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I. During the Philippine pre-colonial period, the basic political subdivision was known as the barangay, which is ruled by a datu or “village chief.” Within the barangay are multiple political divisions, the highest of which is the nobles. The nobles, which include the Datu and his bloodline, are the highest figures in the barangay. The second in rank is the freemen. The freemen are the merchants, fishermen, farmers, and all other workers within the barangay. The lowest division is the slaves. The slaves are divided into two categories, the aliping namamahay, who stay at their owner’s homes, and the aliping sanguigilid, who have their own home but still work for a master.
II. Colonialism is, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is “a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another”. In the perspective of the Philippines’ past political, historical and social climate, his can somehow be viewed as a positive thing because the Philippines back then was still severely underdeveloped. However if viewed from a moral standpoint, this is a negative concept because it restricts the country (i.e. the Philippines) its natural ability to develop, grow, and prosper on its own.
III. The Philippines’ cultures and traditions are very rich and diverse in every sense of the word. This trait can be attributed to the many colonizers that colonized the Philippines, and also the tourists ang businessmen that entered the country. One the the biggest contributors were the Chinese. The Chinese people introduced many things to us in the categories of food, entertainment, and many more. They introduced the use of fireworks, their unique cuisine (like the noodles), porcelain ware, umbrellas, manufacture of gunpowder, and certain mining methods superstitions, etc. The loose style of dressing, like the sleeved jackets and loose trouser of the Muslim Filipino women and