The Philippine archipelago in the pre-sixteenth century (before 1600) was made up of principalities called "barangay" (singular); "barangays" (plural) run by various chieftain/lordships called "Datu" (singular); "Datus" (plural).^(1) Unlike Japan which had a central system of belief (i.e. Shintoism) and a core military system (i.e. Shogun) in the Edo period (circa 1600), the power of the barangays was inexplicably scattered. Every Datu consolidated economic and military power within territories that paid tribute to them. There was no central faith except for widespread animism. Early Filipinos shared some localized adaptations from far more prominent religions (i.e. Hinduism, Theravada Buddhism, and Islam) they may have encountered through trade.^(2) Conversion to these faiths were mediums that consolidated political power thus to further one's own benefit.

Fragmentation was one of these conditions. When the Spaniards returned in 1572, they took advantage of the poorly organized unity of the Datus and pitted them against one another. The barangay complex became pacified through a resettlement system called "reducción" (literally "to reduce").^(3) The reducción system proselytized the indigenous to Christianity. Those native lordships mentioned earlier were bribed by the Spaniards to convert and submit thus exempting them from paying tribute and assigning them a respectable administrative status in local government.^(4)

Notes:

^(1) Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1998. http://www.ateneo.edu/ateneopress/product/barangay-sixteenth-century-philippine-culture-and-society-1.

^(2) Borrinaga, Rolando. Surát Binisayâ: Deciphering Ancient Bisayan Writing and Language. Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2017. https://www.newdaypublishers.com/catalog.php?c=10&i=779.

^(3) Hernandez, Jose Rhommel. "Reducción: Ang Pag-uwi sa Diskurso ng Pananakop at Pakikipagtunggali." Malay Journal 23, no. 1 (2010): 67-80. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344991667_Reduccion_Ang_Pag-uwi_Sa_Diskurso_ng_Pananakop_at_Pakikipagtunggali.

^(4) Simbulan, Dante. The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2005.