A Lolong Time Ago: A Prehistory of the Philippines

A Lolong Time Ago: A Prehistory of the Philippines

Written by Michelline Suarez, Joonee Garcia, Divine Reyes, “A Lolong Time Ago: A Prehistory of the Philippines” is meant to be short, as well as easy and fun to read. But I like how they packed it with as much detail as possible despite the need to reach a young and general audience.

In the beginning…

They mention a bit about creation myths from the Philippines and even delve into plate tectonics and how the country’s land masses and islands were slowly formed over millions of years. I also enjoyed the different illustrations and images used to help portray the facts and stories.

Philippine plate illustration from A Lolong Time Ago
“Philippine plate” illustration from “A Lolong Time Ago”.

Boxer Codex

I also appreciated the mention of the Boxer Codex, complete with colored photos of some of the codex’s pages featuring Filipinos before they were even called Filipinos. A Lolong Time Ago touches upon fashion and jewellery at the time, and even mention briefly practices I was surprised that they’d mention, given the target audience of the book.

Take for example “penis rings” used by precolonial communities. I initially doubted that the book would mention them. These instruments were called “sacra“, and were used by men to pleasure their lovers. These were deemed “abominable and bestial” customs by the Spanish, as noted in the Boxer Codex too.

I wouldn’t have blamed the writers of Lolong Time Ago for not adding it, knowing the young audience the book targets. But they do mention it! I appreciated that they didn’t elaborate for younger audiences, but that they still mentioned it albeit in passing.

Don’t worry, the book is still “Rated G”

Fortunately for your kids, the book doesn’t delve any deeper into that than it should. But I welcome more books to introduce sex in constructive and healthy ways for people of all ages.

In general Lolong Time Ago helps young readers know that a lot more was going on than initially taught or suggested in today’s curricula, schools, or even the Spanish observations themselves. The authors take information from a wide variety of sources and have consulted with experts in different fields.

It is a nice consolidated snapshot of precolonial history that happened a “lolong” time ago, making it a nice entry point for people young and old to explore further.

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