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ABSTRACT
Historical analysis on the impacts of institutional support provided for by a
religious group in collaboration with a foreign-funded non-governmental
organization to the Sepuyo Alangan-Mangyan of Mindoro was conducted to
evaluate its effects and impacts in relation to the improvement of their capability
towards environmental management. Data were obtained from the Alangan-
Mangyan community using key informant interviews and participant observation.
Alangan-Mangyans have rich indigenous knowledge, beliefs, practices, and
rituals in relation to their way of living, farming systems and in managing the
environment long before any attention was given to them by various institutions.
The external institutional support given by those organizations led to major
cultural changes to the Mangyan community. It not only resulted to favorable
impacts, but also brought up unintended negative effects that changed the
community’s way of living, specifically in managing their environment. What we
have learned was that any assistance or support from outside institutions, GO’s
and NGO’s given to the Mangyans must be done in a sensitive manner and must
be granted with vision—in the framework of true understanding of indigenous
people’s culture; ensuring its preservation, and giving them benefits that they
truly need and deserve.
INTRODUCTION
but many of which is for the improvement of local capacity specifically for
1
development. These supports and multilateral agreements will also help to meet
in enhancing their resource base. Several programs and projects were created for
the IP’s in relation to their way of living and conserving the environment,
believing that these supports can further help these peoples in developing the
Indigenous Peoples.
Although these people can be seen in the areas where there are rich
resources and policies were created for them by the government, different and
income, and alienation from kin/clan and their culture --- some of the key
Castro (2003) reported that many Protected Area Superintendents (PASUs) have
can possibly be due to the fact these foresters do not have the full understanding
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on the way IP’s live their life. They know how to manage flora and fauna but they
were not able to fully obtain the right way and the sensitivity to deal with these
indigenous peoples.
Abadiano (2004) emphasizes how indigenous people chart their own progress
in which the problems confronting IPs have become more complex, such that it has
now become more than just a matter of developing and giving the right kind of
education program to benefit them. Other issues that bear upon IP life, culture, and
communities are concerned. Cairns’ (1995) study (as cited in the Capacity
related activities, would provide a rallying point for their revived sense of ethnic
identity and empowerment, and harness their initiative towards park protection.”
Generally, these are issues that require the immediate and concerted
attention of both government and civil society if IPs are to progress in their quest
for peace, justice, and development. Thus, external support is considered by many
as necessary.
deep and intimate knowledge: their indigenous knowledge, born out of centuries
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of constant interaction with the environment and handed down from generation to
and animal’ habitats, such knowledge and skills are indispensable in evolving
quality. Castro (2003) revealed that many policies, programs, and plans on
foreign models or those developed by technical experts. On the other hand, the
management have not been studied and documented nor have they been integrated
into existing programs and projects. It is for this reason that few of the
interventions from the national and international agencies respond to the social
need of the local people and often end up by doing more harm than good (Ghai,
1992).
community which has inherent cultural attributes that must be given careful
4
consideration in the determination, approaches and strategies of any projects or
be one of the useful tools in tracing the possible cause(s) of these unintended
event is the way it is. We cannot understand our present without understanding
our past. And we cannot fully imagine change without a sense of how our culture
environmental management.
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Objectives of the study
to provide an overview on the belief systems, rituals, and other cultural practices
System) and to describe the resulting changes after the conventional and non-
METHODOLOGY
Description of the study area
MIMAROPA region (Region IV-B). It is the western part of Mindoro with a total
land area of 5,879.8 sq. km. composing of 11 towns. Its capital is Mamburao and
occupies the western half of the island of Mindoro. Oriental Mindoro is at the
eastern half. The South China Sea is to the west of the province and Palawan is
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Figure 1. Location Map of Occidental, Mindoro Philippines
(Source: Wikipedia.org/Occidental_Mindoro)
Occidental Mindoro has two distinct weather types: rainy season and dry
season. Rains begin to fall in the province in late May, intensifying through June,
July, August, September and October, and then gradually subside in November.
The months of August and September is the wettest period, with storms directly
passing through the area. On the other hand, dry season starts in November, with
and April. March and April are the driest period, with cloudless skies and parched
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Agriculture is basically the major industry in Occidental Mindoro,
holding the record of being the Southern Tagalog Region's leading rice producer.
Other major agricultural products that are likewise exported from the province
include coconut, corn, tobacco, garlic, mango, banana and peanut. Most of the
residents are also engaged in cattle and poultry raising, logging and fishing. The
There are also light industries like processing fruits, fish, prawns and
nuts, feed milling, gemstone and marble finishing, handicrafts, toys and gifts,
(globalpinoy.com, 2009).
The main goal of this paper is the historical analysis on the impacts of the
collaboration with a foreign NGO to the Alangan Mangyans in Sepuyo, Sta. Cruz,
Occidental Mindoro. The study employed the use of Historical Analysis as its
framework for data collection and analysis. Historical relevant information on the
environmental changes that have occurred in the area was gathered through the
interviews was used for the Sepuyo community household heads and community
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leaders to determine their belief systems and rituals on their environment, their
farming practices and other economic activities were also solicited, as well as
and village live where the researcher stays in the community being studied for a
relatively long period of time. The aforementioned technique was used by the
researchers to gather majority of the data and observation from 1994-1997 and
data on the current situation of Sepuyo was gathered on February 2009 via
MIC Sisters express their thanksgiving for the love of God through their
Mission News, MIC started its mission in the Philippines when the first
missionaries of the Institute who left Canada went to China in l9O9. They
undertook services in the field of health care and education where their zeal and
dedication soon became widely known. In 1921, Dr Jose Tee Han Kee, a close
collaborator in their mission work, was named Director of the Chinese General
Sisters to assume the administration of the hospital. This facility was serving the
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Chinese community which at that time numbered nearly 40,000.
mission was in line with her vision and missionary zeal particularly that of
reaching out first to those who had never known Christ and of serving the poor.
Five Sisters were assigned for this first mission in the Philippines. The friendship
that developed between the Sisters and the families of the patients initiated their
social work ministry. Home visitations and catechetical instruction brought about
a number of conversions.
The presence of the MIC Sisters in the Sepuyo community is through the
which was established in 1987. IPA’s prime role was to support the Mangyans in
the diocese, guide them in their growth as persons and believers, and assist them
in improving their livelihood. A team of Mangyan workers (MIC Sisters and lay
persons) are assigned to selected Mangyan communities in the parish and one of
these is Sepuyo.
The MIC Sisters in cooperation with the Holy Cross Parish and the
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This will make them stay in their lands and avoid the intrusion of lowlanders
education and human development activities. This association assists the MIC
including Sepuyo.
long time residents of the said place. Sta. Cruz is one of the
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The community came from the interior mountains near Sepuyo and they
more or less 20 families in the big house and they are arranged in a way that they
share an area (3x3 square meters) where they, eat, cook and sleep. One corner is
their cooking area and they call it ‘apuyan’ (fireplace) where there is a burning
wood in times that it is cold. There is a small pathway in the middle where hay
could pass. There is only one stair where they climb. Their house is made up of
local timber and cogon grass. Subsistence farming is the primary occupation of
livelihood. In summer, they revert to the traditional gathering of root crops in the
mountains. Their main food consists of rice, sweet potato, cassava, banana, and
wild yam (nami). Their source of drinking water is the nearby Sepuyo River.
work animals, farm implements and other farming inputs. Sepuyo is not
accessible since road network is not available. The site can only be reached by
foot through a two hours hike from Amnay Bridge during summer. During rainy
season, the place can be reached by hiking through the mountain for four hours.
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In terms of their clothing preferences, the male members of the Alangan
garment. The women wear yakis and loin cloth used as wrap-around matched with
an upper garment made of bark of a tree just enough to cover the breasts. Their
Mangyan leaders strongly believe that their forefathers were the rightful owners
of the land and they want it to be awarded to them as rightful heirs. The
minorities, being closely interrelated with each other, prefer communal ownership
13
Figure 2. A typical Mangyan family.
Source: ( Silvestre, 2009)
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The Mangyans are the original inhabitants of Mindoro. Mindoro, being the
seventh largest Island in the Philippines, with two Provinces, Oriental and
Heritage Center, 2009). They are the indigenous peoples of Mindoro. Indigenous
and defined territory, and who have, under claims of ownership since time
bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or who
boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and
political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional
domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains. (NCIP
possess a rich and distinctive cultural and literary heritage. The Hanunuo
Mangyans inscribe notes and poems on bamboo trees in the forests or on bamboo
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slats with the use of a pointed knife. These ambahans—written or recited in
The Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyans make use of their artistic and creative
mind by weaving and embroidering their own traditional attire. The Iraya and
Alangan Mangyans skillfully weave nito and rattan into elaborate baskets. The
other groups also produce baskets, bags, hats, hammocks and other crafts made of
forest vines, and all the eight tribes practice beadwork. These are their main
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The Alangans, one of the Mangyan Ethnic groups, live in a wide area
around Mt. Halcon, occupying the northern part of both Occidental and Oriental
(OSCC, 1987). The name “Alangan” is derived from a name of a river and
mountain slopes in the upper Alangan valley. The people in this group are
medium-built, round face and straight and long hair (for both men and women).
Their complexion is dark and their teeth are blackened because of their practice of
chewing betel nuts. Their economic life is primarily based on the upland
agriculture or kaingin system. They cut open the forest every year or two to make
new swidden sites. The term gado or "together" characterizes the local group.
These can be observe with their tradionally big houses called balay lakoy, each
Alangan society ruguoan. Property for the Alangan consists of the clothes,
necklaces, bolo, hatchet, medicine box, betel nut box, pigs, chickens, bananas etc.
The Alangan move every few years and the idea of private ownership of the land
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The women traditionally wear a lingeb. This is a kind of skirt made of
long strips of woven nito, and is wound around the abdomen. This is worn
together with a g-string cloth called abayen. The upper covering is called ulango,
made from the leaf of the wild buri palm. Sometimes, a red handkerchief or
bandana called limbutong is worn over the ulango. On the other hand, men wear
g-strings with fringes in front. Betel nut chewing, as mentioned earlier, is also
noted among the Alangans, like all other Mangyan tribes. This they chew with
great fervour from morning to night, saying that they do not feel hunger as long as
they chew betel nut. Exchange of betel chew ingredients is also a sign of social
acceptance.
Agalapet”) who is the source of all. They believe that rivers, trees and mountains
have their own spirits and have to be cared for and respected. For them, God is the
source of all, the provider of their needs and one who takes care of them. They see
life as something very precious and priceless. God gave them land for their
survival. Land and all its resources are owned by God and they only have the right
to use the land and its resources based on residence and kinship. They do not
They have rituals before planting invoking for a good harvest as well as
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thanksgiving for a good harvest. They have also rituals to know if a certain place
is good to build their house. This means that they will have no misfortune or
sickness.
chicken so that God will have mercy on them and will help them in any of their
problems and sickness. They make an offering at least once a year and call on
“Land is given to us by God that we may live. Do not quarrel about the
land. Do not be fierce because God will get angry. Work in your land for you to
live. Love your life. Have a big respect for the land. If others will steal from your
land, the land will not be productive. To remedy this, make an offering by
environment. Their rituals are always accompanied by signs coming from the
offering by butchering a pig or chicken. They will use these as offerings in their
Environmental Management
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classification and management that governs resource use. It is embedded in
Mangyans have a unique way of relating to nature as shown in their beliefs and
practices.
Colby (1989) theorized that all human activity, economic and socio-
cultural take place in the context of certain types of relationships with the
but the types of agriculture implemented may reflect very different underlying
survival and quality of life, in ways which have reduced the ecological values and
environment very well. They believe that “land is life” because this is where they
get their raw materials, food, and all that they need for their subsistence. From
their land emanates their distinct and rich culture. These are part of their
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The environmental management strategy that the Alangan Mangyans
adapted has been their traditional agricultural practices. They practice the
“kaingin system” of farming which they have learned from their ancestors and
which they in turn continue to pass on to their young generation. They have a very
and the fallowing (Agpagamas). A firebreak is made so the fire will not go
beyond the swidden site where the vegetation is thoroughly dry and ready
for burning. And two years after clearing, cultivation of the swidden is
normally ceased and the site is allowed to revert back to forest (Quiaoit,
grasses (2) cutting and felling of trees (3) separation and collection of
twigs and other vegetation and spreading it over the entire field to be dried
before burning (4) burning where fire walls are delineated to control the
spreading of fire (5) collection of twigs, wood and other materials not
burned and setting them for another round of burning (6) planting. The
cycle starts in January, burning is done in April and planting starts in May
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or when rainy season begins since most of the crops are rainfed. Weeding
and thinning is done throughout the growth cycle of the crop (Vasquez,
1998).
Crops that they grow in their kaingin include annual crops such as
rice and corn, and perennial crops such as banana, coconuts and citrus.
Root crops and vegetables are planted together with perennial crops. The
cropping pattern starts with planting rice, corn and vegetables. A second
crop corn may be planted in December. Root crops such as cassava, sweet
potato, and ubi are planted after the harvesting of rice and corn.
August. Root crops maybe harvested anytime of the year, while banana
During summer, when the water in the river is clear, they also
gather shells and fish from the river. Their way of fish harvest is to divert
the water to another river so that there is a part of the river that will dry up.
All the members of the community help in making the dam to divert the
water. They place wood and soil to make the temporary dam. The men
gather and fix the wood and the children and women carry sand or soil.
When the water is at a very low level, they catch the fish using their
baskets or woven containers. They just use their hands to catch the fish if
the water in the river is almost empty. They do not get the small fishes or
the pregnant ones. This is a happy time for them. There is a fiesta
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atmosphere in the river where everyone enjoys a good catch. They do not
advocate the use of electric fishing which kills even the small and
pregnant fishes.
their food. As long as there are mountains, they said, they will always
have food to eat. Each family has its own mountain/s to plant using the
kaingin system. The entire family works in the kaingin farm. They have a
fallow period of five years or more. This allows time for the mountain to
grow shrubs, trees and grasses that will make the soil fertile again and can
be used for planting. Cutting of trees in the forest is limited to their needs.
inner or more remote mountains come to help them. They stay with them
for some time. This is how they share their harvest to their relatives. Most
of them have many relatives. The rice that they harvested is not enough to
feed them until the next cropping season. When there is no more rice they
eat other crops like banana, gabi, ube, kalabasa, kamote and nami(wild
yam). They continued to plant root crops in their ‘kaingin’ areas that could
not be used for plow farming. These are the hilly parts which were also
planted with upland rice before they were introduced to lowland farming.
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Impacts of Institutional Support: Introducing the Lowland Farming
When lowland plow farming was introduced, there were some changes in
that took place in their practice of the kaingin system that they know. First, they
decreased the areas used for kaingin farming because they have concentrated in
their lowland farming. Their lifestyle also changed because most of their cultural
communal house that they carry with them in their kaingin were also changed.
They now also started to build their own houses which are more or less permanent
and they have their own lands to till also. As time passed, the frequency of their
corresponding impacts. It was not visualized that in the long run, lowland farming
practice that was handed down as Insitutions’ support by the MIC Sisters together
with the 21st Century Association, will eventually leave an unintended negative
impact in the farming system as well as in the livelihood of the Alangan Mangyan
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Table 1. Introduction of Institutions’ Support in the Sepuyo Alangan Mangyan Community
1993
• Additional funds were provided by the 21st Century Association, • Integrated agriculture projects were created such as
a Japan-based organization, to the MIC in support to their construction of windmill and purchasing of carabind
mission. and farm implements.
• The church through the Indigenous People Apostolate reached • The Mangyans were introduced to lowland farming in
out to the Mangyans in Sitio Sepuyo. the lowland part of their Kaingin areas.
• The other members of the community (18 families) joined their • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was introduced.
families in Sepuyo, comprising an estimated population of 92; • The population of the community increased.
1994 the land where they were situated was still fertile and was able to
produce even without applying inorganic fertilizer.
• Construction of irrigation canal was enabled, which the natives • Increases in the number of harvest by the natives
used to divert water from the Amnay River. were observed. From 100 cavans, to cavans, until it
increased into 500 cavans.
1999 - 2005 • The Mangyans practiced natural farming, equipped with lowland
farming practice and technology.
• American Baptists regularly visited the Alangan Mangyan’s • Influenced by those preachers, a number of members
community. of the community stopped practicing their rituals and
become members of the Baptist Church instead.
2006 • The Mangyans started to use fertilizers because the land was not • They started to loan fertilizers from the non-
fertile anymore because of the continuous utilization of it. mangyans/’tagalogs(damuongs)’ and were asked to
pay three cavans for every sack of fertilizer, making
life more difficult for them as their harvest was used
for paying loans instead of consuming it.
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This situation was somehow related the Dumagats that live near the Ipo
Watershed land. A study conducted in 2004 on the Ipo Watershed land which revealed
that only 30-40% of the Ipo Watershed land area has remaining forest cover. The original
open area or grassland was estimated to be 15% of the entire watershed while the area
2005, the extent of forest destruction is very alarming. It is already 2007. If the
continuous rise in the rate of deforestation does not cease, we could be seeing in the next
five years another barren “Montalban Mountain” with lots of cogon grass and no forested
area. Furthermore, a UP Mountaineers member, Frederick Ochavo, cited in his article that
the indigenous people of Dumagat from the Sierra Madre Mountain Range already
established a Kaingin method of farming that is much better compared to the lowland
farming practice. The Dumagats live in harmony with nature for generations. They take
only what they need. Even though they employ kaingin, it is unlike the kaingin method of
lowlanders which covers a lot of ground. The kaingin sites of the Dumagats are small and
just enough to meet their seasonal needs. After some time, they move to another place
and leave their kaingin site to regenerate on its own. As much as possible, the Dumagats
do not cut trees that are more than 5 inches in diameter. Their method of farming is
already sustainable as the forest is given the chance to grow back. On the other hand, the
farming practices of lowland people do not give the forest a chance to heal itself. Unlike
the nomadic Dumagat families, lowlanders settle on tracts of land and expand their
property by cutting down trees and burning them. For them, farm lots are better than
forests. It can possibly be the same situation as for the Alangan Mangyans of Occidental
Mindoro. Analyzing the events occurred from 1989 to 2006, the productivity of the yields
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of the Alangan Mangyan farmers increased but only for a short period of time. After
sacrificing their own way of living and their culture, different undesirable things
happened and will happen if they can revert back to their culture and further develop it
instead of changing it. Thus, there can be an unintended negative impact occurred long
after the Institutions’ supports given to this tribe were adapted by them.
CONCLUSION
The interrelationship among the Mangyans, MIC Sisters and Japanese NGO could
be described as harmonious. They have worked closely to make the land become more
productive through the use of lowland farming technology. But, contrary to what the
institutions normally think of the kaingin system, their type of kaingin system is far more
sustainable than reaching the point of continuous decline in the soil fertility of the area
and the usage of inorganic fertilizer used for the lowland farming until the point that it
needs to be supported by inorganic fertilizer. Yes, they decreased their kaingin farming
activities which could regenerate the forests, was able to increased their productivity, and
learned new ways of farming techniques but in the end, the gradual disintegration of the
traditional Mangyan culture due to the outside influences caused changes not only in the
economic system of the group, but also their way of conserving their land. Leading to
negative and unintended impacts resulted to a more difficult way of living for our
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REFERENCES
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the 2004 Magsaysay Awardees’ Lecture Series Magsaysay Center, Manila, 27 August
2004
ADB (Asian Development Bank). 1999. Policy on Indigenous Peoples. ADB, Manila.
Castro, N.T. 1994. “Doing Ethnographic Research Among Indigenous Peoples” Diliman,
Quezon, City.
Castro, N.T. 2001. “The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Protected Area Management in the
Philippines”
Rambo, A.T. 1983. Conceptual Approaches to Human Ecology. East-West Environment and
Policy Institute. USA.
Vasquez, Leilani S. 1998. Socio-Economic Correlates of the Swidden Strategies of the Iraya
Mangyan in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. Unpublished Thesis, UPLB.
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Online References:
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