RIMAR B.

ABARIENTOS

“TASADAY”

Reflection Paper

The documentary of Kara David entitled “Tasaday” shows a revisit of a community of indigenous people
known as Tasaday, a cave-dwelling community in South Cotabato. After being discovered in 1971 by Dafal and
Manda Elizalde, the life of this tribe has not been the same again, as it resulted to them being considered a hoax
internationally. It is due to a claim by Oswald Iten, an international journalist who visited the community in
1986, that these people were farmers and were just told to dress up to look primitive. Since then, the Tasaday
people longed to prove that they were real and that they exist.

The simple ways of living of the Tasaday community depict concepts of sociology. One, is the sense of
leadership. The tribe recognizes a chieftain in Bilangan who served as their leader. Dul Udelen, a Tasaday, even
shared that the topmost pocket in the cave belonged to him and his own family. The tribe also practices a sort of
social organization. It is shown in assigning which pocket in the cave is for the ladies and married couples with
young or new born children. Symbolism was also depicted while the team were on their way. The Tasaday
turned Manobo Blit who guided Kara’s team to the cave recognizes the leaf they used before as clothing. They
added that it serves as a sign that they are nearing the cave since there is already an abundance of it in the area.
In addition, migrating away from the Manobo tribe due to a spreading disease, which lead to the formation of
the Tasaday community, also depict a social issue. As for the concepts of anthropology, the most depicted one is
the difference between the language or dialect of Manobo Blit and the Tasadays. Anthropologists believe that a
primary tool in distinguishing a separate community is based on the language they use that differs from any
other group.

The difference in the language used is considered by Kara as strong evidence that these people are indigenous
and does not belong to the Manobos which Oswald Iten insisted.

The image from the documentary that transpires in the Philippine society is the rampant disinformation
that is still evident in the country. This is triggered by the advancement of modern technology and the presence
of imprudent social media users. Instead of fact-checking, a lot of people instantly accepts information and jump
into conclusion without ensuring if it is factual or not. Because of this, people or organization involved in the
issues are being attacked heavily despite being innocent. A great example is during the election season where
tons of misinformation were seen in the internet. This is very crucial to our political setting as what people see
or read may affect their decision-making on who to vote, which may lead us to misery once a lot accepted the
wrong information. It is similar to how disheartening it was for the Tasaday community to know that due to
misinformation, the world considered them a hoax, destroying their identity. Instead of getting helped and
supported, they were laughed at, labeled as fake, and bullied instead. It was so painful for them that they
wished they were not discovered at all.

My take on the documentary is that misinformation is nothing less like a viral disease. It will cause
nothing but misery and misunderstanding especially to those involved. As for everyone who draws interest in
them, the least that we can do is to respect them and recognize that they are our fellowmen. They have their
own ways of living and that they hold a culture as pure as them. With what happened to the Tasaday tribe, I
hope that we give more effort in studying and learning their community as to establish their identity. This is to
avoid any issues of hoax to be thrown at them and give a chance to the present generation to draw valuable
things from such as having a sense of community and recognizing your identity.