The Psychology of the Filipino

Title

Language

English

Year

1924

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

113 The Psychology of the Filipino By Hon. Norberto Romualdez Associate Justice of the Supreme Cm1rt of the Philippine Islands (Continuation) During tht first centuries of the Spanish regime, Philippine commerce abroad was controlled by the the Government, and carried on trade with Mexico, the port of Acapulco being the place for unloading the Filipino products. Here is a view of Acapulco, from Blair and Robertson: There is <tn old manuscript written in Bi;:ayan in which the (hle of Kalantiaw, mentioned before, is containe<l, and also a Filipino calendar. Thh• manus1'.ript dates back to the year 143?,. Its original has been delivered to Don Marcelino Orfila, a resident of Saragosa, Spain. It was translated into Spanish by Don Rafael )Jurnyedro y Zamanew. Fr. .Jose ::\Ia. Pavon, while a parish priest of the town of Himamaylan, Occidental Negros, caused the translation to be copied by his clerk .Juan Antonio Collado in the years 1838 and 1839, this copy being entitled "Lns A nii£ttas Leyendas de la Isla de Negros". This copy was sent to the Philippine Library and Museum by Mr. l\larco, of Pontevedra, Occi114 dental Negros. The bibliographer Mr. Artigas, published said Filipino calendar in "El Renacimien/o Filipinil", of its special edition on its anniversary, in .July, 1913, page 73. Here is a view of this Filipino Calendar: According to the explanations given in said manuscript, the months of the year are represented in this calendar. The names beginning with that corresponding to the month of January, are these: Inaginid, Ulalen, Dagagkahoy, Daganinan, Kilin, Inabuyan, Kaway, Kaoy-os, Irarapon, Manalulsol, Birawhan, and Katimugan, each month having 30 days, and the last 26 days. This information seems to be confirmed by Loarca, who ran over the whole Archipelago in about the year 1576, and wrote a book entitled "Relaci6n d? las Islas Filipinas." Said Don Miguel de Loarca, gives the native names of eight months of the year and stating that ·the other four months had no names because no agricultural work was done during them. I say that Loarca's information tends to confirm what is stated i!1 the manuscript above referred to, because the names of the months given in both accounts are very similar and some of them identical. Here are the names given by Loarca: Ula/en, Dagagkahoy, Daganenan, Elquilin, Inabuyan, Cavay, Yrurapun, Manalulsul. As to weights and measures, the early Filipinos had the talaro, which was a kind of scales of balances. I have already mentioned the ta/zel, one halfof which was called tegti, and one fourth, sapa/za. For weighing, they used the sinantan, one half of which was called banal. For dry goods they had the kaban, (bakid in Bisayan), and the Tagalog sal6p (gantag in Biss,y:an) which four last terms are still being used by our people. For lineal measures, we had, and still have, the dipa in Tagalog (dupa in Bisayan), which is the equivalent of the English fathom. The dankal in Tagalog (dagaw in Bisayan), which is the length between the ends of the thumb and the middle finger both extended. The tumur6 in Tagalog ( baragitan in Bisayan) which means the length between the ends of the thumb and the forefinger both extended. These measures were regulated by the Spanish Government in 1727. \Ve had lllso surface measures, like the tagpulo in Bisayan and the pisoson among the Bikols, etc. As to numerical system, the Filipinos always used the decimal, every ten being called p:do which in Tagalog is puo by suppressing the l in pu10. Hence, in Tagalog, ten is sampu, which is a contraction of isag puo; and in Bisayan it is n.ap71/0 in Leyte, a contraction of usa ga puo, and sakaf1t!o in Panay, by contracting the phrase isa ka pulo. The worci five is lima in the Fili115 pino diaiects, because in primitive Malay, lima was the name of the hand, which has five fingers. So in Tagbanwan, hand is alima. I have not gone into more detail., in order not. to charge your patience too much. But with the date given, I hope I have furnished informations about the practical manifestations of thP Filipino culture, besides its intellectual and moral aspects, ahout which I propo5e to speak in the next part of this lecture. II. Philippine Litt:rature. I shall now speak on Filipino literature. Of course, by literature, I mean here the collective body of literary productions. A people like the Filipinos, with a history and culture, must have, as they do have in fact, their literature. The information given in the first 'part of thi,.. iecture. although far from being exhaustive, shows, I hope, that the Filipino people in general possess culture, if we understand by culture the enlightenment and discipline acquired by mental training. It must be ohserved that the present culture of the Filipinos is the product of two main elements, to wit: the native culture possesserl for so many centuries. certainly not so fully developed in the Philippines, as it was in India, its place of origin, because these people were separated from their center their original native land, but developed by themselves in their own way under the peculiar circumstances in which they were placed by Providence. The second element of our culture is the occidental influence brought by the Spanish conquest and continued now with American contact. In speaking of Filipino literature, it seems proper to begin with the Filipino thought and style, which are the gist of all liternture. I shall, therefore, say something about the Filipino way oi thinking and expressing ideas, which is the oriental way, as differentiated from that of the Occidentals. I. Thought and Sentiment. The Filipino, when speaking with an o~cidental, is not always perfectly understood. Sometimes, the Filipino, generally courteous, anrl being respectful and reserved by na.• ture, answers with a smile whatever remark is made to him, even when it is not altogether pleasknt. Al

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