Mangyan Tribe: Arpeco

INDIGENOUS GROUPS ARPEco
Mangyan
Tribe
Presented by:
BAUTISTA, Jamili Ann | CALIBA, Cheska Kate | CUATON, Camille | DANILA, Sheryl
LEGASPI, Patricia Ladine | PORLARES, Camila Joy | VILLANUEVA, Mariani Angela
01 BSA 4F
TABLE OF CONTENTS ARPEco
A INTRODUCTION (HISTORY, ORIGIN & GROUPS)
B SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD
MANGYAN C POLITICAL & SOCIOLOGICAL SYSTEM
D SOCIAL ORGANIZATION & CUSTOMS
TRIBE E RELIGIOUS BELIEFS & PRACTICES
F HANDICRAFTS AND ARTS & WRITING AND LITERATURE
G ARCHITECTURAL (DWELLINGS, HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

& COMMUNITY)
02 MANGYAN TRIBE
INTRODUCTION 23 JANUARY
INTRODUCTION
03 MANGYAN TRIBE
INTRODUCTION ARPEco
Mangyan is a generic term that comprises the indigenous peoples of Mindoro Island. The people
live in settlements of from five to twelve single-family houses perched on slopes overlooking
mountain streams.
Several groupings have been noted by different authorities to include:

1. Hanunoo, southern part of Oriental Mindoro
2. Buhid, just north of the Hanunoo,
3. Batangan, in the interior forests north of the
Buhid
4. Ratagnon, in the southern tip of the island
5. Iraya, on the northern tip of Mindoro
6. Tadyawan, on the east and northeastern side
7. Alangan, about Mt. Halcon.
While these groups are often referred to as “Mangyan,” they speak different languages, and only
one of the ethnic groups—Hanunuo—refers to itself as Mangyan.
04 MANGYAN TRIBE
INTRODUCTION ARPEco
Population: 30,000 (1980)
Among the most remarkable aspects of their rich culture is the writing
system known as “Mangyan Scripts” (“Surat Hanunuo Mangyan” and
“Surat Buhid Mangyan”) that remains in use by the Hanunuo and Buhid
Mangyan in southeastern Mindoro.
One of the most widely loved Mangyan literary forms is the song poem.
There are three distinct classes of song-poems:
Ambahan - 7 syllables per line with the last syllable of each line
rhyming with the others
Urukay - eight syllables and have uniform end-rhymes
Adahiyo - six syllables to a line but without a fixed final syllable
rhyming scheme
With the use of a knife, the Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyan people
carved their poetry including messages and letters in Mangyan Scripts
on bamboo slats, tubes and plants.
05 MANGYAN TRIBE
SOURCES OF
LIVELIHOOD
06 MANGYAN TRIBE
SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD ARPEco
The traditional economic activities of the Mangyan centered

around the practice of shifting cultivation, complemented by
hunting and gathering. They used to rely solely on a
subsistence economy that in turn depended on the availability
of cultivable space, the vagaries of climate and environment,
and external pressures such as forced displacement and
resettlement.
Mangyan tribes depend on their "kaingin" farm for subsistence.

Their staple foods are upland rice, banana, sweet potato, and
taro. Some have also planted fruit-bearing trees like rambutan,
citrus, and coffee in their kaingin.
Kaingin is a type of swidden farming used by most Mangyan as

a sustainable form of agriculture for their communities.
07 MANGYAN TRIBE
During the dry season, the men hunted monkeys, deer,

tamaraw, and especially, wild pigs; during the rainy
season, they used traps. They gathered honey and
beeswax while the women gathered root crops. These
were done in very controlled numbers and in groups
because of their fear of the labang (animal or evil spirits),
which guard the forests.
Hunting and gathering, however, has drastically declined

because of the overexploitation of forest resources,
particularly by logging concessions for the export of
timber. The Mangyan have to travel long distances to
reach the forests, which have either receded, shrunk, or
disappeared; and animals have become scarce if not
extinct.
08 MANGYAN TRIBE
The Hanunoo’s thorough knowledge of their flora makes

for a Mangyan farming system that is ecologically sound.
They are able to distinguish between 1,200 varieties of
plants for which they have some 1,600 indigenous
names. More than 90% of these plants are used as food
and medicine, and for ritualistic and technological use.
The traditional practitioners of swidden farming are

typified by the Batangan group, whose very name is
derived from the nature of their main economic activity.
Other economic activities are hunting, fishing, and
trapping. Weaving seems to be unknown since the
Batangan still use bark for their clothing.
09 MANGYAN TRIBE
One important economic practice of the Batangan has to do

with material inheritance. The property of the Batangan
consists of pigs, plates, plants such as cassava and banana,
agricultural and popular medical knowledge, and amurit (the
power to punish).
Among the Tau-buid or Batangan, there are two types of

households: the individual household, which is occupied by
one nuclear family, and the compound household, which is
occupied by several families. All residents in the compound
household are related to one another through blood or
marriage. As an economic unit, the household distributes
land to its members for swidden cultivation.
10 MANGYAN TRIBE
The Iraya depend on slash-and-burn agriculture and thus

practice the saknungan, in which neighbors help each other
to work in the fields. The yield is partitioned after harvest.
However, they are also traditionally seminomadic, mainly
because they have been constantly displaced from their land
by lowlanders.
The Irayas are also skilled in nito-weaving. Handicrafts such

as jars, trays, plates and cups of different sizes and designs
are being marketed to the lowlanders.
Where forests have been replaced by pasture land for cattle

breeding, the Mangyan, such as the Buhid of Fay Valley, have
hired themselves out as wage-earning cattle hands under
exploitative conditions.
11 MANGYAN TRIBE
POLITICAL AND
SOCIOLOGICAL SYSTEM
12 MANGYAN TRIBE
POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL SYSTEM ARPEco
Mangyan tribe recognize at least one leader who has both magical and religious powers. Leadership
most often resides in the community elders (kuyay or gurangan), who are knowledgeable in
customary laws (talaghusay, tahinan or tanungan), the shaman (balyanan or fanlahi) and the ritual
performer who leads the celebration of an agricultural rite.

13 MANGYAN TRIBE
A. BUHID MANGYAN
live under the guidance of a fangayatan or gurangan tahitan,

who is the eldest in the community. He is also referred to as
hatiwalaan or hatulan.
FANGAYATAN - is an elderly male adult chosen on the basis of

the
following credentials:
his lineage, consisting of his father, grandfather, and forebears
being also fangayatan;
his knowledge of Tagalog and Ilocano, which are both the
languages of their lowland neighbors;
his knowledge of the traditional Buhid script written on
bamboo.
a shaman who performs the ritual of planting the first rice
seeds.
14 MANGYAN TRIBE
B. ALANGAN MANGYAN
KUYAY - He is an adult male whose duties are to keep peace and order
in the community and to lead the celebration of planting and
harvesting as the community’s ritual performer.
C. BATANGAN MANGYAN
TANUNAN - is looked up to as a leader who possesses magical and
religious functions. He has custody of the ritual plate used for curing
afflicted persons, which is done by beating on a plate.
The Batangan households are collectively established to form

neighborhoods which can be regarded as hamlets. In some of these
hamlets, some households are partitioned into two physical structures—
one for the parents, and the other for the married son or daughter.
There is no titular head for each village, but there is a caretaker called
danaama
15 MANGYAN TRIBE
DANAAMA
who parcels out available land for clearing to each
household, depending on the number of families in each
one.
The danaama’s role has become increasingly important
politically, in view of the fact that Christian settlers have
been encroaching on Batangan land, imposing their laws
and their land titles, even as they help themselves to the
land’s natural resources.
Qualifications for the danaama include age, good

personality (e.g., kind, thoughtful, brave), and intelligence.
Other qualifications are the ability to speak Tagalog and
financial sufficiency. The latter is especially important, as the
danaama is expected to pay off the debts of his insolvent
village members.
Usually, the oldest male in the settlement becomes the
danaama if he possesses these qualities.
16 MANGYAN TRIBE
D. IRAYA MANGYAN
The community elders, known as kuyay, traditionally served as the

Iraya Mangyan's leaders.
Some villages have adopted the pattern of governance of organized

towns where there is a village mayor and a teniente (an assistant).
In some instances, a hukom (judge) may be designated to hear the

complaints of the villagers. In recent years, the barangay system,
which replaced the barrio as a political unit in the Philippines, has
been adopted. The barangay captain may act on the following
wrongdoings: theft, insult, arson, adultery, murder, elopement, and
rape.
In time past, a severe form of punishment was pangaw, in which the

wrongdoer’s feet are clamped with a wooden device while he is
flogged several times.
17 MANGYAN TRIBE
E. HANUNOO MANGYAN
is characterized as “bilateral and leaderless” and

“egalitarian,”
GURANGAN - who takes on the responsibilities of leader

and talaghusay or indigenous healer.
- He or she is often approached for advice. However, the
elder is not granted any special privilege, except for food
and beads that may be given as a result of the process of
healing or case resolution.
Presently, because of the integration of the Mangyan with

the political structure of the Philippines, a barangay captain
and councilors are chosen.
18 MANGYAN TRIBE
E. HANUNOO MANGYAN
Every wrongdoing can be settled peacefully among members of the community, especially as mediated by the
elders. Reconciliation between the conflicting parties is the aim of discussions arising from a dispute.
In cases of divorce, a friend or kin may offer to slaughter a pig or prepare a good meal to bring the two parties back
into good terms and to continue living together as man and wife.
In serious cases of theft or adultery, the offenders or suspects may be subjected to trial by ordeal. They are made to
immerse their hands in boiling water to pick up an object; scalding is evidence of guilt. Society puts credence in this
process; the guilty person is fined, sometimes asked to give a feast, which is the way to put an end to ill feelings. This
judicial method is called kasaba.
19 MANGYAN TRIBE
F. ROTAGNON MANGYAN
Among the Ratagnon, a community leader called tanungan is vested with authority to decide
family cases, in close consultation with other elders.

20 MANGYAN TRIBE
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
AND CUSTOMS
21 MANGYAN TRIBE
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION & CUSTOMS ARPEco
Mangyan societies follow various customs and practices related to courtship, marriage, child
rearing, and death. There is the fundamental belief that the harmony and well-being of all the
members of a community would be ensured if these customs and practices are dutifully
followed.
Generally, courtship requires that a young man win the approval of both the maiden and her
family. He may be required to serenade her with songs and poetry, after which he is expected
to render his services on the swidden farm owned by the maiden’s family or throw a grand
feast for his prospective in-laws and bride.
22 MANGYAN TRIBE
Courtship & Marriage

Child marriages are practiced in some Mangyan
groups as well as marriages arranged by the families
of a young man and a young woman.
Among the Iraya Mangyan, the marriage ceremony
is officiated by an old member of the village. The
elder person joins the hands of the couple in prayer,
begging Apo Iraya to bless the couple with children,
health, and long life.
Among the Hanunoo, the first step to marriage is
layis, the courtship, which takes place in the
woman’s house. The boy usually takes his friends
along, bringing with them musical instruments and
white blankets called tumon.
23 MANGYAN TRIBE
Courtship & Marriage

Marriage between close relatives is prohibited and is
punished with fines. The newlywed couple stays
with the bride’s family, following the matrilocal
system. Monogamy is the general rule, but polygyny
and polyandry are allowed, with the consent of the
first spouse.
Among the Batangan, filial respect and a kind of
seniority system are observed, which are both
practiced in most culture groups in the country.
In the Ratagnon community, similar practices of
courtship, marriage, and child rearing are observed.
Some bride-price is paid, and a costly feast may at
times be held to highlight the union of two people.

24 MANGYAN TRIBE
Child Rearing
Among the Bangon, the pregnant woman follows
certain taboos. When the baby is born, the umbilical
cord and placenta are hung from the tree if it is a
boy so that he will be an expert at climbing trees; if a
girl, the umbilical cord and placenta are buried so
that she will know how to plant and grow kamote
(sweet potato). Until they are named, the male infant
is called Hag-ama and the female, Hag-ina.
25 MANGYAN TRIBE
Death and Burial

The Mangyan observe elaborate rituals related to
death and burial The Hanunoo Mangyan believe that
the karadwa (soul) of the dead will not rest in peace
unless the proper rituals are performed and are
strictly followed according to tradition. If any detail
of the rituals are altered by mistake or intentionally
violated, a great misfortune will occur. Another belief
is that evil spirits will join the mourners and eat their
flesh if the rituals are not strictly followed or violated.
26 MANGYAN TRIBE
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS &

PRACTICES
27 MANGYAN TRIBE
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS & PRACTICES ARPEco
The Mangyan people have their own unique religious beliefs and practices that involve animism,
ancestor worship, and rituals to appease spirits. They have a strong connection to nature and the
environment, and their spiritual beliefs are closely tied to their way of life.
28 MANGYAN TRIBE
Hanunoo Bangon Iraya Alangan
The Hanunoo Mangyan believe in Mahal na Makaako, while the Bangon

believe in Ahulutok. The Iraya believe in Apo Iraya, and the Alangan believe
in kamuruan (good spirits).
29 MANGYAN TRIBE
The Mangyan believe that the universe is a globular shape like a coconut,
called sinukuban or kalibutan, and all beings live in this space.
Believe in spirits such as apu dandum (water spirits), apu daga (soil spirits),
daniw (stone spirit), and binayi (caretaker of the rice spirits).
They perform rituals to appease the spirits, including specific rituals in every
phase of rice cultivation and harvest.
Believe that labang (evil spirits) can take on animal and human forms and
roam the areas they used to frequent.
They have fear people who practice black magic (amurit and panhin).
30 MANGYAN TRIBE
The Tau-buid or Batangan believe in four naked

deities, two male and two female, who are believed to
be childless.
The paragayan or diolang plates play an important
role in their religious practices.
The Alangan perform the agpansula beyek ritual to

cure sick individuals, and the balaonan (shaman)
performs the balaon ritual for curing the sick.
31 MANGYAN TRIBE
HANDICRAFTS AND
ARTS & WRITING
AND LITERATURE
32 MANGYAN TRIBE
HANDICRAFTS AND ARTS ARPEco
Mangyans offer a rich artistic heritage to the history of

pre-colonial Philippines. Their art is an expression of
social relations in their community.
For the Mangyans, craft has always been a product of

their way of life and an extension of their customs and
traditions. Examples of their handicrafts are the
following:
woven textiles (clothing)

rattan baskets
nito baskets
beaded items (bracelets and keychain)
33 MANGYAN TRIBE
HANDICRAFTS AND ARTS ARPEco
Ambahan is a rhythmic poetic expression with a meter of

seven syllables presented through recitation and
chanting. It is usually written on bamboo in the Surat
Mangyan, which is their centuries-old pre-Spanish script.
Pakudos is a Mangyan design that is characterized by

symmetrical, aesthetic, and orderly utilization of lines and
space with equal utilization of vertical and horizontal
composition. It is also used to embellish traditional
Mangyan traditional clothing.
34 MANGYAN TRIBE
WRITING AND LITERATURE ARPEco
Hanunoo is a language spoken in Mindoro, Philippines.

In the year 2010 there were about 25,100 Hanunóoo
speakers. The Mangyan script like the Baybayin is
based on the syllables of the Philippine phonetics.
Surat Mangyan is also known to local Mindoreños as

Sulat Mangyan. The Hanunoo script is one of three
surviving pre-Hispanic forms of writing in the
Philippines. Hanunoo writing is used mainly to write
love songs or epic poetry called "ambāhan" and also for
regular & romantic correspondence.
35 MANGYAN TRIBE
ARCHITECTURAL
DWELLINGS | HOUSE
CONSTRUCTION & COMMUNITY
36 MANGYAN TRIBE
ARCHITECTURAL ARPEco
Traditional Mangyan dwelling

The Mangyan are swidden cultivators, or mobile farmers,
who cohabit in small or substantial settlements. The
families that make up these settlements are typically kin
by marriage or blood ties.
A house (balāy) is built in a named place and it is

attached to a territory with a specific spring
Most activities in everyday and ritual life, from birth
to death, are organized around these houses.
The main rituals are linked to the rice culture and the
ancestors.
the house is also a place to live in and to
communicate with the ancestors through the spring
37 MANGYAN TRIBE
Typical Architectural Plan of Mangyan House

The commercial house is elevated from the ground at 1.50m to the
surrounding platform.
This one room structure measures 6x10m and is rectangular in plan.
Flooring is made of smoothened smaller sapling.
At the central part of the house, leading from the main door is the
called PALAGANAN.
1. This passageway is at much lower than the platforms.
2. Visitors may sleep at the palaganan but most of the time it is used
as extra storage space for families.
3. Flooring is made of large logs laid parallel to each other and
attached to the joints by vines or rattan lashing.
Individual families are not separated from another by partitions,

rather their space allotment is defined by a material spread on the
floor and also by their individual fireplaces.
38 MANGYAN TRIBE
Structural Elements
Walls are made of bark of trees, and constructed about a meter less
above the floor - this opening allows occupants to observe the
exterior without having seen from the outside.
Protective Elements
Gabled roof with cogon grass thatching.
Roofs are projected 1m beyond the wall for protection against cold
wind.
Circulatory Elements
The ascent to the house is thru a ladder of 4 steps, or sometimes thru a
notched log.
The ladder leads to a narrow door which in turn leads to the palaganan.
There are no windows.
Openings are provided thru the space from the flooring, and the
underneath surface of the wall.
39 MANGYAN TRIBE
Iraya Mangyan Hanunoo Mangyan

live in settlements called guraan which have 10 houses Settlements are located quite a distance from
each. each other
Tingyawan - A place where there are established Settlements may be divided into four types:
houses
Smallest settlement- with one house with two
Manganaon - neighbors
storage huts
These settlements are not permanent and are
abandoned during the summer Simple settlement- with two houses, two storage
The temporary shelters are made of leaves and tree huts, and one extended family
branches, like the sinarekked (lean-to) of the Agta. Complex settlement- with three houses, at least
When death occurs in the settlement, it is abandoned three storage huts, inhabited by one extended
for another site. family and at least one other nuclear family
40 MANGYAN TRIBE
Hanunoo Mangyan
Compound settlement- usually with more
than 10 houses, separated into two distinct
clusters inhabited by several families and at
least one extended family.
Hanunoo houses are sturdy, walled, four-

cornered structures raised some meters
above the ground on wooden and bamboo
posts, floored with bamboo, hip-roofed with
cogon, with two doors and windows.
Sakbawan (ladder)- allow entry to only one
person at a time.
Dapugan- cooking area
balay daraga (young maiden’s house)
it also has a spacious veranda
41 MANGYAN TRIBE
Tau-buid/Batangan Mangyan
The beams of the house serve as storage for tubers and
unripe banana
There are no other partitions in the house.
The roof and walls may be of a tree bark or thatch, and the
flooring of split bamboo.
The whole structure appears to be low slung and in a
squatting position.
The house has two levels

Lower level
may be on stilts some centimeters above the ground
has an entrance with a notched log as means of access,
which is also the cooking area
Upper level
serves as a reception area and as sleeping quarters
42 MANGYAN TRIBE
Alangan Mangyan
Paykamalayan (house)- a spacious dwelling for a
few families who live together
Alangan balay lakoy has different levels, each
occupied by a single family
The trees balagayan, lauan-puti, and tangili provide
the materials for the roof, walls, and floor of this
elevated house which measures about 9-by-5 square
meters
Trunks of lauan-puti, tangili, anagan, anuling,
bangkal, bulala, butur, do-a, kamagong, kolop,
malakape, and magurilao are used for posts and roof
beams.
Kuyay- in charge of preserving the rice seeds for the
next planting season. He also intervenes or mediates Lauan-puti Tangili Balagayan
in the settlement of disputes among the communal
members of the big house.
43 MANGYAN TRIBE
Ratagnon Mangyan
Ratagnon village is not formally developed
Ratagnon house is made of wood and bamboo,
roofed with nipa leaves, and raised from the ground
on posts or stilts.
Inside the house are arranged the essentials of daily
living:
fireplace, pots, a bench or two, beddings, and mats.
There may be musical instruments hanging from
the ceiling or sticking out of walls.
There may be a handloom in one corner, with a
supply of rolls of cotton, spindle, and thread.
Rafters serve as storage space for rice grains
carefully packed in bags, to be used for the next
planting season.
Light comes from burning wrapped resin, a bundle
coiled with leaves.
44 MANGYAN TRIBE

Mangyan Tribe: Arpeco

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INDIGENOUS GROUPS ARPEco

A INTRODUCTION (HISTORY, ORIGIN & GROUPS)

MANGYAN C POLITICAL & SOCIOLOGICAL SYSTEM

D SOCIAL ORGANIZATION & CUSTOMS

TRIBE E RELIGIOUS BELIEFS & PRACTICES

F HANDICRAFTS AND ARTS & WRITING AND LITERATURE

G ARCHITECTURAL (DWELLINGS, HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

Several groupings have been noted by different authorities to include:

Population: 30,000 (1980)

The traditional economic activities of the Mangyan centered

Mangyan tribes depend on their "kaingin" farm for subsistence.

Kaingin is a type of swidden farming used by most Mangyan as

During the dry season, the men hunted monkeys, deer,

Hunting and gathering, however, has drastically declined

The Hanunoo’s thorough knowledge of their flora makes

The traditional practitioners of swidden farming are

One important economic practice of the Batangan has to do

Among the Tau-buid or Batangan, there are two types of

The Iraya depend on slash-and-burn agriculture and thus

The Irayas are also skilled in nito-weaving. Handicrafts such

Where forests have been replaced by pasture land for cattle

live under the guidance of a fangayatan or gurangan tahitan,

FANGAYATAN - is an elderly male adult chosen on the basis of

The Batangan households are collectively established to form

Qualifications for the danaama include age, good

The community elders, known as kuyay, traditionally served as the

Some villages have adopted the pattern of governance of organized

In some instances, a hukom (judge) may be designated to hear the

In time past, a severe form of punishment was pangaw, in which the

is characterized as “bilateral and leaderless” and

GURANGAN - who takes on the responsibilities of leader

Presently, because of the integration of the Mangyan with

Courtship & Marriage

Courtship & Marriage

Death and Burial

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS &

Hanunoo Bangon Iraya Alangan

The Hanunoo Mangyan believe in Mahal na Makaako, while the Bangon

The Tau-buid or Batangan believe in four naked

The Alangan perform the agpansula beyek ritual to

Mangyans offer a rich artistic heritage to the history of

For the Mangyans, craft has always been a product of

woven textiles (clothing)

Ambahan is a rhythmic poetic expression with a meter of

Pakudos is a Mangyan design that is characterized by

Hanunoo is a language spoken in Mindoro, Philippines.

Surat Mangyan is also known to local Mindoreños as

Traditional Mangyan dwelling

A house (balāy) is built in a named place and it is

Typical Architectural Plan of Mangyan House

Individual families are not separated from another by partitions,

Iraya Mangyan Hanunoo Mangyan

Hanunoo houses are sturdy, walled, four-

The house has two levels

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