The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

RELIGION BEFORE 1000 A. D.

27

4. Malays.
We have discussed three of the four types which invaded
the Philippines (the Papuans, and type "A" and type "B"
of the Indonesians). The fourth group of invaders are called
Malays. Professor Otley Beyer5 believes that the Malay is
not a separate race but is a blending of Mongoloid and
Indonesian types. When even today Chinese and Indonesians
intermarry, their children often present marked Malayan
characteristics. Be that as it may, the so-called Malays were
totally different in language and customs from the Indonesians
who had come before them. One difference was especially
striking. All the earlier inhabitants, Indonesians and pygmies,
had lived in thinly populated forest regions. The Malays, on
the contrary, deforested the land, and were thickly populated.
Most of the Malays are now either Christian or Moslem.
There are four groups of Malays which are even today largely
pagan, the Tinggians, Bontoks, Igorots and Ifugaos. The
Igorots and Ifugaos are almost pure Mongoloid, which is
to say their ancestors came from Northern Asia. The Ifugaos,
by constructing terraces and irrigation ditches, were able to
cultivate the precipitous mountain sides in a manner which
has commanded the admiration of the world. We may assume, then, that probably I500 or 2000 years ago, the Malays
already partially civilized, gradually occupied and largely dominated the portions of the Philippines which are now most
Type "B" among the Ibanags, Gaddangs, people of Eastern Kalinga, of
Ilocos Norte, of Southern Ifugao, and among Central and Eastern Ilongots.
The Visayan Islands: The people of the interior of the larger islands show
marked Indonesian features, type "A" being most common in the western part,
while type "B" is more common in the eastern section. Nearly all the
Indonesians of the Visayas have been Christianized and intermingled with
the later Malayan cultures.
Eastern and Central Mindanao: Ten groups, containing an important or
predominant Indonesian element are found here. Type "A" seems to be
in the interior, while type "B" is found chiefly on the east coast and around
Davao gulf. But on Davao gulf the basic types are pygmy number 2, mixed
with type "B," and occasionally type "A" of the Indonesians. The Bagobos,
Bilaans and Manobos are of this mixture. The M4ndayans are pure Indonesians
largely type "A" and the Isamals are pure, largely type "B." The Tirurays are
strikingly like the Isamals though far separated from them. The Bukidnons
are of type "A."
The Zamboanga Peninsula: Interior contains type "A" with pygmy number
2 mixture. The coast contains chiefly type "B" with later Malay mixture.
5 i9x8 Census of the Philippine Islands, Vol. II, p. 907 if.