Book: Defending the Land

Even though I’m three hundred miles away, I’m confident I’ll still be able to keep on writing about Kulaman Plateau. One of the reasons is that I’ve taken with me a book about the Dulangan Manobo, the indigenous people of the place. Let me correct that. I've taken with me a copy of the book. And let me correct myself again. I've taken with me a photocopy of the book—the whole book.

I'm blatantly proclaiming that I pirated the reading material because its publishers allow and even encourage it. The book, Defending the Land: Lumad and Moro People's Struggle for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao, was published by a group of non-government organizations, and they included an "anti-copyright" notice at the supposedly copyright page. The notice reads: "Reproduction, citation and other forms of propagation of this book—whether in part or in its entirety—are welcome and encouraged by the author and publishers."

I'm willing to shell out some amount if the book is available in major bookstores, but it's not. The original copy I got my hands on was from Dakyas, a claimant to the sultan title and the tribal chieftain of Manobo Village, Barangay Poblacion, Municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino. No, I did not borrow the book directly from Sultan Dakyas. I borrowed it from a cousin who was doing her thesis for her master's degree. She's the one who knew Sultan Dakyas personally and borrowed the book.

Defending the Land contains 21 pages of write-up about the Dulangan Manobo, with sub-sections on their domain, history, economy, art and culture, kinship and social ties, beliefs and practices, polity, and status of ancestral domain claim. The book so far is the most comprehensive reference I have on the Dulangan Manobo. The information there, however, was really just an overview. I wish to find—or write!—a more detailed and voluminous study on the tribe. For now, though, I'm happy enough to have the handy resource.

The book contains interesting facts and is insightful, especially on its discussion on how the tribe has been affected by new forces and structures that encroached Kulaman Plateau. I'll be generously quoting the book in the next few weeks, so do drop by. Together let's learn more about the Dulangan Manobo and think of ways how our knowledge can be translated to tangible results.