This place is different from the West according to his memory. In the West, there is inequality when it comes to the status of women and slaves. Women are of less importance in society and slaves are properties of the nobles who will be slaves forever.
Here in Dodong's place, actually, in the whole pre-Hispanic Philippines women are treated with high respect. When they are walking, women are always in front leading while men are at the back protecting them. They can even lead and inherit possessions. Even communicating with gods is the role of women- Babaylan.
When it comes to slaves, the slaves here can save up money to buy their freedom. Slaves here are divided into two; the Sagigilid and Namamahay. The Namamahay are like serfs in the west; they take care of the lands of the nobles they serve while the Sagigilid are those slaves in the households of the nobles doing the housework. While they are called alipin, they are paid and they can save money and buy their freedom.
It was because of the advent of those bastard Spaniards that the situation changed. Even the concept of homosexuality is introduced to the people. Ancient Filipinos have no concept of homosexuality as the West does and they don't have the concept of it being a sin. In the early times, those men who are effeminate were called BINABAYI which means they move like women and they are treated with respect too. If there is binabayi, there is also LINALAKI, women who move like men.
Everything in society is perfect with the concept of respect and this should not be changed. Dodong wanted to preserve this kind of concept that their barangay has. Although he is planning to change a little when it comes to their dress codes, it will not affect the respect they have for each other.
Dodong took out the silk and linen he bought from the Chinese traders. He still remembers the outfit of those people and tried to create something similar to those clothes. Looking at the Maranaos, they have their own clothing too which is rich in culture.
The clothing of his tribe comes from the Visayas region since they came from Panay Island. Men are dressed in Bahag- a G-string worn in the lower part of the body; on the waist part. They also have pinayusan on the head. Men who have killed enemies wore dark red bahag and pinayusan. People here have tattoos too that portray their culture, even women have tattoos (there is an emphasis on how many men have they slept with).
Since the topography is in the mountain and there are cold seasons, Dodong wanted to create a dress code for these cold months. Even though creating a new dress code is unfamiliar to the people, he doesn't want to erase their culture. Of course, when the hot season comes, they still can use their original dress code. They can still have tattoos since it is their culture. All he wanted was to have clothes for his people for the cold season since he saw how they suffer. This place doesn't have winter but the altitude of the place is high and during the months when the west have their winter, the cold breeze can be felt here.
The silk and linen he bought before is for this circumstance. Creating a set of clothes where people feel warm during cold days. He created pants for the men just like the pants of the Maranaos but with the designs of their village. Although he took inspiration from them, he is also inspired by the clothes of the East Asians. Before wearing the shining pants, they should wear inner pants so that the cold breeze will not pass through and touch their legs and feel cold. On the upper clothing, he made white long sleeves for inner clothing and covered them with shiny and smooth long sleeves. Dark red emphasizes the bravery of the soldiers. Only those soldiers who have killed enemies can wear this color. Men also wore potong on their heads or a headband as part of their dress code. Originally men wear this. He also added a long cloth wrapped around the waist like a belt inspired by bahag.
For Women, he created inner pants, usually white long pants covered with skirts lengthened up to the ankle. A belt made of cloth is put on to make sure that the skirt is reinforced and cannot fall at any moment. On the upper clothing are two sets of common white long sleeves layered with shiny and smooth long sleeves with designs and patterns from their culture.
Of course, he made shoes for everyone so that they would not feel the coldness on their feet. The shoes he made are not like the modern times which are made of rubber; his is made of layers of cloth to make the sole, then some cover to shape like shoes and are light and easy to wear.
He first made these to his parents and made them wear them. At first, they were uncomfortable because it felt itchy for their skin. However, with the constant use of it, they got used to it and loved it. It had been almost two weeks since he had made his family wear it. When the time came that they were comfortable wearing it, he asked his father Lakatuna to present it to the council of elders. The council of elders is reluctant a bit but seeing their datu and his family comfortably wearing them, they agreed to it as part of their clothing during the cold season. After the meeting with the council of elders, the datu made the announcement to the village about the changes to dress codes.
Dodong created his own store in the village which sells clothes. People were flocking to the store to buy and try new sets of clothes for the cold season. They love it. They felt comfortable with the cold breeze because of it. Smooth and shiny clothes are worn by the nobles and Datu's family since only they can afford it. These silk and clothes are traded by Chinese traders so they are costly. Timawa's clothes as well as alipin's are rough clothes which are made from their village. They can only produce this kind of quality since their village has no advanced machinery for weaving.
Seeing the faces of the people satisfied with the clothes he made, a smile on his face appeared; a smile of satisfaction. Seeing them in new dress codes, he felt like he was no longer in the ancient times but it is still in the pre-Hispanic era.
"I guess everything is going smoothly. It has only been two years since I first came here and I have made big improvements in our village." Still Dodong cannot believe that he made it.
Since he has made changes from their architectural design and clothing, Dodong wanted to introduce new food that they will surely love to eat. "Shall I make a cake?"
Oh ho! Delicacies are coming. Will he improve the taste buds of the people?