Music of

Mangyan of
Mindoro
Oriental Mindoro: Merl's
Suman sa Lihiya with Coco
Jam from Calapan City
ORIENTAL MINDORO - Puerto Galera is a party beach in Oriental
Mindoro. Powdery white sand, mixed crowds, prestine waters and
spectacular sunset make this place really wonderful. (Photo above
taken in White Beach, Puerto Galera).
 Tamaraw (Dwarf Water Buffalo) – Found
in the the island of Mindoro in the
Philippines, the tamaraw is the onlyDwarf
Water Buffalo endemic Phillipine bovine.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Mindoro, formerly called Mait, was known to Chinese traders
even before the coming of the Spanish. In 15 70, the Spanish
began to explore the island and named it "Mina de Oro"
(mine of gold) after finding some of the precious metal,
though no major gold discoveries were ever made.
Missionaries became active around Ilin Island off the
southern tip, Lubang Island off the northern tip,and
Mamburao. Moro raids later forced them to abandon these
places. In 1754, the Muslims established strongholds in
Mamburao and Balete (near Sablayan). From there, they
launched raids against nearby settlements. An expedition sent
by Governor Simon de Anda put an end to these raids.
In the early years, Mindoro was administered as
part of Bonbon, now Batangas.Early in the 17th
century, the island was separated from Bonbon
and orga- nized into a corregimiento. In 1902
the island of Lubang, which was formerly a part
of Cavite, was annexed to Mindoro. In the same
year Mindoro and Lubang were annexed to
Marinduque when the latter became a regular
province. Mindoro became a regular province in
1921. On June 13, 1950, under Republic Act No.
505, Mindoro was divided into two provinces,
Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro.
A typical Mangyan house
Mangyan Groups
There are around 300 million
indigenous peoples in the
world. In the Philippines, of the
projected population of 94
million in 2010, about 15%
belong to indigenous groups.
Mindoro is the seventh
largest island in the Philippines,
with an area of 10,224 square
kilometers and two provinces –
Oriental and Occidental. Of the
total population of one million,
the indigenous population is
estimated at 100,000.
•Mangyan is the collective
name for the eight
indigenous groups living
in Mindoro, each with its
own name, language, and
set of customs:
Iraya
Alangan
Tadyawan
Tau-buid
Bangon
Buhid
Hanunuo
Ratagnon
The Iraya Mangyans live in the municipalities of
Puerto Galera, San Teodoro and Baco in Oriental Mindoro but most are
in Occidental Mindoro, particularly in the municipalities of Abra de Ilog,
Paluan, Mamburao and Santa Cruz.
Estel (1952) described the Iraya as having curly or deep wavy hair and
dark skin but not as dark as that of the Negrito.
During ancient times, the Iraya traditional attire was made of dry tree
bark, pounded to make it flat and soft. The women usually wore a
blouse and a skirt and the men wore g-strings made of cloth. Today,
however, the Iraya are dressed just like the lowland people. Ready-to-
wear clothes are easier to find than their traditional costume [Uyan,
2002].
The Irayas are also skilled in nito-weaving. Handicrafts such as jars,
trays, plates and cups of different sizes and design are being marketed
to the lowlanders.
They subsist on rice, banana, sweet potato, and other root crops.
The Alangan Mangyans live in the municipalities of Naujan, Baco,
San Teodoro, and Victoria in Oriental Mindoro, and in the municipality of Sablayan in Occidental
Mindoro.

The name Alangan was derived from the name of a river and mountain slopes in the upper
Alangan Valley [Leykamm, 1979].

The women traditionally wear a skirt called lingeb. This is made of long strips of woven nito
(forest vines), and is wound around the abdomen. This is worn together with the g-string called
abayen. The upper covering is called ulango, made from the leaf of the wild buri palm.
Sometimes a red kerchief called limbutong is worn over the ulango. The men wear g-strings with
fringes in front.

The Alangan Mangyans practise swidden farming, which consists of eleven stages. Two of them
are the firebreak-making (agait) and the fallowing (agpagamas). A firebreak is made so the fire
will not go beyond the swidden site where the vegetation is thoroughly dry and ready for
burning. Two years after clearing, cultivation of the swidden is normally ceased and the site is
allowed to revert back to forest [Quiaoit, 1997].

Betel nut chewing is also noted among the Alangans, like all other Mangyan tribes. This they
chew with great fervor from morning to night, saying that they don't feel hunger as long as they
chew betel nut [Leykamm, 1979]. Nonetheless, betel chewing has a social dimension. Exchange
of betel chew ingredients signifies social acceptance.
The Tadyawan Mangyans
live in the municipalities of Naujan, Victoria, Socorro, Pola, Gloria,
Pinamalayan, and Bansud.

In the past, the women wore for their upper covering a red cloth called
paypay, which is wound around the breast. For their lower covering,
they wrapped around the waist a white cloth called talapi. The men
wore g-strings called abay. For their accessories, women wore colorful
bracelets and necklaces made of beads. Today the women are rarely
seen wearing their traditional attire, though some men still wear the
abay.

Like all other Mangyan tribes, the Tadyawan 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.
Tadyawan-Mangyan families presenting
their traditional practices at the 2007
cultural festival
The Tau-buids are known as pipe
smokers and even children begin smoking at a young age.

Standard dress for men and women is the loin cloth. In some
areas close to the lowlands, women wrap a knee-length cloth
around their bark bra-string and men wear cloth instead of
bark. Bark cloth is worn by both men and women in the
interior and is also used for head bands, women's breast
covers, and blankets. Cloth is made by extracting, pounding
and drying the inner bark of several trees [Pennoyer, 1979].

The Tau-buid Mangyans live in the municipalities of Socorro,

Pinamalayan and Gloria, but mostly in Occidental Mindoro.
The Bangon Mangyans live
along the Bongabon river called Binagaw and the
surrounding mountains in the municipalities of
Bongabong, Bansud, and Gloria in Oriental Mindoro.

The Bangon Mangyans have their own culture,

language and writing system, different to the other
tribes in Oriental Mindoro, and asserted they be
considered the seventh major tribe – not a sub-tribe
of the Tau-buid. In a March 28, 1996 meeting with
Buhid Mangyans in Ogom Liguma, they decided to
accept the word Bangon for their tribe.
The Buhids are known as pot makers. Other Mangyan
tribes, like the Alangan and Hanunuo, used to buy their cooking pots from the Buhids.
The word Buhid literally means "mountain dwellers" [Postma, 1967].

Buhid women wear woven black and white brassiers called linagmon and a black and
white skirt called abol. Unmarried women wear body ornaments such as a braided
nito belt (lufas), blue thread earrings, beaded headband (sangbaw), beaded bracelet
(uksong), and beaded long necklace (siwayang or ugot). The men wear g-strings. To
enhance body beauty, the men wear ornaments like a long beaded necklace, tight
choker (ugot) and beaded bracelet (uksong). Both sexes use an accessory bag called
bay-ong for personal things like comb and knife [Litis, 1989].

Together with the Hanunuo, the Buhids in some areas possess a pre-Spanish syllabic
writing system.

The Buhid Mangyans live in the municipalities of Roxas, Bansud, Bongabong and some
parts of Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro, and in the municipalities of San Jose and Rizal
in Occidental Mindoro.
To the Hanunuo, clothing (rutay) is one
of the most important criteria in
distinguishing the Mangyan from the non-
Manyan (damuong). A Hanunuo-Mangyan
male wears a loin cloth (ba-ag) and a shirt
(balukas). A female wears an indigo-dyed
short skirt (ramit) and a blouse (lambung).
Many of the traditional style shirts and
blouses are embroidered on the back with
a design called pakudos, based on the cross
shape.
A Hanunuo-Mangyan artisan weaving the traditional
textile called ramit. The ramit is traditionally used as
tubular skirt, baby carrier or blanket. Now it finds
other uses such as table/wall runner, placemat or
bag.
A Mangyan mother shows her daughter how to embroider a
traditional blouse. Normally, Mangyan parents don't teach
their children their traditional practices, the children learn
by observation.
A Hanunuo-Mangyan artisan embroiders the pakudos design
on the back of a traditional blouse called linggon. The
pakudos, believed to ward off evil spirits, is incorporated in
the design of clothing, accessories and blankets.
A Hanunuo-Mangyan artisan weaving a buri (palm
leaf) basket in her home. It takes over a week to
complete a 4 x 5 inch bay-ong basket featuring the
traditional pakudos design in nito (forest vine).
A Hanunuo-Mangyan artisan weaving a buri
(palm leaf) basket in her home (detail).
Two Hanunuo-Mangyan mothers doing beadwork on a bamboo floor
just outside their home. The Hanunuo Mangyans are commonly
distinguished by their elaborate and colorful accessories.
A Mangyan mother makes a bracelet featuring the pakudos
design. A winnower is used as container for the beads. It
takes about four hours to complete a bracelet sized 1 x 6
inches.
A Mangyan mother makes a bracelet featuring the pakudos
design.
A Mangyan mother makes a
bracelet featuring the pakudos
design.
The Ratagnon live in the southernmost part of the
municipality of Magsaysay in Occidental Mindoro. Their
language is similar to the Visayan Cuyunon language, spoken
by the inhabitants of Cuyo Island in Northern Palawan.

The Ratagnon women wear a wrap-around cotton cloth from

the waistline to the knees and some of the males still wear
the traditional g-string. The women's breast covering is made
of woven nito (vine). They also wear accessories made of
beads and copper wire. The males wear a jacket with simple
embroidery during gala festivities and carry flint, tinder, and
other paraphernalia for making fire. Both sexes wear coils of
red-dyed rattan at the waistline. Like other Mangyan tribes,
they also carry betel chew and its ingredients in bamboo
containers.
The Ambahan is the traditional poetry of the
Hanunuo Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro. It is
usually written on bamboo in the Surat
Mangyan, a centuries-old pre-Spanish script.
The syllabic script and the ambahan poetry
have complemented each other, contributing to
their continued existence today.
Reproduced here are three extracts from the
work of Antoon Postma, anthropologist and
Mangyan historian, and an ambahan anthology
arranged according to the Hanunuo-Mangyan
lifecycle.
The Origin of the Ambahan
The ambahan has been popularized by
being copied on any piece of bamboo, such
as the container for tobacco or apog (lime),
the scabbard or sheath of a bolo, a violin or
guitar, and even on the bamboo beams of a
house. When a Mangyan discovers a nice
ambahan, he uses his knife to engrave it on
bamboo, in the age-old Indic-derived
script. Thus, he has "copied" it.
Most of the ambahans they possess
now have been handed down from
parents to children through continuous
copying. Yet there is no doubt that new
ambahans are still being written today
by the poets or composers, although it
is hard to find out who these poets are.
A Mangyan would never admit that he
is composing ambahans.
The Ambahan and its Uses
The ambahans are very common
among the Hanunuo-Mangyans.
About thirty percent of the
Hanunuo-Mangyans do not read or
write the pre-Spanish Hanunuo-
Mangyan script, but it would be
rare indeed for a Mangyan not to
know the art of the ambahan.
Ambahans are known and
recited by Hanunuo-
Mangyans, both old and
young. Of course, different
ambahans will be
appropriate for different age
groups.
The children definitely have their own
kind of ambahans, something which might
be considered as the equivalent of our
nursery rhymes. However, even in these
rhymes all the elements of the ambahan
are present; the main distinction lies in the
simplicity of the language used. The
ambahans for children, however, are short,
most of them containing not more than six
lines.
SYNTHESIS
The music of the Mangyans of Mindoro help us discover the
way of life of the Mangyan with themes about nature, family
life, working in the field as well as the spiritual dimension.
While there is a lot of vocal music in the form of songs and
chanted poetry, there are also bamboo instruments such as
jew’s harps, lutes and flutes. The challenges facing the music
of the Mangyan of Mindoro is the threat of industrialization
(illegal logging) and marginalization resulting from
encroaching neighbouring ethnoliguistic groups (Tagalog).
However, non-governmental organizations have been put up
to protect and preserve the Mangyan way of life including
Mangyan music.