Culture and practices

Mangyans lived in peaceful societies as compared to the head-hunting tribes of North Luzon and
the brave defiant warrior tribes of the South.

Mangyan is mainly subsistence agriculturalists, planting a variety of sweet potato, upland (dry
cultivation) rice, and taro. They also trap small animals and wild pigs. Many who live in close contact
with lowland Filipinos sell cash crops such as bananas and ginger.

Mangyan is the collective name of eight ethnolinguistic groups— Iraya,

Alangan, Taiyuan, Tau-Buid, Bangon, Buhid, Hanunoo, and Ratagnon —
who inhabit the highland region of Mindoro.
The Alangan Mangyans don their customary attire of lingeb and abay, crafted using woven nito obtained from
forest vines. (Photo courtesy of NCIP)
Alangan Mangyans are mostly living in a ‘balaylakoy’, a large house made of bamboo poles, cogon grass, rattan
strips or vines, and the bark of the trees for outside covering of the house. (Photo courtesy of NCIP)
The Alangan Mangyan relies mainly on upland farming for subsistence-- planting crops such as rice, corn,
bananas, and other root crops. (Photo courtesy of NCIP)