Timawa

The term timawa refers to an intermediate social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries.

A pre-colonial couple belonging to the Datu or nobility caste as depicted in the Boxer Codex of the 16th Century.

The "Timawa" belonged to the Second Order of a divinely ordained society in the Visayan islands of the Philippines. They were vassals, who bind themselves to the Datu as his seafaring warriors. "Timawas" paid no tribute, and rendered no agricultural labor. They had a portion of the Datu's blood in their veins. The Boxer Codex calls these "Timawas": Knights and Hidalgos. The Spanish conquistador, Miguel de Loarca, described them as "free men, neither chiefs nor slaves". In the late 1600s, the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Francisco Ignatio Alcina, classified them as the third rank of nobility (nobleza).

The term Timawa came into use in the social structure of the Tagalogs within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being applied to former Alipin (Third Class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight.

The Tagalog Timawas did not have the military prominence of the Visayan Timawa. The warrior class in the Tagalog society was present only in Laguna, and they were called the Maharlika Class. At the early part of the Spanish regime, the number of their members who were coming to rent land from their Datus was increasing.

The Datus and Lakans of Luzon could call all non-Maginoo subjects to work in the Datu’s fields or do all sorts of other personal labor. The Tagalog Maharlika could be obliged to work in his Datu’s field. He was also required to pay rent for the use of the land within the territory of his Datu. However, he could transfer allegiance to another Datu if he wishes.

On the other hand, the Visayan timawa class, neither paid tribute nor performed agricultural labor. In this context, they were truly aristocrats. In the Visayas, only the oripuns (Visayan for alipin) were obliged to do that, and to pay tribute besides.