Follow the Leader by Gabriel S Casal Prevalent is the belief that, before colonization, the Philippines was a free

egalitarian society in which there were no rich and no poor, no tyrants and no oppressed. The truth is that the Agta are a rare classless society in Philippine history, and possibly one of the few that did not suffer some form of bondage under a conquering tribe. The rest of the Ma'i world stratified into social classes and had already developed both an exploiter class that controlled wealth and indulged in conspicious consumption, and a warlord class that used force to maintain political power. Often, of course, these two classes formed one group, the top enjoyers of privilege in the Ma'i world. At the other extreme was a large subservient class of non-persons. The Manobo, the Mandaya, the Bagobo, the Tagakaolo and the B'laan have all at one time or another reduced their neighbors in southwestern Mindanao to the status of tribute-paying colonies. In such colonies, the native ruling or warrior class was "tamed" by the conquerors and replaced with puppet leaders made responsible for the collection of levies and the suppression of resistance to imposed authority. In this manner, the Subanon lost their ancient warrior leaders, having been subjugated, first by invaders from Bohol, then by Muslim warlords under whose empire the timuway elders of the Subanon exercised what authority they were allowed. The Bukidnon have been undergoing a similar process: the replacement of a native ruling class by deputies imposed from outside. By 1900, the Tinggian of Abra had no leadership higher than that of elective petty headmen, which may indicate a previous elimination of older native power groups. It is obvious that the leadership systems of the Palawan and Tagbanuwa were Muslimimposed. The power scene was ever in flux, the subservient of one day having been conquerors themselves until humbled by a superior force. Even within the same society, the leader class of a particular clan might become so strong as to reduce to vassalage all other leaders of the tribe. The datus of the Kulaman of South Cotobato have become subordinate to a sultan with a rajah-muda heir to the succession. Above the datus of the B'laan is a bong fulong, or super-datu. As in Europe, where the various feudal lords were eventually brought under the authority of suzerains, ruinous struggle for supremacy preceded the establishment of such overlords. The conquering Mandaya and Manobo themselves suffered from the violence of their bagani (the "knights" of their warrior class), who were much given to killing and pillage and wrought much havoc on the economic life of their own people. In warrior societies, like the Mandaya and Manobo, leadership sprang from prowess in battle. In plutocratic societies, like the Ifugao and Bontoc, leadership is a birthright that goes with property. A man born to the Maguindanao nobility will find it hard to rise to the position of datu, or leader, unless he has the wealth usually associated with the title. In Maranao communities, only two or three families have the right to nominate a sultan; but it is the wealthiest one of these families that actually does the choosing. The sultan chosen must himself be, among other things, rich. No sultan or titled datu, however cruel or corrupt, can be impeached or uncrowned. His family, his clan, his class--in short, the elite--cannot afford to lose face. Ifugao society is stratified into an aristocracy of landowners, a middle class of farmers, and a peasantry of tenants. Though there is social mobility, it is practically impossible for the tenant class, or nawotwot, to rise above their condition, since they own no land, must work for others,

and keep sinking into debt because of the expensive feasts and sacrifices required by wedding and funeral rites. The nawotwot are often obliged to send even their young children to work as laborers for the landowners. These happy few, lords of choice fields, are ranked in three ascending orders, acording to the splendor of the feasts they can afford to sponsor. The ordinary rich usually sponsor the uyauy feast (pork and fowl). The very rich sponsor the binibun (goat and cattle meat). But only the unusually wealthy can afford to host the hagabi, unbeatable in magnificence and where cost is of no account. The rich throw these feasts not only to display wealth but to maintain prestige and validate their status in the power class. The single class division in Bontoc society is frankly between rich and poor. The rich own ricelands and eat rice. The poor practice swidden and eat rootcrops during the lean motnhs. Wealth is both inherited and accumulated, but must be authenticated by a periodic hosting of banquets for the community, as in the chono, which involves several days of feasting and merrymaking. Since the rich marry only within their own class, leadership never passes away from them. Despite having a formal council of elders, and acknowledging only custom-law itself as worthy of obedience, it is in reality, the rich who rule. Similar concentrations of power and influence mark out of the rich among the Ibaloy and Kankanai. In a typical Kanakanai village, the rich would compose only eight per cent of the community, or about all the means of production. A section of them would have special prestige as a recognized aristocracy with birthright claims to allegiance. Among the Subanon, Mangyan, Isneg and Tinggian, leadership is highly informal. A man whose advice is frequently sought may get to be a kind of leader, as among the Subanon, but his community would feel free to seek advice elsewhere. Where there are communal houses, as among the Alangan Mangyan, a chief adviser usually emerges, under whose charimanship decisions are reached through group deliberations. The Isneg will recognize as leader only a warrior of proven valor. This headman, or mengal, wears a red kerchief on his head and tattoos on arm and shoulder to proclaim that he has taken several heads. It is he who throws the big dog-feast called say-am during which he sings of his deeds of bravery. But the Isneg choose as mengal only a warrior who has grown old, and he shares authority with a council of similarly aging warriors. The lakay of the Tinggian is also an old man picked by and ruling along with a council until replaced. On the other hand, among the Kankanai, leadership resides not in a person but in a group of old people regarded as experts in the interpretation of customs, omens, and kanyaw procedures. For the Magindanao, the top social class is the nobility, of which the top elite are the sultans and datus claiming descent through their first sharif, Kabungsuan, from the Prophet Mohammed. Another group of nobility, called dumatu, claim descent from the original chiefs of the Maguindanao before the coming of Islam. Significantly, dumatu, is the future tense of the word of datu which means to rule. Below the nobility are the freemen, who may include non-Muslim hill-people who have the status of subservience.They can be sold along with their sold along with their land but not off the land. Lowest in the social scale are the non-Magindanao in stock, usually captives of war or victims of raids on neighboring islands. Children of captives remain subservient but children of mixed Magindanao parentage are absorbed into society as freemen. There was a time when marrying outside one's class was, taboo, but increasing recognition of individual merit has led to greater social mobility. A lowborn adviser to a sultan may be rewarded

with marriage to a woman of higher degree; or the singular beauty of a humble girl may win her the affections of a noble. Trading and piracy pose no taboos if they result in the accumulation of such wealth that even a lady of the highest rank cannot disclain. On the other hand, loss of face, loss of wealth, or a really reckless marriage with nothing to justify it, can pull a Maguindanao noble down to a lower class. The Maranao recognize an upper class claiming royal blood; a middle class of farmers and artisans with no claim to titles; and a proletariat of bondmen called Bisaya. Only the upper classes may wear yellow, and class distinctions extend to the manner of walking. The daughters of the elite alone may walk in the kinikini style: head slightly bent to the right, left hand holding the malong, right hand swaying rhythmically with every measured step. Girls of the lower classes must run or stride in public; any kinikini on their part would be sneered at. In the Ma'i world, power tends to concentrate in the upper classes because it is they who can claim wealth, prestige, prowess in war, knowledge of tradition, and a noble genealogy. However, a non-noble who displays military talent, or administrative ability, or exceptional wisdom in interpreting custom-law, can achieve a position of leadership, as often happens among the Manobo, the Tagbanuwa, the Palawan and the T'boli. If he is one of a council of elders, he becomes primum inter pares, or the first among his peers. And such a popularly acclaimed leader is soon accepted as the recognized head exercising influence over an entire kinship group, as ordinarily happnes among the Alangan and the Buhid Mangyan. But this ascent turns him into nobility, into upper class, into the elite in whom all power is concentrated until some commoner with talent breaks the cycle and starts it all over again. As a result, power conflicts tend to be endemic as the title-holders strive to maintain their power against others seeking to become the legitimate authority. It was, however, such power conflicts that brought undeniable democratic features into Ma'i culture. Among the Maranao, for instance, the political process came to entail assemblies for free discussion; observance of the majority rule; representation of all segments of society; trial by jury; and the confirmation by the consensus of the entire community. Among the Kalinga, leadership status used to go to men with distinguished headtaking records. Today, the leaders usually come from the baknang, or well-to-do-class, and are tacitly accepted with no vote taken. The Higa-onon may also have begun with warrior datus from the bagani, or warrior class, but now prefer leaders with a reputation for charisma and skill in meditation. Their two highest datus are equivalent to the dual leadership common in Polynesian cultures: a sacred chief too holy to participate in mundane affairs and a talking chief who is his active vicar. The first is the symbol of Higaonon tribal law; the second, the administrator of that law. In general, the datu functions as military leader, as priest, as medicine man, and preminently as judge. Sometimes, as among the Manobo, the ritual functions may be given to a priestly class, or baylan, usually old men and women. The more common pratice is to concentrate all leadership functions, whether sacred or secular, in the person of the leader. The bagani of old were warriors who were at the same time priests and medicine men: they were feared as wizards who could cause harm through magic. The decline of the warrior bagani is one indication that the present-day tribal head is no longer chiefly a Joshua leading his people into battle but rather a Solomon expected to create peace and order through the wisdom of his judgment. Among the Bukidnon, the datu is the chief justice: his word is law, his decisions are final. He is the arbiter who cannot err because in him speaks the spirit of tradition. In fact, among the Mandaya, the belief is that their headman acts only as directed by the gods and ancestral spirits. Tagbanuwa law could exmplify the system of justice a Ma'i leader must administer, where interpersonal relations are regulated by kindship obligations and by a complex system of custom law with fines and fees determined in councils (surugidin), in which hereditary leaders function as

arbitrators and judges. The system has the characteristics of a self-enforcing social order, involving linked obligations and rights requiring satisfaction through payment of fees and fines if an individual is to maintain his social identity. A case is first heard before a local chieftain, or panglima, although the chieftain's decisions are respected, a litigant can appeal to the supreme tribunal composed of the headman, or makisampo, and a jury of nobles. From this court there is no appeal. The penalty imposed is usually a fine, payable in large plates or earthern jars, or some other form of restitution to the offended party. Corporal punishment is rarely decreed. The three crimes the Tagbanuwa consider most heinous are robbery, murder and incest. Only the last carries a death penalty. A convicted thief must restore the objects stolen; if a habitual offender, he gets a heavy fine and possibly a lashing. The crime of murder is punished with a large fine to be paid to the bereaved family, who has the right to declare a blood feud if not paid. Incestuous persons are taken to the seaside, humiliated in public, and then hurled into the sea. Actually, no juridical system is needed to enforce a group's unwriten laws. Breaking them carries an automatic punishment; supernaturally through the bad luck that is supposed to follow the offender and socially through the stigma he carries and the ostracism he suffers. He becomes a non-person. But the system of court-imposed fines and punishments was instituted to minimize the recourse to violent vendetta and blood feuds. As in contemporary Philippines, the institution of law courts had bred the anomaly of the legal contest as a sport. Litigation is a vice with the Subanon, for example; they turn the most innocent breach of custom into an excuse for a contest in verbal skill between persons with "talking ability", the proto-lawyers of Ma'i. Another anomaly involves the courts themselves because the executive is himself the chief justice: the problem of succession or transfer of power. This is a problem even where the group has a hereditary royalty, since in Ma'i culture, a leader's son, even his eldest, is not automatically the heir. Among the Bukidnon, the datuship can be obtained as much by personal merit as by inheritance. Those who do not belong to the nobility can win the position by displaying qualities of leadership that make them preferable to the rightful heirs. The datu himself may disrupt the succession by preferring a grandson as his heir, rather than any of his sons. And an outsider may wed his way to the top by marrying the datu's favorite daughter. The datuship is in principle, but not always in practice, hereditary. Popular acclaim also turns a Manobo commoner into a datu just as popularity springing from general esteem and enthusiasm can create a non-lineage datu among the T'boli. However, the T'boli consider no one datu as the leader of the whole group. Even the primum inter pares among their datus enjoys his title only as a gift accorded him by the people. His heir will not automatically be the next principal datu. Among the Tinggian, the village leader, or lakay, holds the position ostensibly for life but actually only as long as the village wishes. He exercises absolute power but can be deposed if the crops fail or the wisdom of his judgments becomes questionable. Among the Magindanao hereditary rule is also fast vanishing. Traditionally, a datu is the central power in each community. However, presently an increasing number of communities no longer have datus in residence. In such instances the leader becomes any person who can act as 'gobetween' for the community with the government. Other than as spokesman, the person has no power. Such communities limit, or even annul, the power of the datus. But the datus themselves have been limiting, or even annulling, the power of the sultans. Ideally, the sultanate is hereditary in the male line, with primogeniture as the rule. In reality, however, the successor is often not the

eldest son, or even a son, of the reigning sultan, but rather a brother, cousin, nephew or some other claimant from one of the branches of the sultan's family. This is because the incumbent sultan has to desginate an heir during his lifetime and his choice has to be approved by the council of datus. The designated heir is therefore largely a choice agreed on by the datus, a prime example of a council that can pronounce against the acknowledged head. This power may explain why the datu class, though steadily dwindling in authority, still ranks high in Maguindanao society, often indeed wielding more influence than the sultan, and certainly still to be sharply defined from the class of sakop or commoners. Over the labor and possessions of the commonners, the datus still claim some command and they are obliged to aid their sakop in times of want. The training of a Ma'i leader-to-be is geared to the datu functions. As battle leader, he must have brawn and skill in arms. As the embodiment of tradition, he must know his people's history by heart. As chief feast-giver, he must be able to sing and dance with dignity. And as judge, he must wield the authority of custom law. One datu recalls his internship thus: "When young, I had the ambition to become a datu. I envied my father who was a datu. So I became a keen observer of his activities. I watched how he settled disputes, performed religious rituals and acted as marriage negotiator. I was taught many skills, such as hunting, farming and fishing. Later I was taught how to speak in the datu manner. And at times, I was allowed to act as marriage negotiator-with my father right there behind me, ready to come to my rescue should I be outwitted by the spokesman of the other side!" Another case of actual datu training is as follows: A datu's grandson was observed to show uncommon intelligence and agility. So the datu ordered that the boy be trained for leadership. While very young he undertook the pani-ib, a formal instruction in myths, laws, rituals and traditions. As he grew older, he was taken to observe trials and council meetings, to familiarize him with legal techniques and procedures. He was made to attend religious ceremonies and to learn the prayers and rites. He acquired herb-lore and learned the modes of healing. At wakes, weddings, assemblies and other social gatherings, he had his manners polished and his experience of the world widened. It was thus impressed on him that a datu had to be versatile enough to be not only a governor and judge but also a priest and doctor, a lead singer and dancer. At its best, Bukidnon leadership does develop datus of quiet dignity, wisdom and courage, leaders regal in manner even when not to the manner born, and exemplary even in their ordinary life as hunter, farmer, fisherman, and family head. Their staff of authority is the giling, a round stick notched with lines and designs representing law, custom and genealogy. At ceremonies, a place of honor, the lupa-lupa, is reserved for them, and they wear the sulang-sulang that symbolizes their status, for even pre-literate societies delight in the emblems that ornament high office. Among the Higa-onon, the "talking chief" is distinguished by his talakub, an armlet of bone or boar-tusk. Pride of office is displayed by the Mansaka chief in the jeweled earrings he wears. The sarimanok decorates the flag of the Maranao sultan: his wife wears the royal-yellow malong. Leadership in society if not in actual governance is proclaimed by the Ifugao rich in the use as house dcor of the skulls and horns of the carabaos butchered for family feasts. Brass gongs, heirloom Chinese porcelain and crafted gold jewelry are also status symbols among the Northern Luzon highlanders, as in the long bench, or hagabi, which the wealthy Ifugao are entitled to own after hosting a series of feasts. The Tagbanuwa leader class indicate their wealth by the number of Chinese porcelain jars, betel-nut boxes ad Muslim artifacts like the kris that they possess. Among the Muslim in general, the ritual tiered umbrella is a symbol of rank.

The supreme expression of rank is the feast for the community so prized by Ma'i culture that it is among the prime obligations of the leader class. The Tinggian connect such expensive feasts not only with religion but with the rich, or baknang, who are challenged to prove their wealth by throwing a balawa: a marathon all-day and all-night carousing during which nine pigs are butchered plus a dog as the tenth offering. The Ibaloy rich are required by custom to sponsor prestige-validating feasts, called peshit, where progressively larger numbers of animals are slaughtered. Such a series of feasts may begin soon after a rich couple's wedding and continues over many years-or until the couple find themselves impoverished. A wedding is pretext enough for the rich to show how capable they are of conspicious consumption-as among the T'boli, where the mo'ninum crowns a complex marriage tradition. The mo'ninum is a set of six feasts given in turn by relatives and friends of the bridal couple. A feast given by the bride's side must be countered and surpassed by a feast given by the groom's kin. So accepted are these reciprocal feasts that they can last two years, or even six-and a special house has to be built just for those six feasts. In the festive house, hosts and guests stay during each feast, which can go on and on for as long as five days. The T'boli regard the mo'ninum as a feast for the entire community and do not wait to be invited. So a mo'ninum house can have several hundreds of persons crammed under its roof for every one of those six wedding celebrations! The Kankanai rich seem to regard such extravagances as a guilt-offering, as may be gathered from a chant in which the rich speak to the poor: Work for us to become rich So while we live there will be the giving Of meat,there will be gifts for you and the gods will have things given to them. Increase the flocks we feed So there may be celebrations of community feasts again! Besides, as one highland saying goes: "If there were no rich, how would the poor ever taste meat?" In a different category would be the feast that celebrates the installation of a leader. Among the Maranao, it takes only one day to crown a sultan but up to a week to celebrate the festivities of his installation. All the new sultan's relatives assemble to attend this celebration-but, Allah be praised they usually foot the bill for him. The courtyard of his house is decorated with the traditional flags, umbrellas and bunting. There are nightly songfests, folk dance exhibitions, and games of skill like the sipa, aside from the usual eating and drinking. Not only the folk of his own sultanate but all the nearby sultanates are the automatic guests at the installation of a new sultan. On the last day of the communal feasting, the investiture takes place. Early in the day, a committee of nobility marches to the house of the new sultan, accompanied by music, flags, and subservients bearing gold, betel-nut boxes and ceremonial spears. The leading personages are

shielded from the sun by a huge seven-tiered umbrella. This parade often outshines in splendor the actual installation. A leader of the Higa-onon undergoes what might be called a life-long series of investitures. Having finished his formal training for datuship, he is given simple cases to adjudicate in the presence of several datus who observe if his procedures are correct and his judgments sound. If he passes the test, he advances to the first degree of datuship in a lavish ritual tagulambung hu datu, where he is seen as a young tree beginning to spread out its branches to protect the people from the sun's heat. This is his first installation and neighboring datus come with gifts of given a specific area and group of people to govern. If, when older, he rates as a successful governor over an expanding realm, he is raised to a higher degree of datuship in a very expensive ceremony called gulugundu hu dtu where he assumes a more prestigious title and becomes the elect of the god of war, the god of wealth, the god of water and the god of agriculture. This is the second investiture. Finally, when he is an old man, he may be raised tot he highest degree of datuship, if he enjoys fame as a most exemplary ruler. This ultimate investiture-the limangkeban, is the grandest and costliest rite of all, and it ensures that the still-living datu will be honored with tributes too often reserved for funerals. His apostheosis enables such a remarkable datu to hear his own eulogies in advance. Source: http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/filipiniana/viewessay.asp?aid=20&art_id=20&pg=4 Date of download: July 11, 2009
MunaTo 07 celebrates Sarangani cultural heritage November 14, 2007 by MindanaoBob ALABEL, Sarangani (November 13, 2007) Upbeat with its tourism and natural potentials, Sarangani pays tribute to its people and cultural history with the yearly MunaTo Festival and the provinces 15th Foundation Anniversary this month. Editors note: looking for a MuntTo 07 Schedule of Events? Download it here! Munato is a local native term for first people. The MunaTo as provincial festival was conceptualized taking on the significance of the archaeologists discovery of burial jars in Pinol Cave, Maitum town, in 1992. The jars, dating back to around 2,000 years ago, were believed to have been relics of the first civilization in this part of Mindanao. The Maitum Jars are now exhibited in the National Museum. Sarangani gives homage to diverse culture and people where the five-day provincial festival will showcase their traditional arts and crafts, dresses and dances. Overtime, constant mingling of people with diverse cultures can slough off differences while reinforcing ethnic identities, wrote historian Heidi Gloria. The provincial governments School of Living Tradition (SLT) with funds coming from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) reaches out to Sarangani Indigenous Peoples in both developing and preserving their cultures and ethnic origins. Among these are the myths and legends of the tribes like the Tagakaolos of Malungon. Long time ago, Prophet Lumabet and his followers were on a long journey, retold the Datus of Tagakaolos.

They got thirsty and when they saw a big rock, Lumabet struck his spear on the rock eight times and water flowed from it. And so it was called the Walong Tinugbulan or Eight Springs. Then Lumabet drank water from the spring with a bamboo cup. The water spilled on the ground which became the origin of Lake Danao in Malita, Davao del Sur. There are 14,000 Tagakaolos scattered in the communities and high land villages of Malungon but particularly in Kityan where its largest 319 families reside. This November, we are going to inaugurate our training center where our youth and women make artifacts and dresses, tribal leader Narcisa Galgo said. The Munato Festival opens on November 23 with Fabli Gu Ni, a Baan term for I am selling this a trade fair of native artifacts that will attract buyers and tourists. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/RGP) Source: http://mindanao.com/blog/2007/11/munato-07-celebrates-sarangani-cultural-heritage/ Date of download: July 11, 2009