The Story of Datu Wasay

I learned from a group of Dulangan Manobos that a chieftain named Wasay once lived in a big hut that his family shared with four other families. I'm talking about five separate families, not a man with five wives. Some of the five men in the house had more than one wives.

The house had no divisions inside, and the hearth was at the center. All the families cooked in the hearth. At night, everyone slept around it, with all their feet near the fire to protect themselves from the cold.

Being the head of five families living in one house means that Datu Wasay was wealthier than most datus in his tribe. He must have a huge track of land, for land was the primary source of income of most Dulangan Manobos. In fact, the village where his hut used to be has been named after him. Datu Wasay is currently a barangay of the municipality of Kalamansig.

The story of Datu Wasay, though, has a sad ending. He sold his property to a Christian man and moved to a more remote area. The price of the property? Seven pieces of pimpong (an explosive device used to kill feeding wild pigs) and one manoso (a bundle of dried tobacco leaves).