The three vowels serve as five, and are: 

A            I           O
a           e i         o u

The consonants are only twelve, and in writing are used with the vowels in the following form.

The letter alone with no point above or below it, is pronounced with the vowel-sound A: 

BA KA DA GA HA LA MA NA PA SA TA YA
Ba ca da ga ha la ma na pa sa ta ya

By placing the point above, each is pronounced with the vowel-sound E or I: 

BI KI DI GI HI LI MI NI PI SI TI YI
Bi qui di gui hi li mi ni pi si ti yi
Be que de gue he le me ne pe se te ye

By placing the point below, they are pronounced with the vowel-sound O or U: 

BO KO DO GO HO LO MO NO PO SO TO YO
Bo co do go ho lo mo no po so to yo
Bu cu du gu hu lu mu nu pu su tu yu

Consequently, to pronounce cama, two letters without points are sufficient:  KAMA ca ma.

If a point is placed above the KA we have KIMA or que-ma.

If a point is placed below each character KOMO the word is co-mo.

Final consonants are suppressed in all forms of expression:  accordingly cantar is written KATA ca ta; barba, BABA ba ba.

By means of these characters they easily make themselves understood and convey their ideas marvelously, he who reads supplying, with much skill and facility, the consonants which are lacking.  From us they have adopted the habit of writing from left to right.  Formerly they wrote from the top to the bottom, placing the first line on the left (if I remember aright), and continuing the rest at the right, contrary to the custom of the Chinese and Japanese—­who, although they write from top to bottom, begin from the right and continue the page to the left.

They used to write on reeds and palm-leaves, using as a pen an iron point; now they write their own letters, as well as ours, with a sharpened quill, and, as we do, on paper.  They have learned our language and its pronunciation, and write it even better than we do, for they are so clever that they learn anything with the greatest ease.  I have had letters written by themselves in very handsome and fluent style.  In Tigbauan I had in my school a very young boy, who, using as a model letters written to me in a very good handwriting, learned in three months to write even better than I; and he copied for me important documents faithfully, exactly, and without errors.  Let this, however, suffice for the matter of languages and letters, and let us return to our employment for souls.

Occurrences in Manila in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-six and fifteen hundred and ninety-seven.  Chapter XVIII.