Domesticated animals in the Philippines include pigs, chickens, water buffalo, goats, cats, and dogs. Domestication is when a species is selectively bred to produce certain traits that are seen as desirable. Some desirable traits include quicker growth and maturity, increased fertility, adaptability to various conditions, and living in herds. Domesticated animals play an important socioeconomic role in the Philippines, as seen through their widespread use in rituals.
Pigs
There is evidence for pigs in the Philippines during the Neolithic and Iron Age. Pig remains were found at the Nagsabaran site in Alaguia, Lal-lo town in Cagayan Province, Northern Luzon. Of the pig remains, two different taxa were found: Sus philippensis (also known as the Philippine warty pig) and an unknown species. The unknown species’ remains are similar to Sus Scrofa, which is a domesticated pig found in Luzon. Through morphometric examination of teeth, researchers concluded that the unknown species of pig was likely domesticated due to its larger size than the Philippine warty pig and its similarity to the domesticated species Sus scrofa. A carbon-14 date on a premolar of the unknown species dates domesticated pigs at ca. 2500-2200 cal BC. Faunal remains of predominantly wild pig were found at the Nagsabaran site, indicating that hunting was the primary subsistence strategy during the Neolithic and Iron Age and pigs were not domesticated for the sole purpose of subsistence.
In present-day villages located in Luzon and Palawan, domesticated pigs (Sus scrofa) are only eaten for ceremonial purposes, while wild pigs (Sus philippensis) are never used for rituals. In Borneo, indigenous groups use pigs for trade and social status. Throughout the Philippines, domesticated pigs are bred for socioeconomic reasons and are used for ceremonies, bride wealth, burials, and ritual feasting. Domesticated pigs show status and wealth and are used to make and strengthen alliances. They are also used as deity offerings.
Goat
Goats were believed to be introduced into the Philippines as cargo from Islamic or early traders and established into domestic contexts by Spanish contact before the fifteenth century A.D. Goats had a variety of uses throughout the Philippines, some examples of places where goats were used include; Mindanao, Visayas, and Palawan. Goats were used as prestige gifts and were a part of ritual feasts in chiefly societies. There is evidence that goats were consumed in Moros, where as in the Visayas, humans did not eat goat or consume their milk products. After Spanish contact, there was an increase of use in goats for trade and food. In Mindanao, it was very common for goats to be used as trade.
Dog
The first animal to be domesticated in the Philippines was the dog, Canis familiaris. The arrival of dogs in the Philippines were brought by some of the earliest colonists coming into the Philippine Archipelago. There have been a differential treatment of dogs within each community in the Philippines; some are free to roam around structures and villages, while in traditional contemporary societies, dogs are consumed. In Nagsabaran, a site in Cagayan, Northern Luzon Philippines, there is archaeological evidence for multiple uses of dog in Philippine societies. In one pit, found within the same stratigraphic area as humans, there is evidence of butchery due to the numerous cut marks on remains. In proper and deliberate dog burials, there is evidence of humans having an emotional tie or a special relation relationship to this animal because of their important use in the Philippine society. These dogs served as a utilitarian purpose and were used as a guard, for hunting, or for any other utilitarian purpose. In other cases, dogs were bred as consumption for funerals, marriages, or any other celebrations.
Fish
Fish were an important in the Philippine economy and an important resource to rituals in prehispanic Philippine societies. The main sources of fish in the Philippines came from three major habitats; fresh water, marine inshore waters and marine offshore waters. For each of these waters:
Fresh water: hook and line, traps, nets, or speared (mainly for the larger fish) Marine inshore waters: hook and line, netting, or spearing Marine offshore waters: caught using ancient fishing gear, a paddled or sailed dugout, fish corrals, spears, or hooks and lines