Everything about The Tagalog People totally explained
The
Tagalog people (Tgl:Tagalog) is the second the largest
Filipino ethnolinguistic group. The name Tagalog comes from the native term
tagailog, meaning 'people living in river'. The prefix
taga- means 'coming from' or 'native of', while the word
ilog means 'river'. Transliterated,
tagailog means 'coming from the river' or 'native of the river', with 'the' being implied.
The Tagalogs are the most widespread in the Philippines. They form a majority in the provinces of
Aurora,
Bataan,
Batangas,
Cavite,
Bulacan,
Laguna,
Metro Manila,
Nueva Ecija,
Occidental Mindoro,
Oriental Mindoro,
Quezon,
Camarines Norte,
Marinduque, and
Rizal. Other provinces with significant Tagalog populations include the provinces of
Palawan,
Tarlac, and in
Zambales.
Demographics
Tagalogs number about 15,876,000, making them the second largest
Filipino ethnic group. The origin of the Tagalogs is still disputed, whether their cultivating homeland was in (what is now)
Taal, Batangas, or ascending from the south where their closer linguistic kinsmen (the Visayans) dwelled. Nonetheless, the Tagalogs (like other aboriginal Philippine ethnicities) are likely the descendants of Austronesian-speaking immigrants from prehistoric
Taiwan (see
Taiwanese aboriginals). Tagalogs speak the
Tagalog language, with many dialectal variations, although all Tagalog dialects are considered to be mutually comprehensible to each other. Tagalog people mostly of Merdika and mixed Merdika and Spanish blood in Ternate,
Cavite speak Ternateño dialect of Chabacano. The main religion of Tagalogs is Christianity, mostly Roman Catholicism as well as Protestantism. There are also some Muslims.
There are many Tagalog Mestizos. Many are a mix of Spanish, Chinese or American descent.
Culture
The Tagalog culture of the Pre-Hispanic times was totally different from its forms today. From a former tattooing tribe, the Tagalog culture grew steadily to accept foreign, especially Hispanic, Chinese, and American cultural influences, and their culture today remains the backbone and the representative of all other Filipino cultures. Traditionally, the Tagalogs are for the most part agriculturalists, although there are some who engage in fishing. Tagalogs have a very strict adherence to conduct and respect, and this is exemplified by practices and their language structure. Tagalogs are also depicted by examples of bravery and courage, as manifested by historical events, for example, the Philippine Revolution and World War II.
Tagalogs are also focused on food preparation and culinary activities. Women (and sometimes, men) are trained early on to become culinary experts. This is depicted in lavish celebrations during Fiestas and gatherings.
History
Batangas, being its birthplace, is still the Heartland of the Tagalog Culture. Most of the origins of the Tagalog people is based on oral tradition. Because even if they were literate and had a written tradition before the Spaniard arrive, they wrote their ideas on perishable leaves and branches.
According to the Maragtas Legend, a Borneo (a part of the former
Srivijaya empire) was one inhabited by 11 Datus who elect from among themselves their supreme ruler. In around 1250, a certain Datu Makatunaw was elected Sultan over the Bornean Sultanate. But his ascent meant that he was able to rule the island with tyranny. He grabbed from his subjects not only their belongings but even their wives.
He was even planning to wage a war to conquer the nearby islands but the other 10 datus didn't agree to his direction. To prevent the war, the 10 peace loving Datus, lead by Datu Puti sailed northward where they reached the Island now known as
Panay. Here, they met a group of Aeta led by Marikudo. Datu Puti managed to convince them to give his fellow
balangay members a place to settle.
The Aeta Chiefstain agreed in return of the golden
sukud which Datu Puti wore. There he left the three of his fellow Datus Sumakwel, Bankaya and Paiburong who ruled the Dominions of Hantik (later Antique), Aklan and Irong-Irong (later Iloilo) respectively. These three Dominions formed the
Madia-as Confederation. Datu Puti then sailed further North and left the Confederation under the rule of Datu Sumakwel.
He, together with the other six Datus (namely Datu Balensusa, Datu Domangsil, Datu Bankaya, Datu Paduhinog, Datu Dumalogdog and Datu Lubay) found their settlement at the
place of many rivers. And they called themselves
Taga-Ilog and later, corrupted it to
Tagalog. This settlement is now submerged under the mythical
Taal Lake. Before, the place that's now called Batangas is the centre of a thriving civilization.
Although
paganistic, the first Tagalogs had a religion. Datu Puti wasn't only a founder of a nation, he also founded
Bathalismo. It is believed that there's a Supreme Being called
Bathala (from the Sanskit
Bathara, god) and many other lesser deities. They also had a very high respect to women, as women are not only allowed to inherit lands, they're allowed to be the matriarch of their clans. And although the office of the
Babaylan is open to both sexes, it's generally left to the women. And when a man is chosen to be a
babaylan, he'll be clad as a woman.
The pre-hispanic Tagalogs divided their dominion into three centres.
Tanauan became the centre of governance for as its name suggest (
from TANAW, to see) one can easily see the whole dominion from there. The centre of commerce was in
Balayan, as since the 10th Century, it was already an established Chinese Trade Route. And finally, the centre of worship was in
Lipa. And when the Tagalog was conveted into Christianity, the
Archdiocese of Lipa remained to be an important religious centre. (
see also Batangas History)
However, Datu Puti still dreamt to free his brothers that were left in Borneo so he left the dominion under the rulership of Datu Balensusa and Datu Domangsil. The other four Datus divided the rest of the dominion, which included the present day provinces of
Batangas,
Cavite,
Laguna,
Rizal,
Quezon,
Aurora,
Bataan,
Mindoro,
Marinduque, and some parts of
Romblon and
Palawan, among themselves.
It was also speculated that the Kingdom included the areas of
Metropolitan Manila,
Bulacan,
Bataan,
Nueva Ecija,
Tarlac and
Zambales. Today, these areas are still well populated by the Tagalogs.
When Datu Balensusa entered immortality, the Kingdom which he personally ruled was inherited by Datu Kumintang. Thus, the Kingdom of Kumintang was established. It was composed of the undisputed Tagalog Kingdom, while the Northern part was ruled by the heirs of other Datus.
Constant trade with the Chinese made the Northern Tagalogs familiar with
Hinduism and
Islam. In fact, when
Miguel López de Legazpi came to
Manila, he found an Islam community under the rule of
Raja Lakandula. On the other hand, the Southern Tagalogs continued to be a thriving community, which had closed contact with the
Chinese.
The Tagalogs learn very fast, when the Spaniards conquered
Manila, the Tagalogs became completely Christianised in less than half a century. This was despite the great mountains that divided their territories. It was said that when Legazpi came to Manila, he was received well by the Tagalogs under the leadership of
Raja Lakandula. This showed that the Tagalogs were well versed in diplomacy. However, when the group of Raja Sulayman felt that their honour was being threathened, they showed great bravery in war. Unfortunately, the group of Sulayman was defeated by the Spaniards and the Tagalogs became subject to the Spanish Crown. The people were subjected to forced labour.
A number of Philippine national heroes are Tagalog. The Tagalogs staged the most numerous revolts against Spanish colonization, and were also among the earliest. One such revolt was that of Tagalog
Apolinario de la Cruz (Hermano Pule), which was religious in orientation. Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero from Calamba Laguna, is Tagalog-Chinese.
In
1898, most leaders of the
Philippine Revolution were also Tagalogs, including the first Philippine president
Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, among others.
Since Aguinaldo, four other Tagalogs assumed the presidency:
Manuel L. Quezon (who was a
Spanish-mestizo with mostly Tagalog native ancestry),
Jose P. Laurel, and
Corazon Aquino (partly of Tagalog descent, from her maternal side). Early Philippine history has always been dominated by the struggles and triumphs of the Tagalog people and the Tagalogs came to dominate the present Philippine economy and politics. Tagalog prominence in the national character is well-founded, as Philippine history has always shown Tagalogs to be in the frontlines, persevering and always forwarding the Filipino spirit.
Language
The Tagalog language is no doubt the greatest contribution of the Tagalog People to the world. To date, not only is Tagalog the
de facto basis of the national language (rechristened as
Filipino). It is also the most active of all the
Philippine Languages in terms of production of literature. Together with the
Ilocano, it's the only language with a comprehensive grammar.
Today, Tagalog is the 14th most populous language of the world, spoken by the Filipino diaspora all over the globe. It is the second most important Asian Language in the
United States, officially recognized by some states as an important minority language in the states of
California,
Alaska and
Hawaii.
In his writings, Padre Pedro Chirino (1604) was quoted saying:
I find in this language (Tagalog) four qualities of the four greatest languages of the world, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Spanish; it has the abstruseness and obscurity of the Hebrew language; the article and distinction in proper, as well as in common, nouns of the Greek; the fullness and elegance of Latin; and the polish courtesy of Spanish.
while another writer, Norlito Ison Cervo (1983) gave us another thought about Tagalog when he said that:
Every syllable appears to have been formed after the elemental things and sounds man can find in nature -- that one is inclined to believe that Tagalog was an original language, and possibly the only language with syllables that can be analyzed. Breaking down Tagalog words into syllables in the basic grammatical form a and separating the consonants from the vowels (a, e or i, and o or u) involved, brings out the fundamental meaning which was originally associated with the Early Man. It will be found that every Tagalog word originated in those was, so much so that etymological research must be done in this way also -- in the reverse direction.
Cervo even suggested that contrary to what many linguists thought, the great languages of the world must have borrowed from Tagalog instead of the other way around.
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