One day in 1989, a man was dredging sand at the mouth of the Lumbáng River near Laguna de Ba'y. He was in the business of selling sand to make concrete. From time to time he augmented his income whenever he happened to dig up an antique which he would sell to collectors.
On this day he uncovered a blackened roll of metal. Usually he would just throw away such junk as it tended to get jammed in his equipment. However, when the man unfurled the roll he saw that it was a sheet of copper, about the size of a magazine, and it had strange writing on it.
He offered the copper sheet to a few collectors but none were interested because it did not seem to be valuable. It was not gold, porcelain or ivory. Finally the man offered the document to the Philippine National Museum and they bought it for the low price of 2000 pesos. There the strange document remained, now called the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, because nobody could decipher it.
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
Click on the picture for a modern transcription
and see how Filipinos spoke in the year 900.
The Translation
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
Click on the picture for a modern transcription
and see how Filipinos spoke in the year 900.
Antoon Postma is a Dutch expert on ancient Philippine scripts especially the writing of the Mangyans. He is the director of the Mangyán Assistance & Research Centre in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Mindoro. He has been living in the Philippines for a long time and whenever he is in Manila he visits his friends at the National Museum. In 1990 they showed Postma the copperplate inscription. Postma was interested so he requested photos of it and then started his translation.
At first Postma thought that the document was Indonesian because it was written in Kavi, the ancient writing of Indonesia and it bore a Sanskrit date of 822 or 900 C.E. (Common Era) To make sure that the document was not a fake, Postman consulted his fellow countryman Dr. J.G. de Casparis, a well known expert in the ancient scripts of Indonesia. According to Casparis, the script and the words used in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription are exactly those that were in use on Java at that time.
However this document had some peculiarities compared to the documents of Java. First: The custom at that time was to always mention the name of the king in any important documents. The Laguna document did not mention King Balitung, the king of Java at that time. Second: The language used in the document was a strange mixture of Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Malay and Old Tagalog. Third: The method of writing was different. At that time in Java the characters were impressed into heated copper while the characters of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription seemed to hammered into cold copper.
The Contents of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription
In his examination Postma learned that the inscription was a document from the Chief of Tondo which forgave the debt of a man named Namwaran. According to the document his debt was one katî and eight suwarna or about 926.4 grams of gold. This is equal to about $14,800 Canadian dollars today (1998).
Aside from some chiefs and some relatives of Namwaran, the document also mentioned a few towns that still exist today. Tundun was mentioned which is now Tondo in Metro Manila as well as three in Bulakan; Pailah or Paila, Puliran or Pulilan, and Binwangan. Dewata or Diwata, a town close to Butuan, Agusan del Norte, Mindanao was mentioned and Medang which is possibly Medan in Sumatra, Indonesia. The name of Namwaran's son is Bukah whose name may have some relation to the town of Gatbuka in Bulakán, close to the border of Pampanga (Gat being a title similar to a knighted Sir).
Places Mentioned in the L.C.I.
The Document is Authenticated
Because of the places mentioned in the document and its differences to Indonesian documents, it was Postma's opinion the Laguna Copperplate Inscription was an authentic work of an ancient Filipino and not a hoax by a very skilful forger.
In 1993, Jesus Peralta of the Philippine National Museum showed Postma's work to a visiting Filipino American, Hector Santos from California. Santos is a history buff who has long been interested in the ancient scripts of the Philippines. He immediately saw the importance of the document. In 1994 he started to publish a newsletter; Sulat Sa Tansô, (Writing in Copper) in order to spread the news about the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. In 1996 he launched A Philippine Leaf, an internet web site devoted to Philippine history. Our understanding of the copper document has been greatly increased by the diligent research of Hector Santos. He suggested that the name Puliran Malay be given to the language used in the document. He also calculated the exact Julian date of the document through the use of astronomical software and historical investigation. That date is Monday, April 21, 900 C.E.
The Document in English
In 1994 Hector Santos asked me to write a Filipino translation of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. I wrote two. The first was based on his English translation. The second was based on his glossary, called the LCI Dictionary, and on my own research. It closely followed the word order of the original document. My latest translation (which can be seen in the Filipino version this article) changed the sentence structure to make it more readable. Here is my rough English translation of that Filipino version.
Long Live! Year of Siyaka 822, month of Waisaka, according to astronomy. The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Buka, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in Chief of Tundun, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa.
By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 katî and 8 suwarna before the Honourable Lord Minister of Puliran, Ka Sumuran by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah.
Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang.
Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable Namwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata.
This, in any case, shall declare to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the Honourable...
The Beginning of Philippine History
This document is very important to our understanding of the origin of the Filipino people. Because of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, we now know that Filipinos had a culture and were civilized as far back as 900 C.E. One thousand, one hundred years ago or 621 years before the Spaniards arrived! We also have learned that Hindu culture existed in the Philippines and that Manila was populated even before the arrival of the Muslims in the 12th or 13th century.
However, many questions need to be answered such as: What happened to the culture described in the copper document? Why did their language disappear but the place names remain? How did the Baybayin writing system replace Kavi which was much more advanced and widespread throughout Southeast Asia?
Many new areas of research have open up for historians and other scientists. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription has pointed out five communities that must be examined by archaeologists because we know them to have been in existence since 900 C.E. It is also possible to re-examine ancient Chinese documents that mentioned mysterious places in the Philippines because we now know the former names of some towns. As well, the formerly discredited theory of a connection between the Philippines and the ancient empires of Java and Sumatra must now be re-examined.
