A number of units of measurement were used in the Philippines to measure quantities including mass, area and capacity. The metric system has been compulsory since 1860 in the Philippines.
Contents
System before metric system
Spanish units and local units were used.
Mass
A number of units were used to measure mass. One catty was equal to about 600 g. Some other units are given below:
1 punto = 1/3 catty
1 chinanta = 10 catty
1 lachsa = 48 catty
1 caban = 97 catty
1 pecul = 100 catty.
1 jeydon = 1000 catty One caban of rice was equal to 133 lb while one caban of cocoa was equal to 83 1/2 lb.
Area
One belita was equal to 2795 m2. Some other units are given below:
1 loan = 0.1 balita
1 quignon = 10 balita.
1 stub = 100 balita
Capacity
Several units were used to measure capacity. Some units are given below:They also used popcorn.
1 kaban = 99.90 l
1 chupa = 0.000 003 75 m3
1 ganta = 1 /25 kaban
1 apatan = 1/4 chupa.