History Philippines : Journey to the Past: Going Back to History

Journey to the past: Going back to history

National Museum Trip (January 31, 2015)

How to go to National Museum of the Filipino People?

From Malanday to Luneta, we ride a jeep. You can also try alternative transportation such as LRT or much better if you have your own or rental car.

About the Museum:

National Museum of the Filipino People is located in the Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila adjacent to the main National Museum building which houses the National Art Gallery. The building formerly housed the Department of Finance.

What we will see Inside the Building:

Museum of the Filipino People Exhibits

I just want to share our experience in visiting the National Museum of the Filipino People and some information about the exhibits inside. (For Students ₱50.00 For Adults ₱120.00)

Level 1

Ø Ifugao House

Ø Offices

Ifugao Hut/Ifugao House

Info: Fhaley Ad Henenga

Ayangan House from Mayaoyao, Igugao

The Architecture of the Ifugao House, of which there are many varieties based on the different Ifugao sub-groups, is effective of the geography of the region.

The heavily thatched roof serves as protection against the rains and cold weather of the region. This Authentic house is the Ayangan Heritage, a sub-group of the Ifugao People. Henengan was the Ancient name of the municipality of Mayaoyao.

For me, Ifugao House look like a tree house. The roof is so big and thick maybe because of the weather in Northern Luzon which is cold. Maybe the roof protect and making warm inside. The body of the house is covered by its roof and if you look inside it is different from Nipa Hut or Bahay Kubo.

Level 2

Ø The San Diego: History

(Asian Bank Corp./A. Soriano Corp./PHINMA Group Gallery)

Ø 500 Years of Maritime Before the Advent of Western Colonizers

(Hallway)

Ø The San Diego: Treasures

(San Diego Corp. Gallery)

San Diego Exhibit

Start with the exhibit gallery on the ground floor showing the wreck site and eleven of the recovered cannons.

The San Diego - A 16th Century Galleon

Info: The Discovery of the San Diego has significantly expanded our knowledge of Renaissance shipbuilding techniques. On the basis of the finds and positioning of the wreck, the construction of the ship had been studied.

The San Diego was a 3-masted trading built in 1590 in Cebu by Basque, Chinese and Filipino shipbuilders. It used different kinds of Asian woods and was about 35-40 meters long, about 12 meters wide and 8 meters high. It had at least 4 decks and could hold about 700 tons of cargo.

In San Diego, you will see replicas of San Diego Galleon. You can also see the tools and equipment they used in their expeditions. There is also an Anchor used by the said Galleon.

San Diego treasures and the porcelain collection

Stoneware jars from San Diego

The Cannon

Cannon Balls, you will see different size of cannon they used and the cannon balls like a stone form into circles.

Old compass

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas 1609 by Antonio de Morga

Gold seal which was believed to be owned by Antonio de Morga

Info: Collected by underwater archaeologists at the San Diego Wreck Site off the Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas, this gold seal is unique and the only one in the world.

Level 3

Ø Lantakas and Bells

(Hallway)

Ø Pinagmulan (Origins)

(Cabinet Ladies Foundation Gallery)

Ø Kaban ng Lahi (Archaeological Treasures)

(Don Vicente Madrigal Gallery)

Ø Faith, Tradition, and Place: Bangsamoro Art

(MERALCO/The Lopez Group Gallery)

The Origin (Pinagmulan)

The gallery presents information on the origins of the Philippine Islands and the Filipino nation. The exhibition focuses on the four periods of Philippine pre-history: Paleolithic; Neolithic; Metal; and Ceramic Age.

Skull cap of the earliest human inhabitant in the Philippines

Tabon Cave, Quezon Palawan

14500 BC

Info: One of the earliest human remains in the archipelago is a fossilized skull-cap (frontal bone) that belongs to a female estimated to be 22,000 years old. It was discovered together with a right mandible (jaw) and teeth in Tabon Cave, Palawan by Robert Fox of The National Museum.

A replica of the Duyong cave

Info: Duyong Cave, located in Iwahig, Palawan, is an important site, providing insights into the burial and ritual practices of the Neolithic Duyong, meaning sea cow, was the name given to the cave because of the abundance of this type of bone material discovered during the excavation. Researchers believe that these animals were ritual offerings in format cult involving sea cow.

Among the Artifacts found in the cave are a type of earring common in Vietnam, pendants, bracelets, small stud-like objects, ornaments of nephrite, and a double-headed jade pendant, probably that of a horse.

Butuan Boat

Libertad, Butuan City

320 AD

Info: Prehistoric boats were recovered in Butuan, Agusan del Norte in 1978. There are nine existing prehistoric boats. The first boat dated 320 A.D. is in the site museum in Libertad, Butuan. The second boat dated to 1250 A.D. was transferred to the Pinagmulan Gallery (The Origin), in the 2nd floor of the Museum of the Filipino People in Manila. The third boat dated 990 A.D. is in the Butuan Regional Museum (Agusan del Norte, southern Philippines).

The Butuan boat is an edged- pegged plank type of boat. The planks were made from hard wood like ‘doongon’ (Heriteriera littoralis). Built to withstand long-distance voyages, the boat can seat 25 people. Early merchants purchased goods from foreign traders and sailed the small waterways redistributing the commodities to remote communities in the archipelago. The presence of glass beads and metals in the sites where the boats were discovered shows that Philippine coastal communities were active in Asian maritime trade during that time. Evidence of a flourishing maritime trade placed the early Filipinos’ seamanship and boat- building skill on equal footing with other Asian countries.

The edged-pegged plank style of boat-building was once popular from Scandinavian countries to the South Pacific during the 3rd century. Present- day boat makers of Sibutu Island and in southern Philippines still use the same technology.

Butuan Boat is a proof that the Filipino before are really smart and creative. They made their own boat for transportation and maybe even for trades.

Sama grave marker

Info: The Sama D’Laut are sea faring people but they bury their dead in land. They mark their graves with stylized human figures that indicate the gender and age of the deceased. The grave markers of the Sama D’laut are silent sentinels of the afterworld. Grave markers consist of an upright piece of wood called sundok. This is placed over the head of the deceased and in front of the sunduk is a raised mound of earth or sand, and a rectangular frame called the kabul that surrounds the entire site. Sea cow figures are commonly carved into wooden markers along with crocodiles, birds and human figures. Sometimes sundoks are inserted into a base formed into a sea cow, boat, box, or some other animals. These motifs are representative of the Sama belief in the transportation of the spirit to the next life.

Male and Female Bul’ul

(From Left: Female Bul'ul, Male Bul'ul)

Info: Guardians of Igorot

Archaeological Treasures (Kaban ng Lahi)

The Archaeological Treasures Gallery portrays secondary burial jar collections as well as samples of other utilitarian vessels unearthed from different cave sites in the Philippines. It also features the importance of burial practices associated with the death of early Filipinos in the southern Philippines and other parts of the country.

Manunggul and Maitum jar

Manunggul Jar

Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Pt., Palawan

895-775 BC

Info: The cultural treasure found in the early 1960’s in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Palawan is a secondary burial jar. The upper portion of the jar, as well as the cover is incised with curvilinear scroll designs and painted with natural iron or hematite. On top of the jar cover or lid is a boat with two human figures representing two souls on a voyage to the afterlife. The boatman is seated behind a figure whose hands are crossed on the chest. The position of the hands is a traditional Filipino practice observed when arranging the corpse.

The Manunggul Jar is a unique secondary-burial jar. On top of the cover is a boat with two human figures that represent souls on a journey to the afterlife.

Maitum Jar

Info: This is unique burial jar with two arms. It has a head and two ears.

The place where you find Manunggul Jar and Maitum Jar is in a dark area. They use somekind of light that is safe for this jar that help to preserve these jars.

Some of Maitum Jar are broken maybe because of the age. Also this jars are black and brown in color. Manunggul Jar is bigger than Maitum Jar.

Jarlet with gaping mouth from Leta-leta Cave

Info: The jarlet is one of the several intact pieces of pottery recovered in Leta-Leta Cave, Northern Palawan in 1965.

Faith, Tradition, and Place: Bangsamoro Art

This area is one of my favourite department/exhibit in the museum. You will see a lot of things use by the people in Mindanao. That shows how rich their culture from instrument, clothing, and so on.

Also a reason why I love this part, for the first time I saw a Koran. It’s a long story why I really want to see it and finally I achieve it.

Brass Gong from a Maranao Community

Okir of the Maranaos, Maranao Sarimanok

Maranao of Lanao del Sur

Wood, paint and marble

Mandaya basket

Info: The bakuta or the Mandaya basket is cylindrical in form made of rattan strips and is smeared with beeswax all over to make it sturdy and waterproof. This is decorated with reinforced bamboo strips forming curvilinear designs. There is a braided strap provided for suspension purposes.

The basket is 0.041 meters in height and is used as a betel chew container.

Level 4

Ø Baybayin (Ancient Scripts of the Philippines)

(Metrobank Foundation Gallery)

Ø Hibla ng Lahing Filipino (Philippine Textiles)

Ø Rice and Climate Change

(Antonio and Aurora Tambunting Gallery/ Villonio-Samson Gallery)

Ø Pagkaing Filipino: Food Photography Neal Oshima

(Reception Room)

Ø Biodiversity and Climate Change

(PAGCOR Gallery II)

Baybayin (Ancient Scripts of the Philippines)

Mangyan script on a tobacco container

Laguna copperplate

Info: The thin copper plate has ten lines of small script characters that are impressed on one side. This rare artifact was studied by Dr. Anton Postma and Dr. Johannes de Casparis. According to them, the main language of the copper plate is old Malay but the text is sprinkled with Sanskrit, old Javanese and old Tagalog terms.

Calatagan Pot

14th-15th Centuries A.D.

Info: Height: 12 cm; Width (Body) 20.2 cm Diameter (Rim): 14:8 cm; 872 grams

The pot was recovered in Mang Tomas Archaeological Site, Calatagan, Batangas in 1961. It is unique and classified as atypical earthenware with ancient syllabic inscription on the shoulder.

Hibla ng Lahing Filipino (Philippine Textiles)

Ifugao blanket

Info: The blanket is woven by women using the back strap loom. It is made and formed from commercialized cotton threads, utilizing the tie and dye method from natural dyes (ikat technique).

The blanket has anthropomorphic figures at the center. It was used to cover the corpse of an Ifugao after death. The blanket is a national cultural treasure collected in June 13, 1968 by William Beyer in the municipality of Amganad, Banaue, Ifugao.

The blanket is 2.68 meters in length and 1.92 meters in width.

Banton Burial Cloth

Info: Found in association with coffin burial in Banton Island, Romblon Province, this burial cloth is the oldest textile associated with Yuan ceramic trade ware and the oldest textile so far found in the Philippines.

In this level you will notice the richness of our culture. In our language or baybayin, in the making clothes and blankets by our ancestors, even in animals that you will see only in our country.

Climate Change