Maguindanao Kinship and Social Ties

There are four categories within the Maguindanao society. This social stratification became evident with the advent of the sultanate in Maguindanao. Kabungsuan is the core nobility or Datu class; Kasteri and Hamaraja are the marginal Dumatu class; Imatampayan and Slanganun are the Endatuan commoners and Oripon and Baniaga are servants, otherwise known as Kanakan.

This form of status differentiation occurs more at the level of discerning privileges and rights to hereditary titles. The Shariph Kabungsuan lineage is the highest descent of religious status because he was of Arab Sayyid descent. The Sultanate of Maguindanao credits Arab ancestry in reference to their light complexion and aquiline features.

Some studies describe the stratification as a scale of upward and downward mobility expressed in terms of a kind and size of bride-price (bantigan) that specifies the exact status of inter-class marriages. In the Maguindanao codes, the broad gradation of ranks is in terms of size of bantigan. It ranges from P1,000, 700, 500 and 300 required as dowry within a given class. Thus, pre-arranged inter-class [intra-class?] marriages were prevalent to guarantee and preserve the integrity and status of the clan.

A typical Maguindanaon household unit is basically nuclear. However, extended families are also evident among big clans, where relatives—either by blood or marriage—live under one roof. This explains why ancient houses were big enough to accommodate three to four families.

On the basis of genealogy, identification of kinship is possible on two levels—clan (tupu) and lineage (waris). The tupu is a kinship group of extended families of unilineal descent, as distinguished from those of royal descent (barabangsa). The waris betad is a bilateral kinship system, useful in authenticating pedigrees concerning marriage, inheritance or property rights. a

(Blogger’s note: This post is the sixth part of an eight-part series on the Maguindanao people. Each part is posted every Monday starting December 8, 2014. The text is copied as it appears in Defending the Land: Lumad and Moro People’s Struggle for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao. The book, published by a consortium of non-government organizations, has an “anti-copyright” notice and may thus be freely reproduced.)