The Minoritization of Indigenous Communities of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago

120 Pages·1994·24.185 MB·English

by  Rudy B. Rodil

. PREFACE
For.. long, tI.. minority peoples of"'" Philippines h.V<! suffered the
agony of being treated as such. How these indigenous peoples who once had
superficial control over territories which, put together, wouh:t easily consti-
tute nearly one half of the entire national territory of lhe Republic of the
Philippines, were transformed ,into minorities in their own lands has
remained apuzzle.
For so long, too, we have wanted to put together a modest volume that
would show exactly this historical process, one that would serve as an easy
reference for all sorts of people: for those who have been minoritized; for
those who have been directly responsible in bringing about and carrying on
the process; for those Who have been unwitting contributors to the process,
and for those of the present generation who wish to correct the errors of the
past.
The opportunity presented itself when Prof. Ed Garcia came to see us one
day in 1991 to discuss.the plan of Minority Rights Group (MRG) iFT London
fO get some Filipino writers to contribute to the volume on the Philippines
minority situation coinciding with the United Nation's Year of the Indigenous
Peoples. We agreed to do the Mindanao-Sulu Archipelago portion.
The product exceeded the 32-page limit of a regular MRG publication.
Some 6,000 words had to be painfully excised. Upon our request later, MRG
graciously consented to have the original version published locally, this one,
qualified only with the following riote:
An abridged version of this report is available as Th" Luinad
and Mom of Mindanao, A Minority Rigbts Group Intemational
Rsport, August 1993, ISBN 1-897693-05-2, from Minority Rights
International, 379 Brinon Road,' London SW9 7DE. UK.
So much has happened since the computer script of this work was
completed on 29 January 1993. We have kept the text intact but we have
added a brief epilogue to update the reader on the latest developments.•
r
•
I
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sincere words of thanks must go to the following institutions and
persons for their participation in the completion of the project:
To the Minority Rights Group International itself whose unselfish
concern for the welfare of the Indigenous Peoples we share deeply.
To the Kinaiyahan Foundation and staff in Davao City who
provided us with timely updates on the Mt. Apo Geothermal Project.
To Ed. Garcia through whose kind facilitation, our participation in
the project became possible. He also exhibited exceptional patience
and discretion in prodding us to finish our work within the agreed
timetable.
To Rene Agbayani of Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, a
friend who shares keen interest in indigenous concerns, who took
time from his busy schedule to personally accompany Ms. Patricia
Sellick, Minority Rights Group's in·charge for projects in Asia and the
Middle East.
To Ms. Patricia Sellick herself whose incisive questions and
constructive comments, as we went through the manuscript section
by section, made it easier for me to see what refinements in the
document were necessary for an international audience.
Io the nearly twenty readers designated by MRG from all over the
world, though they will forever be unknown to us, who sent back very
helpful and constructive criticisms.
To the ever-supportive AFRIM-ARC the publisher of this work,
specifically Melot and staff.
Finally to Bebot and Ponpon, the two people who created more
than enough room and peace of mind for me to write this work.
Needless to say, I take sol. responsibility for whatever errors in
fact and judgement and other weaknesses this study may have.•
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THB INDIGBlfOUS PEOPLES
/ Dr'l'Hll PJlDDPD1'BS: All OVBBVDlW
Introduction 11
Who are the Indigenous Cultural C.ommunities? 11
Current Linguistic Situation 13
Social Situation at Spanish Contact 16
The Barangay Communities 16
The Islamized Communities 17
The Wamor Societies, 19
The Petty Plutocracies 20
The Classless Communities 20
The Spanish Contribution 21
The American Share in the Process 22
RegaIian Doctrine vs. Ancestral Domain 28
Discriminatory Provisions ofPublic. Land
Laws and Other Laws Affecting Land 29
Resettlement Program 31
2 THE ICC SlTUATIOlf
Dr MINDAlIAO-SULU
Introduction 33
Traditional Indigenous Temtory 34
Basis of Indigenous Claim to Temtury 35
First Foreign Intrusion: The Spanish Challangtl 35
Resettlement Programs of the Government 37
Population Shifts Resulting Fl'Om Resattlements 39
The Case ofCotabato 40
Role ofBig Business in the Displacement Process 41
Contradiction Between GoveriUnent Development
Projects and Indigenous Interests 43
Consequences upon the Lumad and the Mora
ofthe State System ofLandownership and Land Use 43
Present Status and Gains ofthe Lumnd Struggle 46
3 THE JOUBlfBYTOWAJ.U)S
MOBO SELF-])B'.l'E1lltU1fATIOlf
Introductilln 49
Triumph ofWestem Colonialism 49
Mora Resistance 49
Datu Participation in Colonial 51
Education, A Tool ofPacification 51
Exposure To'\lt's 53
EarlY Moves Towards Recovery ofSelf-Determination 54
Freedom Through Congress? 54
Movement for Muslim Independence 55
..
"Christian" Countermoves 55
MNLF Launches War ofBangsa Mora National Liberation 66
The OIC Mediates RP-MNLF Negotiation 58
1987 Constitution Provides for Regional
. Autonomy in Muslim Mindanao 58
Prospects ofthe Bangsa Mora 59
II
AMOlfGTHB LU'M.AD: THB CASB OP
"T MT. APO A.'ND DATU mOHGAWE
Introduction 61
Apo San,dawa 61
In the Long Line of Fighting Leaders 61
Geothermal Potential ofMt. Apo 63
Early Attempts to Explore Mountain 63
Stemming Tide ofTribal Opposition 63
More Opposition 64
Other Related Issues 64
Dyandi: Defend Mt. Apo to the Last Drop 64
Pamaas, the Counter-Ritual 66
Tribes vs. Tribe 66
Pampas, Preparation for Armed Confrontation 68
NPA Enters Scene 68
President Ramos Makes Presence Felt;
Favors Mt. Apo C'reothermal Project 68
Other Energy Projects in Mindanao and Effects on ICCs 69
5 AGUS I HYDROEL1IJCTBIC PLANT:
WHAT PBICE EL1IJCTBICI'l'Y?
Introduction 71
Energy Situation and Hydroelectric Power Projects 72
Painful Complications around the Agus Plants 74
nw
Guim'ba Incident 75
MllrRnao Opposition to Agus I 75
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PROSPECTS POB PROBLEM
BBSOLUTIOH AlfI) PUCB
Introduction 79
What the Moro People Want 79
What the LumRds Desire 79
Lessons From the Past 81
Prospects of Legislative Reforms 82
'Cousolidation of Forces Among the Indigenous Community 84
EPILOGUE 86
BBCOMMJ.:J!mATIOlfS A.'ND ISSUBS POR ACTION
Land Rights as Economic Rights and Property Rights 88
Politiclil Rights as Citizens and as Minorities 90
State Development and Compensation for Land LosslLand Use 90
Basic Human Rights vs. State Security 90
State Policy on Minorities 90
Education, Language Rnd Culture 91
Immediate 91
APPEl'fDIX
A. Philippine Cultural Communities, Ethnic Identities
Provinces of Concentration and Population 93
B. Distribution of National Cultural Minorities
by Provinces, by Population, 1960 Census 94
C. Lumad Ethnolinguistic Groups, Geographical
Locations in Mindanao, Circa 1900 95
I). Province of Concentration ofMoro Population
by Ethnolinguistic Group 97
E. Traditional Territory of IndigenoUs Inhabitants
of Mindanao--Sulu, 1596-1898 98
P. Population Shifts: Muslims & Lumad & Christian
Migrants in C'oOtabato, 1918, 1939, 1970 Censuses 99
O. Population Shifts: Moro & Lumad & Christian
Populations in Bulddnon, 1918: 1939, 1970 Censuses 100
B. Population Shifts: Moro &; Lumad & Christian
Populations in Zamboanga, 1918, 1939, 1970 Censuses 102
L Percentage of Moro & Lumad Population in Mindanao,
Sulu and Palawan, 1903-1975 104
J.. Estimated Muslim & Lumad Populations in Proposed
Area of the Autonomous !legion in Muslim MindanatJ, 1980 Census 104
X. Partial List ofMoro Armed ResistAnce Against
American Colonial Forces, 1903-1934 105
L. Constitutional Provisions Re Indigenous Cultural
C'oOmmunities (1987 Constitution) 106
M. Tripoli 108
B. .Jeddah Accord 112
o.
Excerpt of the Cipanas Statement of Understanding 112
P. Interim GRP -MNLF Ceasefire Agreement 113
Q. qRP-MNLF .Joint Press Communique 115
BIBLJOGBAPHY 117
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 122
ABOUT APl\Il\tt 123
THE MINORITIZATlON OP THE INDlf;ENOUS COMMUNITIES
OF MINDANAO ANDTHE SI)LU ARf:HIPEI..A.GO
TIIE
INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
INTIIE
PHILIPPINES
Introduction
I he indigenou8 peoples in the Philippines, now also known offi·
cially as indigenous cultural communities (ICC), are said to c.onsti-
tute 10 p"rcent of the estimated total national population of 6.1)
million. They are more popularly 'referred to as cultural minorities.
Once the masters oftheir own lives, now the majority of them are poor and
landless. In the old days, many of them lived in the plains. But as a result of
population pressures and resettlement programs from among the majority,
they have moved to the forest areas. Now, their forests are devastated and
, their cultures are threatened. And so, they have learned to fight for sur-'
vival. Their voices reverberate from North to South, from the Cordillera to
the Lumads to the Muslims (or Bangsa Moro or simply Moro) ofMindanao
and Sulu. They demand recognition oftheir right to self.determination; they
demand' respect for and protection of their ancestral domains, of their cul-
tures, of their very lives. Within the last twenty years, one group after
another ofthe ICCs have launched their struggles for self-determination,
upholding as the most crucial issue their fundamental human right to their
ancestral domain.
'Interpretation on the meaning of "selfpdetermination" differs. The Moro
National Liberation Front consistently takes it to mean independenCe for the
Bangsa Morofrom the clutches of Filipino colonialism, although its leaders
agreed to reduce this to regional autonomy in the Tripoli Agreement of
December 1976. Advocates in the Cordillera and among the Lumad, how-
ever, emphasize their demand for genuine autonomy. But what they all have
in common is the conscious realization that their collective happiness must
come principally from' own efforts, not from the State.
are the IncUgenous .
Cultural Communities?
I reated in 1957, the Commission on National Integration made an
official listing of the National Culturfll Minorities. [See Table 1]
Note that Luzon and the VlSRyas have 19 groups, and Mindanao
has 27 which Can be further subdivided into 10 Moro and 17 Lumad
[for the origin of the name "Lumad", see Chapter Two]. In the 1960 census,
four years after the establishment of the CNI, the NCMs numbered
2,887,526 or approximately 10 percent of the national popUlation. The mat- .
ter of names and number is not a settled issue in the Philippines, which will
explain the existence ofsuch names as Kulaman in Mindanao which is just
another denomination for Manobo in that part of Davao del Sur and two
other places in Cotabato called Kulaman, and the addition ofmore later on.
The census itself has never been consistent in its denominations.
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... t ' ........
.
.
"
to. ..""L
Once the masters of their own lives,
NOW THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE POOR
AND LANDLESS. In the old days, many
of them lived In the plains. But as a
result of population pressures and
resettlement programs ,from among
the majority, they have moved to the
forest areas. Now, THEIR FORESTS ARE
DEVASTATED AND THEIR CULTURES ARE
THREATENED.
THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLBS IN THE PHII..IPPINES
AN OVERVIEW
Luzon/Visayas Mlndanao-Sulu
Lumad Moro
1. Aeta 1. Ata or Ataas 1. Badjaw
2. AfJayaw or Isneg 2. Bagobo & Guiangga 2. Magindanaw
3. Mangyan 3. Mamanwa 3. Iranun,lIanun
4. Bontok 4. Mangguangan 4. Kalibugan
5. Dumagat 5. Mandaya 5. Maranaw
6. Ifugao 6. Banwa-on 6. Pullun Mapun
7. lIongot 7. Bilaan 7. Samal
8. Inibaloi, Ibalol 8. Bukidnon 8. Sangil
9. Kalinga 9. Dulangan 9. Tausug
10. Kankanai 10. Kalagan 10. Yakan
11. Kanuy, Kene 11. Kulaman
12. Molbuganon 12. Manobo
13. Palawano 13. Subanon
14. Batak 14. Tagabili
15. Remontado 15. Tagakaol0
16. Sulod 16. Talandig
17. Tagbanua 17. Tiruray
18. Tinggian, or Itneg
19. Todag
It is generally known that the Moro people are made up of 13
ethnolingusitic groups. An explanation is.in order why the above list shows
only ten. Two of these groups are to be found in Palawan, namely, Palawani
and Molbog (Melebugnon or Molbuganon). A third, the Kalagan in Davao del
Sur are partly Muslim and partly non-Muslim. The Palawani, too, are partly
Muslim and partly not. Finally, the Badjaw are generally not Muslims but
because oftheir identifitation within the realm of the ancient Sulu sultan-
ate, they have often been regarded as part of the Islamic scene in the Sulu
archipelago.
The present majority-minority situation is a product ofwestern colonialism
that has been carried over to the present. In the time ofSpanish colonialism,
it was more an uniptended product ofcolonial order. In the time of the
Americans, it was the result both of colonial and colonial design. When
the Republic of the Philippines assumed sovereign authority, the various
administrations not only carried over whatever the Americans had left
behind, they also institutionalized the status ofcultural minority within
Philippine society. In this section we seek to retrace our steps and see how
the whole process came about. We start with a broad picture of our current
linguistic aituation.
Current Linguistic Situation
I nhabiting an archipelago of7,100 islands which are divided into
three broad leographic zones called Luzon. ' Visayas and Mindanao,
the Philippine population is, according to a linguistie.·expert, lin-
guistically diverse, distributed, conservatively into be-
I Loethiny S. ClaveI, They Are Also Filipinos (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1969), pp. 4·5.
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