The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 07 of 55: 1588-1591; 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
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 07 of 55: 1588-1591; 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
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
In these three classes, those who are _maharlicas_ on both the father's
and mother's side continue to be so forever; and if it happens that
they should become slaves, it is through marriage, as I shall soon
explain. If these maharlicas had children among their slaves, the
children and their mothers became free; if one of them had children
by the slave-woman of another, she was compelled, when pregnant, to
give her master half of a gold tael, because of her risk of death,
and for her inability to labor during the pregnancy. In such a case
half of the child was free--namely, the half belonging to the father,
who supplied the child with food. If he did not do this, he showed
that he did not recognize him as his child, in which case the latter
was wholly a slave. If a free woman had children by a slave, they
were all free, provided he were not her husband.
If two persons married, of whom one was a _maharlica_ and the other
a slave, whether _namamahay_ or _sa guiguilir_, the children were
divided: the first, whether male or female, belonged to the father,
as did the third and fifth; the second, the fourth, and the sixth
fell to the mother, and so on. In this manner, if the father were
free, all those who belonged to him were free; if he were a slave,
all those who belonged to him were slaves; and the same applied to
the mother. If there should not be more than one child he was half
free and half slave. The only question here concerned the division,
whether the child were male or female. Those who became slaves fell
under the category of servitude which was their parent's, either
namamahay or sa guiguilir. If there were an odd number of children,
the odd one was half free and half slave. I have not been able to
ascertain with any certainty when or at what age the division of
children was made, for each one suited himself in this respect. Of
these two kinds of slaves the sa guiguilir could be sold, but not the
namamahay and their children, nor could they be transferred. However,
they could be transferred from the barangay by inheritance, provided
they remained in the same village.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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