Mangyan in Maranao
Mangyan in Maranao
Mangyan in Maranao
Mangyan is the generic name for the eight indigenous groups found on the island of Mindoro, southwest
of the island of Luzon. Mindoro is the seventh largest island in the Philippines, with an area of 10,224
square kilometers and two provinces – Oriental and Occidental. Of the total population of one million, the
indigenous population is estimated at 100,000.
Hanunuo
The Hanunuo Mangyans live in the municipalities of Mansalay, Bulalacao, and some parts of Bongabong
in Oriental Mindoro, and in the municipality of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro.
To the Hanunuo, clothing (rutay) is one of the most important criteria in distinguishing the Mangyan
from the non-Manyan (damuong). A Hanunuo-Mangyan male wears a loin cloth (ba-ag) and a shirt
(balukas). A female wears an indigo-dyed short skirt (ramit) and a blouse (lambung). Many of the
traditional style shirts and blouses are embroidered on the back with a design called pakudos, based on
the cross shape.
This design is also found on their bags made of buri (palm leaf) and nito (black fern), called bay-ong. Both
sexes used to wear a twilled rattan belt with pocket (hagkos) at their waist. Long hair is the traditional
style for a man. It is tied in one spot at the back of the head with a cloth hair-band called panyo. Women
also have long hair often dressed with a headbands of beads. The Hanunuo Mangyans of all ages and both
sexes are very fond of wearing necklaces and bracelets of beads [Miyamoto, 1985].
In the past they cultivated cotton trees and from these obtained raw materials which they wove in a
crude hand loom called harablon. The process of weaving was called habilan, which starts with the
gathering of cotton balls and pilling them to dry in a flat basket (bilao). Afterwards, the seeds are
removed and the cotton placed on a mat and beaten by two flat sticks to make it fine. Next the cotton is
placed inside a container made out of banana stalks (binuyo) and woven.
Together with their northern neighbor the Buhids, the Hanunuo possess a pre-Spanish writing system,
considered to be of Indic origin, with characters expressing the open syllables of the language [Postma,
1981]. This syllabic writing system, called Surat Mangyan, is being taught in several Mangyan schools in
Mansalay and Bulalacao.
The Hanunuo Mangyans practise swidden farming. This type of farming is different from the "kaingin"
system practised by non-Mangyans which is often very destructive when it is done with no proper
safeguards to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding vegetation. A fallow period is also
observed so that the swidden farm will revert back to forest. According to Conklin, the Mangyans
managed their swidden farms skillfully. In 1995, almost half a century after Conklin's research, a study on
the Hanunuo Mangyans' swidden farming system was conducted by Hayama Atsuko. She concluded that
the Hanunuo Mangyans' farming practices have prevented land deterioration in spite of the fact that
forest land degradation is now evident in their territory due to various factors.
Iraya
The Iraya Mangyans live in the municipalities of Puerto Galera, San Teodoro and Baco in Oriental
Mindoro but most are in Occidental Mindoro, particularly in the
municipalities of Abra de Ilog, Paluan, Mamburao and Santa Cruz.
Estel (1952) described the Iraya as having curly or deep wavy hair
and dark skin but not as dark as that of the Negrito.
The Alangan Mangyans live in the municipalities of Naujan, Baco, San Teodoro, and Victoria in Oriental
Mindoro, and in the municipality of Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro.
The name Alangan was derived from the name of a river and mountain slopes in the upper Alangan Valley
[Leykamm, 1979].
The women traditionally wear a skirt called lingeb. This is made of long strips of woven nito (forest
vines), and is wound around the abdomen. This is worn together with the g-string called abayen. The
upper covering is called ulango, made from the leaf of the wild buri palm. Sometimes a red kerchief
called limbutong is worn over the ulango. The men wear g-strings with fringes in front.
The Alangan Mangyans practise swidden farming, which consists of eleven stages. Two of them are the
firebreak-making (agait) and the fallowing (agpagamas). A firebreak is made so the fire will not go
beyond the swidden site where the vegetation is thoroughly dry and ready for burning. Two years after
clearing, cultivation of the swidden is normally ceased and the site is allowed to revert back to forest
[Quiaoit, 1997].
Betel nut chewing is also noted among the Alangans, like all other Mangyan tribes. This they chew with
great fervor from morning to night, saying that they don't feel hunger as long as they chew betel nut
[Leykamm, 1979]. Nonetheless, betel chewing has a social dimension. Exchange of betel chew ingredients
signifies social acceptance.
Tadyawan
In the past, the women wore for their upper covering a red cloth
called paypay, which is wound around the breast. For their
lower covering, they wrapped around the waist a white cloth
called talapi. The men wore g-strings called abay. For their
accessories, women wore colorful bracelets and necklaces made
of beads. Today the women are rarely seen wearing their
traditional attire, though some men still wear the abay.
Tau-buid
The Tau-buids are known as pipe smokers and even children begin
smoking at a young age.
Standard dress for men and women is the loin cloth. In some areas
close to the lowlands, women wrap a knee-length cloth around their
bark bra-string and men wear cloth instead of bark. Bark cloth is worn
by both men and women in the interior and is also used for head
bands, women's breast covers, and blankets. Cloth is made by
extracting, pounding and drying the inner bark of several trees
[Pennoyer, 1979].
.
Bangon
The Bangon Mangyans live along the Bongabon river called Binagaw
and the surrounding mountains in the municipalities of Bongabong,
Bansud, and Gloria in Oriental Mindoro.
The Bangon Mangyans have their own culture, language and writing
system, different to the other tribes in Oriental Mindoro, and asserted
they be considered the seventh major tribe – not a sub-tribe of the Tau-
buid. In a March 28, 1996 meeting with Buhid Mangyans in Ogom
Liguma, they decided to accept the word Bangon for their tribe.
Buhid
The Buhids are known as pot makers. Other Mangyan tribes, like the
Alangan and Hanunuo, used to buy their cooking pots from the
Buhids. The word Buhid literally means "mountain dwellers"
[Postma, 1967].
Together with the Hanunuo, the Buhids in some areas possess a pre-Spanish syllabic writing system.
Ratagnon
The Ratagnon live in the southernmost part of the municipality of Magsaysay in Occidental Mindoro.
Their language is similar to the Visayan Cuyunon language, spoken by the inhabitants of Cuyo Island in
Northern Palawan.
The Ratagnon women wear a wrap-around cotton cloth from the waistline to the knees and some of the
males still wear the traditional g-string. The women's breast covering is made of woven nito (vine). They
also wear accessories made of beads and copper wire. The males wear a jacket with simple embroidery
during gala festivities and carry flint, tinder, and other paraphernalia for making fire. Both sexes wear
coils of red-dyed rattan at the waistline. Like other Mangyan tribes, they also carry betel chew and its
ingredients in bamboo containers.
Language
Their languages are mutually imposible to understand, though they share some vocabulary and
use Hanunó ’o script to write: Tawbuid and Buhid are closely related, and are unusual among Philippine
languages in having an /f/ phoneme; Tawbuid is divided into eastern and western dialects; Western
Tawbuid may be the only Philippine language to have no /h/ or /ʔ/.
Hanunuo’s script is written Vertically but written upward and to be read left to right
Religion
Their traditional religious world view is primarily animistic; around 10% have embraced Christianity,
both Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Protestantism (The New Testaments have been published in six
of the Mangyan languages).
The Mangyan have a complex spiritual belief system which includes the following deities:
Mahal na Makaako – The Supreme Being who gave life to all human beings merely by gazing at
them.
Binayi – Owner of a garden where all spirits rest.
Binayo – Is a sacred female spirit, caretaker of the rice spirits or the kalag paray. She is married to
the spirit Bulungabon. The kalag paray must be appeased, to ensure a bountiful harvest. It is for this
reason that specific rituals are conducted in every phase of rice cultivation. Some of these rituals include
the panudlak, the rite of the first planting; the rite of rice planting itself; and the rites of harvesting which
consist of the magbugkos or binding rice stalks, and the pamag-uhan, which follows the harvest.
Bulungabon – The spirit aided by 12 fierce dogs. Erring souls are chased by these dogs and
eventually drowned in a cauldron of boiling water. He is Binayo’s husband.
Festival
Mangyan Festival
This is the kind of festival that amplifies the very voice of Mangyan
from its most remote of sanctuary in forests to its most exposed
homes in the flatlands.