Embracing the Bagobo-Tagabawa life at the foot of Mt. Apo

Source: http://www.ugnayan.com/ph/DavaodelSur/Davao/article/Y82

In just an hour ride in a private vehicle or in a rented van or in a single motorcycle from the center of Sta. Cruz town in Davao del Sur province or about 50 kilometers south of Davao City, one could reach and relish the experience of the majestic Mt. Apo while immersing in the life and culture of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe.


Set in a two-hectare part of a claimed ancestral domain at the slopes of the Mt. Apo Natural Park lies the Tibolo Cultural Village that offers a wide range of understanding and encounters with the culture, lifestyle and livelihood activities of the Bagobo-Tagabawas.


This culture-development center envisioned to become a landmark of living indigenous cultural traditions, provides the authenticity of the tribes’ ethnicity that the 2,000 members of these indigenous peoples who reside in this highland barangay of Tibolo in Sta. Cruz, are striving to uphold and preserve.

Introduction / History
The Manobo are several people groups who inhabit the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. They speak one of the languages belonging to the Manobo language family. Their origins can be traced back to the early Malay peoples who came from the surrounding islands of Southeast Asia. Today, their common cultural language and Malay heritage help to keep them connected.

The Manobo cluster includes eight groups: the Cotabato Manobo, Agusan Manobo, Dibabawon Manobo, Matig Salug Manobo, Sarangani Manobo, Manobo of Western Bukidnon, Obo Manobo, and Tagabawa Manobo. The groups are often connected by name with either political divisions or landforms. The Bukidnons, for example, are located in a province of the same name. The Agusans, who live near the Agusan River Valley, are named according to their location.

The eight Manobo groups are all very similar, differing only in dialect and in some aspects of culture. The distinctions have resulted from their geographical separation.

What are their lives like?

The most common lifestyle of the Manobo is that of rural agriculture. Unfortunately, their farming methods are very primitive. For example, the Bukidnon grow maize and rice as their principal crops. Some of the farmers have incorporated plowing techniques, while others have continued to use the "slash-and-burn" method. The Cotabato use a farming system called kaingin. This is a procedure in which fields are allowed to remain fallow for certain periods of time so that areas of cultivation may be shifted from place to place. This is very inefficient since many plots of land are not being used at one time.

Social life for the Manobo is patriarchal (male-dominated). The head of the family is the husband. Polygyny (having more than one wife at a time) is common and is allowed according to a man's wealth. However, among the Bukidnon, most marriages are monogamous. The only exception is that of the powerful datus (headmen).

The political structures of the Manobo groups are all quite similar. A ruler, called a sultan, is the head of the group. Beneath him are the royal and non-royal classes. Only those people belonging to the royal classes can aspire to the throne. Those belonging to the non-royal classes are under the power and authority of the royal classes. Each class is interdependent on the others.

The political aspects of life are often integrated with the social aspects. For example, many social events, such as weddings, require political leaders. Whenever there is a negotiation for marriage, both the bride and the groom must use the local datu (headman) to make all of the arrangements.

There is a wide range in the populations of the eight Manobo groups. Many of the groups are struggling with a changing world. Outside pressures have greatly affected their respective cultures.

What are their beliefs?

The religious beliefs of the Manobo revolve around the concept of many unseen spirits interfering in the lives of humans. They believe that these spirits can intrude on human activities to accomplish their desires. The spirits are also believed to have human characteristics. They are both good and evil in nature and can be evoked to both anger and pleasure.

Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe receives 500T from Aboitiz-owned Hedcor

Source:http://www.edgedavao.net

In  celebration  of  the  National  Indigenous  Peoples’  Month  this year, AboitizPower’s  wholly-owned subsidiary Hedcor Sibulan, Inc. honored tribal community  by giving half a million pesos to Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe as their annual royalty share from the 42.5 MW Sibulan Hydropower Plant.

The share covers the third quarter of the year to be allotted to livelihood program,  education, medicines, reforestation, and the maintenance of their ancestral  Tudaya Falls. The turnover ceremony is witnessed by the National Commission  on  Indigenous  Peoples (NCIP) commissioners led by Atty. Roque Agton, Jr of Region XI.

“We  are  sincere  in  carrying  out  what  we promise to share to our host communities.  This  share  is over and above what the law has required from us,” said Vice President in Mindanao Operations Rolando Pacquiao.

Hedcor  regularly  undertakes  Corporate  Social  Responsibility  projects focusing on education, health, reforestation, energization, and livelihood.

“Sa karon, daghan na sa amo ang aduna nay mapakaon sa among mga anak, daghan ng mga bata ang naka skwela, daghan ng mga naay sakit nga naayo. Kini tanan tungod sa Hedcor. (Now, plenty of us can feed our children, plenty of kids go to school, and many who got sick were cured. These are all because of Hedcor.),” Datu Rudy Agtag expressed his gratitude of thanks to Hedcor.

“The  shares  we  received from Hedcor is a big help in reclaiming our land that has been sold long time ago”, Datu Agtag added.

Before  the  RA 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Act of 1997 was implemented, some land of the IP was sold from them.

Atty.  Agton  explained that no one can buy the ancestral land after the RA 8371 was implemented except for immediate members of the family.

Hedcor  is  the  largest developer and the leading producer of run-of-river hydropower  facilities  in  Benguet,  Ilocos  Sur,  and  Davao with a total generating capacity of 150 MW.