in the Maragtas when his article "El Codigo de Maragtas" was published in the 20 February 1938 issue of El Debate. He boasted that his writing was a direct translation of "ancient Filipino writing."

However, he could not produce any evidence. Moreover, the word "Maragtas" first appeared only in 1907 when Monteclaro's book was published. Santiago-Cuino's article is, therefore, the only source of the so-called Code of Maragtas.

The Maragtas Legend was believed to be a document which dated between 1200 to 1250. The document claimed that there were ten Bornean datus (or chieftain) who arrived in the island of Panay to escape from the tyranny of a certain Datu Makatunaw of Borneo. The datus allegedly bought the Island of Panay from Marikudo, the chief of the Aeta group, for a golden salakot (in English: hat). These datus and their families were said to be the people responsible for populating the entire Visayan region, and for forming a confederation of barangays called Madya-as under the leadership of Datu Sumakwel. This legend is now commemorated in the yearly Ati-atihan festival since the late 1950s when it officially became a part of the feast of Santo Nino in Kalibo, Aklan.

This legend was previously accepted by many historians; however, recent scrutiny of scholars shows that the Maragtas is actually a fictitious book of Visayan oral local legends written by Pedro Monteclaro, a Visayan public official and poet, in Iloilo in 1907. He wrote the book in the Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a languages of Panay. Monteclaro used the word maragtas to mean "history," although until the present, the said term has only been known in referral to his compilation.

The renowned historian William Henry Scott examined the original Maragtas book and found out that it was just a creation of a certain Guillermo Santiago-Cuino, who based his book on the compilation of Monteclaro and published it in 1938.

Tagbanwa script had been used in the Philippines until the 17th century. It is believed to have come from the Kawi script of Java, Bali and Sumatra, which in turn, descended from the Pallava script, one of the southern Indian scripts derived from Brahmi.

Tagbanwa is a syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has an inherent vowel /a/. Other vowels are indicated either by separate letters, or by diacritics. When vowels appear at the beginning of words or one they own, they are represented by separate letters.Tagbanwa is traditionally written on bamboo in vertical columns from bottom to top and left to right. Though it is read from left to right in horizontal lines.

Baybayin

The word baybayin is a very old Tagalog term that refers to all the letters used in writing a language, that is to say, an “alphabet.” It is from the root baybáy meaning, “spell.” Early Spanish accounts usually called the baybayin “Tagalog letters” or “Tagalog writing.” And, as mentioned earlier, the Visayans called it “Moro writing” because it was imported from Manila, which was one of the ports where many products from Muslim traders entered what are now known as the Philippine islands. The Bikolanos called the script basahan and the letters, guhit.

Another common name for the baybayin is alibata, which is a word that was invented just in the 20th century by a member of the old National Language Institute, Paul Versoza. As he explained in Pangbansang Titik nang Pilipinas in 1939,

"In 1921 I returned from the United States to give public lectures on Tagalog philology, calligraphy, and linguistics. I introduced the word alibata, which found its way into newsprints and often mentioned by many authors in their writings. I coined this word in 1914 in the New York Public Library, Manuscript Research Division, basing it on the Maguindanao (Moro) arrangement of letters of the alphabet after the Arabic: alif, ba, ta (alibata), “f” having been eliminated for euphony's sake."

Versoza's reasoning for creating this word was unfounded because no evidence of the baybayin was ever found in that part of the Philippines and it has absolutely no relationship to the Arabic language. Furthermore, no ancient script native to Southeast Asia followed the Arabic arrangement of letters, and regardless of Versoza's connection to the word alibata, its absence from all historical records indicates that it is a totally modern creation. The present author does not use this word in reference to any ancient Philippine script.

Many of the writing systems of Southeast Asia descended from ancient scripts used in India over 2000 years ago. Although the baybayin shares some important features with these scripts, such as all the consonants being pronounced

Paul Rodriguez Verzosa

with the vowel a and the use of special marks to change this sound, there is no evidence that it is so old.

The shapes of the baybayin characters bear a slight resemblance to the ancient Kavi script of Java, Indonesia, which fell into disuse in the 1400s. However, as mentioned earlier in the Spanish accounts, the advent of the baybayin in the Philippines was considered a fairly recent event in the 16th century and the Filipinos at that time believed that their baybayin came from Borneo.

This theory is supported by the fact that the baybayin script could not show syllable final consonants, which are very common in most Philippine languages. (See Final Consonants) This indicates that the script was recently acquired and had not yet been modified to suit the needs of its new users. Also, this same shortcoming in the baybayin was a normal trait of the script and language of the Bugis people of Sulawesi, which is directly south of the Philippines and directly east of Borneo. Thus most scholars believe that the baybayin may have descended from the Buginese script or, more likely, a related lost script from the island of Sulawesi. Whatever route the baybayin travelled, it probably arrived in Luzon in the 13th or 14th century.

Buhid urukays fromThe Mangyans of Mindoro by Violeta B. Lopez.

Kahoy-kahoy kot malagoKabuyong-buyong sing uloKaduyan-duyan sing damgu,Dalikaw sa pagromedyuSinghanmu kag sa balay barkuAnay umabut ka nimu.

Like a tree overgrown with branchesMy mind is full of turmoilThough loaded with pain and griefMy dreams continually seek for an end,Let it be known that I am on my wayPerchance you'll catch up with me.

Gusto ko lamang kag si Inambay sa dalanKag managun lataySa batang kag managaytayPag-uli kaw sa balay kita ga arawayGaamigos kita anay

I want Inambay to stay only on the pathwaySo we can roam freely in the woodsAnd when I reach home, you and IWill not quarrelAnd we could remain together

Hanunóo ambahans fromTreasure of a Minority by Antoon Postma

Magkunkuno ti anak lunasAnong suyong muyuanAnong bansay kayasanKang di way sa biluganAko kanmo nga ambanAko kan bansay huywanPagka ngap ak nirwasanPag idnas sa salsaganUd binabaw sa pupwanUd linilang sa duyanTi lumilang bay abanUyayi bansanayanSud-an sa bagunbunanAko inaghon dimanTinakip dagaynaanDapat bay una kunmanAba hulin lumbadanKanta nga aldaw masdanHinton di nguna abanGirangon yi rug-usanTi may pa-oy linyawanKang hulin talisigan

Says the baby, lifeless born:My beloved mother dear,Father, oh, my father dear!When I was resting in your womb,Closely united with you,I was my father's favorite.Taken from my safe abode,plac'd upon the bamboo floor,no one put me on your lap,no one rock'd me in a crib.What became my crib at last,was a hammock strongly built:as a bed, a burial hill!Discarded I was, unlov'd.Cov'ring me was the cold earthand the weeping sky above.But although it be like this,a happier day will come.Maybe it'll be coming soon!And what will be happ'ning then?The old people weeping, sad,in a dark'ning, mourning sky:I will fin'lly leave behind!

Kawayan sa tumaloKawo no kang itudloKawo balaw dumayoHurok nakaburinoGa panabasan panyo

Bamboo bush along the stream;If I could show it to you,you would like the glossy gleam.Beautiful the young shoots too,like a headdress cut supreme!

Tagbanwan accounts fromIndic Writings of the Mindoro-Palawan Axisby Fletcher Gardner and Ildefonso Maliwanag

Marriage CustomAdatit magpangasawa sito amon magsorogidon. Imagkasawa na moganait bandi ama. Iirog mi na mangasawa ako na. Imangasawa ono ari pangasawaan mo nga duwan pulo may lima, mapanisan ni lana

kaiyani. Adat namon.

The custom of marriage among us will be discussed. The man about to marry gives money, (tells) father, "I wish to marry now." If you marry, (give) whom you will marry twenty and five pesos, wipe on hands oil. That's our custom.

Kinshipsolsog / nagtasan / nagduwa / si ina / si ama / inao ko / amayan / apo ko / aka ko / ali ko / kamana ko / anak ko

sibling / cousin / second cousin / the mother / the father / my aunt / uncle / my grandchild / my older sibling / my younger sibling / my relative / my child