Bisaya

Visayans (Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, they are both the most numerous in the entire country at around 33.5 million, as well as the most geographically widespread. The Visayans broadly share a maritime culture with strong Roman Catholic traditions integrated into a precolonial indigenous core through centuries of interaction and migration mainly across the Visayan, Sibuyan, Camotes, Bohol and Sulu seas. In more inland or otherwise secluded areas, ancient animistic-polytheistic beliefs and traditions either were reinterpreted within a Roman Catholic framework or syncretized with the new religion. Visayans are generally speakers of one or more of the Bisayan languages, the most widely spoken being Cebuano, followed by Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) and Waray-Waray.

Terminology

''Kabisay-an'' refers both to the Visayan people collectively and the islands they have inhabited since prehistory. The Anglicized term ''Visayas'' (in turn adapted from the Hispanized ''Bisayas'') is commonly used to refer to the latter.

In Northern Mindanao, Visayans (both Mindanao natives and migrants) are also referred to by the Lumad as the ''dumagat'' ("sea people", from the root word ''dagat'' - "sea"; not to be confused with the Dumagat Aeta). This was to distinguish the coast-dwelling Visayans from the Lumad of the interior highlands and marshlands.

The following regions and provinces in the Philippines have a sizeable or predominant Visayan population:

According to H. Otley Beyer and other anthropologists, the term ''Visayan'' (Spanish: ''bisayo'') was first applied only to the people of Panay and to their settlements eastward in the island of Negros and northward in the smaller islands, which now compose the province of Romblon. In fact, at the early part of Spanish colonialization of the Philippines, the Spaniards used the term ''Visayan'' only for these areas, while the people of Cebu, Bohol and Western Leyte were for a long time known only as Pintados.

The name ''Visayan'' was later extended to them around the beginning of 1800s because, as several of the early writers state (especially in the writings of the Jesuit Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro published in 1801), albeit erroneously, their languages are closely allied to the Visayan "dialect" of Panay. The impression of these similarities was in fact carefully analyzed by David Zorc, who, while able to linguistically classify the Austronesian subfamily termed Bisayan languages, noticed their overall connections as one dialect continuum. These should not, however, be confused as dialects, given the lack of mutual intelligibility.Zorc, David Paul. ''The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and Reconstruction''. Canberra, Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1977.

Grabiel Ribera, captain of the Spanish royal infantry in the Philippine Islands, also distinguished Panay from the rest of the Pintados Islands. In his report (dated 20 March 1579) regarding a campaign to pacify the natives living along the rivers of Mindanao (a mission he received from Dr. Francisco de Sande, Governor and Captain-General of the Archipelago), Ribera mentioned that his aim was to make the inhabitants of that island "''vassals of King Don Felipe ... as are all the natives of the island of Panay, the Pintados Islands, and those of the island of Luzon ...''"

Similarly, the old Spanish term ''Hiligueinos'' (also spelled ''Yliguenes'', ''Yligueynes'', or ''Hiligueynos''; from Visayan ''Iligan'' or ''Iliganon'', meaning "people of the coast") was once used by the Spanish conquistador Miguel de Loarca as a general name for coastal-dwelling Visayans not only in Panay, but also Cebu, Bohol, and Western Negros. Today, the demonym is only used specifically for the Hiligaynon people, a major Visayan subgroup.

History

Classical period

The Visayans first encountered Western Civilization when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached the island of Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521. The Visayas became part of the Spanish colony of the Philippines and the history of the Visayans became intertwined with the history of the Philippines. With the three centuries of contact with the Spanish Empire via Mexico and the United States, the islands today share a culture tied to the sea later developed from an admixture of indigenous lowland Visayans, Han Chinese, Indian, and American influences.

Spanish colonization

The first Filipino people encountered by the Magellan expedition (c. 1521) were Visayans from the island of Suluan; followed by two rulers of the Surigaonon and Butuanon people on a hunting expedition in Limasawa, Rajah Colambu and Rahah Siaui; and finally Rajah Humabon of Cebu. Magellan describes the Suluanon people he encountered as "painted" (tattooed), with gold earrings and armlets, and kerchiefs around their heads. They described Rajah Colambu as having dark hair that hung down to his shoulders, tawny skin, and tattoos all throughout his body. They also noted the large amount of gold ornaments he wore, from large gold earrings to gold tooth fillings. Rajah Colambu wore embroidered patadyong that covered him from the waist to the knees, as well as a kerchief around his head. They also described the "''boloto''" ( bangka) and the large "''balanghai''" (balangay) warships, and the custom of drinking palm wine ("''uraka''") and chewing areca nut. They also described the queen of Cebu as being young and beautiful and covered in white and black cloth. She painted her lips and nails red, and wore a large disc-shaped hat ('' sadok'') made from elaborately-woven leaves.

The 16th century marks the beginning of the Christianization of the Visayan people, with the baptism of Rajah Humabon and about 800 native Cebuanos. The Christianization of the Visayans and Filipinos in general, is commemorated by the Ati-Atihan Festival of Aklan, the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo, and the Sinulog festival the feast of the Santo Niño de Cebu (Holy Child of Cebu), the brown-skinned depiction of the Child Jesus given by Magellan to Rajah Humabon's wife, Hara Amihan (baptized as Queen Juana). By the 17th century, Visayans already took part in religious missions. In 1672, Pedro Calungsod, a teenage indigenous Visayan catechist and Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Spanish friar, were both martyred in Guam during their mission to preach Christianity to the Chamorro people.

By the end of the 19th century, the Spanish Empire weakened after a series of wars with its American territories. The surge of newer ideas from the outside world thanks to the liberalization of trade by the Bourbon Spain fostered a relatively larger middle class population called the '' Ilustrados'' or "the Enlightened Ones." This then became an incentive for the new generation of educated political visionaries to fulfill their dreams of independence from three centuries of colonial rule. Some prominent leaders of the Philippine Revolution in the late 19th century were Visayans. Among leaders of the Propaganda movement was Graciano López Jaena, the Ilonggo who established the propagandist publication ''La Solidaridad'' (The Solidarity). In the Visayan theater of the Revolution, Pantaleón Villegas (better known as León Kilat) led the Cebuano revolution in the Battle of ''Tres de Abril'' (April 3). One of his successors, Arcadio Maxilom, is a prominent general in the liberalization of Cebu. Earlier in 1897, Aklan fought against the Spaniards with Francisco Castillo and Candido Iban at the helm. Both were executed after a failed offensive. Martin Delgado led the rebellion in neighboring Iloilo. Led by Juan Araneta with the assistance of Aniceto Lacson, Negros Occidental was freed while Negros Oriental was liberated by Diego de la Viña. The former would be called the Negros Revolution or the ''Cinco de Noviembre''. Movements in Capiz were led by Esteban Contreras with the aid of Alejandro Balgos, Santiago Bellosillo and other Ilustrados. Meanwhile, Leandro Locsin Fullon spearheaded the liberalization of Antique. Most of these revolutionaries would continue their fight for independence until the Philippine–American War. There was also a less heard and short-lived uprising called the Igbaong Revolt which occurred in Igbaong, Antique steered by Maximo and Gregorio Palmero. This revolt, however, was secularly-motivated as they clamored for a more syncretic form of religion based on Visayan animist traditions and Christianity.

Federal State of the Visayas

At the peak of the Philippine Revolution, anti-colonial insurgencies sprung from Luzon up to the Visayas. Despite military support from the Tagalog Republic led by Emilio Aguinaldo, Visayan revolutionary leaders were skeptical toward the real motives of the Tagalogs. Such ethnic animosity was notable to the point that local Visayan leaders demanded forces sent from the north to surrender their armaments and were prohibited to leave revolutionary bases. Moreover, this apprehension led to the full declaration of the Federal State of Visayas on December 12, 1898. This short-lived federal government, based in Iloilo, was an accumulation of revolutionary movements across Panay and Negros. The following were the elected officials four days prior to the declaration:

The federation was immediately formed upon the merger of the Cantonal Government of Negros, the Cantonal Government of Bohol and the Provisional Government of the District of Visayas (based in Panay) which included Romblon. It was said to be based on American federalism and Swiss confederacy. Despite their skepticism towards Malolos, the Visayan government proclaimed its loyalty to the Luzon-based republic while maintaining their own governance, tax collection and army. Apolinario Mabini, then the prime minister of the Malolos republic convinced the Visayan leaders that the Malolos Constitution was only provisional and that the governments in Visayas and Mindanao were promised the power to co-ratify it.

American colonization

After the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the American colonial government saw the integral part of indigenous elites particularly in Negros in local affairs. This was a different move compared to the previous Spanish imperialists who created a racial distinction between mestizos and native Austronesians ('' indios''). As such, this paved the way for a homogenous concept of a Filipino albeit initially based on financial and political power. These said elites were the ''hacienderos'' or the landed, bourgeois-capitalist class concentrated within the sugar cane industry of Negros. The Americans' belief that these hacienderos would be strategic elements in their political hold within the newly acquired colony bolstered the drafting of a separate colonial constitution by and for