WORKING TITLE

The Plight of Sama-Bajaos: Living Conditions and its Implication on Formal Education
RATIONALE
A pioneering study in Tarlac which will describe the living conditions of the Bajaos and how this living
conditions affect their perspective and behavior about formal education. The Bajaos of Tarlac have been
in the locality for quite a few years now. Most of them can be seen wandering along the busy streets of
the province. They are considered mostly nuisance since they do most of their living as beggars and
mendicants. Majority of them do not know how to read and write. The second part of the study will
explore how their living conditions implicate their perspective and behavior towards formal eduction
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The Sama-Bajao or simply called Bajao are ethnic groups of nomadic Austronesian in Maritime
Southeast Asia with their origins from the Southern Philippines. According to Harry Nimno 1972, the
Bajaos have a seaborne lifestyle and use small wooden sailing vessels. This explains why the Bajaus
lived mostly by trading and subsistence fishing because of their seafaring nomadic lifestyle as mentioned
in article The Last of the Sea Nomads that was published in The Guardian. Furthermore, the article also
described the Bajaos as non-aggressive people. But even though the Bajaos are considered indigenous
to their current territory, there are those scholars who debate that this ethnic group may have come
from elsewhere. This contention as to their origin has caught the eyes of Kazufumi Nagatsu 2001 in his
study. Generally, Bajaos early history is mostly based on oral traditions due to the fact that they dont
chronicle their own history given their nomadic nature. This explains the contention among scholars as
far as deciphering the origins of this ethnic group.
As far as modern concept of the Bajaos is concerned, they are generally regarded as peaceful,
hospitable and cheerful people, despite their humble circumstances as mentioned by Bracamonte, Boza
and Poblete 2011. However, they also mentioned that a significant number of Bajaos are also illiterate,
uneducated and impoverished due to their nomadic lifestyle. Aside from this, the armed conflict in
Mindanao forced them to evacuate their natural habitat and look elsewhere. This phenomenon resulted
in the massive influx of them in other provinces of the Philippines specially in Metro Manila. This
Diaspora is anchored on the notion of wanting to survive or else they will perished. Forcing a fish out of
an aquarium and making it do things out of its comfort zone is what happened to the Bajaos. Many of
them are forced to beg alms in the street to which Bracamonte et.al 2011 also observed. She mentioned
that their main income comes from begging in the streets which often put the women and children in
hazardous situations. They mostly knock on establishments just to beg for alms. Infants are used for
props by the elder women and oftentimes these infants are made to lie naked in the streets.
Meanwhile, some of them ride on jeepneys or employ a homemade musical drums made out of vinyl
and empty cans all for only one reason, to beg for alms.
Illiteracy is also one of the issues confronting the Bajaos thus adding to their already bereft
access to social services. These factors clearly indicates underdevelopment, deprivation and degradation
thus a call for an appropriate development intervention is needed. This was seen by Bryant and White
1982 as well as Cuyno 1982 to which they recommended that development must comprise of four major
components, namely: capacity building, equity. Empowerment and sustainability manifested by
economic progress, wider distribution of this economic progress, productive employment and better
social condition (health, education, housing, food and water.
Tarlac has not been spared by the influx of the Bajaos. The conditions mentioned by the
previous citations mentioned above on the impoverished state of this ethnic group are also the
prevailing conditions of the Bajaos of Tarlac. These Bajaos have been part of the daily scenario among
the Tarlaquenos for a couple of years now. Due to the fact that they are still in the streets, this further
proves that no effective development intervention has been made yet nor clear policy making on the
part of the Tarlac LGUs. To this effect, this research will make a pioneering attempt to explore the
 Bajaos of Tarlac and anchor their life experiences to formal education.

RESEARCH PROBLEM
What is the living condition of the Sama Bajaos of Tarlac?
What is the implication of their experiences to formal education
OBJECTIVES
1. To describe the living consitions of the Sama Bajau of Tarlac
2. To identify the implications of their life experiences to formal education
METHODOLOGY
Research Design: Phenomenological research
Ethical Considerations and Measures:
1. Vulnerability assessment
Limited documents
Indifference of the participants
Limited focal people
2. Consent seeking
Permit from NCIP
Permit from the local government
Permission from the Bajao tribal leaders
3. Anonymity
Not divulging the personal identity of the people involve unless without their written
consent
4. Reciprocity
Counterchecking of results will be made by the people involve d in the research so as to
verify the truthfulness of the study and to protect their credibility and identity
Problem, Objective and Design Matrix/ Data Gathering Plan:
Objective Questions Data Gathering Expected Output
Method
1. To describe the life What is the living Documentary Analysis Data scoping summary
conditions of the Sama condition of the Sama KII Thematic matrix
Bajau of Tarlac Bajau of Tarlac? FGD 5 KIIs
5 FGD
To identify the What is the implication Documentary Analysis Thematic matrix
implication of their of their living condition FGD 5 KIIs
living conditions to to formal education KII 5 FGD
formal education
EXPECTED OUTPUT:
Springboard for LGUs policy formulation
Teacher training inputs
UTILIZATION PLAN
LGUs
School Heads
Supervisors
Teachers
TIME FRAME
Planning and Approval of the Proposal: September 21 30
Data Gathering: October 1 November 30
Submission of Final Results for Approval: December 1 5
Dissemination of Results: December 6 - 31
BUDGET: Personal Funds
LGU funds
BERF
PROPONENT: Mr. Randy B. Mergas