 Fray
Juan de Plasencia, O.S.F. (Order of St. Francis), assigned
to Nagcarlan, Laguna, wrote to Governor Santiago de Vera in
1589 on the customs and religion of the Tagalogs. His notes
on gold: this particular commodity was generally used to pay
fines for offenses where the punishment is not death; a maharlika
(noble and freeborn) could only move from one barangay
to another if he paid a certain fee in gold; the offering to
an idol consisted of a good piece of cloth on which is laid
a chain of gold or a large gold ring.
Commoners
called aliping namamahay (lit.
household slaves) could have their own houses and
keep gold. From Plasencia's accounts there is mention of
goldsmiths, apparently recognized as a special class for
when captured were not automatically made slaves.
Fr.
Pedro Chirino, S.J., mentions in his introduction the fact
that he had lived ten years in the islands and had traveled
to Ibabao (Samar) and Leyte, Mindoro, Marinduque. He also
visited Mindanao. Chirino's observations covered Filipino
customs related to marriage, dowry and divorces and
included the ancient Filipino
system of writing, but there is a dearth of data on
ornamentation and gold. He mentions tiny idols made of
stone, wood, bone, ivory, crocodile teeth and gold. In the
village of Taytay, the chief priestess has an idol of gold
which is kept hidden.
The
Boxer Codex (named after Prof. Charles R. Boxer of
King's College University of London) is regarded as one of
two very important books brought to light since World War
II. It carries the date, 1590. The document has come into
the possession of Professor Boxer. A small portion of the
main codex has been translated by Quirino and Garcia from
Spanish to English, titled "The Philippine Inhabitants
of Long Ago."
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