Tagalog People - History

History

• Tagalog royalty at the time of initial contact with the Spanish. mid-1500s. Boxer Codex

• Tagalog nobility at the time of initial contact with the Spanish. mid-1500s. Boxer Codex

• Tagalog nobility at the time of initial contact with the Spanish. mid-1500s. Boxer Codex

The present "center" of the Tagalog culture and people is Taal, Batangas, being its birthplace, and is still the "Heartland of the Tagalog Culture". Most of the culture of the Tagalog people is passed on by oral tradition, despite the existence of a writing system. This is because even if they were literate and had a written tradition before the Spaniards arrived, they wrote their ideas on perishable leaves and branches.

The Tagalogs were the first settlers of Manila. In the late 16th century, Spain chose Manila as the capital of its Philippine colony. From then onwards, it has been the political and economic center of the Philippines. Manila and the surrounding Tagalog areas played a leading role in the Philippine Revolution and the People Power Revolution. Throughout the centuries, there have been massive migrations by other ethnic groups to Manila, and many of them have intermarried with the Tagalog people.

A number of Philippine national heroes are of Tagalog heritage. The Tagalogs staged numerous revolts against Spanish colonization, and were also among the earliest. One such revolt was that of Apolinario de la Cruz (Hermano Pule), which was religious in orientation.

The Philippines National hero José Rizal, was a native Tagalog who hailed from Calamba, Laguna,

In 1898, many leaders of the Philippine Revolution were Tagalogs, including Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Andrés Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, among others.

Since Aguinaldo, other Tagalogs have assumed the presidency: Manuel L. Quezon (who was a Filipino mestizo of Tagalog descent), José P. Laurel, and Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Early Philippine history has always been actively participated by the struggles and triumphs of the Tagalog people and the Tagalogs came to take an active part in the present Philippine economy and politics.