Philippines Prehistoric Culture

The Arts

Prehistoric Writing

Upon the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines, most of the people were already capable of reading and writing. Wrote Pedro Chirino in 1602, “…there is scarcely anybody who cannot read and write in letters proper to the island of Manila.”

Where the ancient way of writing in the Philippines came from is still a bone of contention. However, the fact that the people who inhabited areas near rivers and coasts were the most literate indicates that, in the beginning, script was utilized to note down transactions because these places were significant trading centers. It was only after some time that writing was used to note down literature.

Philippines Prehistoric Religion

Belief in the afterlife and other religious beliefs

Burial jars that have been unearthed suggest that prehistoric man believed in the afterlife. The Manunggul vase is perhaps the most blatant statement of this among the jars that have been dug up. Jars unearthed in the Bato Caves in Sorsogon also contain bodies of the dead. The bodies were first treated ritually and then hidden in inaccessible limestone caves.

Leon Kilat and Cebu’s Revolution (1st part)

Content

• Recruitment and Beginnings
• Arrival from Manila
• The First Martyrs
• Amulets and Anting-anting
• April 3, Palm Sunday
• Massing of Forces
• First Encounter