The Manobo of Nati and Sewod

(Blogger’s note: The following is an excerpt from the book Defending the Land: Lumad and Moro People’s Struggle for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao, specifically pp. 106–7. The publishers welcome and even encourage the reproduction of the book in part or in its entirety, so I am posting this excerpt here without prior permission. To cite the book, please see Webliography.)

Informants Datu Embeng, Colon Manguda and Alberto Dakias of Barangay Nati said the non-Manobos (Ilocanos) started trekking into the place as early as 1952. The fertility of the soil and the prospects of setting up commercial establishments attracted them to the Manobo lands. The Resurreccion, Nacional, Labrador, Narvaez, Marcos, Difuntorum and Paluta families were the first, and their descendants remain here to this day. The Manobos retreated into the hillsides to avoid contact with the new arrivals, who became the dominant and prominent residents in the lowlands.

The sitiobecame a barangay in 1989, with a certain Pepito de Ramos as the appointed baranagy captain. During his tenure, he opened a primary school in the area, though Kulaman is only three kilometers away. The barangay has a total population of 970 families, with the Manobos numbering 200 households. They still largely depend on kaingin for their livelihood, planting rice, corn and coffee. As there are no more forests to hunt, and as the streams have few fish, they learned to irrigate their ricefields.

They still practice most of the Lumad rituals, but the role of the Balian is diminishing as some of the Manobos converted to the Protestant faith. They still adhere to the authority of the datus to settle conflicts among themselves and among members of the family. They look forward to the regular antang-antang where the community discusses important issues.

Barangay Sewod got its name from an old datu named Datu Sewod. He was a renowned and respected leader of the community. He married four women, namely Takong, Hagfa, Langgal and Kadi. The last two wives bear the names of present day barangays in the municipality.

According to the informants Datu Mantiko Watamama, Datu Agiro Sedteng, Datu Ungan Ange and Rumbalay Itang, four Ilonggo families arrived in Baranagay Sewod sometime in 1952 and stayed a while with some Manobo families. At that time, there were only about 12 Manobo households.

Now, Christian settlers in Sewod number more than 2,000 individuals. The newcomers grabbed the parcels of land they once borrowed from the Manobos. Later on they had these parcels of land titled in their favor. They greatly outnumbered and outsmarted the Lumads in the latter’s own stronghold. No Lumad rose to the rank of political leader.