Mythologies of the Pulangiyen Tribe

The Bukidnon Pulangiyen is an Indigenous People whose ancestry on the land goes way back before it was documented in the early part of the 19th century. These people have a traditional way of working with the land and adapting with different crops, but are now threatened by encroaching production of corn for animal feeds with heavy use of fertilizers and chemicals and promises of great returns. Holding out for more programs attuned to their cultural role in the uplands is critical in the face of a global need for Culture-based Solutions. This is in recognition of the existing climate change and need for regeneration of ecological services in the uplands. Some of the last remaining forests in the country can be found here. The Bukid’non-Pulangiyen is governed by a set of customs and traditions handed down to the people through generations. These customary laws are based on principles of harmony with nature and the interconnectedness of people and environment. The Pulangiyen community in Bendum is sustaining its forests back through a mixture of activities that relate to their basic needs for water and for livelihood. There are around 12 hectares under various forms of utilization that assist the natural regeneration of forests.

The Bukidnon Pulangiyen is a group of Indigenous People whose documented ancestry in the area dates back to the early part of the 19th century. These people subsisted mostly by hunting and gathering, and lived along rivers in the forest. As a way of life and also due to occasional tribal wars, the people constantly moved up the mountains to seek better resources. Some of the early settlements they built were by the Agusan, Tagaloan, Cagayan, and Pulangi Rivers. The presence of colonizers increasingly impacted on their way of life. While some accepted the Spanish colonizers, most of them opted to retreat to the inner-forested areas of Northeastern Mindanao. Settlements were formed in the Libang, Maasam, Adjaoan and Umayam Rivers in Agusan. Others continued the upstream migration until they reached the Upper Pulangi area. The elders identified the groups according to the tributaries they inhabit. Thus, those who settled in the Tagaloan were called Tagaloanen, those in the Maasam River were called Maasamnen, and those near the Pulangi River were called Pulangiyen.

For more than a century the Manobo-Pulangiyon of Bukidnon have been forced to live in the sidelines of their ancestral land, away from where their tribe can cultivate food, hunt for survival, or access water sources. Amnesty International Philippines held a press conference on Friday, ahead of the National Indigenous Peoples Month in October, to support 1,490 families of the Manobo-Pulangiyon, who have been desperately seeking for justice for the encroachment of their ancestral land. “The Manobo-Pulangiyon have been living in precarious conditions at the side of the highway in Bukidnon since being displaced from their homes, experiencing irregular water and food supplies and inadequate medical care. The local government’s failure to take immediate action to protect their rights has forced many from the tribe to live in misery. They continue to face a number of human rights abuses and violations, entire generations are denied access to their ancestral lands, and their communities face violent repression and abuse for peacefully protesting to take back what is rightfully theirs to begin with,” said Butch Olano, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director. Living on the ancestral land is key for the physical and cultural subsistence of Indigenous Peoples. Their sacred ground allows them to maintain their social practices and cultural traditions vital to their right to self-determination, all of which they are unable to do because of government inaction. “Right to their ancestral land is crucial to them as it is an essential element for their sense of identity, livelihood and way of life. They were forced to live at the side of the road away from the heart and soul of their culture where their ancestors thrived. This situation can be reversed if the government dutifully enforce the IPRA law,” explained Olano. The ancestral land of the Manobo-Pulangiyon, a property consisting of nearly-1000 hectares and several key landmarks including the Salagapon Falls, Banban, and the Karikayanan, have illegally been in the hands of private owners since the 1920s when Don Manolo Fortich ‘borrowed’ the land from them through a verbal agreement he made with tribal leaders at the time. Fortich transformed their land into a cattle ranch, put up a fence to keep the tribe out, and hired a private army to watch its perimeter.

The Bukid’non-Pulangiyen is governed by a set of customs and traditions handed down to the people through generations. These customary laws are based on principles of harmony with nature and the interconnectedness of people and the environment. Greatly interwoven in the Pulangiyen tradition is their religious beliefs. The people of Bendum believe that the spirits of their ancestors (gimukid) live in their natural surroundings–in the trees, large rocks, and bodies of water–and that both the good and bad spirits reside in the forest. They believe that indiscriminate use or exploitation of resources would anger the gods and bring ill fortune to the community. Thus, in order to appease the spirits, the Pulangiyen would invariably perform rituals, known as pangapug or pamuhat, to request for something or to give thanks for the blessings received from nature. An example is the belief surrounding land cultivation. In Bendum, the planting and harvesting of rice and corn is interspersed with religious rituals: Pulangiyen land use activities includes brushing (sakum), clearing (bunglay), cutting of trees (pamilay), removal of branches (panalata), burning (bigsul), digging holes (pangedek), planting (pamula) of corn, rice, aglay, and rootcrops, ritual for protection and abundant harvest (panlindug hu migbaya hu pamulahon), weeding (panghilamun), harvest of young corn (panggangi), thanksgiving for first harvest of corn (tilagun hu kamais), harvesting of mature corn (sanggi), first rice harvest (tilagun hu hemay), thanksgiving ritual (panalangin), harvest of rice (panlegtay) and aglay (panggati), and ceremonial rite for the farm (kaliga-en).