In the Philippine languages, a system of titles andhonorifics was used extensively throughout its history. In the pre-colonial era, It was mostly used by theTagalogs andVisayans. These were borrowed from theMalay system of honorifics obtained from theMoro peoples ofMindanao, which in turn was based on the Indianized Sanskrithonorifics system[1] and the Chinese's used in areas likeMa-i (Mindoro) andPangasinan. The titles of historical figures such as Rajah Sulayman, Lakandula and Dayang Kalangitan evidence Indian influence. Malay titles are still used by the royal houses ofSulu,Maguindanao,Maranao andIranun on the southern Philippine island ofMindanao. In the Spanish colonial era,Philip II of Spain decreed that the nobility in the Philippine islands should retain their pre-hispanic honours and privileges.[b] In the modern times, these are retained on a traditional basis as the1987 Constitution explicitly reaffirms the abolition of royal and noble titles in the republic.[4][5][6][7]
The pre-colonialnative Filipino script calledbaybayin was derived from theBrahmic scripts of India and first recorded in the 16th century.[13] According to Jocano, 336 loanwords in Filipino were identified by ProfessorJuan R. Francisco to beSanskrit in origin, "with 150 of them identified as the origin of some major Philippine terms."[14] Many of these loanwords concerned governance and mythology, which were the particular concern of the Maginoo class, indicating a desire for members of that class to validate their status as rulers by associating themselves with foreign powers.[15] TheLaguna Copperplate Inscription, a legal document inscribed on a copper plate in 900 AD, is the earliest known written document found in the Philippines that is written in Indian Sanskrit and theBrahmi script-based IndonesianKawi script.[16]
Sri orSeri (Baybayin:ᜐᜇᜒ) is apolite form of address equivalent to the EnglishMr. orMs. in Indianized polities and communities[17] The title is derived from Sanskrit श्रीमान् (śrīmān). Its use may stem from thePuranic conception of prosperity, and examples of nobility who have use the title areSri Lumay, founder ofCebu; his grandsonSri Hamabar; Sripada of theLupah Sug; and possibly thedatu ofMactan, SiLapu-lapu.[18]
Datu (Baybayin:ᜇᜆᜓ) is the title for chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs[19] in theVisayas[20] andMindanao[21] regions of thePhilippines. Together withlakan (Luzon),apo (central and northern Luzon),[22]sultan, andrajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still used frequently in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.[23][24] Depending upon the prestige of the sovereign royal family, the title ofdatu could be equated to royal princes, Europeandukes,marquesses andcounts.[25] In largeprecolonial barangays, which had contacts with other Southeast Asian cultures through trade, somedatus took the title ofrajah or sultan.[26]
The oldest historical records mentioning about the titledatu is the seventh centurySrivijayan inscriptions, such as theTelaga Batu, to describe lesser kings or vassalized kings. It was calleddātu inOld Malay language to describe regional leader or elder,[27] a kind ofchieftain that rules of a collection ofkampungs (villages). The Srivijaya empire was described as a network ofmandala that consists of settlements, villages, and ports each ruled by a datu that vowed their loyalty (persumpahan) to the central administration of SrivijayanMaharaja. Unlike the indianized title ofraja andmaharaja, the term datuk was also found in thePhilippines asdatu, which suggests its common nativeAustronesian origin. The termkadatwan orkedaton refer to the residence of datuk, equivalent withkeraton andistana. In laterMataram Javanese culture, the term kedaton shifted to refer the inner private compound of the keraton, the residential complex of king and royal family.
A couple from theVisayankadatuan (royal) class. (Boxer Codex circa 1590's early spanish colonial period)
Lakan (Baybayin:ᜎᜃᜈ᜔) originally referred to a rank in theprecolonialFilipino nobility in the island ofLuzon, which means "paramount ruler." It has been suggested that this rank is equivalent to that ofRajah, and that different ethnic groups either used one term or the other, or used the two words interchangeably.[28][29] Today, the term is still occasionally used to meannobleman, but has mostly been adapted to other uses. InFilipino martial arts, it is equivalent to theblack belt rank.[30] Beauty contests in the Philippines have taken to referring to the winner aslakambini, the female equivalent oflakan. In such cases, the contestant's assigned escort can be referred to as alakan. More often, a male pageant winner is named a Lakan.[31]
The title can be spelled separately from a person's name (e.g. "Lakan Dula"), or can be incorporated into one word (e.g. "Lakandula").
16th and 17th-century Spanish colonial accounts oflakan being used in Philippine history include:
Lakandula, later baptized as Don Carlos Lacandola, the ruler ofTondo at the advent of Spanish conquest
The use of the honorific addressesDon andDoña was strictly limited to what many documents during the colonial period[35] would refer to as"vecinas y vecinos distinguidos".[36] After barangays had becometributaries of theKingdom of the Spains and the Indies, The pre-colonial Datu evolved into what was known asCabeza de barangay, which was hereditary of native nobilities i.eprincipalias and could elect theGobernadorcillo.[37]
In theSpanish era, Filipinos often used honorific systems based on the Spanish hierarchy, likedon, which was used to address members of the nobility, such ashidalgos,fidalgos, and members of thesecular clergy. The treatment gradually became reserved for persons of theblood royal and those of such acknowledged high or ancient aristocratic birth as noblede Juro e Herdade, that is, "by right and heredity" rather than by the king's grace. There were rare exemptions to the rule, such as themulatto,Miguel Enríquez, who received the distinction fromPhilip V due to hisprivateering work in the Caribbean. However, by the 20th century, it was no longer restricted in use for the upper classes, since persons of means or education (at least of a "bachiller" level), regardless of background, came to be so addressed, and it is now often used as if it were a more formal version ofSeñor. This term was also once used to address someone with the quality of nobility (not necessarily holding a nobiliary title). This was, for example, the case of military leaders addressing Spanish troops asseñores soldados (gentlemen-soldiers). In Spanish-speaking Latin America, this honorific is usually used with people of older age.[38]
ThePresident andVice-President of the Philippines (Filipino:Ang Pangulo o Presidente andAng Pangalawang Pangulo o Bise-Presidente) are addressed inEnglish as "Your Excellency" and "Sir" or "Ma'am" thereafter, and are referred to each as "His/HerExcellency" or "Their Excellencies" when both are present. The president and vice-president may also be informally addressed as "Mister/Madam President or Vice-President" inEnglish and is sometimes informally referred to asAng Mahál na Pangulo orAng Mahál na Pangalawang Pangulo.[c] Presently, noble titles are rarely used outside of the national honors system and as courtesy titles for Moro nobility. The only other common exception is thePresident of the Philippines, and all high-ranking government officials, who are referred to as "The Honorable". Former presidentRodrigo Duterte dropped his title from official communications, pushing other government officials to follow suit.
Lord, Master. These two terms were historically used for people, but now are only used to refer to the divine i.e. 'Panginoong Diyos/Allah/Bathala' (Lord God).
Po
Sir, Ma'am (Gender neutral). Derived from the wordspoon orpanginoon, this is the most common honorific used.
Italic words where a words fromOld Tagalog which is used until the modern times.Asterisks (*) denote a title that is considered archaic or specific to certain historic, religious, or academic contexts.
(Annotation:Law 16 that the princely Indians of the Philippines be treated well and be in charge of the government that they had instituted on others.)
It is not fair that the princely Indians of the Philippines be of worse condition after having themselves converted; rather they should have such treatment that interests them and maintains them in trustworthiness, so that with the spiritual blessings that God has communicated to them by calling them to His true knowledge, the temporal blessings may be added, and they may live with pleasure and convenience.
By that, we mandate to the governors of those islands that they give them good treatment and entrust them in our name the government of the Indians, of whom they were lords. In all else, the governors shall see that the princely ones are benefited justly, and the Indians shall pay them something as recognition, in the form that was in practice at the time of their heathenism, with which this be without prejudice to the taxes that are to be paid to us, nor prejudicial to that which pertains to their entrusters.
Lord Philip II in Madrid on 11 of June of 1594.
^In a decree on 11 June 1594, Philip II ordered that the honour and privilege to rule by Filipino nobles should be retained and protected. He also ordered the Spanish governors in the islands to provide the nobles good treatment, and ordered the Filipinos to pay respect and tribute due to the nobles as they did before conversion to Christianity without prejudice to the things that pertain to king himself or to the entrusters orencomenderos.[a][2]: títulovii, leyxvi Also v.[3]: 155–156
^TheTagalog word "mahál" is often translated as "love" and "expensive", but its original sense has a range of meanings from "treasured" to "the most valuable". It is often applied to royalty, roughly equivalent to the Western "Majesty" (e.g.Mahál na Harì, "His Majesty, the King";Kamahalan, "Your Majesty"), and at times used for lower-ranking nobles in the manner of "Highness", which has the more exact translation ofKataás-taasan. Julie Ann Mendoza is the daughter of the President. It is also found in religious contexts, such as referring toChristianpatron saints, theBlessed Virgin Mary (e.g.Ang Mahál na Ina/Birhen), or Christ (e.g.,Ang Mahál na PoóngNazareno).
^"The Royal House of the Sultanate Rajah Buayan".Royal Society Group. Countess Valeria Lorenza Schmitt von Walburgon, Heraldry Sovereign Specialist. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 13, 2012.
^"Kiram sultans genealogy".Royal Sulu. Royal Hashemite Sultanate of Sulu and Sabah. Archived fromthe original on September 22, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 13, 2012.
^Krom, N.J. (1927).Barabudur, Archeological Description. The Hague.
^Smith, Monica L. (1999). ""Indianization" from the Indian Point of View: Trade and Cultural Contacts with Southeast Asia in the Early First Millennium C.E".Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.42 (11–17):1–26.doi:10.1163/1568520991445588.JSTOR3632296.
^Examples of Datus who took the title Rajah were Rajah Soliman, Rajah Matanda, and Rajah Humabon. Cf. Landa Jocano, Filipino Prehistory, Manila: 2001
^Junker, Laura Lee (1990). "The Organization of IntraRegional and LongDistance Trade in PreHispanic Philippine Complex Societies".Asian Perspectives.29 (2):167–209.
^William Henry Scott (1994).Barangay: sixteenth-century Philippine culture and society. Ateneo de Manila University Press.ISBN9789715501354.
^For more information about the social system of the Indigenous Philippine society before the Spanish colonization seeBarangay inEnciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europea-Americana, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S. A., 1991, Vol. VII, p.624: "Los nobles de un barangay eran los más ricos ó los más fuertes, formándose por este sistema losdattos ómaguinoos,principes á quienes heredaban los hijos mayores, las hijas á falta de éstos, ó los parientes más próximos si no tenían descendencia directa; pero siempre teniendo en cuenta las condiciones de fuerza ó de dinero."
^“También fundó convento el Padre Fray Martin de Rada en Araut- que ahora se llama el convento de Dumangas- con la advocación de nuestro Padre San Agustín...Está fundado este pueblo casi a los fines del río de Halaur, que naciendo en unos altos montes en el centro de esta isla (Panay)...Es el pueblo muy hermoso, ameno y muy lleno de palmares de cocos. Antiguamente era el emporio y corte de la más lucidanobleza de toda aquella isla...Hay en dicho pueblo algunos buenos cristianos...Las visitas que tiene son ocho: tres en el monte, dos en el río y tres en el mar...Las que están al mar son: Santa Ana de Anilao, San Juan Evangelista de Bobog, y otra visita más en el monte, entitulada Santa Rosa de Hapitan.” Gaspar de San Agustin, O.S.A.,Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas (1565–1615), Manuel Merino, O.S.A., ed., Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas: Madrid 1975, pp. 374–375.
^Por otra parte, mientras en las Indias la cultura precolombiana había alcanzado un alto nivel, en Filipinas la civilización isleña continuaba manifestándose en sus estados más primitivos. Sin embargo, esas sociedades primitivas, independientes totalmente las unas de las otras, estaban en cierta manera estructuradas y se apreciaba en ellas una organización jerárquica embrionaria y local, pero era digna de ser atendida. Precisamente en esa organización local es, como siempre, de donde nace la nobleza. El indio aborigen, jefe de tribu, es reconocido como noble y las pruebas irrefutables de su nobleza se encuentran principalmente en las Hojas de Servicios de los militares de origen filipino que abrazaron la carrera de las Armas, cuando para hacerlo necesariamente era preciso demostrar el origen nobiliario del individuo.de Caidenas y Vicent, Vicente,Las Pruebas de Nobleza y Genealogia en Filipinas y Los Archivios en Donde se Pueden Encontrar Antecedentes de Ellas inHeraldica, Genealogia y Nobleza en los Editoriales de Hidalguia, (1953–1993: 40 años de un pensamiento). Madrid: 1993, HIDALGUIA, p. 232.
^"There were no kings or lords throughout these islands who ruled over them as in the manner of our kingdoms and provinces; but in every island, and in each province of it, many chiefs were recognized by the natives themselves. Some were more powerful than others, and each one had his followers and subjects, by districts and families; and these obeyed and respected the chief. Some chiefs had friendship and communication with others, and at times wars and quarrels. Theseprincipalities andlordships were inherited in the male line and by succession of father and son and their descendants. If these were lacking, then their brothers and collateral relatives succeeded... When any of these chiefs was more courageous than others in war and upon other occasions, such a one enjoyed more followers and men; and the others were under his leadership, even if they were chiefs. These latter retained to themselves the lordship and particular government of their own following, which is called barangay among them. They had datos and other special leaders [mandadores] who attended to the interests of the barangay." Antonio de Morga,The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Philippine Islands, Vols. 1 and 2, Chapter VIII.
^Examples of Datus who took the title Rajah were Rajah Soliman, Rajah Matanda, and Rajah Humabon. Cf. Landa Jocano, Filipino Prehistory, Manila: 2001, p.160.
^Casparis, J.G., (1956),Prasasti Indonesia II: Selected Inscriptions from the 7th to the 9th Century A.D., Dinas Purbakala Republik Indonesia, Bandung: Masa Baru.
^Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
^For more information about the social system of the Indigenous Philippine society before the Spanish colonization conferBarangay inEnciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europea-Americana, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S. A., 1991, Vol. VII, p.624.
^Blair, Emma Helen &Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1906).The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. Vol. 40 of 55 (1690–1691). Historical introduction and additional notes byEdward Gaylord BOURNE. Cleveland, Ohio:Arthur H. Clark Company.ISBN978-0-559-36182-1.OCLC769945730.Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^BERND SCHRÖTER and CHRISTIAN BÜSCHGES (1999), Beneméritos, aristócratas y empresarios: Identidades y estructuras sociales de las capas altas urbanas en América hispánica, pp 114
^Scott, William Henry.Barangay Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
^Scott, William Henry.Barangay Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.
BERND SCHRÖTER; CHRISTIAN BÜSCHGES, eds. (1999).Beneméritos, aristócratas y empresarios: Identidades y estructuras sociales de las capas altas urbanas en América hispánica (in Spanish). Frankfurt; Madrid: Vervuert Verlag; Iberoamericana.
