RAJAH BENDAHARA KALANTIAWas early as 1433 on the Island of Panay

Prior to the arrival of Spanish conquerors in 1521

An organized society based on the rule of law in the Island of Panay

Punishments under the Code of Kalantiaw

death by being drowned in the river or in boiling water

put to death by being stoned & crushed

swimming for 3 hours for failure to take care of his wife

1 hour of lashing

JULY1913

“Civilización Prehispana” by Jose Marco published in “Renacimiento Filipino” mentions the Code of Kalantiaw

1914 Jose Marco donated 5 Pavon manuscripts (which included the Code) to the Philippine Library & Museum

Josue Soncuya wrote about the Code of Kalantiaw in his book “Historia Prehispana de Filipinas”

1917

20th Century

Other prominent historian/authors wrote about the Code

1965 William Henry Scott, examined the pre-Hispanic history of the Philippines

Scott raised issues on the existence of the Code of Kalantiaw, specifically on:

LACK OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR A KALANTIAW LEGEND

DOUBTFUL PAVON MANUSCRIPTS

No written/ pictorial documents from that time in Philippine historyNo documents from other countries that mentions Kalantiaw

No recorded Filipino legend about Kalantiyaw other than the doubtful Pavon manuscripts before the 20th centuryHistorian Diego Alba looked for Kalantiyaw in local folklore but found none

Two inconsistent versions on how Jose Marco obtained the manuscripts( looters and cook stories)

Mistakes in the Pavon manuscripts

However if this story was true, José Marco would have had to explain why he didn't use this wealth of information or even mention these documents when he wrote his Reseña Historica in 1912.

Looters Story

Henry Otley Beyer

Mauro Garcia (1950)

Pavón was the priest in the town of Himamaylan, Negros in the 1840s

Marco's father was among some looters who had stolen what they thought was a chest of coins or jewelry but when it was accidentally dropped in the river it became so heavy that they realized thatit was full of papers, which were apparently the Pavón manuscripts

Cook Story

Philippine Studies Program

he said that he had got them from an old cook who once worked at the convent in Himamaylan where Pavón had lived.

It was this old cook, he said, who had stolen the manuscripts during the looting and then, evidently, sold them to Marco in 1913.

University of Chicago 1954

Existence of the coins of King Charles V of Spain as early as 1433

Mentions a pre-Hispanic Visayan alphabet recorded by Fr. Francisco Deza in 1543

Manuscripts were stamped with “Parish of Ilog Occidental Negros”

King Charles V was born only in 1500

Fr. Francisco Deza was born only in 1620

The Island of Negros was divided only on 1890. There was no Negros Occidental during Pavon’s time

Manuscript was dedicated to the King of Spain

Description that in 1838-39 there was “putrefied MICROBES of evil fever”

Use of exact time element on the punishments imposed

At that time, Spain had no king, it was Queen Isabella II who ruled

Filipinos had no clocks or measures of time equal to exact hours at that time

The term MICROBES was coined only in 1878 & Louie Pasteur theorized infectitious germs in the 1850’s only

The National Historical Institute (NHI) honoured Kalantiaw in 1989 by including him in Filipinos in History

Old school textbooks still includes the Code of Kalantiaw

The NHI finally admitted that the CODE OF KALANTIYAW WAS A HOAX in 1998

In 2005, the NHI, submitted a resolution to President Arroyo to revoke the national shrine status of the Kalantiaw Shrine in Aklan, which, of course, enraged some Aklanons”

On June 19, 1978 a 30-centavo postagestamp was released in honor of "Rajah Kalantiaw".

Kalantiaw was honoured by the Philippine Navy in December 1967when it acquired the World War II destroyer escort USS Booth from the United States and recommissioned it the RPS Datu Kalantiaw. It was lost duringtyphoon Clara on September 20, 1981.

Article IYou shall not kill, neither shall you steal, neither shall you do harm to the aged, lest you incur the danger of death. All those who infringe this order shall be condemned to death by being drowned in the river, or in boiling water.

Note: Actually 3 laws - for killing, stealing & elder abuse. Beware. If you break this law you may "incur the danger of death" before you are actually killed.

Article IIYou shall obey. Let all your debts with the headman be met punctually. He who does not obey shall receive for the first time one hundred lashes. If the debt is large, he shall be condemned to thrust his hand in boiling water thrice. For the second time, he shall be beaten to death.

Note: If you're not convicted of defaulting on a debt you get a lashing or a scalding. "On conviction" you die.

Article IIIObey you: let no one have women that are very young nor more than he can support; nor be given to excessive lust. He who does not comply with, obey, and observe this order shall be condemned to swim for three hours for the first time and for the second time, to be beaten to death with sharp thorns.

Note: Actually 3 laws - for statutory rape, extreme polygamy & extravagance (or possibly lust, depending on the translation). "Swim for 3 hours". Ancient Filipinos did not divide the day into 24 "hours" and they had no clocks.

Article IVObserve and obey; let no one disturb the quiet of the graves. When passing by the caves and trees where they are, give respect to them. He who does not observe this shall be killed by ants, or beaten to death with thorns.

Note: Actually 2 laws - for disturbing graves & disrespecting graves. "Observe and obey" - what's the difference? Also, if you break this law you die but if you break similar laws, #6 & #9, you pay a fine or become a slave.

Article VYou shall obey; he who exchanges for food, let it be always done in accordance with his word. He who does not comply, shall be beaten for one hour, he who repeats the offense shall be exposed for one day among ants.

Article VIYou shall be obliged to revere sights that are held in respect, such as those of trees of recognized worth and other sights. He who fails to comply shall pay with one month's work in gold or in honey.

Article VIIThese shall be put to death; he who kills trees of venerable appearance; who shoot arrows at night at old men and women; he who enters the houses of the headmen without permission; he who kills a shark or a streaked cayman.

Article VIIISlavery for a doam (a certain period of time) shall be suffered by those who steal away the women of the headmen; by him who keep ill-tempered dogs that bite the headmen; by him who burns the fields of another.

Article IXAll these shall be beaten for two days: who sing while travelling by night; kill the Manaul; tear the documents belonging to the headmen; are malicious liars; or who mock the dead.

Article XIt is decreed an obligation; that every mother teach secretly to her daughters matters pertaining to lust and prepare them for womanhood; let not men be cruel nor punish their women when they catch them in the act of adultery. Whoever shall disobey shall be killed by being cut to pieces and thrown to the caymans.

Article XIThese shall be burned: who by their strength or cunning have mocked at and escaped punishment or who have killed young boys; or try to steal away the women of the elders.

Article XIIThese shall be drowned: all who interfere with their superiors, or their owners or masters; all those who abuse themselves through their lust; those who destroy their anitos (religious icons) by breaking them or throwing them down.

Article XIIIAll these shall be exposed to ants for half a day: who kill black cats during a new moon; or steal anything from the chiefs or agorangs, however small the object may be.

Article XIVThese shall be made slave for life: who have beautiful daughters and deny them to the sons of chiefs, and with bad faith hide them away.

Article XVConcerning beliefs and traditions; these shall be beaten: who eat the diseased flesh of beasts which they hold in respect, or the herb which they consider good, who wound or kill the young of the Manaul, or the white monkey.

ArticleXVIThe fingers shall be cut-off: of all those who break anitos of wood and clay in their alangans and temples; of those who destroy the daggers of the catalonans(priest/priestess), or break the drinking jars of the latter.

Article XVIIThese shall be killed: who profane sites where anitos are kept, and sites where are buried the sacred things of their diwatas and headmen. He who performs his necessities in those places shall be burned.

Article XVIIIThose who do not cause these rules to be obeyed: if they are headmen, they shall be put to death by being stoned and crushed; and if they are agorangs they shall be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and caymans.