Economic

 

The natives of the Philippines Islands had also begun trading with trading with other Asian countries even before the coming of the Spaniards. It was because of this trade that larger and more permanent settlements began to spawn across the coastlines, the largest of these settlements was a bayan presently known as Manila. 

 

Agriculture was the main source of livelihood of the natives. When the Spaniards came to the Philippines they noticed that Cebu and Palawan were abundant in agricultural foodstuff. According to Sucesos, efforts have been made to raise olives and quince and other european fruits but so far they have not succeeded because natives lacked in having the sufficient knowledge of foreign foodstuff. Fishing with bow and arrow, mining, lumbering and shipbuilding, and weaving were other main sources or livelihood of them. They trade goods in order to live. Chinese also said that natives were honest in terms of commercial transactions. Gold was abundant in the Philippines before just like it was mentioned in the Sucesos that throughout these Islands are certain places where there is an abundance of rich gold deposits and other mineral products which are collected by the natives through washing or placer-mining. Sometimes they trade goods with the use of gold.