(Blogger’s note: The following is an excerpt from Defending the Land: Lumad and Moro People’s Struggle for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao, specifically pp. 119–121. 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. Not a single word has been changed, and the style of the text as they appear on the book has been preserved. For citation details about the book, see Webliography.)
Lumad women face similar problems and constraints as do other Filipino women. They, too, grapple with issues of double burden, non-recognition, and disempowerment. Lumad women, however, do face more difficulties than do other Filipinas; the culture and tradition that characterize Lumad societies often limit the options, roles and status that Lumad women can take on in their communities. One case in point is that of the women in Manobo society.
The Manobo family is characteristically patriarchal. The male dominates in all facets of family and community life. He shares very little interest in household responsibilities with his wife. He spends his time smoking, chewing betel nut, gambling or drinking and leaves practically all chores to her, including her preparing the ingredients for his betel chewing.
Plowing the field is man’s work of course, but the attendant hilamon (clearing of the field) is the woman’s responsibility. Husband and wife work together in planning or harvesting the crops, unless she is heavy with child. When she is pregnant, he will ask a young son or a male nephew to do her tasks.
In public gatherings, Manobo women are mere observers. Their role is to serve food to the guests or entertain women visitors. They do not participate in the discussions, though sometimes they give advice to their male kin behind the scene.
It is a common sight for a Dulangan Manoba to sling her child in a malong around her shoulder while going up and down the house to gather firewood. The Manoba does the household chores despite how tired she is; in contrast, the husband is often a few meters away, perhaps playing cards with other males. She fetches water from a spring or creek no matter how heavy the container is or how far the source of water would be.
The Manoba is not free to go anywhere she wants without permission of the husband. If the wife leaves the household due to marital spat, she waits for him to fetch her. Her father may intervene and ask her to return home while imposing a fine on the husband. But if she refuses to return, her family must return the dowry. If the family cannot return the entire amount, the husband may opt to replace her with her younger sister. However, he must not touch her if she is a mere wisp of a girl. These means of resolution are the result of antang-antang.
The females in the community hardly participate in any social gathering or meeting. When she makes an appearance, the males around hardly notice her presence. If she responds to queries that males failed to answer properly, she does not get recognition. In responding, she does it almost inaudibly and outside the circle of male Manobo respondents.
Sometimes she simply makes her inaudible comments while in the kitchen or squatting on the ground outside the hut. The Manoba is only able to freely express her ideas in the presence of other Manobas or with children.
The lowly status of the wife may be because the Manobos marry through parental arrangement, where dowry or bride payment changes hands. Dowry in effect relegates the bride to being treated as a commodity. Such lack of esteem for the women sometimes takes the form of using the wife as a guarantee for the husband’s gambling debt. In such cases, he deposits her in the abode of the sultan or the datu until he pays the debt.
Lately, there are improvements in the Manoba’s awareness of her role in the community. It is not a big leap, but it is a start says Ida Dakias, the fifth wife and widow of the late Sultan Tagenek Dakias of Kulaman. Ida attended seminars on women’s concerns in semi-urban centers such as Tacurong and Isulan. She echoed the subjects of help and herbal medicine to the other Manobas and even injected some radical ideas on women’s rights. Now, Manobas start to react to male dominance in the household and in community affairs. Yet they understand that the cultural practice, being deeply imbedded, may take some time to change. This new realization will hopefully allow them to get the respect and dignity they deserve from their community.
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