Based on the accounts of the Chinese and early Spanish writers, the Ilonggo-Bisaya lived in permanent settlements with a relatively large population. They were engaged in the production of crops and crafts, and in fishing in the surrounding rivers and seas with their own-constructed wooden boats. They had a system of writing, their own songs, and dances, folk legend, epics, and stories. They wove colorful textile materials from piƱa, abaca, and cotton, as well as silk that they imported from the Chinese traders. They built sturdy houses made of wood, bamboo, nipa, and cogon. They were also expert silversmiths and coppersmiths and worked on intricate jewelry made of gold and silver. Moreover, early Spanish writers like Colin, Loarca, and Morga attested that the Ilonggos already enjoyed a certain degree of civilization at the time of the Spanish contact.
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Excerpt from "Establishing Pre-colonial Ilonggo Identity" written by Henry Funtencha, February 2008
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