Frontier ethics in South Cotabato

What did it imply to be counted among the "wilds" during the days of the colonization? Alano's (1936) narrative gives us an idea. In 1936 he joined a reconnoitering expedition from Cotabato into the Koronadal Valley. His account of the original inhabitants goes like this: "We camped at Tupe [Tupi in the Koronadal Valley], the home of the treacherous Bila-ans [Blàan], and the scene of many of the bloodiest crimes in the police history of Cotabato. It is inhabited by one of the most barbarous of the wild tribes of Mindanao". His statement is the only written statement I have come across that directly supports the indigenous people's narratives. The settlement of South Cotabato had not been entirely peaceful. Before the Koronadal Valley had been opened for settlement, no survey had been conducted on the size of the indigenous population, nor an estimation made of their needs. They were simply looked upon as a dirty and backward bunch who even had no religion. Unlike the first established townships in the Cotabato Basin where Moslems and Christians were allotted land side by side, no land was initially allotted to the "pagan" people of South Cotabato. No wonder, Pelzer (1945) comments, "these people [Blàan] were concerned about their land rights in the event of an establishment of agricultural colonies". Yet, the main threat was most likely not from the settlers who were allotted land through resettlement programs. The rumor was that "unoccupied land is plentiful on Mindanao". But after the late 1950s, when the upper Alah Valley was colonized, land was no longer abundant. Among the many traveling to Mindanao to try their luck, quite a few were adventurers, opportunists, and even lawless crooks who were wanted for crimes committed elsewhere in the Philippines. Some of them acquired land by simply occupying soil that was not cultivated at the time of their arrival. Or they made a good bargain with indigenous people. In some cases they exchanged some hectares of land for a few cans of sardines, thus exploiting the indigenous population, who had no idea of the land's value. Others inserted different figures in the contract than they had agreed on orally. The illiterate tribal people were not capable of seeing through the tricks, and in court they had a weak claim. In general, it seems that any dirty trick was allowed when it concerned the indigenous population, who had no means to bring cases to court without outside help. People also experienced having to deal with outlaws, who simply pointed their guns at them and forced them to leave their ancestral soil. The information I obtained from locals of Lake Sebu and Tboli, both Visayans and Tbolis, suggests a setting in which land grabbers had an easy time.  Cf. also Nance (1975) who is quite explicit on the lawlessness of that time in Surallah.

        In order to bring the situation under some control, the non-governmental organization PANAMIN  urged the establishment of a separate municipality for the indigenous people of the upper Alah Valley. It resulted in Presidential Decree No. 407, signed by President F. Marcos and begins as follows: "WHEREAS, the Tribal Councils and Tribal Datus of Tboli, Ubo, Blaan, Maguindanao, Manubo Blit, Tiruray and Manubo Sdaf in the Province of South Cotabato have expressed their desire to have a municipality of their own to retain their traditional lifeways and at the same time bring them within the present framework of our legal and governmental system." Clearly, the tribal leaders had no confidence in the existing local government, and sought a sort of autonomy and protection within the existing governmental frame. By virtue of this decree, the huge Municipality of Tboli was created, and Surallah had to cede the major part to the new municipality. The only mayor of the affected municipalities who had opposed the petition during the hearings, was the Mayor of Surallah. The appointed mayor of the new municipality was a Tboli.

        From the above picture one may have got the impression that all settlers were more or less crooks.  We have, however, to distinguish between those who would stop at nothing in their endeavor to acquire land, and the great majority of the settlers. They were ordinary people who had left the rural areas of the Visayas or Luzon because of the land shortage there. They were looking for green pastures on Mindanao. Once they had acquired land they worked hard to clear the forest and prepare the soil for cultivation. It is my impression that the very first settlers in Lake Sebu and the indigenous population had mutual respect for each other. Nevertheless, the settlers' comprehension of the situation and that of the Tbolis was based on what may be described as two incompatible value systems. Trading some hectares of land for a few cans of salmon was only possible in a setting where land was still abundant, and where permanent farming as a means to generate prosperity was not yet understood by the indigenous people. Obviously, at that time both parties believed they had made a good deal.

        The incompatibility increasingly became a threat to the indigenous people as more and more settlers arrived. Once the settlers' value system had proven to be the productive one, the indigenous people understood the extent of their mistake. While the salmon had long since been digested, the value of the land had increased dramatically. Now, they wanted their land back, but the second and third generation settlers on their side do not accept responsibility. They claim that the indigenous people of Mindanao have themselves to blame. Naturally, the settlers interpret the actions and attitudes of the tribal people according to their own values. They view them, at best, as a people deserving their pity and who need help to develop a better lifestyle. The majority do not care about the tribal peoples' problems as long as they are not affected, i.e. no one tries to intervene in their affairs. I found also a few who readily expressed their disgust. They thought of the indigenous people of Mindanao, particularly the former pagan ones, as a lazy, ignorant, dirty, and bad smelling bunch of cowards.

The author
Karl Aanonsen. Copyright 1998.
Original Website of the article.

References

Interested readers may confer the following references for further details. With reference to the relations between the hill tribes and their Moslem neighbors, my dissertation would be a starting point. For a broader account of historical Mindanao issues from a somewhat different angle, confer the web pages of Rudy B. Rodil and Bobby Timonera.

Alano, Segunda (1936), "The Bila-an Of Cotabato", Philippine Magazine (Manila), 33(5):237-238, 270-271.

Beckett, Jeremy (1982), "The Defiant and the Compliant: The Datus of Magindanao under Colonial Rule" in Alfred W. McCoy & Ed. C. de Jesus (eds.): Philippine Social History: Global Trade and Local Transformations, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Blount, James H. ([1912]1973), The American Occupation of the Philippines, New York: Oriole Editions.

Cole, Fay-Cooper (1913), "The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao", Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) 12(2):49-203.

Gloria, Heidi K. (1987): The Bagobos: Their Ethnohistory and Acculturation, Quezon City: New Day Publishers.

Gowing, Peter G. & Robert D. McAmis (eds.) (1974), The Muslim Filipinos - Their History, Society and Contemporary Problems, Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House.

Hall, D. G. E. (1981), A History of South-east Asia - 4^th edition, Basingstoke: Macmillan Education.

Laarhoven, Ruurdje (1986), "We are many Nations: The Emergence of a Multi-Ethnic Maguindanao Sultanate", Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society (Ateneo de Manila University) 14(1):32-53.

Nance, John ([1975]1988), The Gentle Tasaday: a Stone Age People in the Philippine Rain Forest, Boston: David R. Godine.

Otley Beyer, H. (1917), Population of the Philippine Islands in 1916, Manila: Philippine Education Co., Inc.

Pelzer, Karl J. (1945), Pioneer Settlement in the Asiatic Tropics, New York: American Geographical Society.

Saleeby, Najeeb M. (1905), "The History of Maguindanao" in Gowing & McAmis (eds.) (1974), reprinted from Saleeby's Studies in Moro History, Law and Religion, pp. 50-62, Manila: Bureau of Public Printing, 1905.

Wernstedt, Fredrick L. & J. E. Spencer (1967), The Philippine Island World - A Physical, Cultural, and Regional Geography, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Wernstedt, Frederick L. & Paul D. Simkins (1965), "Migration and the Settlement of Mindanao", Journal of Asian Studies 25(1):83-103.