View source for Visayans

{{Short description|Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups originating from Visayas, in the Philippines}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Visayan people
| native_name      = ''Kabisay-an'' / ''Mga Bisaya''
| image            = Visayan language distribution map.png
| image_caption    = map outlining the regions in the Philippines where the Visayan people are located. Subgroupings of Visayan ethnicity includes; [[Cebuano people]], [[Boholano people]], [[Eskaya people]], [[Hiligaynon people | Ilonggo people]], [[Waray people]], [[Surigaonon people]], [[Karay-a people]], [[Capiznon people]], [[Masbateño people]], [[Cuyunon people]], [[Aklanon people]],  [[Romblomanon people]], [[Butuanon people]].
| population       = '''15,522,998''' (2020 census)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://psa.gov.ph/content/ethnicity-philippines-2020-census-population-and-housing |title=Ethnicity in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing) |publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority |access-date=July 4, 2023 |archive-date=July 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720023033/https://psa.gov.ph/content/ethnicity-philippines-2020-census-population-and-housing |url-status=live}}</ref>
| regions          = [[Visayas]], large parts of [[Mindanao]], southernmost parts of [[Luzon]], the rest of the [[Philippines]] and [[Overseas Filipinos|overseas communities]]
| languages        = '''Native'''<br/>[[Bisayan languages]]<br/>'''Also'''<br/>[[Filipino language|Filipino]]{{*}}[[Philippine English|English]]
| religions        = [[Christianity in the Philippines|Christianity]]:  [[Catholic Church in the Philippines|Roman Catholic]], [[Philippine Independent Church|Aglipayan]], [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]], remaining belongs to [[United Church of Christ in the Philippines]], [[Iglesia ni Cristo]]; [[Sunni Islam]]; [[Hinduism]]; [[Animism]] and other religions<ref name="NSOpr0302tx">{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2003 |title=Central Visayas: Three in Every Five Households had Electricity (Results from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, NSO) |url=https://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0302tx.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221224038/http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0302tx.html |archive-date=February 21, 2012 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=National Statistics Office, Republic of the Philippines}}</ref>
}}

'''Visayans''' ([[Cebuano language|Cebuano]]: ''mga Bisayâ'' {{IPA|ceb|bisaˈjaʔ|}}) are a [[Ethnic groups in the Philippines|Philippine ethnolinguistic family group]] or [[metaethnicity]] native to the [[Visayas]], to the southernmost islands south of [[Luzon]], and to a significant portion of [[Mindanao]]. They are composed of numerous distinct ethnic groups. When taken as a single group, they number around 33.5 million. The Visayans, like the Luzon Lowlanders (Tagalogs, Bicolanos, Ilocanos, etc.) were originally predominantly [[Philippine mythology|animist-polytheists]] and broadly share a maritime [[culture]] until the 16th 
century when the [[Spanish Empire]] enforced [[Catholic Church in the Philippines|Catholicism]] as the state religion. In more inland or otherwise secluded areas, ancient animistic-polytheistic beliefs and traditions either were [[Folk Catholicism|reinterpreted]] within a Roman Catholic [[Dogma in the Catholic Church|framework]] or [[syncretized]] with the new religion. Visayans are generally speakers of one or more of the distinct [[Bisayan languages]], the most widely spoken being [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]], followed by [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)]] and [[Waray-Waray language|Waray-Waray]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Lifshey, A. |title=The Magellan Fallacy: Globalization and the Emergence of Asian and African Literature in Spanish |date=2012 |place=Ann Arbor, MI |publisher=University of Michigan Press}}</ref>

== History ==
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| footer            = '''Clockwise''': ['''1'''] Images from the [[Boxer Codex]] illustrating an ancient ''kadatuan'' or [[Maginoo|tumao]] (noble class) Visayan couple, ['''2'''] Visayan tattoos (''[[batok]]''), ['''3'''] a [[Royal family|royal]] Visayan couple, and ['''4'''] possibly a [[Maginoo|tumao]] (noble class) or [[timawa]] (warrior class) couple
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The Visayans were a historical people that's roughly equivalent to the modern people who speak a [[Visayan language]], as they were recorded to appear in Medieval and Renaissance records among: the Chinese, Bruneians, and early Spaniards. They were described as a very trade and sea navigation focused people, who were forced to be on that profession due to the scarcity of agricultural land. Furthermore, their warrior spirit is emphasized and that they often led conquests and slave raids on the seas around [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]].

Among the Chinese, especially during the Ming era, the Visayans are called Peshiye.<ref name="ZhufanZhi2">[https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/39bce63e4e0642d3abce6c24db470760 A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands, A new translation of Part 1 of the Zhufan zhi 諸蕃志 (1225), By Shao-yun Yang (Denison University)]</ref> The areas known as Pisheye were probably located in lowland coastal regions with minimal agricultural activity, a description that [[Rajahnate of Cebu|Cebu]] fits well.<ref name="ZhufanZhi2" /> Wang's account of the locals' appearance aligns with descriptions of the Pintados people. He noted that both men and women gathered their hair into topknots (男女撮髻, nan nü cuo ji) and used ink to tattoo their bodies up to the neck (以墨汁刺身至頭頸, yi mo zhi ci shen zhi tou jing).<ref name="ZhufanZhi2" />

Regarding the political organization of Pisheye, Wang states that the "country has no paramount chief" (國無酋長, guo wu qiuzhang), which suggests it wasn't a unified state-level polity. The leader wasn't referred to as a king (wang 王) but as a paramount chief (qiuzhang 酋長). This phrase, "no paramount chief" (無酋長), strongly implies that Pisheye was a geographical area rather than a single political entity, where individual settlements operated independently of one another.<ref name="ZhufanZhi2" /> In 2004, Efren Isorena proposed that the people referred to as "Pisheye" were actually Visayan sea raiders originating from Ibabao (eastern [[Samar]]). His argument, largely based on the writings of Spanish Priest, Francisco Alcina, suggested that their balangay boats, which had bamboo outriggers, were mistaken for simple bamboo rafts by those describing them.<ref>"The Visayan Raiders of the China Coast, 1174-1190," Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 32, No. 2 (June 2004), pp. 73-95."</ref>

Historian Robert Nicholl implied that the Srivijayans of Sumatra, Vijayans of Vijayapura at Brunei and the Visayans in the Philippines were all related and connected to each other since they form one contiguous area.<ref name="Bruneianevidence">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20174317 Brunei Rediscovered: A Survey of Early Times By Robert Nicholl Page 37] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905081832/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20174317|date=5 September 2021}} (Sub-citation taken from Ferrand, Relations p. 333)</ref> On a similar note, according to an early Spanish missionary and historian P. Francisco Colin, S.J. in the Philippines, the inhabitants of Panay Island were originally from north Sumatra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reyes y Florentino |first=Isabelo de los |url=https://archive.org/details/lasislasvisayase00reye/page/70/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Las islas Visayas en la epoca de la conquista |date=1889 |publisher=Manila : Tipo-litografia de Chofre y ca. |others=Boston Public Library}}</ref>

===Pre-colonial period===
{{see also | Indian influences in early Philippine polities | History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia | Greater India }}

Notable Visayan polities in the pre-colonial period include the following:
*[[Kedatuan of Madja-as]]
*[[Kedatuan of Dapitan]]
*[[Rajahnate of Cebu]]
*[[Rajahnate of Butuan]]
*[[Sultanate of Sulu]]

During the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] period of China, the people of [[Cebu island|Cebu]] and neighboring islands—such as [[Butuan]], [[Samar]], [[Leyte]], [[Negros]], [[Panay]], and [[Northern Mindanao]], were collectively referred to as the Visayans by the Chinese. They were known as "Peshiye" (or Pisheye).<ref name="ZhufanZhi" />

Historical documentation, notably the Ming annals and the Zhufan Zhi 諸蕃志 (1225), references a region designated as Pisheye (or Pishiye). These sources characterize the area as a coastal lowland with restricted agricultural potential, a description that exhibits a strong geographical congruence with [[Cebu City|Cebu]].<ref name="ZhufanZhi">[https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/39bce63e4e0642d3abce6c24db470760 A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands, A new translation of Part 1 of the Zhufan zhi 諸蕃志 (1225), By Shao-yun Yang (Denison University)]</ref>

===Spanish colonial period===
{{Main|Negros Revolution}}
[[File:Indios, detail from Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas 1734.jpg|thumb|Visayans depicted in [[Velarde map]] 1734.|left]]
The first [[Filipino people]] encountered by the [[Magellan expedition]] (c. 1521) were Visayans from the island of [[Suluan]]; followed by two rulers of the [[Surigaonon people|Surigaonon]] and [[Butuanon people]] on a hunting expedition in [[Limasawa]], Rajah Colambu and Rahah Siaui; and finally [[Rajah Humabon]] of [[Rajahnate of Cebu|Cebu]]. Magellan describes the Suluanon people he encountered as "painted" (tattooed), with gold earrings and armlets, and [[kerchief]]s around their heads. They described Rajah Colambu as having dark hair that hung down to his shoulders, [[Tawny (color)|tawny]] skin, and tattoos all throughout his body. They also noted the large amount of gold ornaments he wore, from large gold earrings to gold [[tooth filling]]s. Rajah Colambu wore embroidered [[patadyong]] that covered him from the waist to the knees, as well as a kerchief around his head. They also described the ''boloto'' ([[bangka (boat)|bangka]]) and the large ''balanghai'' ([[balangay]]) warships, and the custom of drinking [[tuba (wine)|palm wine]] (''uraka'') and chewing [[paan|areca nut]]. They also described the queen of Cebu as being young and beautiful and covered in white and black cloth. She painted her lips and nails red, and wore a large disc-shaped hat (''[[salakot|sadok]]'') made from elaborately-woven leaves.<ref name="Nowell">{{Cite book |last=Nowell |first=C. E. |title=Magellan's Voyage Around the World |publisher=Northwestern University Press |year=1962 |location=Evanston |chapter=Antonio Pigafetta's account |hdl=2027/mdp.39015008001532 |oclc=347382}}</ref>{{rp|132–161}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bernad |first=Miguel A. |date=2001 |title=Butuan or Limasawa? The site of the first mass in the Philippines: A reexamination of the evidence |url=https://archium.ateneo.edu/budhi/vol5/iss3/10/ |journal=Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=133–166 |access-date=2024-12-14}}</ref>

The 16th century marks the beginning of the Christianization of the Visayan people, with the baptism of [[Rajah Humabon]] and about 800 native Cebuanos. The Christianization of the Visayans and Filipinos in general, is commemorated by the [[Ati-Atihan]] Festival of [[Aklan]], the [[Dinagyang]] Festival of [[Iloilo]], and the [[Sinulog]] festival the feast of the [[Santo Niño de Cebu]] (Holy Child of Cebu), the brown-skinned depiction of the Child Jesus given by Magellan to Rajah Humabon's wife, Hara Amihan (baptized as Queen Juana). By the 17th century, Visayans already took part in religious missions. In 1672, [[Pedro Calungsod]], a teenage indigenous Visayan catechist and [[Diego Luis de San Vitores]], a Spanish friar, were both martyred in [[Guam]] during their mission to preach Christianity to the [[Chamorro people]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Medina |first1=A. |last2=Pulumbarit |first2=V. |date=October 18, 2012 |title=A Primer: Life and Works of Blessed Pedro Calungsod |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/278788/pinoyabroad/worldfeatures/a-primer-life-and-works-of-blessed-pedro-calungsod |access-date=April 18, 2015}}</ref>

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| image2            = A Visayan native girl by Damian Domingo.jpg
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| footer            = Visayans, Painting by Filipino painter [[Damian Domingo]]
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By the end of the 19th century, the [[Spanish Empire]] weakened after a series of wars with its [[Spanish American wars of independence|American territories]]. The surge of newer ideas from the outside world thanks to the liberalization of trade by the [[Bourbon Spain]] fostered a relatively larger middle class population called the ''[[Ilustrados]]'' or "the Enlightened Ones." This then became an incentive for the new generation of educated political visionaries to fulfill their dreams of independence from three centuries of colonial rule. Some prominent leaders of the [[Philippine Revolution]] in the late 19th century were Visayans. Among leaders of the Propaganda movement was [[Graciano López Jaena]], the [[Hiligaynon people|Ilonggo]] who established the propagandist publication ''[[La Solidaridad]]'' (The Solidarity). In the Visayan theater of the Revolution, Pantaleón Villegas (better known as [[León Kilat]]) led the Cebuano revolution in the Battle of ''Tres de Abril'' (April 3). One of his successors, [[Arcadio Maxilom]], is a prominent general in the liberalization of [[Cebu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mojares |first=Resil B |title=The War Against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in Cebu, 1899–1906 |date=1999 |publisher=Ateneo de Manila University Press |isbn=978-971-550-298-6 |location=Quezon City |language=en}}</ref> Earlier in 1897, [[Aklan]] fought against the Spaniards with Francisco Castillo and Candido Iban at the helm. Both were executed after a failed offensive.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aklan |url=http://www.admu.edu.ph/offices/mirlab/panublion/r6_aklantour.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504200713/http://www.admu.edu.ph/offices/mirlab/panublion/r6_aklantour.html |archive-date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=September 8, 2012 |website=Panubilon |language=en}}</ref> [[Martín Teófilo Delgado|Martin Delgado]] led the rebellion in neighboring [[Iloilo]]. Led by [[Juan Araneta]] with the assistance of [[Aniceto Lacson]], [[Negros Occidental]] was freed while [[Negros Oriental]] was liberated by Diego de la Viña. The former would be called the [[Negros Revolution]] or the ''[[Cinco de Noviembre]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of Negros Occidental: Pre-Spanish Colonial Period to Present Day |url=http://www.godumaguete.com/history-of-negros-oriental.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208022056/http://www.godumaguete.com/history-of-negros-oriental.html |archive-date=December 8, 2012 |access-date=September 8, 2012 |website=Go Dumaguete! |language=en}}</ref> Movements in [[Capiz province|Capiz]] were led by Esteban Contreras with the aid of Alejandro Balgos, Santiago Bellosillo and other Ilustrados.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clavel |first=Leothiny |date=1995 |title=Philippine Revolution in Capiz |journal=Diliman Review |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3–4 |pages=27–28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Funtecha |first=H. F. |date=May 15, 2009 |title=The Great Triumvirate of Capiz |url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/05/15/the.great.triumvirate.of.capiz.html |access-date=September 8, 2012 |work=The News Today |language=en}}</ref> Meanwhile, Leandro Locsin Fullon spearheaded the liberalization of [[Antique (province)|Antique]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Batas Pambansa Blg. 309 |url=https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/25/13132 |access-date=September 2, 2021 |language=en |via=Supreme Court E-Library}}</ref> Most of these revolutionaries would continue their fight for independence until the [[Philippine–American War]]. There was also a less heard and short-lived uprising called the Igbaong Revolt which occurred in Igbaong, Antique steered by Maximo and Gregorio Palmero. This revolt, however, was [[secularism|secularly]]-motivated as they clamored for a more [[syncretic]] form of religion based on Visayan animist traditions and Christianity.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Funtecha |first=Henry |date=May 16, 2007 |title=The Babaylan-Led Revolt in Igbaong, Antique |url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2007/03/16/the.babaylan.led.revolt.in.igbaong.antique.html |access-date=September 8, 2012 |work=The News Today |language=en}}</ref>

===Federal State of the Visayas===
[[File:Visayan family early 1900's.jpg|thumb|Visayan family. early 1900's.]]
{{Main|Federal State of the Visayas}}

At the peak of the [[Philippine Revolution]], anti-colonial insurgencies sprung from [[Luzon]] up to the [[Visayas]]. Despite military support from the [[Tagalog Republic]] led by [[Emilio Aguinaldo]], Visayan revolutionary leaders were skeptical toward the real motives of the [[Tagalogs]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mateo |first=G. E. C. |title=The Philippines: A Story of A Nation |date=2001 |publisher=University of Hawai'i at Manoa |location=Honolulu |language=en |hdl=10125/15372 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Such ethnic animosity was notable to the point that local Visayan leaders demanded forces sent from the north to surrender their armaments and were prohibited to leave revolutionary bases. Moreover, this apprehension led to the full declaration of the Federal State of Visayas on December 12, 1898.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Velmonte |first=J. M. |date=2009 |title=Ethnicity and Revolution in Panay |url=https://www.journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/kasarinlan/article/view/1409 |journal=Kasarinlan |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=75–96}}</ref> This short-lived federal government, based in [[Iloilo City|Iloilo]], was an accumulation of revolutionary movements across [[Panay]] and [[Negros island|Negros]]. The following were the elected officials four days prior to the declaration:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Serag, S. S. C. |title=The Remnants of the Great Ilonggo Nation |date=1997 |publisher=Rex Book Store |location=Manila}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position !! Name
|-
| General-President || Anecito Lacson
|-
| Treasurer || Eusebio Luzurriaga
|-
| Executive Secretary || Melecio Severino
|-
| Secretary of War || Juan Araneta
|-
| Secretary Of Interior || Simeón Lizares
|-
| Secretary of Public Works || Nicolás Gólez
|-
| Secretary of Justice || Antonio Jayme Ledesma
|-
| Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce || Agustín Amenablar
|}The federation was immediately formed upon the merger of the Cantonal Government of Negros,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aguilar |first=F. |date=2000 |title=The Republic of Negros |url=http://www.philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/download/429/434 |journal=Philippine Studies |language=en |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=26–52 |jstor=42634352}}</ref> the Cantonal Government of Bohol and the [[Provisional Government of the District of Visayas]] (based in [[Panay]]) which included [[Romblon]]. It was said to be based on American federalism and Swiss confederacy. Despite their skepticism towards Malolos, the Visayan government proclaimed its loyalty to the Luzon-based republic while maintaining their own governance, tax collection and army. [[Apolinario Mabini]], then the prime minister of the Malolos republic convinced the Visayan leaders that the [[Malolos Constitution]] was only provisional and that the governments in Visayas and Mindanao were promised the power to co-ratify it.<ref name="fedrepvisayas">{{Cite web |title=Evolution of the Revolution |url=http://malacanang.gov.ph/7824-evolution-of-the-revolution/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015013138/http://malacanang.gov.ph/7824-evolution-of-the-revolution/ |archive-date=October 15, 2021 |access-date=July 23, 2018 |work=Malacañan Palace |publisher=[[Republic of the Philippines]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zaide, G. F. |title=The Philippine Revolution |date=1954 |publisher=Modern Book Company |location=Manila}}</ref>

===American colonization===
[[File: Visayan_Girls_on_the_Philippine_Reservation_at_the_1904_World%27s_Fair.jpg|thumb|Visayan women presumed to be part of the Philippine Reservation during the [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition|1904 St. Louis World's Fair]]]]
[[File:Mindanao1900 Distributionoftheraces.jpg|thumb| A Map of Mindanao c. 1900, made by the US Army in the Philippines, showing the different ethnic groups of Mindanao, and their respective Ancestral Domains. Most of the northern and eastern, as well as some southern coastal regions have been settled by Visayans and majority of which was during Spanish colonial era; Islamized groups ([[Moro people|Moros]]) dominate the western and some southern coasts; and the [[Lumad]] dwell in the interior highlands.|275x275px]]
After the [[1898 Treaty of Paris]], the American colonial government saw the integral part of indigenous elites particularly in [[Negros island|Negros]] in local affairs. This was a different move compared to the previous Spanish imperialists who created a racial distinction between [[mestizos]] and native Austronesians (''[[Austronesian peoples|indios]]''). As such, this paved the way for a homogenous concept of a [[Filipinos|Filipino]] albeit initially based on financial and political power. These said elites were the ''hacienderos'' or the landed, bourgeois-capitalist class concentrated within the sugar cane industry of Negros. The Americans' belief that these hacienderos would be strategic elements in their political hold within the newly acquired colony bolstered the drafting of a separate colonial constitution by and for the sugar industry elites. This constitution likewise established the Negros Cantonal Government. This ensured that the island of Negros would be governed by an indigenous civilian government in contrast to the rest of colonist-controlled areas governed by the American-dominated [[Philippine Commission]].<ref name="Aguilar, F. V.">{{Cite book |last=Aguilar, F. V. |url=https://archive.org/details/clashofspiritshi00agui |title=Clash of Spirits: The History of Power and Sugar Planter Hegemony on a Visayan Island |date=1998 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |location=Honolulu |url-access=registration}}</ref>

During this period, the eastern islands of [[Samar]], [[Leyte]] and [[Biliran]] (including [[Marinduque]]) were directly governed by the Malolos Republic through Vicente Lukban and later by Ambrosio Mojica.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nabong-Cabardo, R. |title=Resistance and Revolution: Philippine Archipelago in Arms |date=2002 |publisher=National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Committee on Historical Research |editor-last=Gotiangco, G. G. |location=Manila |chapter=A revolution unfolds in Samar victory in Balangiga |editor-last2=Tan, S. K. |editor-last3=Tubangui, H. R.}}</ref> Meanwhile, prior to the full abolition of the federal government on November 12, 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Martin Delgado as the civil and military governor of Iloilo on April 28, 1899, upon American invasion of [[Antique (province)|Antique]]. The federal government, much to its rejection of the Cebuano leaders who supported the [[Katipunan]] cause, was dissolved upon the Iloilo leaders' voluntary union with the newly formed [[First Philippine Republic]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Presidential Museum and Library |date=June 11, 2014 |title=June 12 and the commemoration of Philippine independence |url=http://malacanang.gov.ph/7857-june-12-1898-and-the-commemoration-of-philippine-independence/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530060307/http://malacanang.gov.ph/7857-june-12-1898-and-the-commemoration-of-philippine-independence/ |archive-date=May 30, 2015 |access-date=April 26, 2015}}</ref> Other factors which led to Aguinaldo forcing the Visayans to dissolve their government was due to the federation's resistance from reorganizing its army and forwarding taxes to Malolos.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McAllister Linn, B. |title=The Philippine War 1899–1901 |date=2000 |publisher=University of Kansas Press |location=Lawrence, KS}}</ref>

===Contemporary===

Since [[History of the Philippines (1946–65)#Recognition of independence|Philippine independence from the United States]], there have been four [[President of the Philippines|Philippine Presidents]] from the Visayan regions: the Cebuano [[Sergio Osmeña]], the Capiznon [[Manuel Roxas]], the Boholano [[Carlos P. García]] (who is actually of [[Ilocano people|Ilocano]] descent through his parents from [[Bangued]], [[Abra (province)|Abra]]), and the Davaoeño [[Rodrigo Duterte]].

[[File:The National Dance of The Philippines with Bamboo Poles.jpg|thumb|left|Visayans from [[Bohol]] in traditional ''[[kimona]]'' and ''[[patadyong]]'' dancing ''[[tinikling]]'']]
In addition, the Visayas has produced three [[List of Vice Presidents of the Philippines|Vice-Presidents]], four [[President of the Senate of the Philippines|Senate Presidents]], nine [[Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines|Speakers of the House]], six [[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines|Chief Justices]], and six [[First Spouse of the Philippines|Presidential Spouses]] including [[Imelda Marcos]], a Waray. The then-president [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]] is also half Cebuano. Former president [[Rodrigo Duterte]], who is of [[Visayan people|Visayan ethnicity]], also has Leyteño roots. Incumbent president [[Bongbong Marcos]], is of Visayan descent through his Waray mother Imelda Marcos. In international diplomacy the Visayas has produced a United Nations Undersecretary general, the [[Negros Occidental]] native [[Rafael M. Salas]] who served as the Head of the [[UNFPA]]. In the lines of religion, there have been three Visayan [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinals]], namely [[Julio Rosales y Ras|Julio Rosales]] from [[Samar]], [[Jaime Sin]] from [[Aklan]] and [[Jose Advincula]] from [[Capiz]]. The first Visayan and second [[Filipinos|Filipino]] that was canonized is [[Pedro Calungsod]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayol |first=Ador Vincent S. |date=April 3, 2014 |title=Feast of San Pedro Calungsod: 'Having a saint from the Visayas is not enough' |url=http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/25842/feast-of-san-pedro-calungsod-having-a-saint-from-the-visayas-is-not-enough |access-date=April 18, 2015 |work=[[Cebu Daily News]]}}</ref>

Throughout centuries, non-Visayan groups, most notably migrants from Luzon and foreigners such as the Chinese, have settled in predominantly-Visayan cities in Visayas like [[Iloilo City|Iloilo]], [[Bacolod]], [[Dumaguete]] and [[Cebu City|Cebu]] and [[Mindanao]] such as [[Cagayan de Oro]], [[Iligan City|Iligan]], [[Davao City|Davao]] and [[General Santos]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chee, K. T. |title=Identity and Ethnic Relations in Southeast Asia: Racializing Chineseness |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=See, T. A. |title=The Chinese in the Philippines: Problems and Perspectives |date=1997 |publisher=Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran, Inc. |volume=2 |location=Manila}}</ref> These [[Filipino-Chinese]] have been assimilated to mainstream society. One factor would be the limited number of Chinese schools in the Visayas which help maintain the Chinese identity and a stronger sense of a distinct community.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pinches |first=Michael |title=Capital and Knowledge in Asia: Changing Power Relations |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415304177 |editor-last1=Dahles |editor-first1=Heidi |pages=64–89 |chapter=Restructuring Capitalist Power in the Philippines: Elite Consolidation and Upward Mobility in Producer Services |editor-last2=van den Muijzenberg |editor-first2=Otto}}</ref> Many of them, particularly the younger generation, have been de-cultured from [[Chinese traditions]], share values about family and friends with other Filipinos, and do not write or speak [[Hokkien language|Chinese]] well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tilman |first=R. O. |title=Philippine-Chinese Profile: Essays and Studies |date=1974 |publisher=Pagkakaisa sa Pag-unland |editor-last=McCarthy |editor-first=C. J. |location=Manila |language=en |chapter=Philippine-Chinese Youth – Today and Tomorrow}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zulueta |first=J. O. |date=2007 |title=I "Speak Chinese, but ...": Code-Switching and Identity Construction Among Chinese-Filipino Youth |journal=Caligrama: Journal of Studies and Researches on Communication, Language, and Media |volume=3 |issue=2 |doi=10.11606/issn.1808-0820.cali.2007.65395 |doi-access=free}}</ref>


Meanwhile, [[Negritos]], locally called ''Ati'', have also been assimilated into mainstream Visayan society.

In Mindanao, migrant ethnic individuals from Luzon as well as [[Lumad]] assimilated into a society of Cebuano-speaking majority (Hiligaynon-speaking majority in the case of Soccsksargen) over many years, identifying themselves as Visayans upon learning Cebuano (or Hiligaynon) despite many of them still know and retain their non-Visayan roots and some speak their ancestor's language fluently at least as their second or third languages, since Mindanao is melting pot of  different cultures as a result of southward migration from Luzon and Visayas to the island since 20th century. Descendants of these migrant Luzon ethnic groups especially newer generations (as Mindanao-born natives) and Lumad individuals now speak Cebuano or Hiligaynon fluently as their main language with little or no knowledge of their ancestors' native tongues at the time of leaving their respective homelands in Luzon heading south, as for the Lumad, due to the contact with Cebuano- and Hiligaynon-speaking neighbors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Galay-David |first=Karlo Antonio |title=We Who Seek to Settle Problematizing the Mindanao Settler Identity |url=https://www.academia.edu/35306614 |journal=Davao Today}}</ref>

Visayans have likewise migrated to other parts of the Philippines, especially [[Metro Manila]] and [[Mindanao]]. The Visayans have also followed the pattern of migration of [[Overseas Filipino|Filipinos abroad]] and some have migrated to other parts of the world starting from the [[History of the Philippines (1521–1898)|Spanish]] and [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)|American]] period and after [[World War II]]. Most are migrants or working as [[Overseas Filipino Workers|overseas contract workers]].

==Terminology==
{{see also | Visayas#NonColonialEty | l1= Visayas etymology | Indian influences in early Philippine polities }}
[[File:Visayan balay illustrated by Fr. Francisco Ignacio Alcina, SJ.jpg|thumb|228x228px|Visayan warriors with both [[Taming (shield)|taming]] and [[kalasag]] shields from the Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas (c. 1668) by Francisco Ignacio Alcina.]]

"Visayan" is the [[anglicization]] of the [[Spanish language in the Philippines|hispanized]] term ''Bisayas'' (archaic ''Biçayas''), in turn derived from Visayan ''Bisaya''. ''[[Kabisay-an]]'' refers both to the Visayan people collectively and the islands they have inhabited since prehistory, the [[Visayas]]. The exact meaning and origin of the name ''Bisaya'' is unknown. The first documented use of the name is possibly by Song-era Chinese maritime official [[Zhao Rugua]] who wrote about the "Pi-sho-ye", who raided the coasts of [[Fujian]] and [[Penghu]] during the late 12th century using iron javelins attached to ropes as their weapons.<ref name="Isorena">{{cite journal |last1=Isorena |first1=Efren B. |title=The Visayan Raiders of the China Coast, 1174-1190 AD |journal=Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society |date=2004 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=73–95 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4813411}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frances Antoinette Cruz, Nassef Manabilang Adiong |title=International Studies in the Philippines Mapping New Frontiers in Theory and Practice |date=2020 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9780429509391 |page=27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Richard Pearson |title=Taiwan Archaeology Local Development and Cultural Boundaries in the China Seas |date=2022 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824893774 |page=119}}</ref>

Visayans were first referred to by the general term ''Pintados'' ("the painted ones") by the Spanish, in reference to the prominent practice of full-body tattooing (''[[batok]]'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jocano |first1=F. Landa |title=Sulod Society: A Study in the Kinship System and Social Organization of a Mountain People of Central Panay |date=July 31, 2009 |publisher=University of the Philippines Press |pages=23, 24}}</ref> The word ''Bisaya'', on the other hand, was first documented in Spanish sources in reference to the non-[[Ati people|Ati]] inhabitants of the island of [[Panay]]. However, it is likely that the name was already used as a general [[endonym]] by Visayans long before Spanish colonization, as evidenced by at least one instance of a place named "Bisaya" in coastal eastern Mindanao as reported by the [[Loaísa expedition|Loaisa]] (c.1526),  [[Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón|Saavedra]] (c.1528), and the [[Ruy López de Villalobos|Villalobos]] (c.1543) expeditions. It is likely that the reason the Spanish did not use the term generally until the later decades of the 1500s is due to the fact that people were more likely to identify themselves with more specific ethnic names like ''[[Cebuano people|Sugbuanon]]''.<ref name="Baumgartner 1974">{{cite journal |last1=Baumgartner |first1=Joseph |title=The Bisaya of Borneo and the Philippines: A New Look at Maragtas |journal=Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society |date=1974 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=167–170 |jstor=29791138 }}</ref><!-- SEE TALK

At the advent of Spanish colonialism after the Legazpi Expedition in 1565, the term ''[[Visayan]]'' was first applied only to the people of Panay and to their settlements eastward in the island of Negros, and northward in the smaller islands, which now compose the province of [[Romblon]]. In fact, even at the early part of Spanish colonialization of the Philippines, the Spaniards used the term ''Visayan'' only for these areas. While the people of [[Cebu]] and nearby areas were for a long time known only as [[Pintados]].<ref>''"... and because I know them better, I shall start with the island of Cebu and those adjacent to it, the Pintados. Thus I may speak more at length on matters pertaining to this island of Luzon and its neighboring islands..."'' BLAIR, Emma Helen & ROBERTSON, James Alexander, eds. (1903). ''The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803'', Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583), p. 35.</ref>  The name ''Visayan'' was later extended to them because, as several of the early writers state (especially in the writings of the Jesuit [[Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro]] published in 1801),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lm4yAgAAQBAJ&dq=juan+antonio+tornos&pg=PA156 Cf. Maria Fuentes Gutierez, ''Las lenguas de Filipinas en la obra de Lorenzo Hervas y Panduro (1735-1809)'' in ''Historia cultural de la lengua española en Filipinas: ayer y hoy'', Isaac Donoso Jimenez, ed., Madrid: 2012, Editorial Verbum, pp. 163-164.]</ref> albeit erroneously, their languages are closely allied to the Visayan "[[dialect]]" of Panay.<ref>G. Nye Steiger, H. Otley Beyer, Conrado Benitez, ''A History of the Orient'', Oxford: 1929, Ginn and Company, pp. 122-123.</ref>

Gabriel Rivera, a captain of the Spanish royal infantry in the Philippine Islands, also distinguished Panay from the rest of the Pintados Islands. In his report (dated 20 March 1579) regarding a campaign to pacify the natives living along the rivers of [[Mindanao]] (a mission he received from Dr. [[Francisco de Sande]], Governor and Captain-General of the Archipelago), Ribera mentioned that his aim was to make the inhabitants of that island "''vassals of King Don Felipe... as are all the natives of the island of Panay, the Pintados Islands, and those of the island of Luzon...''"<ref>Cf.  Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1911). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 04 of 55 (1493-1803). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", pp. 257-260.</ref>

In Book I, Chapter VII of the ''Labor Evangelica'' (published in Madrid in 1663), Francisco Colin, S.J. described the people of Iloilo as Indians who are Visayans in the strict sense of the word (''Indios en rigor Bisayas''), observing also that they have two different languages: ''Harayas'' and ''Harigueynes'',<ref>Francisco Colin, S. J., ''Labora Evangelica de los Obreros de la Campania de Jesus en las Islas Filipinas'' (Nueva Edicion: ''Illustrada con copia de notas y documentos para la critica de la Historia General de la Soberania de Espana en Filipinas'', Pablo Pastells, S. J., ed.), Barcelona: 1904, Imprenta y Litografia de Henrich y Compañia, p. 31.</ref> which are actually the Karay-a and [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]] languages.-->

In ''Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas'' (1609) by [[Antonio de Morga]], he specifies that the name "''Biçaya''" is synonymous with ''Pintados''.<ref name="Morga" />
{{Blockquote
|text="South of this district lie the islands of Biçayas, or, as they are also called, Pintados. They are many in number, thickly populated with natives. Those of most renown are [[Leyte|Leite]], [[Samar|Ybabao]], [[Samar|Çamar]], [[Bohol]], island of [[Negros]], [[Cebu|Sebu]], [[Panay]], [[Cuyo Archipelago|Cuyo]], and the [[Calamianes]]. All the natives of these islands, both men and women, are well-featured, of a good disposition, and of better nature, and more noble in their actions than the inhabitants of the islands of [[Luzon]] and its vicinity.

They differ from them in their hair, which the men wear cut in a cue, like the ancient style in España. Their bodies are tattooed with many designs, but the face is not touched. They wear large earrings of gold and ivory in their ears, and bracelets of the same; certain scarfs wrapped round the head, very showy, which resemble turbans, and knotted very gracefully and edged with gold. They wear also a loose collarless jacket with tight sleeves, whose skirts reach half way down the leg. These garments are fastened in front and are made of [[medriñaque]] and colored [[silk]]s. They wear no shirts or drawers, but [[Bahag (garment)|bahaques]] of many wrappings, which cover their privy parts, when they remove their skirts and jackets. The women are good-looking and graceful. They are very neat, and walk slowly. Their hair is black, long, and drawn into a knot on the head. [[Patadyong|Their robes are wrapped about the waist]] and fall downward. These are made of all colors, and they wear collarless jackets of the same material. Both men and women go naked and without any coverings, and barefoot, and with many gold chains, earrings, and wrought bracelets.

Their weapons consist of guns curved like cutlasses, spears, and [[kalasag|caraças]]. 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. These Visayans are a race less inclined to agriculture, and are skilful in navigation, and eager for war and raids for pillage and booty, which they call [[mangayaw|mangubas]]. This means "to go out for plunder."

. . .

The language of all the Pintados and Biçayas is one and the same, by which they understand one another when talking, or when writing with the letters and characters of their own which they possess. [[Baybayin|These resemble those of the Arabs.]] The common manner of writing among the natives is on leaves of trees, and on bamboo bark.
|multiline=yes
|author= [[Antonio de Morga]]  
|title =''Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas'' (1609) translated in ''Morga's Philippine Islands'' (1907) by [[Emma Helen Blair]] and [[James Alexander Robertson]]
|source=<ref name="Morga">{{cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Emma Helen |last2=Robertson |first2=James Alexander |title=Morga's Philippine Islands |date=1907 |publisher=Artur H. Clark Company |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7001/pg7001.html}}</ref>
}}

The first Spanish-Visayan dictionary written was for the [[Waray language]] in the ''Bocabulario de la lengua Bisaya'' by Mateo Sánchez, which was completed in 1617 in [[Leyte]]. This was followed by the ''Bocabulario de la lengua Bisaya-Hiligueyna y Haraía de las islas de Panay y Sugbu, y para las demás islas'' (1637) by Alonso de Méntrida which in turn was for the [[Hiligaynon language]], with notes on the [[Aklanon language|Aklanon]] and [[Kinaray-a language]]s. Both these works demonstrate that the term ''Bisaya'' was used as a general term for Visayans by the Spanish.<ref name="Scott"/>

Another general term for Visayans in early Spanish records is ''Hiligueinos'' (also spelled ''Yliguenes'', ''Yligueynes'', or ''Hiligueynos''; from Visayan ''Iligan'' or ''Iliganon'', meaning "people of the coast"). It was used by the Spanish [[conquistador]] [[Miguel de Loarca]] in ''Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas'' (1582) as a general name for coastal-dwelling Visayans not only in [[Panay]], but also [[Cebu]], [[Bohol]], and [[Western Negros]]. Today, the demonym is only used specifically for the [[Hiligaynon people]], a major Visayan subgroup.<ref name="Regalado">{{cite book |last1=Regalado |first1=Felix B. |last2=Quintin |first2=Franco B. |title=History of Panay |date=1973 |publisher=Central Philippine University |location=Jaro, Iloilo City |editor1-first=Eliza U.|editor1-last=Grino|page=514}}</ref>

In [[Northern Mindanao]], Visayans (both Mindanao natives and modern migrants) are also referred to by the [[Lumad]] as the ''dumagat'' ("sea people", from the root word ''dagat'' - "sea"; not to be confused with the [[Aeta people|Dumagat Aeta]] in Luzon). This was to distinguish the coast-dwelling Visayans from the Lumad of the interior highlands and marshlands.<ref name="paredes">{{Cite journal |last=Paredes |first=Oona |date=2016 |title=Rivers of Memory and Oceans of Difference in the Lumad World of Mindanao |journal=TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia |language=en |volume=4 |issue=Special Issue 2 (Water in Southeast Asia) |pages=329–349 |doi=10.1017/trn.2015.28 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Regions with significant populations==

The following [[regions of the Philippines|regions]] and [[provinces of the Philippines|provinces]] in the Philippines have a sizeable or predominant Visayan population:

{| class="wikitable"
|+Regions and provinces with significant Visayan populations
|-
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Mimaropa]] and [[Bicol Region|Bicol]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Western Visayas]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Negros Island Region|Negros]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Central Visayas]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Eastern Visayas]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Zamboanga Peninsula]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Northern Mindanao]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Caraga Region]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Davao Region]]
! scope="col" style="width: 11%;" | [[Soccsksargen]]
|-
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Palawan]]
* [[Romblon]]
* [[Masbate]]
* [[Sorsogon]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Aklan]]
* [[Antique (province)|Antique]]
* [[Capiz]]
* [[Iloilo]]
* [[Guimaras]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Negros Occidental]]
* [[Negros Oriental]]
* [[Siquijor]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Cebu]]
* [[Bohol]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Leyte (province)|Leyte]]
* [[Southern Leyte]]
* [[Biliran]]
* [[Samar (province)|Samar]]
* [[Northern Samar]]
* [[Eastern Samar]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Zamboanga del Norte]]
* [[Zamboanga Sibugay]]
* [[Zamboanga del Sur]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Misamis Occidental]]
* [[Misamis Oriental]]
* [[Camiguin]]
* [[Bukidnon]]
* [[Lanao del Norte]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Agusan del Norte]]
* [[Agusan del Sur]]
* [[Dinagat Islands]]
* [[Surigao del Norte]]
* [[Surigao del Sur]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Davao de Oro]]
* [[Davao del Norte]]
* [[Davao del Sur]]
* [[Davao Occidental]]
* [[Davao Oriental]]
| style="font-size: 80%;" |
* [[Cotabato]]
* [[Sultan Kudarat]]
* [[South Cotabato]]
* [[Sarangani]]
|}

==Language==
{{See also|Bisayan languages}}
[[File:Federal states of the Philippines.png|thumb|200px|right|The [[Visayas]], [[Mindanao]] and [[Luzon]] divisions of the [[Philippines]]. The culturally and linguistically Visayan provinces of [[Masbate]], [[Palawan]] and [[Romblon]] are not usually geographically included as the former is under [[Bicol Region]] and the latter two are under [[Mimaropa]], both [[Luzon]]-associated [[Regions of the Philippines|regions]].]]
[[File:Visayan languages map.png|thumb|200px|right|Geographic extent of Visayan languages based on [[Ethnologue]] and the [[Philippine Statistics Authority|National Statistics Office]] 2000 Census of Population and Housing
{{legend|#007b42|[[Cebuano language|Cebuano]]}}
{{legend|#0a76d1|[[Waray-Waray language|Waray]]}}
{{legend|#48bede|[[Baybayanon language|Baybayanon]]}}
{{legend|#5a93c4|[[Kinabalian language|Kinabalian]]}}
{{legend|#0c3d73|[[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]]}}
{{legend|#0c657f|[[Capiznon language|Capiznon]]}}
{{legend|#81b8e7|[[Romblomanon language|Romblomanon]]}}
{{legend|#10d1e8|[[Bantayanon language|Bantayanon]]}}
{{legend|#0cb6d5|[[Porohanon language|Porohanon]]}}
{{legend|#062b35|[[Ati language (Philippines)|Ati]]}}
{{legend|#ce1b78|[[Cuyunon language|Cuyunon]]}}
{{legend|#8f3e6e|[[Caluyanon language|Caluyanon]]}}
{{legend|#aa1bce|[[Aklanon language|Aklanon]]}}
{{legend|#610b9e|[[Kinaray-a language|Kinaray-a]]}}
{{legend|#ea66f2|[[Inonhan language|Inonhan]]}}
{{legend|#9a0753|[[Ratagnon language|Ratagnon]]}}
{{legend|#642c06|[[Asi language|Asi]]}}
{{legend|#c12939|[[Surigaonon language|Surigaonon]]}}
{{legend|#dea711|[[Butuanon language|Butuanon]]}}
{{legend|#de6311|[[Tausug language|Tausug]]}}
{{legend|#232727|[[Masbatenyo language|Masbatenyo]]}}
{{legend|#414747|[[Southern Sorsogon language|Southern Sorsogon]]}}
{{legend|#000000|[[Northern Sorsogon language|Northern Sorsogon]]}}
{{legend striped|#007b42|#b9b9b9|Widespread/[[second language|L2]] use of [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]]}}
{{legend striped|#0c3d73|#b9b9b9|Widespread/[[second language|L2]] use of [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]]}}]]

Ethnic Visayans predominantly speak at least one of the [[Bisayan languages]], most of which are commonly referred as ''Binisaya'' or ''Bisaya''. The table below lists the Philippine languages classified as Bisayan languages by the [[Summer Institute of Linguistics]]. Although all of the languages indicated below are [[comparative linguistics|classified]] as "Bisayan" by linguistic terminology, not all speakers identify themselves as ethnically or culturally Visayan. The predominantly [[Muslim]] [[Tausūg people]] prefer to identify as a [[Moro people|Moro]] ethnic group and only use ''Bisaya'' to refer to the predominantly [[Christian]] lowland natives, despite speaking the Bisayan [[Tausug language]] and being closely related to the Visayan [[Surigaonon people|Surigaonon]] and [[Butuanon people]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blanchetti-Revelli |first=L. |title=Cultural Citizenship in Island Southeast Asia: Nation and Belonging in the Hinterlands |date=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520227477 |editor-last=Rosaldo |editor-first=R. |location=Berkeley |pages=44–75 |language=en |chapter=Moro, Muslim, or Filipino? Cultural Citizenship as Practice and Process |doi=10.1525/california/9780520227477.003.0003}}</ref> 

Conversely, the natives of [[Capul]] in [[Northern Samar]] speak [[Abaknon language|Abaknon]], a [[Sama–Bajaw languages|Sama–Bajaw language]], but still identify as culturally Visayan. The [[Ati people]] also delineate Visayans from fellow [[Negritos]], despite also being native to the Visayan islands.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! style="width:130px;"| Language
! style="width:80px;"| Speakers !! style="width:80px;"| Date/source</tr>
| [[Aklanon language|Aklanon]]       ||align="right"|   {{commas|394545}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1990 census</tr>
| [[Ati language (Philippines)|Ati]]                ||align="right"|     {{commas|1500}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1980 SIL</tr>
| [[Asi language|Bantoanon]] ([[Asi language|Asi]])             ||align="right"|   {{commas|200000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 2002 SIL</tr>
| [[Butuanon language|Butuanon]]                       ||align="right"|    {{commas|34547}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1990 census</tr>
| [[Caluyanon language|Caluyanon]]   ||align="right"|    {{commas|30000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1994 SIL</tr>
| [[Capiznon language|Capiznon]]                       <td align="right">   {{commas|638653}} </td>|| style="text-align:center;"| 2000</tr>
| [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]]<sup>1</sup>       ||align="right"| {{commas|20043502}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1995 census</tr>
| [[Cuyonon language|Cuyonon]]       ||align="right"|   {{commas|123384}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1990 census</tr>
| [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]]<sup>1</sup> ||align="right"|  {{commas|7000000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1995</tr>
| [[Onhan language|Inonhan]]         ||align="right"|    {{commas|85829}} || style="text-align:center;"| 2000 WCD</tr>
| [[Kinaray-a language|Kinaray-a]]   ||align="right"|   {{commas|377529}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1994 SIL</tr>
| [[Malaynon language|Malaynon]]     ||align="right"|     {{commas|8500}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1973 SIL</tr>
| [[Masbatenyo language|Masbatenyo]] ||align="right"|   {{commas|350000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 2002 SIL</tr>
| [[Porohanon language|Porohanon]]                      <td align="right">    {{commas|23000}} </td>|| style="text-align:center;"| 1960 census</tr>
| [[Ratagnon language|Ratagnon]]                       <td align="right">        {{commas|310}} </td>|| style="text-align:center;"| 2010 Ethnologue</tr>
| [[Romblomanon language|Romblomanon]]             ||align="right"|   {{commas|200000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1987 SIL</tr>
| [[Sorsogon]], Masbate              ||align="right"|    {{commas|85000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1975 census</tr>
| [[Sorsogon]], Waray                ||align="right"|   {{commas|185000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1975 census</tr>
| [[Surigaonon language|Surigaonon]] ||align="right"|   {{commas|344974}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1990 census</tr>
| [[Tausug language|Tausug]]<sup>2</sup>        ||align="right"|   {{commas|2175000}} || style="text-align:center;"| 2012 SIL</tr>
| [[Waray-Waray language|Waray-Waray]]     ||align="right"|  {{commas|2437688}} || style="text-align:center;"| 1990 census</tr>
| style="width:130px;"| '''Total''' ||  style="width:80px; text-align:right;"| '''33,463,654'''</tr>
|}
{{smaller|<sup>1</sup> Philippines only.<br><sup>2</sup> Philippines only; 1,022,000 worldwide.}}

==Culture==
===Tattoo===
{{Main|Batok}}

{{See also|History of tattooing#Philippines}}
Like most other pre-colonial [[ethnic groups of the Philippines|ethnic groups in the Philippines]] and other [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian groups]], tattooing was widespread among Visayans. The original Spanish name for the Visayans, '''''Los Pintados''''' ("The Painted Ones") was a reference to the tattoos of the Visayans. [[Antonio Pigafetta]] of the [[Magellan expedition]] (c. 1521) repeatedly describes the Visayans they encountered as "painted all over".<ref name=Nowell/>

Tattooing traditions were lost over time among almost all Visayans during [[Christianization]] in the Spanish colonial period. It is unclear whether the related [[Tausug people]], who are a subset of southern Visayans who Islamized from the 13th century, practiced tattooing before they took up Islam. Today, traditional tattooing among Visayans only survives among some of the older members of the [[Sulodnon people]] of the interior highlands of [[Panay]], the descendants of ancient Visayans who escaped Spanish conversion.<ref name="Jocano">{{Cite journal |last=Jocano |first=F. Landa |date=1958 |title=The Sulod: A Mountain People In Central Panay, Philippines |journal=Philippine Studies |language=en |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=401–436 |jstor=42720408}}</ref>

[[File:Datu and binokot (Principalia) - Philippines (c.1668).jpg|thumb|Part of the ''[[principalia]]'' in the very early Spanish colonial period, wearing richly-embroidered pre-hispanic Visayan clothing typical of the [[kadatuan]] caste. Note that the ''[[datu]]'' only wears a [[Bahag (garment)|bahag]] under a long cotton tunic, with clearly seen tattooed legs and face. He is accompanied by a ''[[binukot]]'' or local princess with golden bangles. Depicted in ''Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas'' (1668) by [[Francisco Ignacio Alcina]].]]
Tattoos were known as ''batuk'' (or ''batok'') or ''patik'' among Visayans. These terms were also applied to identical designs used in woven textiles, pottery, and other decorations. Tattooed people were known generally as ''binatakan'' or ''batokan'' (also known to the [[Tagalog people|Tagalog]] people as ''batikan'', which also means "renowned" or "skilled"). Both sexes had tattoos. They were symbols of tribal identity and kinship, as well as bravery, beauty, and social status. It was expected of adults to have them, with the exception of the ''[[Bakla#History|asog]]'' (feminized men) for whom it was socially acceptable to be ''mapuraw'' or ''puraw'' (unmarked). Tattoos were so highly regarded that men will often just wear a loincloth ([[bahag (garment)|''bahag'']]) to show them off.<ref name="Scott">{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=William Henry |title=Barangay: Sixteenth-century Philippine Culture and Society |date=1994 |publisher=Ateneo University Press |isbn=9789715501354 |pages=20–27}}</ref><ref name="Francia">{{Cite book |last=Francia |first=Luis H. |title=History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos |date=2013 |publisher=Abrams |isbn=9781468315455}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text="The principal clothing of the Cebuanos and all the Visayans is the tattooing of which we have already spoken, with which a naked man appears to be dressed in a kind of handsome armor engraved with very fine work, a dress so esteemed by  them they take it for their proudest attire, covering their bodies neither more nor less than a [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Christ crucified]], so that although for solemn occasions they have the ''marlotas'' (robes) we mentioned, their dress at home and in their ''barrio'' is their tattoos and a [[bahag (garment)|''bahag'']], as they call that cloth they wrap around their waist, which is the sort the ancient actors and gladiators used in Rome for decency's sake."
|author=[[Pedro Chirino]] 
|title = ''Relación de las Islas Filipinas'' (1604)
|source=<ref name="Scott" />
}}

The Visayan language itself had various terminologies relating to tattoos like ''kulmat'' ("to show off new tattoos) and ''hundawas'' ("to bare the chest and show off tattoos for bravado"). Men who were tattooed but have not participated in battles were scorned as ''halo'' ([[monitor lizard]]), in the sense of being tattooed but undeserving. ''Baug'' or ''binogok'' referred to the healing period after being tattooed. ''Lusak'' ("mud") refers to tattoos that had damaged designs due to infection. Famous heroes covered in tattoos were known as ''lipong''.<ref name="Scott" />
[[File:Ulipon - Philippines (c.1668).jpg|thumb|left|A tattooed ''[[uluhan]]'' (commoner warrior) with a paddle, in ''Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas'']]
Tattoos are acquired gradually over the years, and patterns can take months to complete and heal. They were made by skilled artists using the distinctively Austronesian hafted tattooing technique. This involves using a small hammer to tap the tattooing needle (one or several) set perpendicularly on a wooden handle in an L-shape (hence "hafted"). The ink was made from [[soot]] or ashes and water or plant extracts (like those from ''[[Cayratia trifolia]]'') and was known as ''biro''. The tattooing process were sacred events that required chicken or pig sacrifices to the ancestor spirits (''[[anito|diwata]]''). Artists were usually paid with livestock, heirloom beads, or precious metals.<ref name="Scott" /><ref name="Wilcken">{{Cite book |last=Wilcken |first=Lane |title=Filipino Tattoos: Ancient to Modern |date=2010 |publisher=Schiffer |isbn=9780764336027}}</ref><ref name="Jocano" />

The first tattoos were acquired during the initiation into adulthood. They are initially made on the ankles, gradually moving up to the legs and finally the waist. These tattoos were known as ''hinawak'' ("of the waist"). These were done on all men, and did not indicate special status. Tattoos on the upper body, however, were only done after notable feats (including in love) and after participation in battles. Once the chest and throat are covered, tattoos are further applied to the back. Tattoos on the chin and face (reaching up to the eyelids) are restricted to the most elite warriors. These face tattoos are called ''bangut'' ("muzzle") or ''langi'' ("gaping [jaws/beaks]") and are often designed to resemble frightening masks. They may also be further augmented with [[scarification]] (''labong'') burned into the arms. Women were tattooed only on the hands in very fine and intricate designs resembling [[damask]] embroidery.<ref name="Scott" /><ref name="Souza">{{Cite book |last1=Souza |first1=George Bryan |title=The Boxer Codex: Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript Concerning the Geography, History and Ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East Asia |last2=Turley |first2=Jeffrey Scott |date=2015 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004301542 |pages=334–335}}</ref>

Tattoo designs varied by region. They can be repeating geometric designs, stylized representations of animals (like snakes and lizards), and floral or sun-like patterns. The most basic design was the ''labid'', which was an inch-wide continuous tattoo that covered the legs to the waist in straight or zigzagging lines. Shoulder tattoos were known as ''ablay''; chest tattoos up to the throat were known as ''dubdub''; and arm tattoos were known as ''daya-daya'' (also ''tagur'' in [[Panay]]).<ref name="Scott" />

====Other body modifications====
[[File:Butuan National Museum - flattened skulls cropped.jpg|thumb|Visayan [[artificial cranial deformation|flattened skulls]] ({{lang|ceb|tinangad}}) from the Butuan [[National Museum of the Philippines|National Museum]], [[Philippines]]]]
In addition to tattoos, Visayans also had other [[body modification]]s. These include [[artificial cranial deformation]], in which the forehead of infants was pressed against a comb-like device called ''tangad''. The ideal skull shape for adults was for the forehead to slope backwards with a more elongated back part of the skull. Adults with skulls shaped this way were known as ''tinangad'', in contrast with those of unshaped skulls called ''ondo''. Men were also [[circumcised]] (more accurately [[Dorsal slit|supercised]]), practiced [[Pearling (body modification)|pearling]], or wore pin-shaped [[genital piercing]]s called ''tugbuk'' which was anchored by decorative rivets called ''sakra''. Both men and women also had [[ear piercing]]s (1 to 2 on each ear for men, and 3 to 4 for women) and wore huge ring-shaped earrings, [[Plug (jewellery)|earplugs]] around {{convert|4|cm|in|abbr=on}} wide, or pendant earrings.<ref name="Scott" /> Gold teeth fillings were also common for renowned warriors. [[Teeth filing]] and [[teeth blackening]] were also practiced.<ref name="Jocano" /><ref name="Junker">{{Cite book |last=Junker |first=Laura L. |title=Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms |date=1999 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824864064}}</ref><ref name="Umali">{{Cite news |last=Umali |first=Justin |date=March 3, 2020 |title=High Culture: The Visayans Before Spanish Colonization Were Badasses |work=Esquire |url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/visayan-culture-a2212-20200303-lfrm2 |access-date=July 26, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Glick |first1=Leonard B. |title=Circumcision and Human Rights |chapter=Real Men: Foreskin Cutting and Male Identity in the Philippines1 |date=2009 |pages=155–174 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-9167-4_14|isbn=978-1-4020-9166-7 }}</ref>

===Precolonial Religion===
{{Main|Anito|babaylan|Religion in the Philippines|Catholicism in the Philippines|Protestantism in the Philippines|Islam in the Philippines|Hinduism in the Philippines}}

====Pre-Christianity====
[[File:Filipino sword tenegre panay overall.JPG|thumb|left|A ''tenegre'' sword from [[Panay]] with a ''[[bakunawa]]'' head [[hilt]]]]
Prior to the arrival of [[Catholicism]], precolonial Visayans adhered to a complex [[animist]] and [[Hindu]]-[[Buddhist]] system where spirits in nature were believed to govern all existing life. Similar to other [[ethnic groups in the Philippines]] such as the [[Tagalogs]] who believed in a pantheon of gods, the Visayans also adhered to deities led by a supreme being. Such belief, on the other hand, was misinterpreted by arriving Spaniards such as [[Jesuit]] historian [[Pedro Chirino]] to be a form of [[monotheism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zaide, G. F. |date=2006 |title=Filipinos before the Spanish conquest possessed a well-ordered and well-thought-out religion |journal=Religions and Missionaries Around the Pacific, 1500–1900 |location=Hampshire, UK |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |editor=T. Storch}}</ref> There are Kaptan and [[Magwayen|Magwayan]], supreme god of the sky and goddess of the sea and death, respectively. They in turn bore two children, Lihangin, god of wind, and Lidagat, goddess of the sea. Both aforementioned gods had four children, namely Likabutan, the god of the world, Liadlaw, the god of the sun, Libulan, the god of the moon, and Lisuga, the goddess of the stars.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Abueg, E. R. |title=Talindaw: Kasaysayan ng Pantikan sa Pilipino paa sa Kolehiyo at Unibersidad |last2=Bisa, S. P |last3=Cruz, E. G. |date=1981 |publisher=Merriam & Webster, Inc.}}</ref> People believed that life transpires amidst the will of and reverence towards gods and spirits. These deities who dwell within nature were collectively called the [[Anito|''diwata'']] (a local adaptation of the Hindu or Buddhist [[Devata]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guillermo, A. R. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Philippines |date=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. |edition=3rd |location=Plymouth, UK}}</ref> The Visayans adored (either for fear or veneration) various [[Anito|Diwatas]] . Early Spanish colonizers observed that some of these deities of the Visayas, have sinister characters, and so, the colonizers called them evil gods. These ''Diwatas'' live in rivers, forests, mountains, and the natives fear even to cut the grass in these places believed to be where the lesser gods abound.<ref name="Reyes y Florentino 1889, p. 41">[[iarchive:lasislasvisayase00reye|Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, ''Las Islas Visayas en la Época de la Conquista'' (Segunda edición), Manila: 1889, Tipo-Litografía de Chofké  y C.a, p. 41.]]</ref> These places are described, even now (after more than four hundred years of Christianization in the region), as ''mariit'' (enchanted and dangerous). The natives would make ''panabi-tabi'' (courteous and reverent request for permission) when inevitably constrained to pass or come near these sites. Miguel de Loarca in his ''Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas'' (Arevalo: June 1582) described some of them. They include the following:

# '''[[Laon (deity)|Laon]]''': the goddess who dwells in Mt. [[Kanlaon]] but is present as a supreme creator deity in the mythologies of most Visayan peoples. She is associated with creation, agriculture, the sky, and divine justice and equality.<ref name="Romualdez">{{cite journal |last1=Romualdez |first1=Norberto |title=A rough survey of the pre-historic legislation of the Philippines |journal=Philippine Law Journal |date=August 1914 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=149–180}}</ref><ref>Miguel de Loarca, Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas (Arevalo: June 1582) in Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", p. 135.</ref> She is also identified with the creator deity '''Makaako''', and in her male aspect '''Makapatag''', he is regarded as the destructive god of vengeance and punishment.<ref name="Yepes">{{cite book |last1=Yepes |first1=Victoria |title=Etnografía de los indios Bisayas del siglo XVII |date=1996 |publisher=Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas |location=Madrid |isbn=9788400076184 |volume = 15|series=Colección Biblioteca de Historia de América |pages=71–72}}</ref><ref name="Caballes">{{cite web |last1=Caballes |first1=Mary Joyce |title=The Boxer Codex: The Bisayan Chapter (Part 2) |url=https://thepinaywriter.com/the-boxer-codex-the-bisayan-chapter-part-2/ |website=The Pinay Writer |access-date=8 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="makaako">{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Jordan |title=Visayan Deities in Philippine Mythology |url=https://www.aswangproject.com/visayan-deities-in-philippine-mythology/ |website=The Aswang Project |date=6 February 2016 |access-date=8 April 2025}}</ref> 
# '''Barangao''', '''Ynaguinid''', and '''Malandok''': a trinity of deities invoked before going to war, or before plundering expeditions<ref>Miguel de Loarca, Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas (Arevalo: June 1582) in Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", p. 133.</ref>
# '''Makaptan''': the god who dwells in the highest sky, in the world that has no end. He is a bad god, because he sends disease and death if has not eaten anything of this world or has not drunk any pitarillas. He does not love humans, and so he kills them.<ref>Miguel de Loarca, Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas (Arevalo: June 1582) in Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", p. 133 and 135.</ref>
# '''[[Magwayen]]''': the goddess of the oceans; and the mother of water goddess Lidagat, who after her death decided to ferry souls in the afterworld.<ref name="Loarca 1582 p. 1313">Miguel de Loarca, Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas (Arevalo: June 1582) in Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", p. 131.</ref>
# '''Sidapa''': another god in the sky, who measures and determines the lifespan of all the new-born by placing marks on a very tall tree on [[Mount Madja-as|Mt. Madja-as]], which correspond to each person who come into this world. The souls of the dead inhabitants go to the same Mt. Madja-as.<ref name="Loarca 1582 p. 1313"/>

Some Spanish colonial historians, including Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, would classify some heroes and demigods of the Panay epic [[Hinilawod]], like '''Labaw Donggon''', among these Diwatas.<ref name="archive.org">[[iarchive:lasislasvisayase00reye|Speaking about the theogony, i.e., genealogy of the local gods of the Visayans, the historian Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino comments on Labaodumgug (Labaw Donggon), who is in the list of these gods, saying that he ''"is a hero in the ancient time, who was invoked during weddings and in their songs. In Iloilo there was a rock which appear to represent an indigenous man who, with a cane, impales a boat. It was the image or the diwata himself that is being referred to"''. the actual words of the historian are: ''"Labaodumgog, heroe de su antegüedad, era invocado en sus casamientos y canciones. En Iloilo había una peña que pretendía representar un indígna que con una caña impalía un barco. Era la imágen ó il mismo dinata d que se trata."'' Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, ''Las Islas Visayas en la Época de la Conquista'' (Segunda edición), Manila: 1889, Tipo-Litografía de Chofké  y C.a, p. 42.]]</ref>

==== Creation of the first man and woman ====
In the above-mentioned report of Miguel de Loarca, the Visayans' belief regarding the origin of the world and the creation of the first man and woman was recorded. The narrative says:<ref>Miguel de Loarca, ''Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas'' (Arevalo, June 1582)  in Blair, Emma Helen & Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1903). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803. Volume 05 of 55 (1582–1583). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. {{ISBN|978-0554259598}}. OCLC 769945704. "Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century.", pp. 121-126.</ref>

The people of the coast, who are called '''Yligueynes''', believed that the heaven and earth had no beginning and that there were two gods, one called '''Kaptan''' and the other '''Magwayen'''. They believed that the breeze and the sea were married; and that the land breeze brought forth a reed, which was planted by the god Captan. When the reed grew, it broke into two sections, from which came a man and a woman. To the man they gave the name '''Silalac''', and that is the reason why men from that time on have been called '''lalac'''; the woman they named '''Sicavay''', and henceforth women have been called ''babaye''...'

One day the man asked the woman to marry him for there were no other people in the world; but she refused, saying they were brother and sister, born of the same reed, with only one know between them. Finally, they agreed to ask the advice from the tunnies of the sea and from the doves of the earth. They also went to the earthquake, which said that it was necessary for them to marry, so that the world might be peopled.

==== Death ====
The Visayans believed that when the time comes for a person to die, the diwata '''Pandaki''' visits him to bring about death. '''Magwayen''', the soul ferry god, carries the souls of the Yligueynes to the abode of the dead called '''Solad'''.<ref name="Loarca 1582 p. 1313"/> But when a bad person dies, Pandaki brings him to the place of punishment in the abode of the dead, where his soul will wait to move on to the '''Ologan''' or heaven. While the dead is undergoing punishment, his family could help him by asking the priests or priestesses to offer ceremonies and prayers so that he might go to the place of rest in heaven.<ref>[[iarchive:lasislasvisayase00reye|Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, ''Las Islas Visayas en la Época de la Conquista'' (Segunda edición), Manila: 1889, Tipo-Litografía de Chofké  y C.a, pp. 41-42.]]</ref>

==== Shamans ====
The spiritual leaders were called the [[Babaylan]]. Most of the ''Babaylan'' were women who, for some reasons, the colonizers described as "[[Lascivious behavior|lascivious]]" and astute. On certain ceremonial occasions, they put on elaborate apparel, which appear bizarre to Spaniards. They would wear yellow false hair, over which some kind of diadem adorn and, in their hands, they wielded straw fans. They were assisted by young apprentices who would carry some thin cane as for a wand.<ref>[[iarchive:lasislasvisayase00reye|Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, ''Las Islas Visayas en la Época de la Conquista'' (Segunda edición), Manila: 1889, Tipo-Litografía de Chofké  y C.a, p. 44.]]</ref>

Notable among the rituals performed by ''Babaylan'' was the pig sacrifice. Sometimes chicken were also offered. The sacrificial victims were placed on well adorned altars, together with other commodities and with the most exquisite local wine called ''Pangasi''. The ''Babaylan'' would break into dance hovering around these offerings to the sound of drums and brass bells called ''Agongs'', with palm leaves and trumpets made of cane. The ritual is called by the Visayans '''''"Pag-aanito"'''''.<ref>[[iarchive:lasislasvisayase00reye|Isabelo de los Reyes y Florentino, ''Las Islas Visayas en la Época de la Conquista'' (Segunda edición), Manila: 1889, Tipo-Litografía de Chofké  y C.a, pp. 44- 45.]]</ref>

Spirits were referred to as ''umalagad'' (called ''[[anito]]'' in [[Luzon]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halili, C. N. |title=Philippine History |date=2004 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc |location=Manila}}</ref> These refer to ancestors, past leaders or heroes also transfigured within nature. Beside idols symbolizing the umalagad were food, drinks, clothing, precious valuables or even a sacrificial animal offered for protection of life or property. Such practice was a form of [[ancestor worship]]. Furthermore, these rituals surrounding the diwata and umalagad were mediated by the [[babaylan]] who were highly revered in society as spiritual leaders. These intercessors were equivalent to [[shamans]], and were predominantly women or were required to have strong female attributes such as hermaphrodites and homosexuals. Old men were also allowed to become one.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarling, N. |title=The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: Volume 1, from Early Times to c. 1800 |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}</ref> One notable example is [[Dios Buhawi]] who ruled a politico-religious revolt in [[Negros Oriental]] at the beginning of the [[Philippine Revolution]].<ref name="Aguilar, F. V." />

=== Modern-day Religion ===
According to 2000 survey, 86.53% of the population of [[Western Visayas]] professed [[Catholic Church in the Philippines|Roman Catholicism]]. [[Iglesia Filipina Independiente|Aglipayan]] (4.01%) and [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]] (1.48%) were the next largest groups, while 7.71% identified with other religious affiliations.<ref name="NSOpr0304tx">{{Cite press release |date=July 15, 2003 |title=Western Visayas: Eight Percent of the Total Population Were From Western Visayas (Results from the 2000 Census of Population Housing, NSO) |url=https://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0304tx.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221223905/http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0304tx.html |archive-date=February 21, 2012 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=National Statistics Office, Republic of the Philippines}}</ref>

The same survey showed that 92% of household populations in [[Central Visayas]] were Catholics, followed by Aglipayans (2%) and Evangelicals (1%). The remaining 5% belonged to the [[United Church of Christ in the Philippines]], [[Iglesia ni Cristo]], various Protestant denominations or other religions.<ref name="NSOpr0302tx" />

For [[Eastern Visayas]], 93% of the total household population were Catholics, while 12% identified as "Aglipayan", and 1% as "Evangelical". The remaining 5% belonged to other Protestant denominations (including the Iglesia ni Cristo, the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]], and various [[Baptist]] churches) or identified with [[Islam in the Philippines|Islam]] and other religions.<ref name="NSO3">{{Cite press release |date=January 17, 2003 |title=Eastern Visayas: Population to Increase by 149 Persons Per Day (Results from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, NSO) |url=https://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0313tx.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221224052/http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2003/pr0313tx.html |archive-date=February 21, 2012 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=National Statistics Office, Republic of the Philippines}}</ref>

The [[Tausūg people]] are excluded in these statistics because they do not self-identify as Visayans. The Tausug are overwhelmingly [[Muslim]] and are grouped together with other [[Muslim Filipinos|Muslim ethnic groups of the Philippines]] as the [[Moro people]].

===Festivals===
Visayans are known in the Philippines for their festivities such as the [[Ati-atihan festival|Ati-Atihan]], [[Dinagyang Festival|Dinagyang]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University |title=The Ati-Atihan and other West Visayan festivals |url=http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Ilonggo%20Culture/ilonggo_festivals.htm |access-date=September 8, 2012 |archive-date=August 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816231637/http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Ilonggo%20Culture/ilonggo_festivals.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Pintados-Kasadyaan]], [[Sangyaw]], [[Sinulog festival|Sinulog]] festivals. Most Visayan festivals have a strong association with Roman Catholicism despite apparent integration of ancient Hindu-Buddhist-Animist folklore particularly the tradition of dances and the idols in the image of the [[Child Jesus]] commonly named as the Santo Niño. The oldest Catholic [[cult image#Christianity|religious image]] in the islands still existing today is the [[Santo Niño de Cebú]].

{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 220
| image1            = 
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Fluvial procession of the [[Santo Niño de Cebú|Santo Niño]] along [[Cebu Strait]] marking the beginning of the [[Sinulog Festival]]
| image2            = Sinulog5.jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = [[Sinulog Festival]] of [[Cebu City|Cebu]]
| image3            = MassKara Festival, Bacolod City, Philippines.JPG
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = [[MassKara Festival]] of [[Bacolod]]
| image4            = 
| alt4              = 
| caption4          = Pintados de Pasi Festival of [[Passi, Iloilo]]
}}

The [[Sandugo Festival]] of [[Tagbilaran]], [[Bohol]] is a celebration of one of the most significant parts of pre-Philippine history. This festival revolves around the theme of the reenactment of the blood compact between the island's monarch, [[Datu Sikatuna]], and the [[conquistador|Spanish explorer]], [[Miguel López de Legazpi]], which is known among [[Filipinos]] as the [[Sandugo]] (lit. unified/one blood). The arrival of the ten [[Borneo|Bornean]] [[datu]]s as mentioned in the [[legend]] of [[Maragtas]] is celebrated in [[Binirayan Festival]] in [[Antique (province)|Antique]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Tadz Portal |last2=Kitz Y. Elizalde |date=January 21, 1999 |title=Antique revives Binirayan festival |newspaper=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]]}}</ref>

The [[MassKara Festival]] of [[Bacolod]], [[Negros Occidental]] explores more on the distinct cultural identity of the city. Since Bacolod is tagged as the ''City of Smiles'' due to its fun-loving and enduring people, the city government inaugurated the festival in 1980 after tragedy struck the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philippinetourism.us/tourism/featured-destinations-tourism/featured-destination-tourism-2/ |title=Featured Destinations |publisher=Philippine Department of Tourism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023141130/http://www.philippinetourism.us/tourism/featured-destinations-tourism/featured-destination-tourism-2/ |archive-date=October 23, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themasskarafestival.com/front-page/why-masskara/ |title=Why MassKara? |date= July 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901025157/http://www.themasskarafestival.com/front-page/why-masskara/ |archive-date=September 1, 2012}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{Main|Cebuano literature|Hiligaynon literature|Waray literature}}

Some of the earliest known works were documented by a [[Jesuit|Spanish Jesuit]] named Ignacio Francisco Alzina during the [[History of the Philippines (1521–1898)|Spanish colonial Philippines]]. Among these literary pieces from ancient [[Eastern Visayas]] were ''kandu'', ''haya'', ''ambahan'', ''kanogon'', ''bikal'', ''balak'', ''siday'' and ''awit'' which are predominantly in [[Waray-Waray language|Waray]]. There were also narratives called ''susmaton'' and ''posong''. It was also described that theater played a central role in performing poetry, rituals and dances.<ref name="ncca">{{Cite web |last=Sugbo |first=Victor N. |title=The Literature of Eastern Visayas |url=http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=142 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101051806/http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=142 |archive-date=November 1, 2012 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=National Commission for Culture and The Arts, Republic of the Philippines}}</ref> The [[Western Visayas|Western Visayans]] also shared nearly the same literary forms with the rest of the islands. Among their pre-Hispanic works were called the ''bangianay'', ''hurobaton'', ''paktakun'', ''sugidanun'' and ''amba''. These were all found to be in [[Kinaray-a language|Old Kinaray-a]]. Some of the widely known and the only existing literature describing ancient Visayan society are as the [[Hinilawod]] and the [[Maragtas]] which was in a combination of [[Kinaray-a]] and [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]].<ref name="ncca2">{{Cite web |last=Deriada |first=Leoncio P. |title=Hiligaynon Literature |url=http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=137 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728093958/http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=137 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=National Commission for Culture and The Arts, Republic of the Philippines}}</ref><ref name="aman">{{Cite web |title=Western Visayan Pre-Colonial Literature: A Tapestry of Spoken Stories |url=http://iamanamanuensis.blogspot.com/2009/12/western-visayan-pre-colonial-literature.html |date=December 5, 2009 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |author=El Cid |work=Amanuensis}}</ref> The ''Aginid: Bayok sa Atong Tawarik'' is an epic retelling a portion of ancient Cebu history where the [[Chola dynasty]] minor prince Sri Lumay of [[Sumatra]] founded and ruled the [[Rajahnate of Cebu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abellana |first=Jovito |title=Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik |publisher=Cebu Normal University Museum |year=1952}}</ref> It also has accounts of [[Rajah Humabon]] and [[Lapu-Lapu]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valeros, M. A. E. |date=September 13, 2009 |title=The Aginid |url=http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=504886 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208164315/http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=504886 |archive-date=February 8, 2013 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=The Freeman}}</ref>

It was found by [[Filipinos|Filipino]] polymath [[José Rizal]] in [[Antonio de Morga]]'s ''Sucesos delas islas Filipinas'' that one of the first documented  poets in much of [[History of the Philippines (900–1521)|pre-Philippines]] known to [[Conquistador|Europeans]] was a Visayan named ''Karyapa''.<ref name="saraspe">{{Cite web |last=Josephil Saraspe |date=April 3, 2009 |title=Visayan Poetry and Literature |url=http://josephilsaraspe.blogspot.com/2009/04/hubag.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127095629/http://josephilsaraspe.blogspot.com/2009/04/hubag.html |archive-date=November 27, 2012 |access-date=September 4, 2012 |publisher=Wits and Spirits}}</ref> During the golden age of [[Languages in the Philippines|Philippine languages]] at the onset of [[Japanese occupation of the Philippines|Japanese occupation]], numerous Visayan names rose to literary prominence. Acclaimed modern Visayan writers in their respective [[Bisayan languages|native languages]] are Marcel Navarra, the father of modern Cebuano literature, [[Magdalena Jalandoni]], Ramon Muzones, [[Iluminado Lucente]], Francisco Alvardo, Eduardo Makabenta, [[Norberto Romuáldez]], [[Antonio Abad]], [[Augurio Abeto]], Diosdado Alesna, Maragtas S. V. Amante, [[Epifanio Alfafara]], Jose Yap, [[Leoncio P. Deriada]], Conrado Norada, [[Alex C. Delos Santos|Alex Delos Santos]], [[John Iremil Teodoro]] and [[Peter Solis Nery]].

Don Ramon Roces of Roces Publishing, Inc. is credited for the promulgation of Visayan languages in publications through ''[[Hiligaynon (magazine)|Hiligaynon]]'' and ''[[Bisaya Magasin|Bisaya]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lent |first=John A. |date=2014 |title=Southeast Asian Cartoon Art: History, Trends and Problems |publisher=McFarland and Company |pages=39–74 |chapter=Philippine Komiks: 1928 to the Present |isbn=9780786475575 }}</ref>

===Cinema, television and theatre===
{{See also|Cebuano theater}}
Visayan films, particularly Cebuano-language ones, experienced a boom between the 1940s and the 1970s. In the mid 1940s alone, a total of 50 Visayan productions were completed, while nearly 80 movies were filmed in the following decade.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} This wave of success has been bolstered by [[Gloria Sevilla]], billed as the "Queen of Visayan Movies",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Protacio |first=R. R. |date=2009 |title=Gloria Sevilla: The queen of Visayan movie land |url=http://asianjournalusa.com/gloria-sevilla-the-queen-of-visayan-movie-land-p7374-87.htm |access-date=September 5, 2012 |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228195146/http://asianjournalusa.com/gloria-sevilla-the-queen-of-visayan-movie-land-p7374-87.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> who won the prestigious Best Actress award from the 1969 [[Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award|FAMAS]] for the film ''[[FAMAS Award for Best Picture#1960s|Badlis sa Kinabuhi]]'' and the 1974 ''Gimingaw Ako''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pmp2005.wetpaint.com/page/The+50%27s%3A+Golden+Age+of+Philippine+Cinema |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209070428/http://pmp2005.wetpaint.com/page/The+50's:+Golden+Age+of+Philippine+Cinema |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |title=The 50's: Golden Age of Philippine Cinema}}</ref> [[Caridad Sanchez]], Lorna Mirasol, [[Chanda Romero]], [[Pilar Pilapil]] and [[Suzette Ranillo]] are some of the industry's veterans who gained recognition from working on Visayan films.

The national film and television industries are also supported by actors who have strong Visayan roots such as [[Joel Torre]], [[Jackie Lou Blanco]], [[Edu Manzano]], [[Manilyn Reynes]], Dwight Gaston, [[Vina Morales]], Sheryl Reyes, and [[Cesar Montano]], who starred in the 1999 [[biographical film]] ''[[Rizal (film)|Rizal]]'' and multi-awarded 2004 movie ''[[Panaghoy sa Suba]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Javier-Alfonso |first=G. |date=n.d. |title=Cesar Montano, a Superior Story Teller |url=http://www.manunuri.com/reviews/cesar_montano_a_superior_story_teller |access-date=April 18, 2015}}</ref> Younger actors and actress of Visayan origin or ancestry include [[Isabel Oli]], [[Kim Chiu]], [[Enrique Gil]], [[Shaina Magdayao]], [[Carla Abellana]], [[Erich Gonzales]] and [[Matteo Guidicelli]].

Award-winning director [[Peque Gallaga]] of [[Bacolod]] has garnered acclaim from his most successful movie ''[[Oro, Plata, Mata]]'' which depicted [[Negros (Philippines)|Negros Island]] and its [[Negrenses|people]] during [[World War II]]. Among his other works and contributions are classic ''[[Shake, Rattle & Roll]]'' horror film series, ''[[Scorpio Nights]]'' and ''Batang X''.

[[GMA Network]]'s 2011 [[period drama]] [[teleserye]] ''[[Amaya (TV series)|Amaya]]'' as well as its 2013 series ''[[Indio (TV series)|Indio]]'', featured the politics and culture of ancient and colonial Visayan societies, respectively.

===Music===
{{See also|BisRock}}

Traditional Visayan folk music were known to many such as ''Dandansoy'' originally in [[Hiligaynon language|Hiligaynon]] and is now commonly sang in other [[Bisayan languages]]. Another, although originally written in [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]], is ''Waray-Waray'', which speaks of the common stereotypes and positive characteristics of the [[Waray people]]. American [[jazz]] singer [[Eartha Kitt]] also had a rendition of the song in her live performances.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ocampo |first=A. |date=January 7, 2009 |title=Eartha Kitt's Philippine Connection |newspaper=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] |url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090107-181837/Eartha-Kitts-Philippine-connection |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626015825/http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090107-181837/Eartha-Kitts-Philippine-connection |archive-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref> A very popular Filipino Christmas carol ''[[Ang Pasko ay Sumapit]]'' translated by [[Levi Celerio]] to Tagalog was originally a [[Cebuano language|Cebuano]] song entitled ''[[Kasadya Ning Taknaa]]'' popularized by [[Ruben Tagalog]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guerrero |first=A. M. |date=November 10, 2008 |title=Let Us Now Praise Famous Visayans |newspaper=[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]] |url=http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20081110-171219/Let-us-now-praise-famous-Visayans |url-status=dead |access-date=September 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515015508/http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20081110-171219/Let-us-now-praise-famous-Visayans |archive-date=May 15, 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:SAYAWIKA TINIKLING 1.gif|220px|thumb|Tinikling, which presumably originated from the Samar-Leyte area in Eastern Visayas.]]

[[Music in the Philippines#Modern Filipino Music|Contemporary Philippine music]] was highly influenced and molded through the contributions of many Visayan artists. Many of them are platinum recorder [[Jose Mari Chan]], [[Pilita Corrales]], Dulce, Verni Varga, [[Susan Fuentes]], [[Jaya (singer)|Jaya]] and [[Kuh Ledesma]] who enjoyed acclaim around the 1960s to the early 1990s. Newer singers are [[Jed Madela]], [[Sheryn Regis]] and [[Sitti Navarro]].

[[Yoyoy Villame]], a [[Boholano people|Boholano]], is dubbed as the Father of Filipino [[novelty song]]s with his ''Butsekik'' as the most popular. Villame often collaborated with fellow singer, [[Max Surban]]. [[Joey Ayala]], [[Grace Nono]] and [[Bayang Barrios]] are some of the front-runners of a branching musical subgenre called Neotraditional which involved [[Traditional Filipino musical instruments|traditional Filipino instruments]] with modern rhythm and melody.

Rock emerged into dominance within the Philippine music scene in the 1980s. Among the bands from Visayas are [[Urbandub]] and [[Junior Kilat]]. Another subgenre also sprung a few years later called [[BisRock]] which is a portmanteau of ''Bisaya'' and ''[[rock music|rock]]''.

===Dance===
Ethnic dances from the region are common in any traditional Filipino setting. The most well-known is the ''[[tinikling]]'' claimed to be of [[Leyte]] origins.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 28, 2006 |title=Researchers Probe Possible Origin of 'Tinikling' Folkdance in Leyte |work=Philippine Information Agency |url=http://archives.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&rp=2&fi=p060828.htm&no=17&date= |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111063935/http://archives.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&rp=2&fi=p060828.htm&no=17&date= |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Henkel |first=Steven A. |title=Tinikling Ideas |url=http://people.bethel.edu/~shenkel/PhysicalActivities/Rhythms/Tinikling/TinikleIdeas.html |access-date=September 5, 2012 |website=Homepage of Steven A. Henkel, Ph.D. Professor of Physical Education Bethel University † St. Paul, MN |language=en |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511214325/http://people.bethel.edu/~shenkel/PhysicalActivities/Rhythms/Tinikling/TinikleIdeas.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Curacha or kuratsa (not to be confused with the [[curacha|Zamboangueño dish]]) is a popular Waray dance. Its Cebuano counterparts are kuradang and la berde.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visayan Dances |url=http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cebu%20Culture/cebu%20dances.htm |work=SEAsite |publisher=[[Northern Illinois University]] |language=en}}</ref> Some [[Hiligaynon people|Hiligaynon]] dances include the ''harito'', ''balitaw'', ''liay'', ''lalong kalong'', ''imbong'', ''inay-inay'' and ''binanog''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Funtecha |first=H. F. |date=June 9, 2006 |title=What Ilonggo Culture Is |language=en |work=The News Today Online Edition |url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/06/09/what.ilonggo.culture.is.html}}</ref> There is also ''liki'' from [[Negros Occidental]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1968 |title=Liki (Philippines) |url=http://www.folkdance.com/federation/dances/liki-1968-4.pdf |language=en |via=folkdance.com}}</ref>

===Visual arts===

The only Boholano and the youngest to receive the [[National Artist of the Philippines]] award for [[visual arts]] is [[Napoleon Abueva]]. He is also tagged as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture. Among his works are ''Kaganapan'' (1953), the Transfiguration (1979) and the 14 Stations of the Cross around the [[EDSA Shrine]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oblation.com.ph/artist.htm|title = Napoleon V. Abueva, The National Artist |work=The Oblation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511045342/http://www.oblation.com.ph/artist.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2013}}</ref> He is also responsible for the sculpture of the [[Sandugo|''Sandugo'' monument]] at [[Tagbilaran City]] to give homage to his roots.

A renowned figure in architecture is [[Leandro Locsin]] of [[Silay]], [[Negros Occidental]]. He was proclaimed as [[National Artist of the Philippines]] for architecture in 1990. Locsin worked on many of the buildings in many campuses of the [[University of the Philippines System]]. He also designed the main building or the ''[[Cultural Center of the Philippines#Tanghalang Pambansa|Tanghalang Pambansa]]'' of the [[Cultural Center of the Philippines]] and the [[Ayala Tower One|Ayala Tower One & Exchange Plaza]] housing the [[Philippine Stock Exchange]] at [[Makati]].

==See also==
*[[Bisaya (Borneo)]], a similarly named [[ethnic group]] in [[Borneo]]
*[[Pintados]]
*[[Visayas]]
*[[Luções]]
*[[Rajahnate of Cebu]]
*[[Timawa]]
*[[Malay world]]
*[[Bisaya (genus)]]
*[[Boxer Codex]]
*[[Tagalog people]]
*[[Kapampangan people]]
*[[Ilocano people]]
*[[Ivatan people]]
*[[Igorot people]]
*[[Pangasinan people]]
*[[Bicolano people]]
*[[Zamboangueño people]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101004180826/http://www.filipinolanguages.com/html/visayan.html Visayan Languages], filipinolanguages.com.
*[http://www.everyculture.com/East-Southeast-Asia/Visayan.html Visayan], everyculture.com.
*[http://www.thenewstoday.info/2009/08/28/the.issues.on.the.use.of.the.word.bisaya.html The issues on the use of the word 'Bisaya'] by Henry Funtecha, PhD The News Today. August 28, 2009, Iloilo City, Philippines.

{{Ethnic groups in the Philippines}}
{{BisayaPeoplesmall}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Visayan people| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Philippines]]