PRECOLONIAL ERA

By Angel Galotera on

 


Issues in the Constitution, Taxation, and Agrarian Reform 


The Constitution

During the pre-Spanish era, law was laid down by the maharlikas -council of elders, but chosen by the datu, no elections were held to designate them. Thus, when the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Philippines, they found out that Filipinos doesn’t have any written laws which made them easy to be colonized with the Spaniards. Also, the first constitution of the Philippines was the Malolos Constitution, promulgated during the American era.


Taxation

During the precolonial era, before the Spaniards came, the country had various kingdoms called Barangays. Barangay/s is a small territorial and administrative district forming the most local level of government. In this era barter is used as the direct exchange of goods or services without an intervening medium of exchange or money either according to established rates of exchange or by bargaining. Tax also called buwis or handug, came in forms of crops or goods, where the people living under the datu share a portion of their harvest or property in exchange for security and protection. The timawa or the freemen are the only tax payers because the Maharlika also called nobility and the datu offers protection. While the oripun, also called slaves, couldn’t offer anything since they lived to serve. More over the highest and the lowest of the castes were exempted from tax payment.

The problem during this era is that the Oripun or Uripon title can be inherited by their successors. This would cause them to live a life as a slave until they die or until their debt has been paid. The slaves also can’t retaliate and only obliged to follow the orders given to them by their respective master, and they are the class that suffers the most during the precolonial era hierarchy. The higher classes in this era just grows wealthier and powerful as time passes by, while the timawa and oripun struggles to survive and provide suffice basic daily needs.


Land/Agrarian Reform

Before the Spanish colonization, the land was commonly owned by the community known as Barangay, a small community that consists of 30-100 families administered by the chiefs or known as datu. Everyone in the community mutually shares their resources and anyone had access to the land. Kaingin is the land cultivation used during this time, it was done by either burning the bushes before planting crops or land being plowed and harrowed before planting. The only recorded transaction of land sale was recorded on the Maragtas Code, which states the selling of Panay Island by the natives to the 10 Bornean datus in exchange for a golden salakot (a traditional lightweight headgear from the Philippines) and a long gold necklace.  

 



Reference/s:

Malacañang Palace. (n.d.). Pinterest. Retrieved December 3, 2022, from https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/376121006361160581/
Philippine Literature during Pre-Colonial Period. (2016, February 26). Esiel Cabrera.Wordpress. https://esielcabrera.wordpress.com/2016/02/26/philippine-literature-during-pre-colonial-period/
The Philippine Constitution. (2018, May 11). elms.STI.edu. https://elms.sti.edu/files/4039736/04_Handout_1(4).pdf?lmsauth=45656615d55d3170ff1e328586274abd37498389
Philippine Taxation and the History of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. (2018, May 11). elms.STI.edu. https://elms.sti.edu/files/4039736/04_Handout_2(2).pdf?lmsauth=d954fc5cc3a6382c23aece4a45adca3c6309995d
Agrarian Reform FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). (2018, May 11). elms.STI.edu. https://elms.sti.edu/files/4039736/04_Handout_3(2).pdf?lmsauth=2a8775faee345cbd2d14332dc373a0963f6d8723

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