Immaculate Conception College of Balayan, Inc.

Augustinian Recollect Sisters

Plaza Mabini, Balayan 4213 Batangas, Philippines
Website: www.iccbalayan.edu.ph; E-mail: [email protected]

Name: Iyannah Jobel M. Atajar Date of Submission: September 21, 2024

Course/ Year: BSTM - 2

Customs of the Tagalogs by Juan de Plasencia

• Fray Juan was born to the illustrious family of the Portocarreros in Plasencia in
the region of Extremadura, Spain in the early 16th century.
• His father, Don Pedro Portocarrero, was a captain of a Spanish schooner, who died
in Naples, Italy in 1574.
• Juan de Plasencia is a Spanish Friar for the Franciscan order who was in the
Philippines for most of his missionary life.
• He was born in the early 16th century as Juan Portocarrero in Plasencia, in the
region of Extremadura, Spain.
1. Author's background • He wrote several linguistic and religious books including the Customs of the
Tagalogs. Some may know him for his work Doctrina Cristiana (Christian
Doctrine) which was the first book ever printed in the Philippines.
• Fray Juan de Plasencia came together with the first batch of Franciscan
missionaries in the Philippines.
• He wrote a number of books designed primarily to promote the understanding of
both the Spanish language among the natives, and the local languages among the
missionaries, to facilitate the task of spreading Christianity.
• Juan de Plasencia died in Liliw, Laguna in 1590.

Customs of the Tagalogs was purposefully created to present an exoticized picture of

the Tagalog natives that would be appealing to them, just like any other colonial
2. Historical background
texts written during the Spanish colonial period. This description was obviously
of the document
fueled by politics and propaganda and operated with the Western-outsider's gaze.

3. Content Analysis:
Understanding the
Socio-cultural significance
historical information.
 The text offers a detailed picture of Tagalog social life, emphasizing the rituals and
A. Identify and describe practices that influenced their interactions and worldview.
the customs and
traditions mentioned in Political significance
the document that have:  The governance systems and power relationships of the Tagalog people provide
insight into their political environment.
1. Socio-cultural
significance
Economic significance
2. Political significance  The booklet provides insight into the Tagalog people's economic customs and
activities.
3. Economic
significance

Dates
B. Identify and describe
 1589 - Juan de Plasencia wrote the text in that year.
the mentioned:

a. Dates Locations
 Luzon - The Tagalog people of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines, are the
b. Places
subject of this essay.
c. Personalities  Manila - The Philippines' capital city is mentioned in the book as a hub of Spanish
 influence and power.
 Laguna - The province of Luzon, which is home to the Tagalog people, is mentioned
in the document.

Personalities
 Juan de Plasencia - A Franciscan friar, Juan de Plasencia played a significant role in
the Philippines' Spanish colonization.

• Juan de Plasencia's missionary work, which focuses on the lives and customs of the
local population, particularly regarding conversions, was one of the elements that
4. Contextual Analysis:
influenced him when he was composing the essay.
What are the factors that • His focus was on converting the locals, particularly the Tagalogs, and he was
could have influenced traveling through native communities.
Juan de plasencia in the • Plasencia labored for years organizing towns and barangays, teaching catechisms,
writing of the and converting the natives; as a result, he was inspired to write about the habits of
document? Explain. the Tagalog people, which he was relaying to the Spanish king.

• The document's primary significance to Philippine history stems from its description
of the pre-Hispanic Filipino way of life.
• Because it was regarded as a primary source, it serves as a standard source for
references on the aboriginal people living before the conquest. The reader should be
aware that Plasencia's account of the institution of slavery, marriage, the priesthood,
and other topics is not entirely true. The various customs of the Tagalog people
5. What is the relevance /
would remain unknown without Plasencia's accounts.
contribution of the
• It describes the previous religious system.
document in Philippine
• A lot of the customs and beliefs from the sixteenth century are still in use today.
history?
• It confirms that the Filipino people had a government and a set of customs and
beliefs throughout the pre-Hispanic era.
• There are certain misconceptions about Filipino customs and beliefs that diverge
from Juan de Plasencia's perspective.

• The King of Spain assigned Juan de Plasencia the duty of recording the differences
between Spanish and Tagalog customs and traditions in the Philippines.
• Juan de Plasencia merely brought what he had seen and learnt from the Tagalogs to
6. What are the author's the attention of the King of Spain. Making him into a serious scientist would be
main arguments? equivalent to seeking medical advice from a biology student rather than a physician.
Plasencia was not an anthropologist; the field only became scientifically recognized
in the 1920s. Just a Franciscan monk, that's all.

7. Your own overall Tagalogs are already accustomed to their customs, even before missionaries arrived. The
observation and insights Tagalogs have already established their own system of social class in the barangay and this is
on the primary source the reason why they are governed. My general observations and observations of the main
sources are that the documents presented, in my opinion, are impressive, as it contains
detailed information on the customs and lives of the ancient Tagalogs, as observed by
Plasencia. However, Tagalog's customs were only for Tagalog in Luzon and it did not justify
the customs of the whole Philippines, since Plasencia was only an observer and some of the
descriptions of Tagalog were only for his point of view, not for the real point of view of the
people. Perhaps it is the reason why he reported to the king of Spain, because he could not
justify the customs of the people of Mindanao and Visayas and only Luzon. Some of the
details presented and described by Plasencia about Tagalog customs may be biased and based
on his observations in the compilation of his visits to Luzon and reports to the King of Spain,
so he may have decided to be something similar to Spanish customs. Overall, Tagalog's
customs show that Tagalog already has its own well-established social class before other
influencers come.