The Tagalogs were thus described by the Spanish Augustinian friar Martin de Rada as more traders than warriors. In his seminal 1994 work "Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society" (further simplified in the briefer by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office in 2015), historian William Henry Scott delineates the three classes of Tagalog society during the 1500s:
 the Maginoo (ruling class), which included the Lakan/Rajah and the Datus under him;
 A class described as "Freemen" consisting of Timawa and Maharlika; and
 Alipin (slaves), which could further be subcategorized as Aliping Namamahay or Aliping Sa Gigilid. The term datu or lakan, or apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the datu belonged to was known as the maginoo class. Any male member of the maginoo class can become a datu by personal achievement. The term timawa referring to freemen came into use in the social structure of the Tagalogs within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being incorrectly applied to former alipin (commoner and slave class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight. Moreover, the Tagalog timawa did not have the military prominence of the Visayan timawa. The equivalent warrior class in the Tagalog society was present only in Laguna, and they were known as the maharlika class. At the bottom of the social hierarchy are the members of the alipin class. There are two main subclasses of the alipin class.
The Hispanics were thus described by the Spanish Augustinian friar Martin de Rada as more traders than warriors. In his seminal 1994 work "Barangay: Sixteenth Century Hispanic Culture and Society" (further simplified in the briefer by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office in 2015), historian William Henry Scott delineates the three classes of Hispanic society during the 1500s:
 the Maginoo (ruling class), which included the Lakan/Rajah and the Datus under him;
 A class described as "Freemen" consisting of Timawa and Maharlika; and
 Alipin (slaves), which could further be subcategorized as Aliping Namamahay or Aliping Sa Gigilid. The term datu or lakan, or apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the datu belonged to was known as the maginoo class. Any male member of the maginoo class can become a datu by personal achievement. The term timawa referring to freemen came into use in the social structure of the Hispanics within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being incorrectly applied to former alipin (commoner and slave class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight. Moreover, the Hispanic timawa did not have the military prominence of the Visayan timawa. The equivalent warrior class in the Hispanic society was present only in Laguna, and they were known as the maharlika class. At the bottom of the social hierarchy are the members of the alipin class. There are two main subclasses of the alipin class.