2. Three main sources:
1) The story of God’s creation in the
Bible
2) The story of evolution by human
scientists; and
3) Legends and fairytales made by
imaginative people.

3.  According to the Bible, the sacred book of
Christians, all men and women originated
from the first man (Adam) and the first
woman (Eve).
 After the Great Flood, Noah and his sons –
Shem, Ham and Japheth- left to settle the
earth. The three had sons themselves after the
flood. One of the sons of the youngest,
Japheth, was named Java. Out of Javan came
four sons named Elishah, Tharsis, the Kittim
and the Rodanim.

4.  Fr. Francisco Colin, a Jesuit historian,
wrote that the first settlers of our country
was Tharsis, son of Javan and great
grandson of Noah, together with his
brothers and their descendants. In time,
the descendants of these Biblical
characters settled in the parts of the world
that we now know as ASIA, including the
islands of the Philippines.

5.  Archaeologists – are scientists who
study about the past. They study old
material relics like bones, jars,
pottery and antique jewelry found in
the sites of old burial plots, homes or
villages of people who lived long,
long ago.

6.  Theory of “Evolution” – the belief that
man came from apelike creatures who
lived thousands of years ago in caves
and had very crude tools and it is where
the scientific explanations about the
origin of the early Filipino came from.
 Scientists who believe in the theory of
evolution cannot even agree on the
origin of the first Filipinos.

7.  One group of scientists believe that the
early Filipinos came from “waves of
migration” – Negritos, Indonesians, and
Malays – who peopled these islands
thousands of years ago.
 Another group favored the “core
population” theory which believes that the
early Filipinos came from settlers within
the islands, not from outside, and in fact
our ancestors migrated outside to the other
nearby islands to spread our own culture to
other lands.

8.  Both group of evolutionists,
however, believe that the first man
in the Philippines lived in Palawan,
which was then connected to the
Asian mainland, about 25,000 years
ago.
 Tabon Man – the first Filipino lived
in caves at Tabon, Palawan. They
belonged to the Stone Age culture.

9.  According to the evolution theory, the first
Filipinos or the Tabon Man hunted wild animals
with crude stone weapons. They used simple
stone tools to make clothes or prepare food. They
didn’t know how to farm or raise animals. They
were short, with bushy eyebrows and a low
forehead.
 The first Filipinos lived in very harsh
surroundings. It was a daily battle for survival.
Most of the time was spent looking for food.
Primitive people like the Tabon Man lived in
other parts of the world wherein they were called
as “Java Man” or “Beijing Man” or others. Life
for them was also tough.

10.  The early Filipinos were like Vikings of
the Pacific. They sailed on boats across
the Pacific Ocean to nearby islands in
Micronesia and Polynesia. They brought
some early tools like iron arrows and
knives. They lived in larger villages in
Manila, Pampanga, Mindoro, Samar,
Leyte, Cebu and Bohol. They started
good business relations with the Arabs,
Chinese and other nearby nations.

11.  Slowly but surely, the early Filipinos
grew in number and improved their
lifestyle. They began to cook with fire
and to make sharper tools. Many families
also lived in Central Luzon and Cagayan
Valley. About 5,000 years ago, the early
Filipinos learned to make axes, seashell
ornaments and pottery. They chewed betel
nut (nganga).

12.  Later, the Filipinos became expert
craftsmen, travelers and traders.
Their pottery and jewelry became
more beautiful. They traded with
beads of stones, shells, precious
stones and gold. They made better
clothes.

13. THE NEGRITOS
 The first people to come to the Philippines.
 Also called Atis or Aetas.
 Came across land bridges from mainland Asia
about 25,000 years ago.
 Were very small people because they were
less than five feet tall.
 Were called “Negritos” because they had
black skin, short kinky hair, thick lips, and
black noses.

14.  They wore little clothing.
 They had no government, no writing,
and no permanent homes.
 They wandered in forests and lived by
hunting, fishing and gathering wild
plants and fruits.
 They used the bow and arrow for
hunting.
 Today, there are still Negritos in the hills
of Zambales.

15. THE INDONESIANS
 According to the migration theory, they were
the first immigrants to come by the sea to the
Philippines about 5,000 years ago.
 They sailed in boats from South Asia.
 They drove the Negritos into the mountains
and lived in the lowlands.
 There are two types of Indonesians:
• The first type was tall, with light skin, large
forehead, high nose and thin lips.
• The second type were shorter and darker, with a large
nose, thick lips, and heavy jaw.

16.  They were more advanced than the Negritos.
 They lived in permanent homes.
 They used fire to cook their food.
 They lived by hunting, fishing, and small
farming.
 They painted their bodies with colorful figures.
 The Indonesian minority tribes are still found in
some interior parts of our country: Apayaos,
Gaddangs, Ibanags and Kalingas of Northern
Luzon; Tagbanuas of Palawan; and the Bagobos,
Manobos, Mandayas, Bukidnons, Tirurays and
Sabanuns of Mindanao.

17. THE MALAYS
 Came after the Indonesians about 2,000 years
ago. They came in boats from Southeast Asia.
 They were medium in height, brown –
skinned, with dark eyes, flat noses and straight
black hair.
 They drove the Indonesians into the forests
and lived in the lowlands.
 They were more civilized than the
Indonesians.
 They lived in larger villages.

18.  They had government, writing, music, arts,
and sciences.
 They lived by agriculture, fishing, mining,
and trading.
 Some legends describe the coming of the
Malays. In Panay, this story is called the
“Maragtas”. It tells how the first ten Malay
datus left Borneo and came to Panay. They
bought the land from the Negritos and settled
the other islands. Datu Puti led the Malay
datus, and Mrikudo led the Atis. This legend
is now celebrated in the famous “ati – atihan”
fiesta and dance.

19.  The Filipinos today come from the
Malay or brown race. Thus, there are
Muslim Malays in Mindanao, Jolo
and Palawan. And there are Christian
Malays in the whole country. There
are also Malay tribes like the Igorots,
Ifugaos, Bontoks and Tinggians of
Luzon.

20.  There are also various legends and
fairy tales about the origin of the first
Filipinos, but these are not all true.
 They were just the imaginary stories
told by old folks to little children to
keep them interested in their past.

21.  There are two famous legends about
the early Filipinos:
1) The story of Malakas and Maganda;
and
2) The story of the brown people.

22. THE STORY OF MALAKAS AND
MAGANDA
Long, long ago, after the land was formed as a
result of the war between the sea and the sky,
the clever bird, which incited the war, flew
ashore. It landed on a bamboo plant in order to
rest. While resting it happened to peck the
bamboo. Suddenly, the bamboo split apart. Out
of the first half of the bamboo came a
handsome man, and out of the second half of
the bamboo came out a beautiful woman.

23. The man was named Malakas (Lalake), and
he was the first man in the world. The
woman was named Maganda (Babae), and
she was the first woman in the world.
Malakas and Maganda got married. Many
children were born to them. From these
children came the Filipinos.

24. THE STORY OF THE BROWN PEOPLE
Many, many years ago, there were no people
on earth. One day, God walked about the
earth and became lonely. So, he decided to
create the people who would inhabit the
plains and hills. He stopped by a riverbank
and got some clay. He molded the clay into
male and female figures and baked them over
a slow fire.
But because he did not know how to bake, the
first figure of men and women turned out too
black because they got burned.

25. Since God was not happy with the black
peoples who got burned from his first try at
making men and women, he molded new clay
figures and put them back over the fire to
cook. This time, he became too cautious and
took away the clay figures before they could
be cooked properly. God was upset to see that
the clay figures were white, because they were
underbaked.

26. For the third time, God molded another set of
clay figures and put them on the fire. This
time, he had practiced and knew perfectly
what color of people he wanted. When the
color of the clay figures turned brown; he
stopped baking and was very happy with his
work.
Then God breathed life into all baked clay
figures. Out of the black clay figures came out
the black peoples; out of the white clay figures
came the white people; and out of the brown
clay figures came the brown people. The
brown – skinned Filipinos are thus the perfect
handiwork of God.