A Divisive History: How "His Story" Dominated "Our Story"

The Philippine educational system and the subsequent history being taught in Philippine textbooks are at the minimum - western oriented and at the most - racially biased.

The core idea in the current version of Philippine history is " the Philippines was a group of Islands that were ruled by Rajah's, Datu and chieftains - independent of each other and that the Filipinos did not have a civilization or political interaction with the rest of the world until Magellan came" There is also this idea that the Filipinos did not have a civilization and that the Philippines was wholly a creation of the Spaniards. This is an idea that has taken root in the minds of many Filipinos up to this day. This is an idea designed to divide the Filipinos. This idea is further propagated by current Philippine Textbooks and Historians that glorify the history of Manila at the expense of the history of the provinces in essence making our history - not as a history of the Filipino people but a History of Manila as a conqueror.

This Manila - centric history alienates the other regional ethnicitys' from each other. There is lack of oneness with the Philippine history and to a lesser degree - to the Filipino National Identity. This disjointedness is most acutely felt among the Muslim Filipinos and in previous decades - among the Bisaya (who were equated with househelp).

Similarly the histories of the provinces have been relegated to mere hoaxes or fabrications or assigned to footnotes in history. Many of the historical narratives of Indigenous peoples (usually oral) and even the tarsilas of the Muslims have been shelved in the darkest recesses of Philippine history as unimportant curiosities. Most commonly these oral sources of history have been discounted as hoax due to the lack of hard documentation. Consequently, - the Filipino historian do not do research on leads supplied by these oral histories. One of these well known "oral" history is the Maragtas.

In the case of the Maragtas - it has been erroneously labeled as a hoax. But what is the Maragtas??

The Maragtas are a collection of Oral stories that was compiled by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro and published in 1907. On Monteclaro's foreword he said that the stories are remnants of stories being told by the elders of his community. The Maragtas saw limited use by historians due to the espoused view by William Henry Scott that the Maragtas is a fabrication by Pedro Monteclaro. 

William Henry Scott's assertion that the Maragtas is a pure fabrication has to be critically evaluated. Scott has claimed that the Maragtas cannot be supported by written documentation. However, Scott has failed to evaluate the contents of the Maragtas scientifically and has failed to grasp the Maragtas contextually (i.e. based on culture, customs and modes of transmission of knowledge by Filipinos). 

Let us then take a look at the merits of the Maragtas.

First,

The Maragtas according to Pedro Monteclaro is a record of "oral" histories. As such it has no written documentation. The idea of oral histories was not prevalent or given weight during the Spanish and American colonial times given that western historical tradition usually relied on written histories to transmit knowledge. Malays on the other hand used chants and epic to transmit knowledge rather than putting important histories on paper.

The reason for this is that paper and plant materials tend to rot and degrade faster in the humid and hot climates of south east asia. Thus the ancient Hiligaynon developed their history in an oral tradition by creating the "Binukot". The binukot are women of royal parentage who's main function in society is to study and memorize the history of her people. They are not allowed to work and are supported by the people of the community. In fact, binukot are married into the richest families who have proven their ability to support a binukot. Thus binukots are the living encyclopedia's of the hiligaynon nation. 

the same oral tradition existed in south east asia prior to the arrival of the europeans. In fact the empires of Madjapahit and Sri Vijaya would have remained unproven and undiscovered if not for the temple complex of Borobodur. Recent knowledge about the extent and the workings of Madjapahit are mostly taken from epics since there are no or few surviving written documents. 

The prevalence of Oral traditions vs written has not been taken into consideration by Henry Scott.

Second,

The description of the courts, royal titles and the politics of the ten datu's can be correlated with actual events.

The story of the ten datu's happened during the 12th century at a time of transition in the royal courts and a time when Sultan Makatunaw (this is not his real name - but this is a an allegorical name - makatunaw meaning - he who dissolves i.e. destroyer) ascended the throne. This new Sultan ws seen by the rest of the royal family as evil and immoral. He was further hated because he desired and engineered his marriage to Dayang Kapinangan who at the time was already bethrothed to another prince - Datu Sumakwel.

This contest between Makatunaw and Sumakwel prompted the Grand Vizier - Datu Poteh to mediate and he then advised Sumakwel and the other princes to take Kapinangan and flee the empire. Poteh said that this is what the God Munsad Buralakaw (the God's of the seas, politics and men) wanted. 

The ten Datu's assaulted the bridal train, stole Kapinangan and fled to Sulu. They then sailed north and the grace of Buralakaw (who saved them from a storm) reached Aninipay and became the legendary founding fathers of the Bisaya and the Tausug.

When we evaluate this story and match this to other oral histories the following records matched.

a. the oral history of the Bisaya in borneo tells of the Sulu people drowning the son of Awang Alak Betatar a hundred years before the Bisaya in Borneo converted to Islam and a hundred years before the Sultanate of Brunei was created ( which was in 1370).

b. the Oral Histories of the Badjao also correlated to the story that a princes was about to be Married to the royalty of Brunei but was instead stolen.

Both oral histories occur at roughly the same period in the 12th century. 

The royal titles used such as Datu are are also similar to the royal title used in the rest of South East Asia.

The title Datu Poteh (or Patih - since in hiligaynon/hiniray.a /a/ can be pronounced as /uh/) was said to be the right hand/prime minister of the Sultan - this corresponds to the royal title "senapati" or Rakryan Mapatih or Patih Hamangkubhumi in (in hiligaynon - "pati" means to obey)

Also, the concept that the flight of the Datu's was not only political but also religious must also be evaluated. The priest reminded the datu's about their kasugtanan (agreement) with Buralakaw. It is helpful to note that the ancient priest of Madjapahit were called Dharmmadhyaksa ring Kasewan (State's highest Hindu Shivaist priest) and Dharmmadhyaksa ring Kasogatan (State's highest Buddhist priest). The datu's home nation was called "bornay/barunay" which is the old name of Brunei (how did Monteclaro come up with that name in 1907 when interest in South East Asian history was minimal is a question we need to ask as well). From "It was renamed "Barunai" in the 14th Century, possibly influenced by the Sanskrit word varunai (वरुण), meaning "seafarers", later to become "Brunei". The word "Borneo" is of the same origin."

The Name Varunai also has its origins in the God Varuna who has corresponding qualities with the God Munsad Buralakaw who was the God of men and politics. The God Buralakaw was the sea comet (comets or light belive coming from the sea going to heaven). his twin is the God Bulalakaw. Buralakaw was said to be the patron god of burnay. 

It is worth mentioning that Pedro Monteclaro was able to show these traditions/terms in his book in 1907. The Madjapahit (borobodur) and Sri Vijayan empires were only rediscovered during the 1920's. More than two decades after Monteclaro 

It is time for historians to take a look at the Maragtas as a historically based account (although it has been made into a legend). Doing so might give us insights in how interkingdom politics and alliances were forged and broken during the pre spanish period. The philippines were more of the greek states i.e. one nation with different polities rather than just unrelated - self contained kingdoms. A more comprehensive and equitable   study of Philippine history can be the cement that will bind, Christians, Muslims and Lumads into  the Filipino National Identity. We need a history that is not divisive but rather celebrates our inteconnectedness.

Opinions expressed are strictly those of the author. 

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