The Mangyans of Mindoro Philippines

MARK BRIAN FLORES

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the students can:

• understand Mangyan people’s culture; and:

• explain the history of Mangyan tribe.
 Mangyan is the
collective name of eight
ethnolinguistic groups.
1. Iraya
2. Alangan
3. Tadyawan
4. Tau-Buid
5. Bangon
6. Buhid
7. Hanunoo
8. Ratagnon
 The etymology of the term Mangyan is
formed by the prefix mang (“one from a certain
place”) and the root word yan (“that place”).
Therefore, “Mangyan” means “the people from
that place.”
 The name of their island-wide alliance
is HAGIBBAT Mangyan Mindoro, the first
word being the acronym for the seven
groups: Hanunoo, Alangan, Gubatnon/Tau-
buid, Iraya, Buhid, Bangon, Tadyawan.
Formerly named Samahang Pantribo ng
mga Mangyan (SPMM) (Association of
Mangyan Groups), it is still called SPMM by
some Mangyan.
LANGUAGES
• The North Mangyan languages are
Alangan, Iraya, and Tadyawan
• The South Mangyan languages are
Buhid, Hanunoo, Tau-buid Eastern,
and Tau-buid Western.
• The Hanunuo have their own language,
which belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian
group. This is called the bagaw
Mangyan (Mangyan language) or
minangyan.
 THE
MANGYAN
GROUPS
IRAYA • The word “Iraya” is derived from
the prefix I denoting “people”, and
raya, meaning “upstream, upriver,
or upland.” Thus, the meaning of
the word is “people from
upstream or uplanders.”
• Have curly hair and dark skin but
not as dark compared to Negrito.
• They are skilled in nito-weaving
and handicraft.
• Women wore a blouse and a skirt
while men wore g-string made of
cloth.
 ALANGAN
• They practice swidden farming.
• They chew betel nut.
• Women wear a skirt woven from long
strips of nito vines, wrapped around
the waist, called lingeb wore
together with a g-string called
abayen.
• The women wear an upper garment
made from a leaf of wild Buri palm
known as ulango.
• Men wear an abay, a breechcloth
fashioned from pounded, washed,
and dried tree bark.
ALANGAN

Alangan refers to a
river flowing down the slopes
of Mount Halcon. The name
originates from alang or
fallen tree used as a
bridge.
TADYAWAN • They depend on kaingin farm
for their subsistence.
• Women wore red cloth for
their upper called paypay
worn around their breast and
white cloth called talapi for
their lower.
• Men wore g-string called
abay.
 BUHID
• Buhid means mountain dweller.
• They are known as pot makers.
• Women wear black and white
brassier called linagmon and a
black and white skirt called abal.
• Men wear g-strings.
HANUNOO • They practice swidden
farming.
• Male wears a loin cloth
(baag) and a shirt (balukas)
• Female wears an indigo- dyed
short skirt (ramit) and a
blouse (lambong)
• Possess a pre-Spanish writing
system called Surat
Mangyan.
TAU-BUID • Their main economic activity is slash-
and-burn also known as swidden
farming.
• This may explain the derivation of the
name Batangan, which derives from
batang (trunk of a felled tree) and an
(place); thus, it refers to a place
where felled tree trunks may be
found, probably a swidden field.
• Men and women wear loin cloth called
amakan which is made from inner bark
of several trees.
RATAGNON • Means a mixture of
Visayan and Tagalog
people.
• Women wear a wrap
around cotton cloth
from waistline to the
knees.
• There are still some
males that wear
bahag with simple
embroidery.
BANGON
• Used to wear traditional
clothing similar to that of the
Tabon people.
• A unique recreational item
that they normally carry with
them is the kwako, which is
a clay pipe used for smoking
tobacco.
MANGYAN PEOPLE
WAY OF LIFE
• The Mangyan’s subsistence economy used to
center on shifting cultivation, complemented by
hunting and gathering.
• During the dry season, the men hunted
monkeys, deer, tamaraw, and especially, wild
pigs.
• During the rainy season, they used traps.
• They also primarily engages in upland farming,
cultivating crops like rice, corn, bananas, and
sweet potato.
• The Mangyan’s practice of swidden farming also known as
shifting slash-and-burn depended on the availability of
cultivable space.
MANGYAN POLITICAL
AND SOCIOLOGICAL
SYSTEM
 There are no rigid political
structures or institutions for the
Mangyan groups. Most, recognize
at least one leader who has both
magical and religious powers.
Leadership most often resides in
the kuyay or gurangan
(community elders), who are
knowledgeable in the talaghusay,
(customary laws), or the
balyanan or fanlahi (shaman
and ritual performer), who leads
the celebration of an agricultural
rite.
 Mangyans observed what they call Batas Mangyan
(Mangyan laws) in resolving conflicts between Mangyans.
The uses of the customary laws in the Mangyan society,
as mentioned by Martinez (1999), are as follows:
• Define proper behavior, provide protection, empower the
elders to decide the manner of resolving conflicts and
passing judgment on the guilty, and is a mechanism to
maintain law and order in the community.
These laws find the following acts as improper:
1. Murder,
2. Damage to person, animals or crops,
3. Adultery
4. Theft.
• The Mangyan live under the guidance of a
fangayatan or gurangan tahitan, who is the
eldest in the community.
• The fangayatan is an elderly male adult
chosen on the basis of the following
credentials: his lineage, consisting of his
father, grandfather, and forebears being also
fangayatan.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
AND CUSTOMS OF THE
MANGYAN PEOPLE
Mangyan society is generally based on
the nuclear family or single household.
In some groups like the Tau-buid or
Batangan, households may be a
compound or composed of two or more
married couples or families.
Among the Hanunoo, while it is ideal for
a newly married couple to live in their
own house, newlyweds may live
temporarily with their in-laws, thus
making for an extended family.
 Generally, courtship in Mangyan Tribe requires:
• A young man win the approval of both the maiden and her
family.
• He may be required to serenade her with songs and poetry.
• He is expected to render his services on the swidden farm
owned by the maiden’s family or throw a grand feast for his
prospective in-laws and bride.
• A young man must also be prepared to pay for the bride-
price or to offer presents to the bride’s family. These
presents may be in the form of food, domesticated animals,
or jewelry.
• Among the Iraya Mangyan, the marriage ceremony is
officiated by an old member of the village. The elder
person joins the hands of the couple in prayer,
begging Apo Iraya to bless the couple with children,
health, and long life.
• In other Iraya villages, the newlyweds are asked to lie
down on a mat to ensure for themselves a fruitful
marriage. After the ceremony, they are not allowed to
sleep together for the first eight days.
 The Mangyan observe elaborate
rituals related to death and burial.
The Hanunoo Mangyan believe that the
karadwa (soul) of the dead will not rest in
peace unless the proper rituals are performed
and are strictly followed according to tradition.
The simplest details, such as the position
of the corpse as it lies on a mat, the order of
the participants who march in the funeral
procession, or the ritual objects that are hung
on the fence of the grave are some of the
conditions that must be followed to ensure the
eternal repose of the person’s soul.
 The Bangon follow death and burial rules and
taboos as well. Visitors are forbidden in the grieving
family’s home for the first five days. Anyone who does
go in cannot leave the house in the next five days. If
they must, they can do so only after a halad (ritual
offering) of a chicken. Five days after the burial of the
dead, food is offered to its soul. The people who carry
the dead to its grave cannot leave their house nor
communicate with others in the next five days unless
they make a halad.
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
AND PRACTICES
 The Mangyan have a complex
spiritual belief system which includes
the following deities:

Mahal na Makaako – The Supreme Being BINAYI

who gave life to all human beings merely
by gazing at them.
Binayi – Owner of a garden where all
spirits rest.
Binayo – Is a sacred female spirit,
caretaker of the rice spirits or the kalag
paray. She is married to the spirit
Bulungabon. The kalag paray must be BINAYO
appeased, to ensure a bountiful harvest.
Bulungabon – The spirit aided by 12 fierce dogs.
Erring souls are chased by these dogs and
eventually drowned in a cauldron of boiling water.
He is Binayo’s husband.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
• Balaylakoy, a large bamboo-built
house adorned with cogon grass,
rattan strips, vine bindings, and
tree bark for outer covering.
• Poles divide the house, which
features a poypoyan or fireplace.
VISUAL ARTS
AND CRAFTS
• Basket making is well developed
among the Mangyan Group particulary
in northern Iraya and southern
Hanunoo groups.
• The Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyans of
Oriental Mindoro have hand-woven
textiles called “ramit”.
• The ramit is primarily characterized by
its distinct striped pattern. It is an
expression of the weaver’s
craftmanship and artistry which
features intricate geometric designs
inspired by their own imagination.
Luka- container of tobacco and betel
nut. Made of two bamboo tubes, the
shorter serving as lid. These bamboo
containers are usually adorned with
ambahan inscriptions.
MANGYAN WRITING
AND LITERATURE
 Among the Mangyan groups, the more
important poetic forms are the urukay of the
Buhid and the ambahan of the Hanunoo using of
a native Indic-based script or syllabary for writing
called Surat Mangyan.
 The urukay is the Buhid’s poetic form, which is
similar to but not the same as the Hanunoo ambahan. It
is chanted to the accompaniment of a homemade
guitar.
 Written in the Hanunoo script, the ambahan is
a poetic form with seven-syllable lines that rhyme
at the final syllable. The chanting of the ambahan is
done without a definite musical pitch or
accompaniment. It is chanted or recited to express
in an allegorical way and in poetic language certain
situations or characteristics to which the speaker is
referring.
MUSICAL FORMS
• Flute (Bangsi),
- is an external duct flute,
which has a chip glued on to
the tube of the flute.

• Jaw’s Harp (Subing),

- is a bamboo jaw harp.
• Lute (Gitgit),
-a three-string
indigenous violin with
human hair for strings.

• Gongs (Agong),
- a metal shaped like
a pail with a circle in the
middle.
• Sticks (Kalutang)
- This is percussion sticks
played in pairs to produce
harmonies on seconds, thirds,
and fourths.
FESTIVAL Mangyan Festival is celebrated
to acknowledge and give
importance to the Mangyan
constituency that comprises a
significant section of the
Mindoro’s population and
domain. Serves as a respect to
the unique culture of the tribes
displayed through dances,
indigenous games, songs and
folktales. As highlight of the
festivity, a street dancing
competition is held every year
which is participated by different
schools in the municipality.
THANK YOU!