Maragtas Case

I.Summary of the chosen chapter or topic

The topic that we have chosen is all about the Maragtas. The Maragtas is a book that contains part of the deep history of Panay from the first inhabitants and the Bornean immigrants from which our Bisayan brothers and sisters descended from. The information written was from Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro. The maragtas was explained to be the “great people” or “great country”. It is an original work based on written and oral sources available to the author. The Maragtas is an original work by Monteclaro based on written and oral sources available to him. In particular, the author makes no claim that the work or contains a transcription of particular prehispanic documents. He has pointed out anthropological treatise on the former customs, clothes, dialect, hereditary, and organization of the Aetas of Panay. He has also said the ten datus from Borneo, fleeing tyranny of Datu Makatanaw, and the island they have purchased from Marikudo. The price agreed was a solid gold hat and basin and also an ankle-length necklace from the wife of the Bornean datus.

After this, the chieftains and Aetas lived in peace and harmony. The Haraya is another epic poem from Panay. It is a collection of rules of conduct told inthe form of heroic tales. The “Hari sa Bukid” of Negros is a mythical epic of Kanlaon (Kan comes from a Persian word “Khan” meaning “King” and “Laon” from a Malay word meaning “Ancient.”) and “Hinilawod” an epic poem made by the early inhabitants of Iloilo, Aklan and Antique also from Panay. The hero of Hinilawod, “Humadapnon” was of divine ancestry. He had super natural powers and guardian spirits to protect him. His most exciting adventure was his search for Nagmalitong Yawa: A beautiful maiden whom he saw in his dream. He boarded his golden boat, sailed amidst dangerous seas, and was captured by an enchantress/engkantada. Finally, he found and won the love of Nagmalitong Yawa.

Monteclaro said that we should not be accusing him of making fictional stories about the early Panay inhabitants for he has two manuscripts that would suffice the evidence of their existence. One would be from the first teacher of the town that was handed down by by his ancestors to him and showed it to the author. The second would be found in a bab\mboo tube where his grandfather used to keep his old newspapers. Another manuscript that would most be reliable would be the afore-mentioned old man in the street who gave him a manuscript dealing with what happened in the town of the Miag-ao form the time of his foundation. Monteclaro said that the solely purpose of his written work is to transmit to others what he have read in the records that he have collected. It was an original work based on his research and the data he had collected. His works are incredible that it has made connections between the Palawan and Borneo is somewhat near to what people have read.

II.Reaction in terms of the relevance of the topic to your appreciation of the study of the Philippine prehistory and history The relevance of the topic of the Maragtas to the study of Philippine history is that there is always a deeper understanding of the study of History. It is what beyond we imagine and what we have read. There is always a deeper context to understand and to appreciate the study oh history even more. I have learned from the author that if you want to share your thoughts and your works about history is that you push yourself harder to even work more. If you want to stand up for yourself, you need to take out what hidden information you have for if you purely want to give is really the truth and information. If you have a passion for history in your place, you should really be aware and be happy with what you have found out.

I have come to realize the true importance of cultures and beliefs and of course, evidences of written and oral works. Without them, the study of history wouldn’t be standing in our presence and in our study. Treasured information may perish and what we need to understand is that we need to culture it and preserve it, pass them down to generations. Also, we need to stay true to our race and cultures thought we may have been conquered on many colonies and mix races, we need to stay true to who we really are. This kind of race come and go if we do not preserve our own heritage and give importance to it. We should not be thinking of other races and let them colonize our minds for what we have now is also as good as what we have before. We wouldn’t want our heritage to be extinct and taken away from us by the modernity of our generation.

As a student studying History, I should be able to understand completely the situation that history is very important. History shouldn’t be taken for granted and should always be preserved. Just like what Monteclaro has done, we should be inspired to share the knowledge and importance of history.

Bibliography:

Scott, W. H. (1968). A critical study of the prehispanic source materials for the study of Philippine prehistory. Manila : University of Santo Tomas Press