BATAK GROUP

The Batak people are peaceful, hospitable and shy people, classified as one of the
Philippine Aeta groups. Their name "Batak" originated from an old Cuyunon word
meaning "mountain people". They live close to nature, having the mountains as
their traditional habitat. Settlements are widely distributed in the mountains, river
valleys and along the seacoast of Palawan Island, composed of several bands of
Batak families. Their population and culture have been heavily influenced by
contact with outsiders over the past three decades, resulting in changes in
customary attitudes and ways.
They are now considered a "vanishing cultural minority" in the country. The Batak
people are a vanishing tribe in Palawan due to the practice of monogamy and
limited resources. There are only 450 Batak people left, composed of 50 family
groups, making them the smallest of the indigenous groups in the region. They
have suffered from food scarcity, outsider population growth, and lack of work.

WAY OF LIFE
The Batak have successfully combined hunting, fishing, and gathering of forest
products with shifting agriculture. Rice, root crops and vegetables are grown, and
at the peak of the dry season in March the gardens are burned to the ground. New
gardens are planted in April when the rain arrives. Women fish with a hook and
line, and the whole community works together to catch fish by stunning them with
plant-based poison. The most prized game is the wild pig, and the Batak also
collect leaves, fruit, tubers and palm hearts for food, resin, rattan canes and wild
honey to sell.

CLOTHING
Men wear G-strings and women wear "tapis" skirts of bark cloth. Adornment in
women includes dried grasses, shells and beads to decorate their hair, bands of
bamboo and shell on the arms and ankles, and rings of colored rattan strips on the
waistband. Men carry bamboo or rattan containers for their tobacco and betel
chew.
HOW THEY ELECT THEIR LEADERS
In Batak society, there are only three (3) social groups: the family, band and
settlements. Traditional leadership is found in the band. They have a chief called
"kapitan" an elder chosen by the adult members based on leadership qualities and
hunting or fighting skills. They also have a "masikampo" for each settlement
elected from and by the group of elders based on expertise in customary laws.
Social control and justice are handled by these leaders. However, since the national
government instituted the barangay system of local government, complications and
conflicts have arisen in duties and functions. This is because matters related to
cultural preservation, protection of rights, and their ancestral domain have been
placed under the jurisdiction of government agencies concerned with the Batak.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The Batak are an animist group. They believe in nature spirits - good and bad, who
dwell in trees, rocks and mountains. They also believe in good and malevolent
deities. Spirits are feared and avoided. When favorable things happen, they feel
indebted or obliged to feel grateful. Various rituals and ceremonies are performed
to maintain links between them and the world of spirits or gods. The Babaylan
functions as both medium and shaman.