Bilaan/B’laan

The B'laans are another pro-Malayan indigenous group that inhabits the
southern part of South Cotabato and southeastern part of Davao del
Sur and the areas around Buluan Lake in North Cotabato.Their name could
have derived from "bila" meaning "house" and the suffix "an" meaning
"people". Other terms used to refer to this group are Blaan, Bira-an, Baraan,
Vilanes,and Bilanes.

B'laans adhere to sedentary form of agriculture and engage in other

economic endeavors for their subsistence and development. Although
many have adapted the ways of the modern Filipino and have been
integrated into the main body politic, they still believe and practice their
indigenous rituals and customs.
B'laans observe certain rituals in their planting cycle. In these rituals, they
make offerings to their deities requesting for signs to know where to best
make a clearing for a particular planting season. One of this is the mabah or
offering to the deities requesting omens that would help them choose the
fields for planting.

B'laans practice swidden farming as the main agricultural method. They

grow rice, corn, sugarcane, banana, papaya, and other rootcrops. Some of
their crops are used as barter commodities in exchange for tools and other
utensils that they need. Domestic animals include a few chickens, dogs, cats
and ocassionally pigs, deer and other animals. Gathering rattan and
almaciga are widely practiced to increase income.
B’LAAN WARRIOR

lebe (“renowned warrior”)

 Vernacular terms :
 Mabah or offering to the deities requesting for omens to
help them choose the field for planting;
 abmigo or clearing of the fields;
 amlah or planting of the fields;
 Kamto or harvest of the rice
 diwata (spirits),
 Almugan or bird. The almugan’s call determines
whether the place is suitable for good crops or not.
 amtan abmigo Or The ritual burning of the branches
 Amlah a dance performed while planting.
 Ahak , planting sticks used by men to drill holes in the
ground, moving quickly forward.
 Alban , (grain baskets) used by women tucked to their
sides follow the men, bending down and accurately
dropping several palay seeds in each hole
 Kamto , (harvest)
 Mdel , a flatboard with a bottom resonator, is pounded
simultaneously by three or four men and women who produce
a syncopated sound which can be heard in distant villages

Polytical system
 lebe (“renowned warrior”) who is analogous to the magani,
bagani, or bahani in other lumad groups

Social Organization and Customs

 Alamoos , (healer) in times of illness.
 koswo libon , One of the most important rituals contract
betweenparents to marry off their babies in the future,
 aslobok aban , exchange of cradles and blankets bythe
parents.
 astalo, a ritual performedby the parents of the betrothed.
 Kasfala , (dowry or bride-price)
 Saktad , a singsong manner of speaking, the two fathers
agreement
 Kafni , gift giving
 Samsung, the wedding
 Maral , (generic name for all Bilaan dances).

two important rituals related to death and burial

 Narong , is a death ritual which includes the preparation of the
corpse, activitiesaccompanying the wake, and the final disposal
of the body.

 asfuk tu falame , is the postburial ritual performed on the river

bank a week after interment.

: alamoos (female shaman)

 the recording session (i.e., therecording of the song) flalok to sawa (story
of men and names of places), a series of different stories told in the
evenings to entertain visitors, or when sung during harvest time,

 flalok, a song about Datu Dilam Alfo Libon who lives in a grove of
limbahon (a type of coconut), describing his house and comparing it to
the moon floating in the sky,

 tamfang, which refers to the name of a legendarybrave warrior, and tells

about his going off to war and his exploits;

 the maglibon, a legend in song, which tells of a very beautiful woman

who lived in a house on a hilloverlooking the sea, and of the many
marvels that one may find in her enchanting house

 komokon, which is a song that tells why the singer has come down from
the mountains,or dalmondon, which is sung by a boy singer describing

 there are the lullabies, such as the almalanga, which has no words but
only syllables that mean nothing in particular, akin to the “la la la” and
similar forms.
Architectural Analysis
PLAN
- Designed with floors in varying levels of two to five with each
level made few inchesabove the other - The floor is made of timber
covered with broad strips of barks- Platforms are placed outside the
walls as drying area and as a place for their Dancalan

Dancalan–a wooden plate with handle used for chopping meat-

-A large stove is used as a fireplace and cooking area- Underneath

the house is a cage for horses, pigs and dogs.
 DECORATIVE ELEMENTS
AND FURNISHINGS
-B'laan house is built by using materials...wood, bamboo laths, cogon
grass and rattan. The posts and beams are made of round timber.
The roof, is a permanent feature of the house, is made of dried
cogon grass tied on the net work of bamboo laths. Floor are made of
bamboo laths while Walls are made of bamboo strips, and floor are
made of bamboo laths. Rattan strips, are used to secure building
components together. Wide opened windows to provide ventilation
made of bamboo laths and door is made of bamboo laths. In the
corner of the house, one finds the cooking place.

-A part of the house was the basket or boon, utensils and with rice
supply. On the walls of the house are hung long knife, spears, and
weapon. And the other side of the house, was for women hand
woven room and used for sleeping
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
-Poles with the length of 20‟

-0‟‟ and made of hardwood material are used as upright

sto which side beams and cross beams were attached by
lashings.
PROTECTIVE ELEMENTS
- The roof is single pitch made of flattened
bamboo and has overhanging eaves of
approximately 1‟
-
0‟‟ from the walls.
- The roof framing is built with the king
post place at the center of the end beams
CIRCULATORY ELEMENTS

- A stair made a long, wooden log with notches-

Doors are provided while windows are few and sm
all
MAGAHAT
 steep hillsides, on top of hills or along creeks and rivers
in deep valley of southern negros island.
 The Magahats live in the mountains of Basay, near
rivers and streams with houses made from forest
materials. Their houses are simple, without partition,
and decorated with hanging skulls of the animal horns
and weapons.
 The Magahats believe in spirits, like most Visayans.
They use anting-anting to fight evil spirits. Death,
however, is not feared by the Magahats. They believe
that it is just a journey from earth to the other side of
the world.
 ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

Plan

 The plan is either square or rectangular

 Space within can be used as a receiving room, a
kitchen, dining and as bedroom
 Floor lies at 2.50 above the ground and made of bark
of trees, bamboo splits or split trunks of palm trees
 DECORATIVE ELEMENTS AND
FURNISHINGS

 Furniture are not provided so that people eat, sit and

sleep on the floor
 Ceilings are filled with trophies of jawbones of a wild
pig or deer antler, hornbill heads or legs of wild
chicken.
 STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
 Log, posts, used as columns are buried at .50m
below the ground. Additional posts are placed
under the floor beams to provide further strength
 Walls are usually made of split bamboo, bark or
rattan leaf thatches
 PROTECTIVE ELEMENTS

 Gable roof framing is supported by log beams

attached to the main posts

 To prevent rain from entering the house, bark of trees

or split bamboos are placed over the ridge poles
 CIRCULATORY ELEMENTS
 A 4” diameter log with notches on one side is used as the
main stair. It can be removed during the night or hidden
in the bushes when the magahat leaves his house

 The main door, 1.00 wide is oriented to the east for

prosperity