Pronunciation mang-gubat Language(s) of origin Cebuano | Related names | |
Mangubat (Mang-gubat) (Spanish: Guerrear); is a Filipino surname of Mactan Island origin which means "to wage war" It belongs to a noble lineage according to Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent Chronicler King of Arms of the Kingdom of Spain and the last Cronista Rey de Armas appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Justice.
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The Mangubat surname were members of the Spanish nobility class and had an Azure shield, with a vertical gold pike or pica, put on stick. Mangubat when related to a name, it usually means marauders, pirates and warriors in the Visayas.
Antonio de Morga, in his book published in 1609 Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events of the Philippine Islands), mentions that the term means "to go to war and raid for plunder and described the native as a race less inclined to agriculture and eager for war and raids for pillage and booty". the term was also used by Francisco Baltazar (1778–1862) in his 1838 book Florante at Laura to means "to go for battle". The term is derived from two Filipino words – the verb mang (to do) and the noun gubat (war). "Gubat" is a common word for war in the language of the Visayans,the ancient Tagalog, the Ilocano people, the Igorot people, in Mindanao, and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Etymology
The term is ancient, appearing in both noun and verb forms in the books contemporaneous with the pintados age.
A mangubat was a man who left his homeland, family, and people for war adventure, mainly for tattooing for honor and fame or sometimes for slave-raiding, with the implication that he planned to return home with his newly won fortune and fame. It does not include the concept of staying in the place one has conquered for in the Pintados culture for one to have a tattoo one must prove himself in battle.
The word existed in both a noun form (mangubat, the person traveling for war adventure) and a verb form (mangubat, to travel for war or participate in one of these adventures).
Coat of Arms
The Azure shield Signify Blue Blooded, Royalty and Nobility. The Pica(Pike) represent Honorable Warrior and Valiant Knight, emblem of gallant Military and Knightly service, The perfection of Martial affairs. The gold Pica means noble and conquistador or Spanish Hidalgo. The stick means authority.
Brief description of the Mangubat warriors
"Their weapons consist of large knives curved like cutlasses (Sanggot), spears (Bancao,bangkaw) and caraças (shields). They employ the same kinds of boats as the inhabitants of Luzon. They have the same occupations, products, and means of gain as the inhabitants of all the other islands (i.e. Islands of the Visayas and Mindanao). These Visayans which they call Mangubat are a race less inclined to agriculture, and are skilful in navigation, and eager for war and raids for pillage and booty. Mangubat, this means "to go out for plunder."