Philippines. Although the people of the Philippines utilized a script similar to that of Indonesia,the sole written document that has survived from the pre-Hispanic period is the Laguna de Bay inscription on a 20- by 30-centimeter (8-by 12-inch) copper plate dated 822
Saka (900CE). It was offered for sale to the National Museum of the Philippines in January 1990 after having been found accidentally near the mouth of the Lumbang River by men dredging for sand.
The inscription consists of 10 lines in a script still know among the Mangyans of Mindoro Island as Baybayin. It is identical to early Kawi used in the early 10th century from Bali to central Java Thailand and Champa. The language of the inscription is basically Old Malay with a mixture of some Sanskrit words,some words (e.g.,the title pamagat) analogous to Tagalog, and Old Javanese. Names include some in Austronesian form (Tagalog),some Sankrit names for people,and a place-name,Medang,which is also found in central Javanese inscriptions at this period. The objective of the inscription was to certify that a chief and commander representing a leader named Jayadewa had declared a person named Namwran to be acquitted of a debt amounting to 1 kati (617.6 grams/24 ounces) and 8 suwarna (38.6 grams/1.5 ounces),presumably of gold