Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“We miss out on important stories like the history of the Filipino Muslims, or Palawan is a Corridor linking the Philippines with Asia, its
our ethno-linguistic groups, of women, peasants and workers and other ancient homeland.
sectors.”
Paragua Spanish: umbrella-shaped
Local history is expectedly closest to the people’s heart and
consciousness because it reflects their own identity, experiences, and Palao-yu Chinese: land of safe and beautiful harbor
aspirations.
Palavas India: Territory
It is the interpretative of the past of their locality, embracing its
political, social, economic, and cultural life. Palwa Native Language: Native Plant found in Palawan
Thus, in order to understand and, consequently, one should know the
history of his own locality and its contributions to regional Stretches 425 kilometers northeast of Borneo toward Mindoro.
development and over-all nation building.
Highest points: Mt. Mantalingahan, Mt. Gantung(Victoria), Cleopatra’s
One may never achieve a fuller understanding of the Filipinos and
Needle
the Philippines if he failed to study the history of his/her town, city,
province, or region. Babuyan River is the largest river in the Island.
In his sense, to recognize the value of a national history, one should
also understand the value of history from below, the local
communities like Palawan.
3. Balabac group of Island
Geographical position of Palawan: Crucial to the movements of people and -is the southern boundary of Palawan with Sabah, it is only 48 nautical
ideas from and into the Philippines. miles from it.
During the Pleistocene Epoch, Palawan formed a natural land-bridge MODULE 2: LESSON 1
between Borneo and indirectly, South Mainland of Asia.
THE PEOPLE AND CULTURE OF PALAWAN
Allows men and animals to drift into the islands. For this reason
the animal life and vegetation are more closely related to those
area of Borneo than to those of the other Philippine Islands.
After the land-bridge disappeared, Neolithic people sailed into and
from the Philippines along east and west coast of Palawan.
- is the northern east portion of Palawan. Boundary with the Visayas and the
island of Cagayancillo which is half-way across the Sulu Sea to the province
of Zamboanga in Mindanao. Two municipalities are located in the island of
Dumaran, namely Araceli and Dumaran. Two municipalities are also located
in the island of Cuyo, namely Cuyo and Magsaysay. A few nautical miles
north of Cuyo is the island of Agutaya where municipality of Agutaya is
located.
PEOPLE OF PALAWAN
Animism – is a doctrine that the vital principle of organic The Cuyonon Tribe, unlike most of the Philippines’ homogeneous
development is immaterial spirit. A belief in the existence of spirits tribal group, is a heterogeneous tribe, their ancestors could be traced
separable from bodies. (Merriam-Webster) back to the ancient migrants and traders who settled down in
Palawan like the Chinese, Arabs, Jews, Indians, Malays, Spanish and
The Cuyonons believe in intercultural marriages. As a result, the Europeans.
Cuyonons are a mixture of different cultures. So they include Arabic, The language of the Cuyonons is closely related to the Kinaray-a of
Jewish, Malaysian, Indian, Spanish and Chinese influences. Also iag-ao in Iloilo province, the fact remains as early as 1250’s the early
there are marriages between different tribes taking place among the Cuyonon tribes became the common denominator of all the
Batak, Palawans, Cagayanens, Tagbanuas, Molbogs, Parianean and homogeneous tribes of Palawan because they always intermarry with
Agutaynons. the Bataks, Tagbanuas, Agutaynens, Molbogs and other tribes that
live in Palawan.
These people call themselves the Palawenos. The Cuyonons are the
elite class among the Palawenos. The Cuyonon tribe has ten sub- Four subgroups of Cuyonon
tribes which all fall under the authority of Chief Datus. Many 1. Paraguanen – the Cuyuno people who settled mostly in the
Cuyonons are politically active and are looking for fame and success. mainland of Palawan (Paragua).
The first Miss Philippines was a Cuyonon and the first female 2. Poroanen – the Cuyuno people who settled mostly in the islands and
ambassador to the Philippines was also from the Cuyonon tribe. islets of Palawan.
3. Mestiso – the Cuyuno who usually are half Chinese or Spanish.
The bulk of the Cuyonons are traditionally engaged in trade at sea 4. Lakto – the Cuyuno who did not accept Catholicism and lived as
and fishing. They had already been in contact with Chinese traders Animist.
who were looking for swallow nests. The Cuyonons have their own Cuyonons, unlike the other tribes in Palawan, may be seen anywhere
language: the Cuyonon. in the province of Palawan and even in the city of Puerto Princesa.
They are the ones who have embraced modernization and have
The Cuyonon refers to an ethnic group that dwells in the utilized it in their daily lives, making it hard to identify them when
municipality of Cuyo. This group of indigent is considered as an they are in public unless you ask them about their ethnicity.
“elite class” among the hierarchy of the natives who lives in
Palawan. During Spanish colonization in the Philippines, Cuyo was Molbog
one of the territories of Palawan that had the strongest Spanish
presence. The Molbog tribe lives on the island of Balabac. Balabac is an south
island of Palawan. The Molbog are also called Molebuganon and
This group of people known as Cuyonon, Cuyono, Cuyunon, Molebugan. Molbog is derived from the word Malubog, which
Kuyunon,and Kuyunen. this ethnic tribe in Palawan geography is the means turbid water.
most dominant tribal group in this region –composed of about One suspects that the Molbogs were migrants from northen Borneo.
240,000 people as On the northerneast coast of Sabah, an endemic group of people
called Orang Tidung or Tirum (Camucone in Spanish) as based on
their dialect and some of their socio-cultural practices. This is an Mantalingahan on the est and the coast of the west; in their North is
Islamic community that closely resembles the Molbogs regarding the municipality of Quezon while to their South are still unexplored
culture and traditions. Many words match Tausug and Sama regions of Palawan.
languages. The base language is Balabac
Nowadays, there are more and more marriages between Molbogs and They have preserved their culture and way of life, the men still wear
Tausug tribes. This is partly because these two cultures are very g-strings that are made from bark and cloth while the women wear a
similar. The children from these marriages are called Kolibugan piece of cloth that is made into skirts to cover their lower body. Like
(mixed race). many tribes, this group of people is half naked but sometimes,
women wore a blouse that they obtain from the market system.
Their artistry is cruder than any of the other Palawan tribes except in
The Molbogs have an Islamic belief. One suspects that this is rare cases that involve basketry. Around cave dwellings, they
because Balabac formerly belonged to the Sulu Sultanate. As a construct a light and sturdy lattice – work made of saplings lashed
together and anchored fast to crevices in the walls to provide access
result, many Molbogs converted to Islam.
to the caves.
The Christian faith is represented among the Molbogs. This is
because the Christian teachers have taught the Bible and so have The construction of these lattice – works does not depend on any
framework that would hold the unit against the walls; the anchorage
been able to spread the religion among the
people in Balabac is distribution 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
The main source of income is fishing and agriculture. Also barter is
very prevalent with people from Sabah and Sulu.
There are modification and elaborations on the basic “datag” or
Like all Muslim groups, Islam is a way of life for the Molbogs. They
sleeping platforms and “lagkaw” or granary, depending on the
observe the Five Pillars of Islam and the basic Arabic chanting that
varying conditions there is in various caves.
may be heard daily in Molbog community.
The basic social unit among the Tau’t Bato is the Ka-asawan or The two groups speak different languages and do not exactly have
marriage group. This extends to the basic couple to the more similar customs.
complex arrangements of a compound and extended family
grouping. The ka-asawan is further grouped into large associations Tagbanua live in compact villages of 45 to 500 individuals. In 1987,
called “bulun-bulun” which means gathering. These multi-household there are about 130,000 Tagbanuas living in Palawan at present,
bands are physically bounded in terms of areas ofhabitation. however, it dropped to only around 10,000, 1,800 of which are
located in Calamianes.
Each bulun-bulun normally occupies one cave or a single house
complex in the swidden area for their residence. Being part of bulun- Tagbanuas have their own unique government system that is being
bulun is characterized by the ecosystem of sharing through different practiced by both the Central Tagbanuas and the Calamian Tagbanua.
types of social and material exchanges such as in food.
Agutaynen
Because of their uniqueness, the Philippine government declared
there are off-limits to strangers to protect them for unreasonable
exploitation. This indigenous group is mostly likely to be found in the northern
part of the province of Palawan such as Agutaya Island, Municipality
of Roxas, San Vicente, Brooke’s Point, Taytay and Linapacan. They
Tagbanua may be occasionally spotted in Manila.
This tribe is found mostly in the Central and Northern portion of These groups of people are believed to belong to the family of
Palawan. They practiced shifting cultivation of upland rice which is Austronesians and Malayo-Polynesians whose have a long inhabited
considered as a divine gift, they are also known for their rice wine the province of Palawan. They have lexical similarity with Cuyonon
ritual called “pagdidiwata”. The cult of the dead is the key to the and the Calamian Tagbanua, who are also indigents in Palawan.
religious system of the Tagbanua.
Agutaynens, however, does not have much information and exposure
The Tagbanua is one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines to public since there are almost no records about this group due to
that can be mainly found in the municipalities of Aborlan, Quezon, the separation of their area to the mainland of the province of
Calamians Islands, Busuanga Island, Coron Island, in some parts of Palawan. According to recent reports, this group of people has also
El Nido and even Puerto Princesa City. begun embracing modernization.
Tagbanua are brown skinned people with slim and erect stature and
hasstraight hair. This ethnic group is divided into two groups:
Palaw’an 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
The Palaw’an, (also known as Palawano), is an indigenous ethnic about 15 to 20 feet above the ground.
group found in the province of Palawan. This group is divided into
four ethnolinguistic subgroups namely: 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
Quezon Palawan (Central Palawano) river or stream. The Palaw’an hardly domesticate chickens nor hogs,
they preferred dogs which comes very helpful during hunting.
Bugsuk Palawano (South Palawano)
They are considered naïve when it comes to socialization and would
Brooke’s Point Palawano always welcome outsiders with great precaution since they have always
been scared of getting sick; this form of precaution makes them abandon
Southwest Palawano their area immediately to avoid acquiring any form of the disease – even just
a common cold.
This indigenous group belongs to large Manobo-based linguist
groups of the southern Philippines. They were originally found in the It is believed that the Palaw’an have the shortest lifespan of all
interior regions of South Apuruan on West Coast and South of Abo- peoples but there is no statistical data that could back up this claim.
Abo on the East Coast, these regions may be located in the Southern This tribe has no concept of years when they were born, they would
part of the province of Palawan. usually use a tree as the references of their age, saying that they were
born when the tree was just at a certain height.
The Palaw’an are sharing and caring people who claim theis
ancestral domains in the southern part of Palawan specifically in the The men in this tribe wear g-strings while the women wear
Barangays of Bataraza, Brooke’s Point, Sofronio Espanola and patadyong which is native wrap that is similar to the malong.
Narra.
In food preference, the Palaw’ans do not usually use salt, their usual
Due to in-migration and inter-marriages, however, there are those diet is composed of rice, banana, cassava, vegetable, rimas or
scattered in the other parts of the province but their number is breadfruit, fruits, wild pigs from hunting, birds such as wild quails
negligible. and tikling, wild chicken, labuyo and freshwater fish.
The Palaw’an were originally nomadic, however, agrarian settlers They prepare a delicious delicacy called the pinyaram which is
began coming and occupying their vast domain. The tribe used to closely similar to the bibingka of the Tagalogs.
exploit the most fertile piece of land and move on to the next month;
their family units were very small which was probably caused by They prepare a delicious delicacy called the pinyaram which is
high mortality rates. closely similar to the bibingka of the Tagalogs.
The Palaw’an believed that when the woman conceives, she is given
all those foods she wants to eat except some foods like: pugita, talbos AD 982 – ancient Chinese traders regularly visited
ng kalabasa, ober, kuti-kuti, pagi, pusit, balentong at pagong. the islands. This was attested by the pottery, china and
other artifacts that have been recovered from caves and
The Palaw’an have a different beliefs (pamahiin). They believe that waters of Palawan.
if a person is about to leave and the house lizard makes a sound, it
indicates that there is danger ahead. Classical Time
During 12th century, Malay immigrants arrived in Palawan with
Another beliefs of a Palaw’an, if a large lizard (Bayawak) or the bird most of its settlements ruled by Malay chieftain.
called tatong enters the house, this siginifies that there will be an (These people grew agricultural products such as rice, ginger,
accident that will happen to a member of the family or spirits are cocunuts, sweet potatoes, sugarcane and bananas.)
asking for their share of the harvest or food from festivities which (They also raised animals such as pigs, goats and chicken.)
have been promised them.
o Fishing, Farming, Hunting (by used of bamboo traps)
During an eclipse, the Palaw’an believe that the moon was and blowguns – were their economic activities.
swallowed by some sort of giant insect and so they make noise by
the beating of gongs and clanging of cans or anything that can make During 13th century, Indonesian from the Majapahit Empire brought
noise. To create laughter, they make fun by catching a cat using Buddhism and Hinduism in Palawan and later the people of Palawan
fishing net. They believe that the giant insect will throw up and spit followed this.
out the moon it swallowed due to all the noise they made. Because of the proximity of Palawan to Borneo, southern portions of
the island of Palawan were under the control of the Sultanate of
Brunei for more than two centuries, and Islam was introduced.
The Pre-colonial During the same period, trade relations become of trend and
Palawan intermarriages among the natives and foreign traders such as
Chinese, Japanese, Arab and the Hindu have also become common.
Ancient Time The mixing of races resulted in a distinct breed of peoples in
Palawan that may be characterized by both physical statue and
Palaw’an and Tagbanua people are the direct descendant of feature.
the Palawans’ early settlers. Even before the invasion of the Spaniards, one big influence to the
220 to 263 AD – a new wave of recent migrants came during a country’s civilization, the Palawan civilization was blooming. They
period called “Three Kingdom” were developing their own language, had their own government and
**(Where “Little Dark People” who were living in Anwei province in their relations with countries like China and other Asian nations were
South China were driven South by Han growing steadily.
people.)
These people are what most Filipino call Aetas and Negritos
from whom Palawan’s Batak tribe descended.
Lesson 2 The Coming of
Conquistadors
The Spanish
Pigafetta:
Paragua “Those people of Pulaoan go naked as do the others almost all of them
cultivate their fields. They have blowpipes with thick wooden arrows more
than 1 palm long, tipped with points and are poisoned.”
Before the coming of
Conquistadors
The Coming of Conquistadors
The territories of the province were persistently under the
influence of Islamized people from Borneo and the Sulu The local datu made peace with the expedition through a blood
Archipelago. A glimpse of Tagbanua, Palaw’an, and Molbog compact. The ships' crews were welcomed to the island with rice
society reveals Muslim dominance and influence in material cooked in bamboo tubes, rice wine, bananas, pigs, goats,
culture and social organization. This is probably because of the chickens, coconuts, sugarcane, and other supplies.
trading industry in southern and central Palawan. The difficulty in Pigafetta described the inhabitants as being farmers. Their
colonizing Palawan is because of it is under the Muslim influence primary weapons were blowguns with iron tips that could both
since 1200. shoot thick wooden or bamboo darts (some poisoned) and
function as spears once their ammunition were exhausted.
Pigafetta also described the islanders as keeping roosters for
The Moro Raiders
cockfighting.
As early as 1602, a squadron of Muslim vessels attacked Cuyo The northern calamians Island of Palawan was under the Spanish
and its neighboring Islands. The raiders injured, killed and authority and later declared as a separate province from the
kidnapped about 700 persons. The following years, Muslims from mainland of Palawan.
Maguindanao collected tribute and captured more natives. (Cesar In 1570’s, the Spanish Government were collecting tribute in the
Adib Majul, UP Press, 1973) Calamianes and the Cuyo Islands.
And in 1590’s, Cuyo had one thousand and Calamianes had three
The Coming of Conquistadors thousand tribute payers under the Encomienderos of Panay and
Mindoro.
After the death of Magellan, in June /July 1521, when Antonio In 1622, Governor-General Alfonso Fajardo commissioned the
Pigafetta and the rest of the troop of Magellan during its search Count of Agustinian missionaries to colonize Palawan.
for provision and voyage back to Spain, found an Island and the One expeditionary group from Cebu reached Cuyo, bringing with
called it “PULAOAN”. They called it "la terra de missione" them it five Agustinian Recollect missionaries wih Rev. Fr. Juan de
("the land of promise") due to the fact that they were almost Santo Tomas as their superior. Another arrived in Taytay. With this,
starving by the time they reached the island. they spread Christianity to Agutaya then to Calamianes, and swerved
southward to Barbacan and Aborlan.
The Agustinian Recollects, without fear and armed with holy 2. Cuyunon life rituals have continued, but with
strength, planted the cross in Cuyo in 1622. They reported a warm Christian names
welcome from the natives excluding the Babaylan (native priest), - The rice cycle and various fiestas are examples (J. Fernandez 90: Prudente
and their policy of Reduccion. 977)
- In the evening of Black Saturday, people remain awake while performing
In 1632, Fray Juan de San Jose, prior to Cuyo was kidnapped by Erekay an Indigenous oratorical form.
Muslims. He was hostage until a ransom of two thousand pesos was Cilia- A novena for Saint Cecilia, but it may also be a supplication to the
paid. They brought with them many natives as captives. And in anitos asking for good harvest and acure for sickness.
1637, Taga of Sultan Kudarat with a force of Four Joangas ransacked 3. Metamorphosis of the Mangalok
the church of Cuyo. from being a respected Babaylan to a feared like creature, so as to
During the spread of Christianity in the Northern part of Palawan. define historical change in the realm of cultural consciousness.
Still the Southern Palawan was controlled by the Muslims under the “Philippines shall be divided into four Departments:
Sultan of Mindanao and Sulu. 1.) Norte-Luzon and nearby Islands,
In 17th century, another Spanish friars sent out missionaries in Cuyo, 2.) Oriental-Visayas,
Agutaya, Taytay and Cagayancillo but they ended up meeting from 3.) Occidental- Calamianes, Paragua and
the Moro community who were occupying the place. Balabac, and
Later before 18th century, Spain began building churches that are 4.) Meridional- Surigao, Mindanao,
enclosed by garrisons for protection against Moro raids in the town Basilan, Jolo, and northeast Borneo”
of Cuyo, Taytay, Linapacan and Balabac. In 1749, the Sultanate of -- Junta Especial par alas Reformas de Administracion Y Gobierno delas
Brunei surrendered southern Palawan to Spain. Islas Filipinas, hacia 1871 cited by Ocampo, 1985
The massacre is the basis for the recently published book Last Man
Out: Glenn McDole, USMC, Survivor of the Palawan Massacre in
World War II by Bob Wilbanks. The island was liberated from the
Japanese Imperial Forces by a task force consisting of Filipino and
American military personnel between February 28 and April 22,
1945.
All these are far from what we see of Palawan now, a home of
beauty and culture with a dark history and a chamber of hair-
raising stories of war and colonization. Its history is a tough proof
that Palawan in not just about the natural resources, white sandy
beaches, long sandbars, blue crystalline waters, rich marine
biodiversity and abundant ecology.