MODULE 4: PEOPLE AND CULTURE OF PALAWAN

MODULE 4 The People and Culture of Palawan

I. OVERVIEW

Palawan is the largest province in the Philippines and is home to several indigenous
ethnolinguistic groups such as the Tagbanua, Palaw'an, Tao’t Bato, Molbog, Batak, Agutaynen,
and Cuyonon.
These groups of people live in remote villages throughout
the province that are found in mountains and coastal areas.
According to the province's history, the ancestors of these
indigents have occupied Palawan long before the Malay
settlers from the Majapahit Empire of Indonesia arrived in
the area during the 12th century.
In 1962, a team of anthropologists from the Philippine
National Museum unearthed various fossils at the Lipuun
Point which is now commonly known as the Tabon Cave
in the municipality of Quezon in Palawan.
The team which was led by Dr. Robert Fox was able to
discover the remains of Homo Sapiens that are believed to
be 22, 000 to 24, 000 years old during that time. Those
remains were then named “Tabon Man”. and were, then,
used for further study. The discovery of the Tabon Man
and the fossils found in the cave gave way for Palawan to
earn the title -The Cradle of Philippine Civilization.
According to Antonio Pigafetta, the chronicler of
Ferdinand Magellan, the remnant of Magellan's fleet landed in Palawan after Magellan's death.
They were able to observe the way of life of the native people who were populating in Palawan
at that time. In his writings, he highlighted how cultivated the fields are in the said province and
that all the native people used weapons consisting of blowpipes, spears and bronze Lombard.
Pigafetta also mentioned the experiences he had such as witnessing cockfighting and fist
fighting. He also discovered that the natives had their own system of writing which is composed
of 13 consonants and 3 vowels and that they had a dialect of 18 syllables.
He also included that the local King in Palawan during that time has 10 scribes who wrote down
the King's dictation on the leaves.
These natives that were mentioned by Pigafetta were probably the Tabon Man that was
discovered by Dr. Fox.
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According to research, it is very likely that the Tagbanuas and the Palaw'ans are descendants of
the Tabon Cave's inhabitants. It was further explained that these tribes have similarities when it
comes to their language, farming methods, and a common belief in soul relatives.
At present, many groups of indigents have moved into Palawan, however, the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) only acknowledge seven of these groups of people
as true native of Palawan.

II. LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Discuss the lifeways of the aboriginal population in Palawan according to archaeological

evidence and studies.
2. Summarize the key cultural practices of the different indigenous cultural communities in
Palawan.
3. Illustrate the diversity of people and cultures of Palawan from the early civilization to
contemporary times.

III. LET US EXPLORE THE DIFFERENT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES OF

PALAWAN

1. BATAK
The Batak tribe is a group of
indigenous people who live in
the rugged interiors of the
northeast portion of the
province of Palawan. This
group of people lives close to
nature and are extremely
peaceful and shy. They
believe in nature spirits with
whom they communicate with
through the aid of a
“babaylan” or a shaman. At
present, there are only about
500, or less, Batak people
remaining in the Philippines.
The Bataks are also called
Tinitianes and are considered by anthropologists to be closely related to the Aytas of Central
Luzon, another Negrito tribe. They are described as people who tend to be small in stature and
have a dark complexion, they also have short curly, mostly kinky, hair-traits that earned the
"Negrito” groups of their name.
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However, there are still debates as to whether the Bataks are related to the other Negrito groups
of the Philippines or to other physically similar groups in Indonesia or as far as the Andaman
Islands.
For centuries, the Bataks have combined a hunting-gathering kind of lifestyle with seeding of
useful food plants, kaingin - a slash and burn farming method, and trading. It is believed that
they may have already had trading relations with Chinese merchants as early as 500 AD.
During the mid to late 20th century, Bataks were pushed out of their gathering grounds by the sea
and were forced to move into the mountains by emigrant fanners who were mostly from
Luzon. Living in less fertile areas, they attempted to supplement their income by harvesting and
selling various nonuinber forest products such as rattan, tree resins, and honey.
This was, however, resisted by the government and commercial collectors who claim that the
Bataks have no legal right to the resources that they are utilizing. Conservationists, on the
other hand, have taken interest in the collection methods of the Bataks which are more
sustainable than the techniques used by commercial concessionaires.
Bataks were once nomadic people but this changed when the government has given a small
village to them. Still, they often go on gathering trips that would take them a few days at a time,
a practice that has both economic and spiritual value to them.

Bataks are animist - they believe that spirits reside within nature. The Bataks make a regular
offering to these spirits, while Shamans undergo spiritual possessions in order to communicate
with the spirits and to heal the sick. Today, “pure" Bataks or those whose parents both belong to
the Batak tribe have become highly rare due to the incursion by immigrants and the exposure
of the tribe to the society. Most Bataks would prefer marrying a person outside of the tribe
and will, later on, have children who will choose not to go by the norms of the tribe. As an effect,
Bataks are being absorbed into a more diffuse group of upland indigenous peoples who are
slowly losing their tribal identities, their unique spirituality and culture, there are even debates as
to whether these people still exist as a distinct ethnic entity or not.
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2. AGUTAYNEN
This indigenous group is most likely
to be found in the northern part of
the province of Palawan such as
Agutaya Island, Municipality of
Roxas, Municipality of San Vicente,
Municipality of Brooke's Point,
Municipality of Taytay, and
Linapacan. They may also be
occasionally spotted in Manila, the
capital city of the Philippines.
These groups of people are believed to
belong to the family of Austronesian
and Malayo-Polynesians who have
long inhabited the province of Palawan.
They have lexical similarity with Cuyonon and the Calamian Tagbanua, who are also indigents
in Palawan.
Agutaynens, however, do not have much infonnation and exposure to the public since there are
only a few of them and there are almost no records about this group due to the separation of their
area to the mainland of the province of Palawan. According to recent reports, this group of
people has also begun embracing modernization.

3. TAGBANUA/TAGBANWA
As mentioned
earlier, the
Tagbanuas are
believed to be
descendants of
the Tabon
Man due to the
many
similarities that
they have when
it comes to
language,
alphabet, the
practice of
kaingin, and a
common belief in soul relatives. This tribe can be found mostly in the Central and Northern
portion of Palawan. They practice shifting cultivation of upland rice which is considered as a
divine gift, they are also known for their rice wine ritual called "Pagdiwata". The cult of the
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dead is the key to the religious system of the Tagbanua, who also believe in countless deities
found in the natural environment.
Tagbanua is one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines that can be mainly found in the
municipalities of Aborlan, Quezon, Calamianes Islands, Baras Coast, Busuanga Island, Coron
Island, in some parts of El Nido, and even Puerto Princesa City.
Tagbanua are brown skinned people with slim and erect stature and have straight hair. This
ethnic group is divided into two groups; Central Tagbanua and Calamian Tagbanua. The two
groups speak different languages and do not exactly have similar customs.
Tagbanuas live in compact villages of 45 to 500 individuals. In 1987, there are about 130,000
Tagbanuas living in Palawan, at present, however, it dropped to only around 10,000, 1, 800 of
which are located in Calamianes. Tagbanuas have their own unique government system that is
being practiced by both the Central Tagbanuas and the Calamian Tagbanua.

4. MOLBOG
The Molbogs are indigents in the province of
Palawan who is believed to be among the
migrants from North Borneo and is now living
in the Balabac Island in Palawan. Referred as
Molebugan or Molebuganori in many literary
works, Molbogs do a lot of farming, fishing, and
occasional barter trading with the Sulu Bangsa
Moro and nearby Sabah market centers as means
of their subsistence. Molbogs are believed to be
related to the Orang Tidung or Tirum
(Camucone in Spanish) as based on their dialect
and some of their socio-cultural practices. Orang
Tidung is an Islamized indigenous group that
lives in the northeast coast of Sabah. However,
words from other ethnic groups such as the Jama
Mapun and the Tausug are also found in the
dialect of the Molbogs. This, together with their socio-cultural lifestyle, distinguished them from
Orang Tidung.
The intermarriages that occurred frequently between the 'Molbogs and' the Tausugs have
hastened the Islamization of the Molbogs. The offspring of these intermarriages are known as
"kolibugan” which means half-breed. The Sulu Sultanate in the Philippines' political periphery
was also formed from the unification of the Molbogs and the Palawanon Muslims who were then
ruled by Sulu Datus. Like all Muslim groups, Islam is a way of life for the Molbogs. They
observe the Five Pillars of Islam and the basic Arabic chanting that may be heard daily in a
Molbog community. In the past, there have already been two groups who tried to reach these
people, one in the year 1975 and the other in 1982.
Both groups were accepted as medical and literacy volunteers: Any outsiders who want to bring
religion to the community, however, are not welcome.
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5. PALAW'AN
The Palaw'an, also known as Palawano, is an indigenous ethnic group found the province of
Palawan. This group is divided into four ethnolinguistic subgroups namely; Quezon Palawan
(also known as the Central Palawano), Bugsuk Palawano (South Palawano), Brooke's Point
Palawano, and Southwest Palawano.
This indigenous group belongs to large Manobo-based linguistic groups of the southern
Philippines. They were originally found in the interior regions of South Apuruan on the West
coast and South of Abo-Abo on the East coast, these regions may be located in the Southern part
of the province of Palawan. The Palaw'ans have become popularly known as Palawans which is
pronounced faster than the name of the province.
The Palaw'ans were originally nomadic, however, agrarian settlers began coming and occupying
their vast domain. The tribe used to exploit the most fertile piece of land and move on to the next
one; their family units were very small which was probably caused by high mortality rates. They
built their houses on a hillside that is close to a river or a stream using four skinny trunks of
trees. The floor of their houses is about 15 to 20 feet above the ground. Members of the family
used a slanted log that is attached to the entrance of their houses to get up and down the house,
for those who were not married, a hanging rope is more preferred.
They hunt wild animals using spears with lethal poison at the tip of it and catch fish by using a
special root sap that is diluted in a shallow river or stream. The Palaw'ans hardly domesticate
chickens nor hogs, they preferred dogs which comes very helpful during hunting.
They are considered naive when it comes to socialization
and would always welcome outsiders with great
precaution since they have always been scared of getting
sick; this form of precaution makes them abandon their
area immediately to avoid acquiring any form of the
disease — even just a common cold.
It is believed that the Palaw'ans have the shortest
lifespan of all peoples but there is no statistical data that
could back up this claim. This tribe has no concept of
years when asked about when they were born, they would
usually use a tree as the reference of their age, saying that
they were born when the tree was just at a certain height.
The men in this tribe wear g-strings, while the women
wear patadyong which is a native wrap that is similar to
the malong.
In food preference, the Palaw'ans do not usually use salt,
their usual diet is composed of rice, banana, cassava,
vegetables, rimas or breadfruit, fruits, wild pigs from
hunting, birds such as wild quails and tikling, wild
chicken / labuyo, and freshwater fish. They prepare a
delicious delicacy called the pinyaram which is closely similar to the bibingka of the Tagalogs.
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6. TAO’T BATO (Tau’t Bato)

The term "Tao't Bato" literally
means “people of the rock",
they are not actually a separate
language or a separate ethnic
group but rather a small
community of traditional
southwestern Palawanos who
happen to live in the crater of an
extinct volcano during certain
seasons of the year, their houses
are built on raised floors inside
caves though others have set their
homes on the open slopes.
This group of people is found
in the Singnapan Basin, a
valley in Mount
Mantalingahan on the east and the coast of the west; in its North is the municipality of Quezon
while to their South are still unexplored regions of Palawan.
They have preserved their culture and way of life, the men still we. g-strings that are made
from bark and cloth while the women wear a piece of cloth that is made into skirts to cover their
lower body. Like many tribes, this group of people is half naked but sometimes, women wore a
blouse they obtained from the market system.
Their artistry is cruder than any of the other Palawan tribes except in rare cases that involve
basketry. Around cave dwellings, they construct a light and sturdy lattice-work made of saplings
lashed together and anchored fast to crevices in the walls to provide access to the caves. The
construction of these lattice-works does not depend on any framework that would hold the unit
against the walls; the anchorage is distributed all along the lattice-work in a way that the
breakdown of one section may be compensated for by the other portions of the construction.
There are modifications and elaborations on the basic "datag" or sleeping platforms, and
"lagkaw" or granary, depending on the varying conditions there is in various caves.
The Tao't Bato are swidden cultivators who practice multiple cropping with cassava as their
major source of carbohydrates. They also produce sweet potatoes, sugar canes, malunggay,
garlic, pepper, string beans, squash, tomato, pineapple, and many others. Throughout the year,
hunting and forging are pursued to complement the carbohydrate diet of the people; most of the
wild pigs that they hunt are caught through spring traps.
They also indulge in ``samb" or barter, and "dagang" or monetary exchange. The samb is
specifically for marine fish that is provided for them by the Candawaga in exchange for
horticultural products while the dagang involves forest products like almaciga and rattan.
The basic social unit among the Tao't Bato is the ka-asawan or marriage group. This extends
to the basic couple to the more complex arrangements of a compound and extended family
grouping. The ka-asawan is further grouped into large associations called "bulun-bulun" which
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means gathering. These multi-household bands are physically bounded in terms of areas of
habitation. Each bulun-bulun normally occupies one cave or a single house complex in the
swidden area for their residence. Being part of the bulun-bulun is characterized by the ecosystem
of sharing through different types of social and material exchanges such as in food.
Because of their uniqueness, the Philippine government declared their area off-limits to
strangers to protect them from unreasonable exploitation.

7. CUYUNON
The Cuyunon refers to an ethnic
group that dwells in the
municipality of Cuyo, northern,
and in central Palawan. The
Cuyunons are originally from
Cuyo and the surrounding Cuyo
Islands that are found in Sulu Sea,
in the northern portion of Palawan.
This group of indigents is
considered as an "elite class"
among the hierarchy of the natives
who live in Palawan.
During the Spanish colonization in
the Philippine, Cuyo was one of
the territories of Palawan that had
the strongest Spanish presence.
Known as Cuyonon, Cuyono,
Cuyunon, Kuyunon, Kuyunen, and many others, this ethnic tribe in Palawan geography is the
most dominant tribal group in this region — composed of about 240,000 people as recorded for
the year 2015; although scattered all over the world, 85% of them permanently resides in the
province of Palawan. They originated genetically and linguistically from Panay Island in the
central Philippines since 1250 AD but they have Malayan roots from the Banjarmasin in Borneo
Island 1,000 years ago.
The Cuyono of today are usually a Roman Catholic, Christian Protestants, and Animists with
strong Spanish adaptations. The Cuyunon Tribe, unlike most of the Philippines' homogeneous
tribal groups, is a heterogeneous tribe, their ancestors could be traced back to the ancient
migrants and traders who settled down in Palawan like the Chinese, Arabs, Jews, Indians,
Malays, Visayans, Spanish and other Europeans.
Although the language of the Cuyunons is closely related to the Kinaray-a of Miag-ao in
Iloilo province, the fact remains that as early as 1250’s, the early Cuyunon tribe became the
common denominator of all the homogeneous tribes of Palawan because they always intermarry
with the Bataks, Tagbanuas, Agutaynens, Molbogs, and other tribes that live in Palawan.
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Cuyunons are divided into four subgroups which distinguish one Cuyunon from the other.
1. Paraguanen — the Cuyuno people who settled mostly in the mainland Palawan (Paragua)
2. Poroanen — the Cuyuno people who settled mostly in the islands and islets of Palawan
3. Mestiso — the Cuyuno who usually are half Chinese or Spanish
4. Lakto — the Cuyuno who did not accept Catholicism and lived as Animists.
Cuyunons, unlike the other tribes in Palawan, may be seen anywhere in the province and even in
the city of Puerto Princesa. They are the ones who have embraced modernization and have
utilized it in their daily lives, making it hard to identify them when they are in public unless you
ask them about their ethnicity.

IV. LET US TRY THIS

1. How would you describe each indigenous community as to their physical features, source
of living, and supernatural beliefs and practices? What are their similarities and
differences? Cite concrete examples. Use a separate sheet for your answer.
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