Monday, March 26, 2007 Giving due respect to lumads' tradition By Allen V. Estabillo
COLUMBIO, Sultan Kudarat -- Datu Juanito Malid, chieftain of the Salnaong tribal council, could not exactly recall what his dream was, except that it was not good. The few visions that stuck his memory illustrate misfortune befalling the sleepy hamlet of Salnaong as a result of the construction of a new structure in their area.
Days before the fateful visions unfolded, the B'laan folks of Salnaong saw the construction of a new building in their village that would serve as a new convergence facility for the community development programs of mining firm Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) in the area.
Its not that the locals don't want the project there, Malid said, but the building was constructed near the village's burial grounds, which is a forbidden site based on the tribe's traditional beliefs.
So when the new facility was launched sometime in June last year, the tribal folks asked the company to hold an amtek sabak and damso, both traditional rituals asking permission the for use of the place from its "owners" by offering them something.
The company obliged. The villagers believed the "spirits owning the place" were satisfied with the offering and eventually erased the bad spell previously cast on the village.
SMI's positive gesture was something the villagers sincerely appreciated as they felt respected and honored for their culture and beliefs.
But unknown to them, the company was actually a step ahead then since it has already commissioned a study about the culture and traditions of the B'laans in the area.
"(The study) is something we felt obliged to do as we continue to advance our project. The company acknowledges that part of its social responsibility is to make sure that the culture and traditions of the local tribal communities are preserved while we introduce development in the area," said Dr. Rolando Doria, SMI's project coordinator.
The study, spearheaded by anthropologist Orly Turingan, involved the tribal communities covered by SMI's proposed copper and gold mining development project in the mountainous tri-boundaries of Tampakan town in South Cotabato, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur.
SMI's project area, which has been cited by geology experts as the second largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in the Far East, is largely covered by the ancestral domains of the Salnaong, Bong Mal, S'bangken, Danlag and Folu Bato tribal communities.
These tribes are scattered in small hamlets in Barangay Datal Blao of Columbio, barangays Danlag, Pula Bato and Tablu of Tampakan town and barangay Kimlawis of Kiblawan.
Highlanders
The B'laan tribe is the fourth largest among the 18 ethnic groups that were recorded to have inhabited Mindanao long before the Spanish colonizers discovered the island.
According recent estimates, at least 500,000 B'laans are currently spread across the mountains of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Davao del Sur and North Cotabato.
In her book "The Vanishing Nomads: The B'laans Past, Present and Future," development education scholar Maria Lourdes Avancena-Arcenas cites the B'laans settled within the rugged highlands of Tampakan, Columbio and Kiblawan as part of the To Lagad or highlanders sub-group. The other sub-grouping, the To Baba, refers to those settled in the lowland areas.
Tracing their roots from the proto-Malayan indigenous groups, the B'laans generally practices sedentary system of agriculture. A particular part of their customary rituals depict their planting practices. In one of these rituals, the tribal folks make offerings to their deities in their quest for signs where to plant their next crop.
These rituals are usually spearheaded by a tribal datu or chieftain who traditionally enjoys autonomous authority over an area. Depending on his preferences, the datu serves as the tribe's religious leader, administrator, judge and mediator.
Religious tribe
Contrary to the mainstream views, the B'laans practice their own religious beliefs as devout as Christians and other religious groups do.
"Our religious belief is centered on our traditional idea that we co-exist with other elements in our place. Whether it is a tree, a rock or a piece of land, we believe that somebody dwells on them that we must respect and pay our tribute," Malid explained.
The 36-year-old tribal leader of the Salnaong B'laans, said the tribe also believes on a higher being, the D'wata, whom they usually consult with regards to some affairs of the tribe.
Malid said the interventions from the D'wata come in the form of a dream or unusual signs like the chirp of an alimukon bird. The confirmation of the signs is based mainly on the judgment of the datu, as in the case of the omen involving a building project in their village.
"We ask permission, advice and blessing from the D'wata by making offerings," he said.
The religious traditions of the B'laans practically affect every aspect of the community's existence and the tribal peoples' daily lives. Some of these traditions are still widely practiced in courtship, marriage, settlement of conflicts and treatment of illnesses.
For instance, marriages are arranged based on sunggod or dowry offered by the male B'laan to the family of the woman he wants to marry. The dowry may vary from five to 10 heads of carabao or horse.
The B'laans observes the treatment of illnesses based on at least three approaches. Minor sicknesses like fever require simple rituals using an egg as payment while illnesses in critical or serious stages may require the offering of one to four slaughtered chickens to the "spirits."
The B'laans of Salnaong and the neighboring areas still practice skalot as their justice system. This system practically handles all cases of conflict - from family squabbles to murder cases.
Sometime last year, Malid said they subjected 12 men to a skalot to determine whether they were really involved in the murder of a man from nearby Lam-alis. As the practice demanded, the 12 men were presented in a public gathering and were directed to dip their fingers in a boiling pot of water. If they're not guilty, their fingers will never scald. The result: all the 12 men were cleared of the charges that day.
Endangered culture
The cultural traditions and customary practices of the B'laans largely remain undocumented to this day and relies mainly on the practices passed on from one generation to another.
Jessie Lasib, a B'laan employed as one of SMI's community development workers, said such situation and the integration of the mainstream modern society's practices have placed their rich culture and traditions into the brink of extinction.
"It's a sad reality that some of our young people right now are hardly aware of our traditions and our culture, in general," he said.
In her book, Arcenas summed up such concerns as among the reasons why the ancient culture of the B'laans that distinguishes them from other ethic groups is endangered of extinction.
"In view of the colonization process in the country, their uniqueness has been lost with their assimilation to Christian mores. Having been subjected to differing aspects of outside cultures, including tutelage under the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations, the B'laans have been exacted to forge new identities and to evolve a system of values other than their own conservative tradition," Arcenas noted.
Good omen
Considering such condition of the Blaan's, Turingan said the company has made a commitment to help preserve the vanishing culture of the B'laans by providing them more opportunities to practice their centuries-old traditions.
"When we say cultural preservation, it's not like going back to the old Maria Clara looks or way of living. But it's about making sure that they are able to practice their traditions freely and complement them with what modernity requires," he said.
Turingan said the company is still perfecting such approach but he pointed out that it already shows some promising results.
Doria said the company considers its cultural preservation program as an integral part of their overall operations in the area.
He said they specifically view it as a major yardstick when it comes to the evaluation of the project's impact to the communities in the area.
"At the end of the day, SMI wants to make sure that it would leave a mark in this area not only as a successful mineral development project but as a responsible development partner of the tribal folks," Doria added.
Malid could only agree. After all, it appears to be a good omen.
