PDI – EEDTFIP PAPER ON
The Tagbanuas of Coron, Palawan
By
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
44 Gen. Segundo Street, Heroes Hill,
Brgy. Sta Cruz, Quezon City
Team:
Ria Miclat-Teves
Ruel Punongbayan
Gerry Gevela
Jimmy Quijano
Gadjel Pontillas
PDI eedtfip
Introduction
This paper focuses on the contrasts, impacts and dynamics of
modernization and traditionalism on indigenous knowledge, methods and
systems of food supply of the Tagbanuas of Coron, Palawan.
Presently, many Filipinos, state actors and even development workers
are not yet aware on ways of life of the Tagbanuas. This lack of awareness
leads to stereotyping and prejudices against the Tagbanuas. The Tagbanuas
of Coron have a rich cultural heritage. Highly distinguishable from other
Tagbanua tribes of mainland Palawan, the Tagbanuas of Coron remain
resilient and determined amidst the challenges of modernity.
Learning about the Tagbanuas is a positive step toward understanding
them. This effort also opens means and ways of working with this
ethnolinguistic group toward self-determination and sustainable
development.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research Design
This research paper used ethnographic and descriptive methods. The
descriptive method was used in translating Cuyonen and Calamianen into
Filipino then to English while the fieldwork method was used in gathering
information about the Tagbanua People. The fieldwork and ethnographic
techniques that were employed were observation, standard questionnaire,
focused group discussions, key informants and unstructured interview.
2.1.1 Translation of Cuyonen/ Calamianen
The researchers translated gathered data to Filipino. Jimmy Quijano, a
Tagbanua community organizer who works for PDI and Gadjel Pontillas, a
Tagalog who is married to a Tagbanua, also helped in the translation and
data gathering. Interviewers/data gatherers live in the respondent
communities.
(b) Writing of the First Draft
The researchers translated the Cuyonen and Calamianen responses to
Filipino then translated the Filipino to English.
2.1.2 Fieldwork
(a) Respondent Communities
The researchers selected Barangay Borac, Turda, Buenavista and
Tagumpay as research sites based on the following criteria:
1. Majority of residents in these communities are Tagbanuas. This
composition of residents in the area enabled the researchers to
observe the culture of this ethnolinguistic group.
2. These communities are affected by abrupt development and
changes that impinge on their way of life.
3. The researchers are familiar with these communities because they
are involved in development work and sustainable agriculture in these
places.
(b) Selection of Key Informants
Data about the Tagbanuas were gathered through interviews with key
informants who were selected according to the following criteria:
1. Role in the community. The role of the informant in the community
should expose him/her to the nature of the community being studied.
Respondents and informants identified more than one role, e.g.
Farmer, Hunter, Educator, Gatherers/Harvesters, Fishermen/women,
Cultural Practitioners, Food Preparers, Chiefs /Leaders.
2. Knowledge. The informant should also have relevant knowledge
about the community.
3. Willingness. The informant must be willing to share his/her
knowledge to the researchers.
(c) Data Gathering Procedure
The researchers gathered information about the source of livelihood,
culture, and values of the Tagbanuas through unstructured interviews and
standard questionnaire. The interviews were conducted in both the
vernacular and Filipino languages. Related literature were also consulted,
reviewed and cited.
THE TAGBANUAS OF CORON PALAWAN
The People
Tagbanua communities of Coron are found in the Calamian Group of
islands at the northern tip of Palawan, Philippines. Shifting cultivation of
upland rice is part of their cultural and economic practices. Research shows
that the Tagbanuas are possible descendants of the Tabon Caves inhabitants.
Their language and alphabet, practice of kaingin and common belief in soul-
relatives are part of their culture.1
Hiligaynon sea gypsies from the Visayas and Mindanao once raided
Coron Island and drove the Tagbanua villagers far in the forests’ interior. As
Coron grew into a center of trade and commerce around the mid-1700s, it
also became the target of incessant Moro raids that forced the Hiligaynon and
some Tagbanua to drift to nearby Busuanga. The Moro exacted exorbitant
tributes and smuggled women if the islanders could not pay. The Tagbanuas
hid in the inconspicuous caves whenever a guard in the bantayan
(watchtower) would spot an approaching vinta.
The diaspora of Tagbanua from the island at this particular time
explains why to this day, they can be found across the Calamianes. When the
Moro attacks ceased, some Tagbanua reclaimed their lost territory while
others settled in other uninhabited places such as Bulalacao, Malawig,
Buenavista, Turda and Tara.
Spain gained a temporary foothold but left practically no mark on
Tagbanua culture. The close of the 19th century found the Tagbanua still
firmly committed to a hunting, foraging and seafaring way of life; all other
economic activities were incidental or peripheral to these pursuits. 2
Food, Socio-economic systems
For the longest time, the Tagbanuas of Coron have maintained an
economic independence and self-sufficiency by shying away from the
complexities of society, in general, and the market, in particular, and by
developing a continual supply of subsistence food from their environment.
The Tagbanuas of Coron have developed and refined traditional
sustainable agriculture; maintained hunting, fishing, and gathering practices;
and developed animal husbandry, all based on indigenous and local
knowledge handed down through generations.
1
Wikipedia
2
The Healing of A Tagbanua Ancestral Homeland, Dante Dalabajan
Environmental Legal Assistance Center, Inc.
These practices have enabled the Tagbanuas of Coron to achieve
sustainability and food security. These practices have enabled them to
adequately address hunger and nutrition and to provide sufficient food supply
every year despite natural disturbances and fluctuations in weather patterns.
The Tagbanuas’ complex way of life revolves around the environment
and natural ecosystems composed of the luyang (caves), awuyuk, talu
(corals), teeb, sorobleyen (seawaters) and to the geba (forest).
For example, using only a hook and line and free style diving,
fisherfolks could easily catch a hefty pile of fish enough to feed an average
Tagbanua family of six the whole day. From their catch, they are also able to
set aside a few kilos to trade for other household provisions like salt and lard
for cooking.
The culture of tambalang (carageenan), a very recent addition,
provides supplemental income all year round. The most important source of
cash among the Tagbanuas is the production of balinsa-sayaw nests
(Callocalia troglodytes). Done especially during the height of the amihan
(northeasterly winds), the production of these nests begin with the harvest
which requires an arduous, death defying climb to the caves nestling on top
of rugged cliffs.3 This is not surprising since experts have declared the
coastal and marine waters of the Philippines to be the center of marine
biodiversity in the world.
Tagbanuas subsist by foraging and scavenging kurut, kabuan, balwag
and kapari (edible wild tubers), suckers (e.g. banana), root crops (e.g.
purple yam, sweet potatoes), samung (seashells) and pogita (octopus).
Florita Ornida, a middle aged Tagbanua mother says, “I still remember that
when I was a young child, my mother always made me join her in
scavenging and digging for root crops in the forest. In the months of May to
August, kurut is easily available in the forest; in June and July, we look for
kabuan and from September onward, kapari is abundant in the wild.”
3
The Healing of A Tagbanua Ancestral Homeland
Isabelita Paguia, a Tagbanua mother, shares her knowledge on how to
prepare kurut:
1. Paghuhukay- digging for kurut must be done early in the morning in
order to allot time for slicing. Kurut must be processed right after
being dug to avoid toxins from contaminating the tuber.
2. Pagbalutak- is the slicing and dicing of the kurut. A plain-like
instrument with a blade called balutakan is used to shred the kurut for
easy processing and handling.
3. Pagbababad- the kurut must be washed thoroughly and pressed to
squeeze out remaining toxins. This process must be repeated several
times. Some put the kurut in permeable bags/sacks and soak the
kurut in rivers or seashores.
4. Pagbibilad- after the kurut are washed and pressed, these are dried in
the sun for a whole day.
5. Pag-iimbak- when the kurut have dried and their color turned white,
these are stored and can remain edible up to 4 to 5 months depending
on the quality of the preparation.
6. Pagluluto- There many ways to prepare kurut such as binedbed,
palutaw, nilupak and bibingka. But the favorite way of cooking kurut
among the Tagbanua is called sinangag, a preparation in which the
kurut is complimented by shredded coconut meat.
For Tagbanuas, their livelihood and spirituality are intertwined and
cannot be disassociated from the other as they go about their daily routine.
This is why some still practice farming techniques and rituals passed on to
them by their elders like the following:
Panedlak- is a farming ritual done to commence the planting season.
This is done quietly and secretly. In the tubigan (ricefield), seven
stalks of palay are initially planted. These stalks serve as models of
quality for the rest of the palay that are planted in the fields.
Pag-ibu- is the practice done after the panedlak. This is the actual
process of covering the holes made for planting the first seven palay
stalks.
Paglalapa- is the weeding of the tubigan.
Sagda- is a thanksgiving ritual offered to deities for the good harvest.
It is also performed to appease the gods for the damage done to their
home during the whole cropping season.
Pangapungel- is a harvesting practice which allows only one farmer to
harvest on the first day, two farmers on the 2 nd day and three on the
third day. On the fourth day, everyone may participate in harvesting
the whole field.
Panglubut- is the first practice in a series of land clearing and land
preparation processes. A small portion of the land is lightly cleared and
left to stand for two consecutive weeks in order to indicate to other
villagers the intention of the farmer who cleared the land to plant in
that specific area. After this period lapsed, the farmer then can
continue to clear and burn the entire area. Burning in the piece of land
is done before the start of the rainy season.
Ka Ben Pulilan, a Tagbanua farmer, explains “Our parents taught us
their ways of farming like how their fathers and forefathers have taught
them. Farming had sustained and continues to sustain us.” The Tagbanuas
have become physically and metabolically accustomed to the foods found,
gathered and cultivated in their communities and the animals they
traditionally hunted, fished, and raised.
For the Tagbanuas, food is the main medicine essential to community
and individual health. They believe that their traditional food, acquired
through their own traditional processes of food production, are all natural
and therefore free of health-threatening chemicals. “We do not get sick from
eating our traditional food. It is only after the harvest season that we feel ill,”
narrates Manang Flor, attests that, “even with our traditional and simple
food, we are able to provide proper nutrition to our children.”
Three factors explain how such equilibrium was made possible: a low
population to resource base; an economy that functioned basically for
subsistence and not exchange; and cultural norms that made it taboo to
indiscriminately exploit the forest and coastal resources. 4
The impact of modernization
In the 1980s, declining fisheries in the adjoining Visayan islands and
Southern Luzon coasts triggered the movement of fishers westward into
Calamianes waters, which resulted in over-fishing, illegal fishing, and an
increased human population. 5 Today, the coastal resources of Calamianes
have dramatically dwindled. Coastal Resource Assessment conducted by
experts in late 1990s indicates that coral cover is poor because it spreads
only about 10 to 20 percent.6
The Tagbanuas attribute dwindling fish catch to excessive and intense
commercial fishing along with destructive forms of fishing methods such as
the use of sodium cyanide and dynamite. Much of the cyanide-laden live fish
commodity originates from remote areas like Coron Island where many
4
The Healing of A Tagbanua Ancestral Homeland
5
A Choice for Indigenous Communities in the Philippines (Spring 2004)
6
Palawan Council for Sustainable Development
migrants have settled.7 “It is a disheartening scenery down there,” Tatay
Mabini Pulilan says. He laments that “the corals are badly damaged, bleached
white and some are crumbling and turning powdery because of the sodium
and cyanide. Years ago, these corals were so alive and very colorful.”
This tragedy started when Palawan was eyed to supply the demand of
other Asian countries for marine products. Vast quantities of live fish have
been shipped out of Coron for sale to buyers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan
and Singapore. Overwhelmed by the demand, fisherfolks turned to
destructive means of catching live fish. Fishermen, for instance, sprayed
sodium cyanide to drug the fish. This practice has damaged the corals and
left them with almost no chance of recovery. Fishermen also use explosives
in blast fishing. The potassium nitrate content of these explosives can easily
turn four to five meter-radius corals into rubble. The process of re-growth
and recovery for these corals takes half a century.
To address the agricultural decline in the domain of the Tagbanua, the
government’s agricultural program introduces new farm techniques and
planting materials such as certified and hybrid seeds like corn and rice.
However, Pablo Quijano, a Tagbanua farmer argues that “indeed they gave
us seedlings to plant, but these are genetically modified so we refuse to use
them in cropping; these artificial seeds destroy our ways of farming which
are based on the cycles of nature.”
Meanwhile, in an effort to cope with the sudden population growth, the
deficit-ridden municipal government of Coron attempted to increase revenues
through taxes on the trade of natural resources. It strictly regulated
indigenous lands and local resources traditionally traded by the indigenous
communities and declared them properties of the municipal government.
In 1990, the local government completed a study that identified as
priority the development of tourism infrastructure in North Palawan –
specifically the Calamianes Islands. The release of the study led to an influx
of local traders and land speculators who lobbied municipal executives to
declare several of the Calamian Islands as government assets and offer them
for public bidding.8
As a result of these developments, the Tagbanua communities that
once nourished themselves from local sustainable food systems are now
forced out of their lands due to privatization, development of large-scale
agribusiness, natural resource extraction (e.g. pearl farms), stewardships
agreement, quarrying, mining and land titling activities. The Tagbanuas are
now forced to migrate to the adjacent towns and compete for low-wage jobs.
7
The Healing of A Tagbanua Ancestral Homeland, Dante Dalabajan
Environmental Legal Assistance Center, Inc.
8
A Choice for Indigenous Communities in the Philippines (Spring 2004)
Since these jobs cannot provide sufficient provisions for their families, many
of them suffer malnourishment and hunger.
Recommendations
State actors and industries must recognize that the Tagbanuas’ food
related traditional knowledge and practices are valid and valuable to food
security. Policies that violate the Tagbanuas’ rights to maintain their
traditional knowledge, practices, seeds and other food related genetic
resources must not be implemented.
Civil society, the academe, and concerned groups should support
rather than discourage or infringe upon the Tagbanuas’ own methods,
institutions (like the council of elders), political structures, and the
protection, management and continuation of their traditional knowledge and
practices.
The government must recognize the Ancestral Domain claim of the
Tagbanuas to ensure that they can freely access their lands and territories,
and protect their natural ecosystems in which their traditional knowledge and
food are based.
Conclusion
Traditional knowledge of the environment is valuable and has been
proven to be valid and effective. This knowledge should not be compromised
by excessive reliance on relatively recent and narrowly defined methods
produced by modernity and commerce.
Nothing can justify and compensate for the debilitating illnesses and
death of indigenous communities, loss of ancestral lands, environmental
degradation, threatened long-term food security, or diminished economic
autonomy. Precautionary principles and the prevention of harm should
always be the cornerstones of any type of development that will affect the
Tagbanuas in particular and the indigenous people in general.
1. Dalabajan, Dante A., “The Healing of A Tagbanua Ancestral Homeland,” Environmental Legal
Assistance Center, Inc. (ELAC),Philippines, 2001
2. Palawan Provincial Information Office, “Tribes of Palawan,” Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_Groups_of_Palawan Accessed August 28, 2008
3. Ferrari, Maurizio Farhan and De Vera, Dave., “A Choice for Indigenous Communities in the
Philippines,” Human Rights Dialogue 2.11,Environmental Rights, 2004
4. Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff, “Coastal Resource Assessment,”
Environmental Monitoring and Evaluation System,1999
5. Primary Data from: a.) Unstructured Interview with the Tagbanuas (conducted by PDI)
b.) Result of Survey Questionnaire (conducted by PDI)
