Umalohokan refers to the

town crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dre ...

s of

precolonial barangay In History of the Philippines (900–1565), early Philippine history, ''barangay'' is the term historically used by scholars to describe the complex sociopolitical units that were the dominant organizational pattern among the various Filipinos, ...

s in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. They were responsible for going around and making people aware of new laws and policies enacted by the

Datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, though no ...

or chieftain. Some historians, however, have a different interpretation. In cases of large scale disputes between barangays in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

, the respective Datus of the barangays may elect a head Datu, called an Umalohokan, to serve as judge. The Spanish colonizers noted that elections were held in the Philippines before they arrived, specifically for this post. When the dispute was settled, the term of the Umalohokan was over.

References

* Obsolete occupations History of the Philippines (900–1565) Mass media occupations {{Philippines-stub