Chapter 6.

Origin, Hierarchy and

Egalitarianism Among the Mandaya of
Southeast Mindanao, Philippines
Aram A. Yengoyan

This paper develops two major themes of Mandaya social structure which operate
at different levels of social and political activity. One of these principles or themes
is the structure of hierarchy or precedence which operates primarily at the
political level of leadership and warfare as it articulates the domination of the
centre or points of origin to the periphery of social life. In this context the
dominant expression of precedence is based on the political role of the bagani
(the warrior class) and the various sub-units of political authority which
traditionally inhabited the lands of the Mandaya. The second theme is the
expression of egalitarianism which dominates throughout the domestic domain
of social life and how domestic domains relate to one another as a means of
establishing and cementing bonds within and between hamlets. Egalitarianism
is expressed through gambling of rice harvests, through cockfighting and through
mutual activity of sharing in activities which cross-cut different hamlets and
communities.
These different forms of hierarchy and structure are the basis of internal
contradictions which at times erupt into actual overt conflict. Although these
two different domains of hierarchy are critical for assessing the importance of
genealogical depth and genealogical domination within various segments of
Mandaya society, in actuality, kinship groups and marriage alliances moderate
potential conflict as expressed through intra-tribal economic interactions.
Furthermore, Mandaya interactions with their neighbours (Bisayan,
Mangguangan, Mansaka) also express this dualistic aspect of hierarchy and
mythic domination towards those societies considered inferior (based in part on
slavery and/or asymmetrical economic exchange) and those who control capital
allocation and marketing networks.
Based on Dumont’s conception of hierarchy, in part this paper develops
horizontal modes of hierarchy which appear to have received less attention in
the literature on upland peoples in Mindanao. Although mythic and genealogical
depth translate into various aspects of hierarchy and eventually domination
between the Mandaya and the Mangguangan, this expression of vertical
hierarchy creates contradictions and conflicts with the internal expression of
egalitarianism which pervades each society.

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Culture as Value and as Precedence

The idea of culture in Dumont’s (1975, 1979, 1980, 1982) framework enters his
interpretation through the concept of value. A hierarchical framework divorced
from value reverts toward a structural analysis in which culture and value do
not underwrite the analysis. As noted by Dumont (1979, 1980, 1982) and Fox
(1990), the animation and understanding of the hierarchical structure into a local
context revolves on the recognition of value which is not only at the heart of a
particular social life, but also dominates various spheres of social rank. As Fox
(1990:7) notes, hierarchy without value is a categorical phenomena which has
implications within the realm of social relationships. Dumont’s India has a single
all-encompassing value, that being the contrast between purity/impurity which
is the basis of all hierarchy. However, Dumont goes further by arguing that
hierarchy as the dominant ideology is almost always linked to purity/impurity.
Fox (1990:7) notes that this coupling, which might work for India, virtually
excludes all other possible alternate value(s).
Hierarchy per se cannot be limited to an analysis and understanding of the
form and expression of opposition, contrariness, complementarity and
encompassment. In Dumont’s language (1980), the principles of exclusion and
inclusion establish different landscapes through which hierarchical principles
occur in a variety of combinations which on the surface might appear as radically
different. One has only to look at Dumont’s (1975, 1980) reading and comparison
of vertical structuration in Indian caste structure in which the whole subsumes
the parts to his rethinking of the Nuer where horizontal structuration establishes
a whole, yet each segment relates to the whole in ways which are quite different
from caste in India. This structural side of Dumont’s analysis always focuses on
the various structural permutations which exist as theoretical possibilities
regardless of culture and/or value.
If value is a culturally specific feature, we must assume that the range of
differences in the construction of value is greater than the specific hierarchical
features (i.e., the notion of opposition and its various permutations) which are
the basis of the structural scaffolding which articulates value(s) throughout a
social system. In his rethinking of the Dumontian framework, Fox (1990) correctly
notes that the issue of purity does not exist as value in Indonesian society, and
from this observation Fox appears to dissolve hierarchy, as established in Indian
caste-like structures, into a category of limited utility in the context of Indonesian
societies. By creating a theory of precedence based on a broad range of
asymmetrical pairings of categorical oppositions which are linguistically labelled
and linked with one another, Fox argues that precedence exists in terms of age
(elder-younger, first born-last born), gender (male-female) directions, space and
colour. In a number of Rotinese examples, Fox notes that most contrasts are
based on one side as being greater, prior, or superior to the other. Greater or

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superior is basic to a theory of precedence in which “all of these categories are

complementary but also asymmetric” (Fox 1990:9).
Yet, a question still remains. What is value in the Indonesian context?
Precedence, in which one side of a binary contrast is given primacy over the
other, could be understood as value though in many features it still possesses
marked similarities with hierarchy except that most of the contrasts are
asymmetrical whereas for Dumont, encompassment is based primarily, but not
always, on symmetry. Throughout Indonesia and the Philippines, many cultures
have different types of precedence, some of which deal with kinship and rank,
others also extend the rule of precedence to categorical divisions based on the
natural world as well as the social world. Fox’s (1990) work illuminates these
differences in three specific ethnographic cases. From these cases one finds
parallels with the Mandaya where precedence is the dominant rule in kinship
relations (consanguineal and affinal) as well as how the body becomes a metaphor
for precedence within and between generations.
Precedence, as a structural concept, is basic to cases like the Mandaya as a
means of understanding questions of rank, status and origin. This is best
exemplified when we look at the bagani (warrior) complex, how genealogical
depth is an expression of origin and rank, and, in turn, how centres become the
over-arching key to understanding how Mandaya relate place to history and
myth.
What then is the constitution of value in southeast Asian society if a theory
of precedence is primarily a structural canopy? In terms of my analysis of the
Mandaya, I will argue that precedence as structure has a firm foundation in
categorical imperatives as well as in how origin, centres and place are connected
through genealogical depth from which the role of the bagani is the political
manifestation. However, value is expressed in terms of an egalitarian ethos which
pervades the structure and action of exchange within and between households
and hamlets. Egalitarianism is best expressed in how gambling is constituted as
a means of levelling and curtailing social differentiation between individuals
and groups.
What transpires is a social and cultural disjunction with precedence acting
as the basis of a political structure which invokes history and genealogical depth
to support its position in opposition to an egalitarian ethos which dominates
exchange and social differentiation. Value as egalitarianism is partially muted
in the political structure where rank and status are the markers of political
activity.
Dumont (1979) makes the assumption that equality is only expressed as a
modern ideology and that only occurred once, that being our Western ideologies
of equality which are maintained as our dominant philosophical and political
foundations since the eighteenth century. This assumption is partially valid, yet
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at the same time, we can note that there are many southeast Asian societies which
veer towards an egalitarian ethos as cultural value which might or might not
have an ideological component. In such cases, the egalitarianism is expressed as
cultural axioms or as tacit agreement which is not created through wilful or
rational action based on group interest or even self interest.

The Context of Mandaya Precedence and Egalitarianism

Traditionally, the Mandaya inhabited the coastal and interior areas of the eastern
cordillera mountain chain in southeast Mindanao, Philippines. Mandaya
ethnography has been reported by Cole (1913), Garvan (1931), and Yengoyan
(1964, 1965, 1966a, 1966b, 1966c, 1970a, 1970b, 1971, 1973, 1975a, 1975b, 1977,
1983, 1985, 1988); thus, only those aspects of the ethnography that relate to the
issue of precedence and egalitarianism will be discussed. On the eastern Davao
cordillera, the Mandaya are shifting cultivators who occupy both the foothills
up to 1000 feet where they are involved in hemp production, and the interior
uplands to an elevation of 3,200 feet in which a mixed system of dry rice
cultivation and the planting of tubers is their basic mode of subsistence.
Just as the subsistence base varies, the settlement pattern also covaries with
economic demands. With dry rice cultivation, the settlement pattern consists
primarily of a single household adjacent to cultivated fields. Households are
moved as often as swiddens are relocated, virtually every year, and are
synonymous with the nuclear family; thus, each family unit is also the unit of
production. Distances between swiddens vary from 0.5 to 2 miles. However, in
the relocation and creation of new swiddens, households are situated in visual
contact with at least one other household, either across the valley or on top of
a range of hills. With the sedentary system based on hemp production, one finds
the beginnings of settlement nucleation in which hamlets of five to eight
households form a cluster and, in some cases, hamlets are also semi-nucleated
in small villages.
The coastal areas are occupied by either Bisayans, who migrated from Cebu,
Leyte, and Bohol, or by conquistas, who are the descendants of Christianized
Mandaya. In general conquistas have relatively few kinship ties with the interior
Mandaya and at the same time they do not claim to have Bisayan ancestry. The
conquistas do not consider themselves as Mandaya descendants, but as Bisayan
since they have been baptized. In fact, the Christian act of baptism is primarily
a means by which one’s identity changes from Mandaya to Bisayan; thus, spiritual
rebirth has almost no bearing on the volitional act (Yengoyan 1966a). Other
influences are critical to understanding the means by which group identity
comes about, but baptism among the Mandaya in the late nineteenth century is
the key to understanding the emergence of the conquistas.

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Although either wet rice or coconut cultivation has traditionally dominated

most lowland populations, over the past twenty years Bisayans and conquistas
have moved into the foothills and started hemp cultivation. This penetration
into the foothills and the usurping of lands from the upland Mandaya have
brought forth considerable conflict, since Mandaya hold land by usufruct and
their land is never surveyed and titled, while the Bisayans claim that title to
land, and not actual possession, is the sole basis of ownership. Since the 1950s,
the foothill Mandaya, who have lost their land to Bisayan encroachments, have
either reverted to dry rice cultivation by moving into the forested interiors or
have become part of a rural proletariat, working for minimal wages from Bisayan
landlords on land they once possessed.
Coastal Bisayans and conquistas not only maintain their hegemony through
land control, but most of the political and commercial power is in their hands
as well. Although some of the larger shops in towns such as Manay, Cateel and
Baganga are owned by Chinese, the local Bisayans have either set up their own
shops or have worked out financial arrangements with Chinese in which the
Chinese are “up front” with their activities, while the Bisayans have invested
in them and/or have offered them protection. Most local political positions are
held by Bisayans and a few conquista families, and in a number of cases two or
three intermarrying families have developed a web of mutual interest and have
virtually sealed off a town from outside intrusion. Because the coastal highway
beyond Mati has never been completed and an air service is unavailable, shipping
is the only means by which outside contact is maintained.
The Mangguangan are located in the densely-forested interiors where a
semi-nomadic life-style is maintained through collecting, hunting and trading
for forest products with the Mandaya. As of ten years ago, almost no territorial
conflict occurred between the Mandaya and the Mangguangan, since Mandaya
swiddens were seldom located at an elevation of more than 3,200 feet and did
not impinge on the Mangguangan.
However, the Mandaya have historically raided the interior for “slaves”,
especially for young Mangguangan females, who were then raised as domestic
servants and later married among the Mandaya. The Mandaya claim that this is
an old practice and remark that the Mangguangan are a weak people since they
do not cultivate rice though they know its value. Although the Mandaya refer
to their slaves as posaka, and in some cases set them apart from normal domestic
and religious relations, this seldom extends beyond one generation. The cultural
and social hiatus that we attribute to slavery is practically absent, since most
young Mangguangan slaves maintain contact with their natal family.
Within this context of competing economic and cultural practices, the
Mandaya are in the middle since there is seldom any direct contact between the
Mangguangan and the coastal Bisayans and conquistas. The Mandaya perceive

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the Bisayans as either land-grabbers or potential land-grabbers who have used

the political and administrative structure for their own benefit. Thus, the question
of tax collection, in which the Bisayans irregularly request that land taxes be
paid, simply increases the tension on both sides. The conflict is provoked to
higher degrees of tension when Mandaya who have lost their land have decided
to remain as labourers. Violence and homicide occur sporadically; the most
common cause is usually the Mandaya’s inability to maintain their landholdings
against Bisayan encroachment.
Mandaya who think and act like Bisayans (i.e., by converting to the Catholic
Church, wearing Western-type apparel, cutting their hair, and taking Christian
surnames) attempt to maintain their commercial transactions by selling hemp
and acquiring credit with the Chinese merchants in the coastal towns. The
Chinese usually deal in straight commercial transactions without nefarious
perceptions that characterize Bisayan-Mandaya relations.

Conceptions of Precedence
Mandaya hierarchy and rules of precedence takes a number of forms, some of
which are embedded and expressed in social structural features which give rise
to social activity, while others occur primarily at the conceptual level of cultural
categories which embrace the idea of origin and the contrast between the centre
and the periphery. Within the kinship system, terminological contrasts are made
between the first born child and the last born, also elder siblings are contrasted
to those who are younger. Relative age, by contrastive position, dominates within
each generation as well as among kinsmen of preceding generations though it
does not occur in generations younger than ego. Furthermore, relative age is the
critical measure of precedence which is given social recognition through terms
of address and reference as well as behavioural features such as respect and
honour. Just as age is the dominant feature which establishes the critical
contrastive categories in social life, gender differences are seldom if ever utilized
as contrastive markers within each generation. Like other cases within the
Austronesian cultural world as expressed in many insular southeast Asian
societies, gender is seldom a primary differentiating feature in establishing
contrasts between groups and individuals.
Mandaya principles of precedence as cultural categories are primarily linked
to the idea of place which has a number of implications based on conceptions
of origin, place, encompassment as well as political action. A sense of place means
that certain particular locales, which are primary with regard to the origin of
myths, are the focus and have precedence over other places and events.
Traditionally, the Mandaya have also viewed their neighbours in this scheme
of things.

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Before the final breakdown of the warrior/chief complex (bagani) in the 1930s,
Mandaya lands occupied most of what is now eastern Davao as well as the
southern parts of Surigao. In the widest sense of place, this broad geographic
region embraced all coastal lands westward to the cordillera and into the
Maragosan valley. Some of the Mandaya in the Maragosan area called themselves
Mansaka, but again this term implies a particular place. The land was divided
by riverine valleys which emptied into the Pacific Ocean on the east and by
interior valleys encompassed by high mountains which divided one valley from
another. It is difficult to assess just how much knowledge individuals possessed
regarding the whole of Mandayaland; however, it does appear that groups had
a strong sense of place as it related to the domains which were the ancestral
lands of particular bagani as a warrior class. These domains embraced individual
households, small hamlets and nondiscrete communities composed of hamlets
which had spatial proximity to one another. Each domain was circumscribed
by a mountain ridge or rivers which were natural barriers setting one domain
off from another. Furthermore, most of these domains were primarily endogamous
in that individuals would marry within the domains. Endogamy was not simply
an expression of geographic confines, for in most cases the domains as named
localities were genealogically and ancestrally linked to a famous bagani from
past generations.
Garvan (1931:203) describes the Manobo bagani as a priest of war and blood,
whose main role is the sacrifice of captives in war. The Mandaya bagani appears
not to have religious or supernatural functions and can not be described as a
warrior priest. Although captives taken during the head-hunting raids were
sacrificed by the bagani, such behaviour did not deal with any supernatural
phenomena or interpretation since the sacrifice was made to avenge the death
of a cohort or to obtain powers, courage and ability of a brave opponent warrior
whose heart was removed and eaten by the bagani and his warriors (maniklad).
Although a bagani might be assisted by certain spirits, the primary aim in taking
captives was not to fulfil the dictums of his supernatural guides.
The requirements in becoming a bagani consisted of personal valour, fortitude,
physical strength, and being the son of a former bagani, but above all a certain
amount of charisma, the ability to gain the respect of your following in terms
of leadership and the possessing of personal qualities which one’s constituency
values in personality behaviour. Each bagani, before assuming the title and role,
had to kill seven to nine men in battle or through surprise raids upon
neighbouring areas. The number of required killings varied from locality to
locality since Garvan (1931:142) notes that five lives were the necessary amount
among the Manobo while Cole (1913:180-181) state, that the Mayo Bay Mandaya
bagani took ten or twelve lives while among the Mansaka near Piso, King-king
one needed thirty killings before being acclaimed a bagani. Furthermore, in
upper Manay only adult males were accredited to the bagani killing record while
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the Mayo Bay Mandaya and the Mansaka attributed no attention to sex and age.
Each bagani had his domain of political authority where his rule was law;
however, the exact dimensions of one’s domain were not always the same during
his lifetime or that of his successor. The acquiring and possessing of suitable
primary forest for a bagani following was important, thus borders gradually
shifted; however, the territory which a bagani extended his authority over was
usually recognized as the collective historical area of its inhabitants.
The bagani were distinguished from other warriors and commoners by their
clothing which was a tight-fitting two-piece abaca-woven suit of dark red,
maroon and black colours with embroidered designs. A turban-like headpiece
was also worn. Although each bagani had autonomous rule, his behaviour and
actions were occasionally curtailed by the sanctions of public opinion as
manifested through his advisory council. The advisory council (in some localities
in upper Manay this council was referred to as the angtutukay; however, this
term was not familiar in all areas) was composed of a few old men of the bagani
domain whose judgment and integrity were respected by the commoners and
the people.
If the claims which one demanded were justifiable or if a bagani desired to
lead a raid, the warriors (maniklad) were called together to initiate preparations
for the raid. A commoner of extraordinary valour and strength could become a
maniklad by taking three lives. Maniklad uniforms were similar to a bagani
though only one-half of the body was covered by the red maroon and black suit.
The average size of an attacking force was composed of forty to forty-five men,
with the range extending from twenty-five to sixty. However, in all cases, size
of a potential warrior group varied with the number of people under the bagani
jurisdiction. The raiding party was not always composed of bagani and maniklad
since able-bodied commoners were temporarily enlisted if the object of the raid
required a large force of men. Warriors were only armed with spears, shields
(kasag) and daggers; however, in special cases and in limited areas slat armour
of iron or highly polished hardwood such as Narra or Kamagong were used. If
the individual sought lived within the bagani domain, he was taken alive, charged
with his crime and if judged guilty was killed and beheaded. The bagani would
take the victim’s wife or wives’ children, concubines and slaves for himself along
with agongs and any piece of pinggan (Chinese trade ware), while the warriors
and the accuser would divide the remainder of the belongings which in most
cases were quite limited and provided little for each warrior. Raids were
conducted at dawn when the warrior group surrounded the house of the one
sought as part of the vendetta. If the dwelling was not accessible by ladder, the
nipa or anahaw roof was set afire thus driving the inhabitants out of the burning
dwelling. Children and women were taken captive while the men were beheaded.
If the person sought was captured alive, he was taken to the bagani settlement
and ritually sacrificed.
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Unlike the longhouses of Borneo or the elaborate datu dwellings found in the
eastern Bisayan Islands during the seventeenth century, the bagani quarters
were not much larger than any other ordinary dwelling. The only diagnostic
mark of a bagani settlement was the number of compartments in each house
which were divided by split bamboo walls. Each apartment was the living
quarters of a wife or concubine of the bagani, which usually ranged from nine
to twelve women per warrior chief. Bagani settlements were usually in the centre
of the domain or in a location in which followers and warriors could easily gather
for raiding preparation.
Each bagani had his lands cultivated by slaves or labour-service from his
followers who furnished the subsistence needs for the bagani and his families.
In turn the bagani protected his followers from inter- and extra-territorial raids
as well as administering law, justice and order within his domain. When harvests
failed or labour-service was not adequate to cultivate all bagani lands, tribute
in the form of food staples was collected from each household head in accordance
with the amount of land one had cultivated and the number of dependents each
cultivator had.
The inheritance of the bagani title was not automatic in the sense that a
successor gained the position solely by his genealogical relationship, nor is it
possible to describe the succession as “no heredity chieftainship” which Garvan
(1931:140) denotes for the Manobo. Bagani succession among the Mandaya was
semi-structured on a genealogical basis, though one was required to fulfil the
conditions before acquiring the title. If a bagani died of natural causes or was
killed in battle, his council of advisers selected the cleverest of his sons from his
first wife. After selection, the bagani “protem” had to kill the required number
of men as well as learn the use of authority and leadership among his followers.
If the requirements were not fulfilled or if the advisers recognized that the one
selected was unable to wield authority and/or lacked personality, features which
were a necessity for effective leadership, another son of the first wife was chosen.
Upon selection of the new bagani candidate, the angtutukay pressured the first
nominee to withdraw by renouncing his claim to the title; however, cases have
occurred where two brothers claiming the title would gather their supporters
and fight for the position or for the creation of two domains within the original
one. If warfare came about between competing siblings and the one who was
forced to vacate his earlier claim by the angtutukay won the battle, the victor
imprisoned the angtutukay until order was again restored within the domain.
Upon selection of a new council, the bagani and his advisers held a “mock” trial
in which the former angtutukay were killed or severely tortured for their
disloyalty.
Upon the death of a bagani, the successor inherited all secondary wives and
concubines while the deceased bagani’s first wife took all other possessions. If

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the transformation from the deceased bagani to his successor was smooth and
without sibling rivalry, the succeeding son usually retained his father’s
angtutukay. When an adviser died the bagani chose his successor from the sons
of the deceased or another person who possessed the necessary qualifications.
The angtutukay was composed of two to five men depending on the size of
the bagani domain and the number of inhabitants; however, three advisers per
bagani was the average. Advisers could not request tribute to labour-service nor
did they partake in the partitioning of material gains acquired through
interterritorial raids. Within an area, each angtutukay was highly respected for
his wisdom and sense of reason, but above all for their age since advisory councils
usually consisted of older men within the bagani jurisdiction. The angtutukay
functioned as middle men who transmitted grievances of the commoners to the
bagani, thus they also provided the only effective internal means of checking
the authority and actions of the warrior chief since decision-making and political
power were vested in the bagani. The most effective check on bagani authority
came from external sources such as the power, size and mobility of the
neighbouring bagani forces since seldom would a bagani risk an attack on a
stronger neighbour if his motives had no justification.
Although the roles and functions of the bagani may appear quite structured,
in actuality the acquiring of the position required strong personal qualities and
charisma. All bagani were claimed to be immune to death by killing due to the
powerful anting-anting (charm) they possessed to escape death in battle.
Informants have noted cases where a bagani was stabbed in the back, but
returned to his settlement without a trace of blood. It is claimed that anyone
who became bagani had strong anting-anting, but if a bagani was killed in battle
his anting-anting was weak and he deserved to die.
The bagani complex was not only a framework of warfare and political
entourage, it also represented a statement of mythic existence. Throughout the
various domains in upper Manay and Cateel, cosmological centres coexisted
with the political structure as an expression in which mythic origin legends
(which have their genesis in the sky) are established as part of a sacred and
revered landscape (Yengoyan 1985). These centres of sacred power exist in the
form of particular environmental features which possess darkness as a common
feature. Thus, centres exist in deep dark standing pools of water or in bud-bud
(banyan) trees which are known for their dark, almost mysterious properties.
Each of these various mythic and cosmological centres provide the essential
linkages with the sky on one side and the underworld on the other. Although
the Mandaya do not possess full-time spiritual custodians, the bagani and his
entourage was responsible for maintaining the sacredness of these spiritual
localities by performing necessary rituals at these sites, by protecting banyans

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from being destroyed, and by curtailing all sites from outsiders who were not
part of their domain.
Thus the domains provided the widest discrete unit in which all political and
ritual activities occurred within specified calendrical time sequences. In earlier
times, the bagani would lead raids on neighbouring Mandaya populations from
adjacent and extra-adjacent units. When the Spanish arrived on the coast in the
1850s, missions were established in small settlements such as Baganga, Cateel
and Manay. From the Jesuit cartas after 1860, we are provided vivid accounts
of raids by bagani warriors which appear to be larger in terms of what can be
established as the normal pattern of raiding. The size and scope of the raiding
parties indicates that a number of bagani joined together as a means of mobilizing
powerful forces against the Spanish forts and churches. However, the raiding
size of these parties (which in some cases are noted as over 400 warriors) might
have been exaggerations, consciously created, by Spanish administrators and
clergy as a means of securing more resources for their local endeavours which
were always limited by logistical factors.
Besides the hamlet-community, pattern and the bagani domains, the broadest
scope of encompassment embraced the interior Mangguangan who, as noted
earlier, the Mandaya raided for “slaves”. Young female slaves eventually married
within the Mandaya and within a generation the roots of one’s slave background
virtually evaporated. The Mangguangan represented the third and last tier of
encompassment from the various bagani domains. In the Mandaya sense of place,
the Mangguangan had an existence and after the 1850s, the coastal Spanish were
encompassed as a threat although the Spanish themselves seldom penetrated
into the upper foothills or interiors. After 1900, the American colonial system
established seats of local government in these towns and the Catholic missions
no longer had a political structure to render assistance. Furthermore, the colonial
administration through forcible means attempted to curtail the warring complex
and by the 1930s, the days of the bagani were past.
However, the historical basis of the adventures of the bagani starts anew
through the veneration of ancient activities of war, conflict and strength through
a re-metaphorization of these deeds in oral tradition which becomes the major
vehicle of the mythic past. The myth of each individual bagani is different, for
each deed and venturesome behaviour of the bagani is codified in the landscape
as markers and testimony to a glorious past in which history becomes living
myth. Origins based on deeds of past warriors and nobles are always perpetuated
through ritual, but the rituals can only take place in the exact location where
the bagani maintained themselves as the centre of their activities. There are many
different centres throughout time, but each of the centres can be characterized
by a sense of scale in which external forces impinge on the traditional domain.
Distinctions like interior/exterior are only meaningful when understood through

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a historical perspective which has permitted domains to expand and curtail their
scope of influence.
Hierarchy as a cultural logic is premised on the idea of precedence which
provides primacy to mythic places as expressed in local territories, bagani
domains, and eventually extensions to other cultural groups such as the
Mangguangan, coastal Spanish in the nineteenth century, and an insipid colonial
administration after 1900. Precedence based on heroic and mythic centres
establishes the broadest confines for signifying the role of place and locality
within a scheme of social, political and economic forces. In the past two decades,
the centrality of place(s) which are the foundations of origin, myth and the
bagani complex, are now considered as the interior, the heartland which provides
the emotional sustenance to what the Mandaya consider as their past in its
present expression. As one moves from the centre(s) a sense of borderlands
emerge, as areas and places which are divorced from cultural symbols and
historical meaning, these are the areas which are now contested with the
encroaching Bisayans from the coastal areas. The periphery is fuzzy and
undefined, but the contestation means that Bisayans armed with legal documents
and a political semi-state apparatus have little or no respect for traditional
Mandaya lands and culture. The conflict situation peaked in the middle 1970s,
but by the late 1970s, most areas in the foothills were controlled by the NPA
(National People’s Army) who gradually forced the Philippine army to retreat
which in turn forced out the commercial loggers and hemp interests who no
longer had a military infrastructure to support their activities.
In summary, Mandaya hierarchy based on a scheme of places which have
different roles in terms of myth, origin and centrality emerges both in the kinship
structure in contrasting between first born/last born and through generational
terms which are metaphorically linked to the body where the grandparental
generation is combined with the sole of the foot while the parental generation
is the heart. As a cultural logic, precedence provides the historical existence,
but within the social/kinship framework hierarchical principles are always
juxtaposed to a strong egalitarianism which pervades the interaction between
individuals, households and hamlets.

Egalitarianism as Culture Value

Throughout the domestic domain as expressed in households, hamlets and
non-discrete communities, the basis of social activity and interaction is
characterized by systems of exchange and reciprocity based on a strong
conviction of egalitarianism. The idea of sharing food, commodities and activity
is closely linked with a strong sense of equality which individuals recognize as
the key to all human interactions. Hierarchy as expressed through precedence,
rank and status which pervades the political structure as well as religious
symbolism rests above the structure of equality which dominates the social and
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economic sphere of society. In most cases, structural conflicts and contradictions

do not occur, for both spheres of culture address themselves to different tasks.
Furthermore, with the decline of the bagani in the 1930s, political process and
warfare are no longer a matter which the domestic structure must relate to in
terms of food giving or services.
Reciprocity is the basis of most labour involved in the maintenance of upland
rice cultivation. Nearly all aspects of the production cycle require the exchange
of labour. In some phases such as the felling and clearing of forest growth the
demand on labour exchange is greater, in other phases, such as planting, the
basic extended family usually takes care of its own needs. However, exchange
is not only labour, but also the sharing of food and other commodities between
families living in the same hamlet as well as those who reside within nondiscrete
communities. Reciprocity and a sense of giving is seldom based on the idea of a
created debt which will be compensated at a later time. One gives to another in
many ways. In some cases, there is a perceived need, in other cases, the giver
has an abundance of goods and/or time which he/she might share with another
individual. However, the foundation of the egalitarian ethos goes beyond the
realm of giving and exchange. The marked conviction is that all individuals
(except children and infants) are equal, thus the system of exchange is
fundamentally an expression of the equality of individuals from which all social
relationships flow. In many ways, this sense of equality is similar to what Gibson
(1985, 1986) has described for the Buid of Mindoro. However, the comparison
of the Mandaya with the Buid also reflects one major difference. From my reading
of Gibson (1985, 1986) it appears that egalitarianism among the Buid is a means
of maintaining community integrity which is essential to evading domination
by economically and politically powerful lowland neighbours who are engaged
in some form of commercial agriculture on the Mindoro coast. One can also note
the same kinds of economic changes and demands with the Mandaya, but I am
convinced that the dominant egalitarian ethos is not solely a response to external
pressure. The ethos of equality also exists among upland Mandaya communities
which have had minimum contact and impact with coastal economic domination.
The ethos might be fortified, but it is difficult to accept a position that the ethos
was initially created as a response for maintaining community solidarity.
If the egalitarian ethos is socially framed in the context of reciprocity and
giving among individuals who are equals, the institution of gambling as a cultural
focus best exemplifies the importance of how equalness operates through a
system of redistribution. Since gambling is always connected to rice production,
the importance of rice must be discussed. All Mandaya are upland rice cultivators
and all suffer from a shortage of rice. The range of variation in rice consumption
indicates that those families with higher rice yields consume tubers about ten
per cent of their yearly food intake, while those at the lower end of the scale
consume root crops within a range of 40 to 50 per cent of the total food intake.
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Although this differential exists and the Mandaya are aware of such a contrast,
the egalitarian nature of the social structure is not disrupted or verbally denied.
The preservation of this structure is made possible by the Mandaya attitude
toward land use and their conception of the rice and its presence in the
community. Because land is a free good and open lands for cultivation still exist,
each person has access to land as a resource. Similarly, rice is seen, not as a
commodity but as food. Everyone grows rice and the entire annual community
yield is always consumed, yet all families revert to the consumption of root crops
when rice is no longer available. Each family continuously plants tubers for pig
food; yet, they all realize that a certain time after the harvest, they will be forced
to consume root crops until the next rice harvest is available. The Mandaya have
no concept of the market value of surplus rice because a surplus never exists.
Thus, a class structure based on differential land availability or differential rice
stores does not occur.
Although cockfighting is the most interesting form of gambling among the
Mandaya, most gambling activities in which rice harvests are redistributed
involve playing cards which the Mandaya obtain through trade from the coastal
settlements. Various card games exist but the one which is commonly played at
the post-harvest gatherings is one which resembles a form of poker with certain
similarities to what is called Greek rummy in the United States. Where they
learned this is difficult to determine and I personally could not follow all the
rules of the game. Each game might have three to four individuals and possibly
up to a dozen. Also, only one game is played at any one time and the game is
repeated depending on who still survives.
Gambling occurs on a small scale throughout the year, but the major gambling
feasts occur during the immediate post-harvest period. Virtually all households
are involved in the gambling of rice. Furthermore, the post-harvest rituals and
gambling are probably the only time when all families within a particular domain
come together for rituals, cockfighting and gambling. Gambling and the eventual
redistribution of rice involves individuals and families who are related to one
another, but in some cases, this will be the only time they see one another.
Occasionally, an individual from a neighbouring domain can partake in rice
gambling but he/she has no guarantee that losses in rice during gambling will
be compensated later. Theoretically, the ideal culmination of these gambling
feasts, which might last three or four days and nights amid heavy bouts of eating
roasted pork, rice and drinking, is to gamble what rice one possesses until
virtually the total community-produced rice is controlled by six to eight
individuals. In some cases, the centralization of rice might be controlled by two
or three individuals, especially if gambling feasts are extended to six or seven
days. When the feasts end and virtually all locally-produced rice is controlled
by a few individuals, either male or female, a long process of redistribution
ensues in which individuals who have lost their yearly crop are replenished
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with rice. The key to understanding the redistribution process is to establish

what one has gambled and what one obtains in return. Those families who were
at the lower ranges of production are normally supplied with more returned rice
than they produced and, in turn, those families who had a good harvest may
lose in the process of redistribution. No family has any say about what they and
other families obtain on the return, since only individuals who now control rice
through gambling will establish how the return is to be made and in what
quantities. The authority invested in those who control the rice redistribution
is never extended beyond the domain and derives from the conception of
gambling as a respected skill. What gambling does is to equalize marked
differences in production, thus allowing poorer families to consume rice over a
number of months before reverting to root crops and vegetables. Gambling is a
structured mechanism that minimizes possible class divisions; consequently,
self-esteem is never lost. Since gambling is conducted without a profit motive,
what does it mean? Basically, gambling with the ability to win or at least come
up near the top of the finalists is a representation of the skills one possesses. A
smart and shrewd gambler is respected for being able to make a bold and creative
move and for being capable of long-range planning.
The effect of gambling rice is to enhance social differentiation temporarily
by centralizing virtually all rice yields in the hands of a few individuals. In this
sense, inequality is heightened and differences are asserted in the act of gambling,
but through redistribution actual crop yield differences between households
are partially reduced. Yet, production and crop yields are never equalized
through gambling. As one old and wizened woman said, “getting ahead in the
rice gambling means eating less tubers.” It goes without saying that the fear of
eating tubers throughout most of the year would be enough incentive to enhance
one’s ability to consume rice if the opportunity occurs.
Cockfighting also involves a certain amount of betting, especially money
which is acquired through trade and selling of certain commodities to traders
who come up from the coast. Betting on cockfights is minimal and the nature of
bets seldom involves rice, though food items like parcels of pork are exchanged.
All Mandaya cocks are locally grown, thus breeds which are better competitors
seldom enter the arena of the fight. However, individuals know that cocks from
the coast are stronger and more fierce, thus in some cases individuals will acquire
them through trade. It is also the case that imported cocks win more often, but
again the gains through gambling does not offset the cost.
The egalitarian ethos is premised on the fact that adult companions are equal
and the creation of social relationships is built on and through a set of equals
who share activity and commodities in common. Local level social structure
which embeds families, households and hamlets into overlapping units of

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interaction and exchange is based on an ethos in which individuals are one and
a social organization and cultural institution which minimizes differences.

Conclusion
Precedence as an expression of hierarchy occurs as cultural categories based on
kinship, taxonomic structures of fauna and flora, and in certain aspects of
religious and political structures and symbols which deal with the idea of origin
and place. In analyzing the structure of the bagani complex; the link to the past
as manifest in deeds, locality and origin is established in and through genealogical
depth and the meaning of genealogy through history and myth. The basis of
hierarchy is where the origin of events and places are established through a
sense of time.
This system of structured inequality, which is the basis of political process,
is contrasted with various local level activities and organizations of networks
which emerge as egalitarian frameworks based on the sharing of food,
commodities and activities. The articulation of local and regional activities is
highly visible when one calculates how human resources are moved over the
landscape as a means of economic exploitation. Domestic units such as household,
family and hamlet require mobility which is paramount and vital for economic
activities. Under the bagani system, most movements were within the domain
boundaries, but since the 1940s movements have been more far-reaching.
The articulation of egalitarianism on the local level and precedence on the
political level is achieved through a common concern for the validation of origins
as they relate to the past. These centres and places of origin are not only spatially
delimited, they are also expressed in primary events and actions in which the
deeds of past heroes and bagani are understood as an ongoing historicity which
confirms and ratifies status and rank.
Although the bagani political structure is no longer a system of action, it still
remains the central key linkage with the past and with religious symbolism
which sanctifies the past as mythic threads linking the sky and the underworld.
Again, the natural landscape encodes origins and events as semi-sacred based
on the deeds of a heroic past which is now entering a period of endangerment.
Origins as the expression of precedence and egalitarianism as value present
an interpretation of society and a cultural logic which moves away from a unified
coherence, one in which all the strands of society work in a collective and
harmonious manner. This kind of dual structure is based on the imperative
quality that origin cannot be reduced to egalitarianism and, in turn, a system of
local level equality is established and maintained by limiting rank and status
differentiation to those realms of cultural institution which will not impinge on
daily life.

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