"Bisayans always try to procure wife from their own class and closely connected with them in relationship," noted Chirino.

Marriages, dowries and divorces among filipinos. "Tagalogs do not insist so much on this latter point, they are satisfied if the wife be not of inferior rank," Chirino added.

As tradition had it, uncle and nieces could marry as did first cousins. But brothers and sisters, grandfathers and granddaughters or fathers and daughters could in no case marry. There was also a marked distinction between concubinage and wedlock because the latter, besides consent, had its own ceremony.

This was where the Pintado of higher social rank distinguished himself from his inferiors. While the poor native was simply united in wedlock upon drinking pitarilla amidst the shouts of friends and well-wishers, the ceremony involving the rich pintado was more elaborate.

When a high-born pintado decided to marry, he called on some freemen to act as go-between. They would proceed to the girl's house, and on reaching there, the group's leader would thrust the spear on the staircase. They would pause and pray to their diwatas for success in this marriage parley with the girl's father. If the man of the house took the spear, this was a sign of welcome.

The mediators were ushered in. They would announce the purpose of their visit. After some discussion, the father would fix the girl's payment or dowry which was usually reasonable based on the groom's capacity. A hundred taels in gold, a number of slaves and precious jewelry. For the most part, the dowry would include what is called as "panhimuyat" (the sum for the mother for having brought up and educated the girl) and the "pasoso" (amount for the wet nurse for taking care of the girl as a baby)

Once the dowry is fixed, the suitor followed by a crowd set out to the bride's house. Carried on a "papag", she is borne on the shoulders of the crowd towards the groom's house. The groom goes ahead and waits at the door, then goes out to meet the girl. If she refuses to go upstairs, he would caress and entreat her, and his father would offer his first slave if she comes up. Again he would present a second slave if she refuses to eat and another one to make her drink.

The couple would then sit side by side each other on the mat and the pagan priest of the village would start the marriage rites. She could marry so-and-so but if the man through dissolute conduct failed to support his wife, she could leave him and was not obliged to return any of the dowry given her. If the woman betrays her husband, he could leave her and take back the dowry and marry another woman.

Having said this, the priest would join the hands of man and wife and sprinkle uncooked rice on all present, giving forth a shrill cry of prayer for the two. The crowd would shout back in closing, after which a lavish banquet would follow with everybody in the village partaking of.

Polygamy and divorce. Notwithstanding the promises of fidelity uttered publicly in front of everybody in the village, polygamy was quite common especially among those who had the means to support a large family.

"I have lived in the Philippines for almost ten years before I learned that there was a man who had married several wives; and I did not know this until I went to the islands of Ibabao and Leyte....The man is not obliged to marry them in one day; after having one wife for many years, he may take another...as many as he can support".(Chirino)

The early Jesuit missionaries themselves wrote of their own experiences in the different mission sites in Leyte in the late 16th century. Fr. Alonso de Humanes tells of a certain noble and respectable Indio in Dulag whose conversion was delayed because of his affectionate attachment to his three wives.

Fr. Diego Sanchez recounts a similar incident in Ugmoc (Ormoc) about a chieftain who could but with great difficulty separate from two of his three wives. He wrote: "A man was married to two or more women but with little firmness that hardly could a woman be found who has not changed two or three husbands, because they (couple) would separate for whatever difficulty..."

Fr. Francisco de Encinas writing to his superior mentioned that a woman in Carigara found it very difficult to embrace the Catholic Faith upon the learning of the indissolubility of marriage.

Chirino noted that the women rarely found reasons to separate from their husbands, for divorce was by no means without its consequential obligation to restore the dowry given during the marriage union unless the husband's unfaithfulness was unproven. If she was guilty, she had to restore the dowry.

Such polygamous practices doubtless often served as hindrances to the acceptance of the Catholic faith, especially to the rich pintados of Leyte.

Without the trappings of western morality, divorce seemed permissible during the period. For all the lavishness, the marriage ceremony itself officiated by the native priests was conditioned on the fidelity of both man and wife. If one was unfaithful to the other, they could separate without much ado. The retention of the dowry was hinged on the faithfulness of the woman to her husband. If the latter was unfaithful, she could keep the dowry and would be richer for it.

The children were divided between the husband and wife, irregardless of sex. If the number was even, husband and wife got the same number. If odd, the remaining child was to stay with mother or father until some arrangement has been reached.

Divorce however was not a general practice here. Newly married couples got their possessions from their parents, including a house. In the division of family labor, the husband was considered head of the family, taking care of the wife and children and providing for their food and clothing. He worked in his farm, while his wife did household chores like weaving cotton, abaca and sinamay, needle work and taking care of the children.