Name: Federica L.

Ellaga
By: Rizal G. Buendia

The Lumad tribal groupings of Mindanao include Ata, Bagobo, Guiangga,

Mamanwa, Magguangan, Mandaya, Banwa-on, Bukidnon, Dulangan, Kalagan,
Kulaman, Manobo, Subanon, Tagabili, Takakaolo, Talandig, and Tiruray or Teduray.
The Lumad groups of Mindanao have faced, and continue to face, long-term
displacement and legalized land dispossession, which is also a threat to other
indigenous communities in the Philippines. The southern Philippine island peoples of
Mindanao are resource-rich and were formerly under-populated compared to the
northern island peoples of Luzon. Thus, throughout the twentieth century, there was a
steady migration of Christian lowland Filipinos into areas previously occupied and
dominated by Lumad and Moros. These migrations were initially encouraged by the
American authorities, when the Philippines was under their rule, and were given further
impetus by central government authorities after independence by the development of
plantation agriculture, logging concessions and hydro-electric and geothermal energy
schemes. Lumad are now outnumbered in their ancestral lands.
HISTORY The word Sulu was derived and written
before as Suluk or Soolook. The Malayos
The Province of Sulu (Luaph Sug – land of (Malays, Malaysians) have always been
the current) traces its rich histoprical origin using the term “Orang Suluk” to refer to the
to the coming of Islam to the Philippines. people of the area, which correspond to the
Sulu’s history is shaped by the arrival of present term Tausug. Suluk was
Muslim missionaries, trxders, scholoars, transformed into Sug. It is very common
and travellers foremost of which was among Tausugs to drop the letter “I” in a
Karim-ul Makhdum, an Arab missionary word or syllable, especially during snappy
and learned A JUDGE WHO conversion. On the other hand, the letters
ESTABLSIHED A STRONG Islamic k and g at the end of the word can easily be
foundation for governance and life in whar mistaken for each depending upon the
once the principality of Buansa Sumatra accuracy of the speaker’s tongue, the
and the reign of Rajah Baguinda. keenness of the listener’s ears and the
distance one is from the other. Suk could
The marriage of Rajah Baguinda’s have been interchangeably used with Sug
daughter Paramisuli to the Arabian scholar but the latter permanently took an
Sayid Abubakar saw the birth of the irreversible hold on some people psyche
Sultanate of Sulu. Abubakar, the first and lingual habit. By derivation therefore,
Sultan, brought Sulu, the Zambonaga Suluk and Suk (Sug) should assume the
Peninsula, Palawan, and Basilan under the same meaning, and finally landed to the
Sultanate. Sabah followed in 1704 in word Sulu.
reconition of the Sultans help in ending the
long-running Brunei civil war. Sulu became a province on March 10, 1917
through Commonwealth Act No. 27-11.
The coming of Spanish colonization, Sulu celebrates a special day-the
Christianity, and a neo political sytem foundation of local governance and public
sparked fierce tesistance in Sulu and administration on every September 18 –
started the Moro wars of 1578-1899. The per Provincial Ordinance No. 01 series of
ceding of the Philippines to the United 1993 proudly signifying that local
States by Spain ended 23 year’s (1876- government in Sulu antedates similar
1899) of Spanish occupation and ushered system in the country.
in the American era. The Bates
agreements signed Sultan Jamalul Kuiram PEOPLE in Sulu
II and Brigadier General John Bates The dominant ethnic group in the
marked the start to the declined of the Sulu archipelago because of their political
Sultanate. In March 1915, the Sultan gave and religious institutions, the Tausug
his temporal powers in the Carpenter occupy Jolo, Indanan, Siasi, and Patikul in
agreement. This agreement ended all Sulu (BARMM). There are also scattered
opposition the American government of settlements in Zamboanga del Sur and
Gov. Frank W. Carpenter. Cotabato, and all the way to Malaysia,
With the enactment by the U.S. Congress which has an estimated Tausug population
of the Jones Law (Philippine Autonomy of more than 110,000.
Law) in 1916, ultimate Philippine Tausug is a combination of tau
independence was guaranteed and the (person) and suug (the old name of Jolo
Filipinization of public administration Island). The present generation of Tausugs
began. Sulu, however, had an appointed are believed to be descended from the
American Governor General in Manila had different ethnic groups that had migrated to
a say in Sulu affairs. the Sulu archipelago.
But one thing was evident; centuries of The Tausug language is adopted
colonial presence could not erase the from the vocabulary of Tagimaha, in whose
legacy of local governance left by Rajah locality the Sultan of Sulu lived and
Baguinda, a legacy that shapes Sulu established Buansa, the capital of the
politics to this day. Sultunate. They have two dialects:
parianum and gimbahanun. Parianum is consonants and three vowels and that they
spoken by the people living along the had a dialect of 18 syllables.
coasts of Jolo and gimbahanun, by those
living in the interior part. He also included that the local King
in Palawan during that time has 10 scribes
Palawan is the largest province in who wrote down the King’s dictation on the
the Philippines and is home to several leaves.
indigenous ethnolinguistic groups such as
the Tagbanua, Palaw’an, Tao’t Bato, These natives that were mentioned
Molbog, Batak, Agutaynen, and Cuyonon. by Pigafetta were probably the Tabon Man
that was discovered by Dr. Fox. According
These groups of people live in to research, it is very likely that the
remote villages throughout the province Tagbanuas and the Palaw’ans are
that are found in mountains and coastal descendants of the Tabon Cave’s
areas. According to the province’s history, inhabitants. It was further explained that
the ancestors of these indigents have these tribes have similarities when it comes
occupied Palawan long before the Malay to their language, farming methods, and a
settlers from the Majapahit Empire of common belief in soul relatives.
Indonesia arrived in the area during the
12th century. At present, many groups of
indigents have moved into Palawan,
In the year 1962, a team of however, the National Commission on
anthropologists from the Philippine Indigenous Peoples only acknowledge
National Museum unearthed various fossils seven of these groups of people as true
at the Lipuun Point which is now commonly native of Palawan.
known as the Tabon Cave in the
municipality of Quezon in Palawan. Batak

The team which was led by Dr. The Batak tribe is a group of
Robert Fox was able to discover the indigenous people who live in the rugged
remains of Homo Sapiens that are believed interiors of the northeast portion of the
to be 22, 000 to 24, 000 years old during province of Palawan. These group of
that time. Those remains were then named people lives close to nature and are
“Tabon Man” and were, then, used for extremely peaceful and shy. They believe
further study. The discovery of the Tabon in nature spirits with whom they
Man and the fossils found in the cave gave communicate with through the aid of a
way for Palawan to earn the title “The “babaylan” or a shaman.
Cradle of Philippine Civilization”. At present, there are only about
According to Antonio Pigafetta, the 500, or less, Batak people remaining in the
chronicler of Ferdinand Magellan, the Philippines.
remnant of Magellan’s fleet landed in The Bataks are also called
Palawan after Magellan’s death. They were Tinitianes and are considered by
able to observe the way of life of the native anthropologists to be closely related to the
people who were populating in Palawan at Aytas of Central Luzon, another Negrito
that time. In his writings, he highlighted how tribe. They are described as people who
cultivated the fields are in the said province tend to be small in stature and has a dark
and that all the native people used complexion, they also have short curly,
weapons consisting of blowpipes, spears mostly kinky, hair – traits that earned the
and bronze Lombard. “Negrito” groups of their name.
Pigafetta also mentioned the Agutaynen
experiences he had such as witnessing
cockfighting and fistfighting. He also This indigenous group is most likely
discovered that the natives had their own to be found in the northern part of the
system of writing which is composed of 13 province of Palawan such as Agutaya
Island, Municipality of Roxas, Municipality
of San Vicente, Municipality of Brooke’s straight hair. This ethnic group is divided
Point, Municipality of Taytay, and into two groups; Central Tagbanua and
Linapacan. They may also be occasionally Calamian Tagbanua. The two groups
spotted in Manila, the capital city of the speak different languages and do not
Philippines. exactly have similar customs.
These groups of people are Tagbanuas live in compact villages
believed to belong to the family of of 45 to 500 individuals. In 1987, there are
Austronesians and Malayo-Polynesians about 130,000 Tagbanuas living in
whose have a long inhabited the province Palawan, at present, however, it dropped to
of Palawan. They have lexical similarity only around 10,000, 1, 800 of which are
with Cuyonon and the Calamian located in Calamianes.
Tagbanua, who are also indigents in
Tagbanuas have their own unique
Palawan.
government system that is being practiced
Agutaynens, however, does not by both the Central Tagbanuas and the
have much information and exposure to the Calamian Tagbanua.
public since there are only a few of them
Molbogs
and there are almost no records about this
group due to the separation of their area to The Molbogs are indigents in the
the mainland of the province of Palawan. province of Palawan who is believed to be
According to recent reports, this group of among the migrants from North Borneo and
people has also begun embracing is now living in the Balabac Island in
modernization. Palawan. Referred as Molebugan or
Molebuganori in many literary works,
Tagbanua
Molbogs do a lot of farming, fishing, and
As mentioned earlier, the occasional barter trading with the Sulu
Tagbanuas are believed to be descendants Bangsa Moro and nearby Sabah market
of the Tabon Man due to the many centers as means of their subsistence.
similarities that they have when it comes to
Molbogs are believed to be related
language, alphabet, the practice of kaingin,
and a common belief in soul relatives. to the Orang Tidung or Tirum (Camucone
in Spanish) as based on their dialect and I
This tribe is found mostly in the some of their socio-cultural practices.
Central and Northern portion of Palawan. Orang Tidung is an Islamized indigenous
They practice shifting cultivation of upland group that lives in the northeast coast of
rice which is considered as a divine gift, Sabah. However, words from other ethnic
they are also known for their rice wine ritual groups such as the Jama Mapun and the
called “Pagdiwata”. The cult of the dead is Tausug are also found in the dialect of the
the key to the religious system of the Molbogs. This, together with their socio-
Tagbanua, who also believe in countless cultural lifestyle, distinguished them from
deities found in the natural environment. Orang Tidung.
The Tagbanua is one of the oldest Palaw’an
ethnic groups in the Philippines that can be
The Palaw’an, also known as
mainly found in the municipalities of
Palawano, is an indigenous ethnic group
Aborlan, Quezon, Calamians Islands,
found in the province of Palawan. This
Baras Coast, Busuanga Island, Coron
group is divided into four ethnolinguistic
Island, in some parts of El Nido, and even
Puerto Princesa City. subgroups namely; Quezon Palawan (also
known as the Central Palawano), Bugsuk
Tagbanua are brown skinned Palawano (South Palawano), Brooke’s
people with slim and erect stature and has Point Palawano, and Southwest Palawano.
 This indigenous group belongs to group in this region – composed of about
large Manobo-based linguistic groups of 240,000 people as recorded for the year
the southern Philippines. They were 2015; although scattered all over the world,
originally found in the interior regions of 85% of them permanently resides in the
South Apuruan on the West Coast and province of Palawan. They originated
South of Abo-Abo on the East Coast, these genetically and linguistically from Panay
regions may be located in the Southern Island in the central Philippines since 1250
part of the province of Palawan. The AD but they have Malayan roots from the
Palaw’ans have become popularly known Banjarmasin in Borneo Island 1,000 years
as Palawans which is pronounced faster ago.
than the name of the province.
The Cuyono of tody is usually a
Tao’t Bato Roman Catholic, Christian Protestants,
and Animists with strong Spanish
The term “Tao’t Bato” literally
adaptations. The Cuyunon Tribe, unlike
means “people of the rock”, they are not
most of the Philippines’ homogeneous
actually a separate language or a separate
tribal groups, is a heterogeneous tribe, their
ethnic group but rather a small community
ancestors could be traced back to the
of traditional southwestern Palawanos who
ancient migrants and traders who settled
happen to live in the crater of an extinct
down in Palawan like the Chinese, Arabs,
volcano during certain seasons of the year,
Jews, Indians, Malays, Vishayans, Spanish
their houses are built on raised floors inside
and other Europeans.
caves though others have set their homes
on the open slopes. Although the language of the
Cuyunons is closely related to the Kinaray-
These group of people is found in
a of Miag-ao in Iloilo province, the fact
the Singnapan Basin, a valley in Mount
remains that as early as 1250’s, the early
Matalingahan on the east and the coast of
Cuyunon tribe became the common
the west; in their, North is the municipality
denominator of all the homogeneous tribes
of Quezon while to their South are still
of Palawan because they always
unexplored regions of Palawan.
intermarry with the Bataks, Tagbanuas,
Cuyunon Agutaynens, Molbogs, and other tribes that
live in Palawan.
The Cuyunon refers to an ethnic
group that dwells in the municipality of Cuyunons are divided into four subgroups
Cuyo, northern, and in central Palawan. which distinguish one Cuyunon from the
The Cuyunons are originally from Cuyo and other.
the surrounding Cuyo Islands that is found
Paraguanen – the Cuyuno people who
in Sulu Sea, in the northern portion of
settled mostly in the mainland Palawan
Palawan.
(Paragua)
This group of indigents is
Poroanen – the Cuyuno people who settled
considered as an “elite class” among the mostly in the islands and islets of Palawan
hierarchy of the natives who live in
Palawan. During the Spanish colonization Mestiso – the Cuyuno who usually are half
in the Philippines, Cuyo was one of the Chinese or Spanish
territories of Palawan that had the
strongest Spanish presence. Lakto – the Cuyuno who did not accept
Catholicism and lived as Animists.
Known as Cuyonon, Cuyono,
Cuyunons, unlike the other tribes in
Cuyunon, Kuyunon, Kuyunen, and many
Palawan, may be seen anywhere in the
others, this ethnic tribe in Palawan
province and even in the city of Puerto
geography is the most dominant tribal
Princesa. They are the ones who have
embraced modernization and have utilized
it in their daily lives, making it hard to
identify them when they are in public unless
you ask them about their ethnicity.
Reference:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/M
ap-of-Mindanao-Sulu-and-Palawan-
showing-the-13-provinces-included-in-
the-area-of_fig2_321825635
https://www.travel-palawan.com/cultural-
heritage/indigenous-peoples/
https://minorityrights.org/minorities/indi
genous-peoples-
6/#:~:text=The%20Lumad%20tribal%2
0groupings%20of,Talandig%2C%20an
d%20Tiruray%20or%20Teduray.