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Social Classes in the Philippines

This document discusses social class in the Philippines. It defines social class as a group of people with similar socioeconomic status or standing in society based on factors like income, education, and occupation. In pre-colonial Philippines, there were three main social classes - upper, middle, and lower - that were further divided into subgroups. The upper class, also called Maharlika, included datus and their families as well as other high-ranking individuals. The middle class consisted of freed slaves and those with some rights. The lower class included slaves with no rights and criminals or debtors.

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116 views2 pages

Social Classes in the Philippines

This document discusses social class in the Philippines. It defines social class as a group of people with similar socioeconomic status or standing in society based on factors like income, education, and occupation. In pre-colonial Philippines, there were three main social classes - upper, middle, and lower - that were further divided into subgroups. The upper class, also called Maharlika, included datus and their families as well as other high-ranking individuals. The middle class consisted of freed slaves and those with some rights. The lower class included slaves with no rights and criminals or debtors.

Uploaded by

maria niña gatuz
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • What Does Social Class Mean?

Republic of the Philippines

NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND


San Isidro Campus, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

What Does Social Class Mean?

 Contrary to popular belief, social class is more than just how much money you make.
Sociologists define social class as a group of people with similar socioeconomic status or
standing in society based on income, education, and occupation. Social classes range
from low to high and frequently reveal inequalities in power, influence, and access to
resources.
 A social class is a grouping of people into hierarchical social categories, the most
common of which are the upper, middle, and lower classes. Membership in a social class
can be determined by factors such as education, wealth, occupation, income, and
affiliation with a specific subculture or social network.
Social Analysis is a basic categorization method in which members of a community rank one
another as superior or inferior. Although many factors contribute to people's social segregation,
authority, wealth, status, and social influence are the most important. This was done as an
appropriate hierarchical organization and arrangement of these social classes from specific social
groups in the society. This social stratification had an impact on the Philippines' social hierarchy.
In the Philippines, there were three broad social classes that were further subdivided.

Upper Class / Maharlika


These were the highest authority holders in this hierarchy, as well as the richest people in the
Philippines' social hierarchy. This social class was further divided and subdivided as follows:
Class 1: This was the class of society's leader and his family. It included the following elements:
 Datu
 Datu’s Family

Class 2: These were inferior to Datu and his family, but superior to the rest of the Philippine
people. People in this class were involved in administrative tasks such as trading, lawmaking,
warfare, enforcing laws, and handling and caring for rituals and religion.
 Umalahokan
 Gat
 Lakan

Transforming Communities through Science and Technology 1|


Republic of the Philippines
NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND
San Isidro Campus, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Middle Class

This was the hierarchy's middle social class. It also included two social classes, which are
represented below.
These were the Freed Slaves of Timawa. They obtained their liberty by any means possible.
They worked in agriculture, boat building, livestock, carpentry, hunting, fishing, and other
manual labor. They were permitted to marry and have children of their own.
Aliping Namamahay - These were also slaves, but their owners gave them some rights. They
could escape by any means available at the time. When an Aliping Namamahay purchased his
liberty, he became a Timawa.

Lower Class
This was the lowest class in the hierarchy. It was then divided into two classes, which are
described below:
Aliping Sangigilid - This was the lowest class in the Philippines' social hierarchy. These people
had no or few rights. They were not permitted to own property in the country. They were not
even allowed to marry. They were treated similarly to slaves, who could be traded or even sold
by their owners and were not allowed to oppose their master's decision.
Alipin - The lowest social class in the Philippines. These were people who had committed crimes
in the past. People would inherit 'Alipin' blood from their criminal parents. There were also some
Alipin who were deeply in debt.

Transforming Communities through Science and Technology 2|

San Isidro Campus, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, Philippines ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED Republic of the Philippines NUEVA ECIJA UNIVE
San Isidro Campus, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, Philippines ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED Republic of the Philippines NUEVA ECIJA UNIVE

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