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Patricia C. Barnuevo Class No. 7 Upon scanning the Blair and Roberston index to the first letter of my surname, I came across the

word Bagobo. It struck me because it has a lot of things about it, like their religion, beliefs, superstitions, etc. With that, I found a story describing their customs in sacrificing and other superstitions. However, before telling the story, let me first tell a background about the Bagobos. According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Bagobos settle in southern Mindanao and are one of the largest groups of indigenous people in there. They inhabit vast areas from the west coast of Davao Gulf to the mountain ranges of Mt. Apo, or what they called, Apo Sandawa. They consider Apo Sandawa as their sacred grounds. Moving on to the story, it was actually a letter from Mateo Gisbert, S.J. to the Fathers of Veruela. Gisbert is a Spanish Jesuit missionary who came into the Philippines and was assigned to Davao to baptize heathens, as what he called the Bagobos in his letter (Bernad, S.J., n.d.). In his letter, he told that he was able to know the tribes customs through Bogobos who he baptized. He shared some of their customs which he considered ridiculous and superstitious. He told that the Bagobos consider that there is something evil if a jar breaks in fire and if they see a snake in their house. With these, they go to their matnom, their tribe leader, to prevent the misfortunes that may come. The process for this is that the matnom makes a doll with a face of a man with his knife, and prays to God to not deprive us of life and to receive in exchange this bit of wood, which has our face. After this process, they get a small bag containing little rice, and they set it to the water. Through this ceremony, they believe that they got rid themselves of the misfortune. They also have a means to discover thieves thats why they do not have many cases of theft in their tribe. They use a bongat, which consists of two small joints of bamboo and a powder. When one is robbed, all he/she has to do is take a hens egg, make a hole in it, and put a little of the powder in it, then leave the egg in the fire. As a result of this, the robber, wherever he is, will be crying I am the theif; I am the theif as he is forced to do by the pain that he feels all through his body. When he is discovered, he can be cured by putting the powder from the other joint of bamboo into the water and bathing his body with it. If the victim wishes the thief to die, all he/she has to do is to break the hens egg. They also have a practice when they are visiting a sick person. They place copper rings in their wrists or on their legs so that the limcod or the soul will not leave. When someone dies, they have to give him rice for him to eat on his journey before burying him. When they harvest rice, they give the first

fruits to the diuata, and they make their hatchets, bolos, and other tools for clearing the fields eat first before they could eat it themselves or sell it. They consider the song of the limcon, a bird, as a message from God. If they hear a limcon singing and they see a fallen tree, they do not continue on their journey, for they consider the song of the bird as a warning that there is something bad that could happen. Lastly, they also consider sneezing as a bad omen. If anyone sneezes before they depart for a journey, they postpone it until the next day. In reading this story or letter, especially the part where Gibert told the customs of the Bagobos, I also found it ridiculous, like Gibert, all for the reason that their practices are very weird. For example, how could they want to make their hatchets, bolos, and other tools eat before they could? However, despite its ridiculousness, these practices gave me knowledge of how people in the Philippines were like before the Spaniards, with their Christianity, came. And I have nothing to do but respect it, for it was what the Filipinos originally were, and it is what some of the Filipinos are still today.

References: Blair and Roberston Index Vol. 54 The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 by Blair and Roberston Vol. 43 http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=4&i=235 http://www.reocities.com/yosemite/3712/bernada2.html