<figure class="image-550">
<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-29/boxer-codex-visayan.webp" alt="A 16th-century watercolor illustration from the Boxer Codex depicting a noble Visayan couple in traditional pre-colonial attire. The man on the left wears a long yellow tunic belted with a bright blue sash, from which a gold-hilted dagger protrudes. He is adorned with heavy, layered gold collar necklaces, large gold hoop earrings, and a red fabric headband wrapping his dark, curly hair. The woman on the right wears a cropped blue jacket and a long, red wrap skirt with a golden border. She also wears matching thick gold collar necklaces and hoop earrings, with her hair styled in a neat bun. Both are barefoot and gesturing toward one another against a plain background." loading="lazy" />
<figcaption>A pre-colonial Visayan royal couple (Kadatuan class) of the Pintados culture, adorned in heavy gold necklaces and traditional woven garments, as illustrated in the late 16th-century manuscript known as the Boxer Codex.</figcaption>
</figure>


<p>
In the twentieth century, a deep nationalist desire to establish a sophisticated, self-governing pre-colonial identity led to the uncritical acceptance of local folk epics as literal historical facts. Foremost among these narratives is the legendary migration known as the Maragtas. Originally published in the early American colonial period, this narrative quickly evolved from a compiled volume of regional folklore into a foundational text taught to generations of school children as verified historical truth. The trajectory of the Maragtas - from local storytelling to national historical dogma, and its subsequent critical deconstruction - illustrates the challenges of historical methodology and the powerful role of mythmaking in the construction of national identity.   
</p>
<h2>
The Genesis of Monteclaro's Maragtas: Textual Origin and Linguistic Evolution
</h2>
<p>
The specific narrative cluster recognized as the Maragtas began with a single publication in 1907 by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro, a prominent Visayan poet, public official, and former Colonel in the Philippine Revolutionary Army who fought against both Spanish and American colonial forces. Serving as the first municipal mayor of Miag-ao, Iloilo, under the newly established American civil government from 1901 to 1903, Monteclaro compiled regional traditions and published his work at the El Tiempo Press in Iloilo City under the banner of the patriotic association Kadapig sang Banwa. Monteclaro, who died only two years later in 1909 at the age of 59, financed the limited edition himself. The original volume was a hardbound, black-brownish book measuring approximately 7.5 cm in width, 25 cm in length, and 5 cm in thickness.   
</p>
<p>
Linguistically, Monteclaro’s original 1907 text was written in Kinaray-a, the native tongue of the Karay-a people who inhabit the interior of Panay Island, with minor elements of Hiligaynon. Over the following decades, the text underwent a significant language shift. In 1929, the publisher Salvador Laguda translated the text into Hiligaynon - the dominant, high-status regional language of the Iloilo City elite - for serialization in the newspaper Makinaugalinon. This Hiligaynon translation was reprinted in 1957 by Monteclaro's son, Juanito, which further contributed to the marginalization of the original Kinaray-a version and altered the localized nuances of the narrative.   
</p>


<p>
The full title of Monteclaro's work reveals its scope: Maragtás kon (historia) sg pulô nga Panay kutub sg iya una nga pamuluyö, tubtub sg pag-abut sg mga taga Borneo nga amó ang ginhalinan sg mga bisayâ, kag sg pag-abut sg mga Katsilâ. Notably, the term "maragtas" was completely unknown in any ancient Visayan language prior to 1907. Monteclaro used the word simply as a neologism intended to mean "history". Mid-century attempts to link the word to Spanish linguistic roots or Sanskrit derivatives have been rejected by modern linguists, confirming that "maragtas" has no verified pre-colonial etymological history.   
</p>

<div class="table-wrapper">
  <table>
    <caption>Table 1: Structural and Narrative Outline of Pedro Monteclaro’s Original 1907 Maragtas Book</caption>
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th>Chapter</th>
        <th>Narrative and Anthropological Content</th>
        <th>Temporal and Historiographical Context</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td>Laguda's Introduction</td>
        <td>Written by publisher Salvador Laguda; warns readers that the work contains folk legends that do not fully align with modern factual accuracy.</td>
        <td>1907 Publisher's framing.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Author's Preface</td>
        <td>Monteclaro's foreword outlining his motivation to preserve the ancestral traditions of Panay and disclosing his source materials.</td>
        <td>Authorial declaration of compilation.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter I</td>
        <td>Detailed ethnography of the indigenous Aetas (Atis) of Panay, focusing on their language, custom, dress, and the leadership of Chief Polpulan and his son Marikudo.</td>
        <td>Pre-migration indigenous era.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter II</td>
        <td>The core flight of the ten noble datus from the tyrannical rule of Rajah Makatunaw in Borneo and the subsequent land purchase from Chieftain Marikudo.</td>
        <td>Migratory event (traditionally dated to the 13th century).</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter III</td>
        <td>The dramatic romance of Datu Sumakwel, his unfaithful wife Kapinangan, and her lover Gurung-garung, illustrating early moral codes.</td>
        <td>Legendary social and moral storytelling.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter IV</td>
        <td>The political demarcation of Panay Island, the expansion of Malayan settlements, and the maritime exploration of the island's coasts.</td>
        <td>Early territorial organization.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter V</td>
        <td>Detailed records of ancient Visayan lifestyles, including trade, marriage rituals, mourning customs, calendars, and timekeeping techniques.</td>
        <td>Cultural and social systems.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Chapter VI</td>
        <td>A chronological list of Spanish administrative and colonial officials who governed Panay between the years 1637 and 1808.</td>
        <td>Transition to the historical Spanish era.</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>Epilogue</td>
        <td>Final administrative dates, regional developments, and historical summaries from the late Spanish colonial period.</td>
        <td>Modern colonial history.</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

<h2>  
Deconstructing the "Ancient Document" Claims and Translation Discrepancies
</h2>
<p>
A central factor in the transformation of the Maragtas from folklore to historical dogma was the deliberate misrepresentation of Monteclaro’s sources by subsequent translators and historians. In his original Kinaray-a preface, Monteclaro was open about his methodology, writing: akon diri igasambit nga duha ka talamdan ang akon naayap ("I wish to mention here two manuscripts I found"). He went on to describe these manuscripts in a manner that highlighted their poor condition:   
</p>
<ul class="k-list">
<li>
<b>The Grandfather's Manuscript:</b> Found in a bamboo tube where Monteclaro's grandfather kept old administrative papers, this text was so brittle and dry that it tore at the slightest touch, rendering it almost completely illegible.   
</li>
<li>
<b>The Elder's Manuscript:</b> Obtained in 1901 from an 82-year-old resident of Miag-ao, this paper-based manuscript had been written with an organic black dye and smeared with acidic tree sap, which had burned through the paper over time, making it virtually useless.   
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Despite Monteclaro's explicit statements that these documents were unreadable and that he did not transcribe them directly, subsequent writers altered his words to imply the existence of a pristine, ancient source. In a 1957 English translation, Manuel L. Carreon translated Monteclaro's phrase as "the two manuscripts on which I based my work". In 1963, Juan C. Orendain wrote that Monteclaro "claimed he copied the Maragtas" from ancient pre-colonial scrolls - a claim that Orendain later admitted was unfounded when interviewed by historian <a href="/articles/3415/william-henry-scott-legacy-in-philippine-history" class="news_link">William Henry Scott</a> in 1966.   
</p>
<p>
The physical parameters of these manuscripts also undermine their pre-colonial authenticity. Monteclaro noted that both manuscripts were written on paper, a material introduced to the region during the Spanish colonial period, which places their creation firmly within the Spanish era. Furthermore, when Tom Harrisson published Carreon’s translation in the Sarawak Museum Journal in 1957 under the title Maragtas: the Datus from Borneo (the earliest known Visayan text), he omitted the publisher’s notes and the final chapters dealing with Spanish administrative history. This editorial suppression presented the text to the international scientific community as a purely pre-Hispanic document, cementing its reputation as an ancient artifact.   
</p>
<h2>
The Migration Narrative: From Bornean Tyranny to the Barter of Panay
</h2>
<p>
According to the narrative compiled by Monteclaro, the legend begins in the mid-thirteenth century in Borneo, where the population suffered under the tyrannical rule of Rajah Makatunaw. Makatunaw's regime was marked by physical violence, property confiscation, and the systematic abuse of noblewomen. The crisis escalated when the Rajah targeted Pabulanan, the wife of Datu Paiborong. Rather than launching a bloody domestic rebellion, Datu Paiborong and Datu Bangkaya consulted the wise Datu Sumakwel, who advised fleeing the country to establish a free society elsewhere.   
</p>
<p>
Under the guidance of Datu Puti, the Rajah's chief minister, ten noble datus, their families, warriors, and domestic staff - totaling approximately 600 individuals - boarded a fleet of ten large outrigger vessels called binidays or barangays. Sailing northward across the Sulu Sea, they eventually landed near the mouth of the Siwaragan River in what is now San Joaquin, southern Iloilo.   
</p>
<p>
Upon landing, the Borneans encountered the indigenous Atis (or Aetas), a Negrito ethnic group led by Chieftain Marikudo and his wife, Queen Maniwantiwan. Seeking to acquire the lowland territories for permanent settlement, Datu Puti initiated peace negotiations at a flat, seaside rock formation in Sinogbuhan known as Imbidayan Rock. The etymology of Imbidayan is derived from the Kinaray-a word biday (or biray), which refers to an ancient pre-Hispanic vessel, signifying the spot where the Borneans landed their boats.   
</p>
<p>
During the historic "Barter of Panay," the Bornean datus offered valuable items to secure land rights. Chieftain Marikudo accepted a solid gold sadok (a traditional wide-brimmed conical hat) and a gold batiya (basin). Queen Maniwantiwan received a long, pearl-studded gold necklace called a sumangyad (or sadiri), which was modeled after one worn by Datu Puti’s wife, Pinangpangan. To seal the agreement, the Atis performed their traditional urokoy and undok-undok dances, and the Borneans responded with a celebratory feast. Following the transaction, the Atis moved into the safety of the interior mountains, leaving the fertile coastal lowlands and plains to the Bornean settlers.   
</p>
<h2>
Spatial and Legal Structures of the Legendary Confederation of Madja-as
</h2>
<p>
Following the purchase of the island, Datu Puti, Datu Balensuela, and Datu Dumangsil sailed northward to explore Luzon. Impressed by the fertility of the region, Balensuela and Dumangsil settled with their followers around Lake Taal (Bombon) in Batangas, eventually becoming the legendary ancestors of the Tagalog people. Datu Puti then returned to Borneo to challenge Rajah Makatunaw, leaving the Panay settlements under the leadership of Datu Sumakwel.   
</p>


Is the Maragtas Legend Fact or Fiction?

Discover the true history of the ten Bornean datus of Panay. Explore how Pedro Monteclaro's 1907 book blurred the lines between ancient epic and modern myth.

The Maragtas Legend

Epistemological Dilemmas in Pre-Colonial Philippine Historiography