We don’t hear the word maharlika very much anymore. Its origin goes all the way back to the ancient language of India called Sanskrit, from the word, maharddhika, meaning, "a man of wealth, knowledge or ability." Today it is generally accepted to mean "nobility or aristocracy." The venerable Tagalog dictionary of Leo James English gives us this example: Ang mga harì at prinsipe ay kabilang sa mga maharlikâ. [Kings and princes belong to the nobility.]
That’s the modern definition, but back in the days when there really was a maharlika class in the Philippines, it was actually a lower class of nobility that served the datus, or chiefs, in times of war. The maharlikas belonged to the “kings and princes” and not the other way around.
Marcos’ Maharlika
We can thank former President Ferdinand Marcos, mainly, for our misunderstanding of this word today. “Maharlika culture” was his propaganda tool for promoting nationalism during the days of the “New Society.” The word became very fashionable and was used in naming streets, buildings, banquet halls, villages and cultural groups. Marcos named a highway, a broadcast company and the reception area of Malacañang Palace, Maharlika. He even toyed with the idea of renaming the whole country as Maharlika.
Marcos’ fascination with the term apparently began in World War II when he claimed to have commanded a guerrilla force of over 8000 men that he called the Maharlika unit. His claims were proved false in 1985.
It’s ironic that Marcos’ first use of the word maharlika was quite appropriate because he only used it to name a group of soldiers (albeit fictitious soldiers) rather than an entire aristocracy or country.
The maharlikas were just one rank in the ancient class system of the Tagalogs, which was a little more convoluted than our Western idea of aristocrats and commoners. This class system was the norm in other parts of the Philippines, too, though the names of the classes varied slightly.
