THE PHILIPPINE

INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES
YOGAD
The Yogad is an ethnic sub-group of the Gaddang people. They have
become nearly indistinguishable from the Ilocano-Ibanag people of
the Cagayan Valley lowlands in terms of culture. They are located in
the Luzon region, primarily in Isabela province, and rely on intensive
rice and corn for subsistence, with tobacco as a cash crop.
The Yogads are one of the Cagayan Valley's smallest minority groups.
They used to live in Diffun and Quirino in Cagayan Valley. They are
now found mainly in Echague, Isabela and the few neighboring
communities in Camarag, Angadanan, Santiago, and Jones, Isabela.
Yogads are identified as part of the Christianized Kalingas in western
Isabela and speak the Yogad language, one of five recognized dialects
of Gaddang.
 The Yogads have:
Seven Marriage Rituals: Five Death Rituals: Two Baptism
First Entrega Karontan Nu Kararwa Rituals:
Daggat  Arian Yu Ulo Nu Manuk The Church
Church Wedding Pabulun Yu Gamit Na Baptism
Gala  Magamumuat (Washing) Tabayag
Palannak Maddigut
Final Entrega (Gul-gul)/(Bath)
Dallut
 The Yogads have:
Three Healing Rituals: Four Agricultural Rituals:
Talado Tobacco Planting Ritual
Banca Ritual Corn Planting Ritual
Patunnak Pest Control Ritual
Harvest Ritual
Two House Blessing Rituals:
Sisiwa for New House One Coming Home Ritual:
Sisiwa for Old Houses inhabited The Karontan Nu
by Spirits
BANTOANON
Banton is located in the
northern Sibuyan Sea,
equidistant between
Marinduque Island to the
north and Tablas Island to
the south.
The name "Banton" was derived from the Asi word
batoon, which means "rocky," referring to the
island's mountainous and rocky topography as a
result of its volcanic origin. Another possible
origin is the Asi word bantoy, which is the Asi
word for the venomous stonefish.
The Bantoanon, also known as the "people of Banton (Island),"
live primarily in Odiongan, Corcuera, Calatrava, and
Concepcion in Romblon, an archipelagic province in the
MIMAROPA region. They communicate in Asi, a Visayan
language that is lexically similar to Romblomanon. Asi is a
language spoken alongside Romblomanon and Inonhan and is
classified at the same level as Cebuano. A Bantoanon can be
identified by his or her family name, which usually begins with
the letter "f.“
Education is important to Bantoanons because it allows them to
better their lives. Their main sources of income are trade,
business, fishing, and agriculture (copras).
 The Banton cloth is a
piece of ikat-dyed
abaca made sometime
in the 13-14th
centuries and is
supposed to be one of
the oldest known warp
ikat textiles in
Southeast Asia.
(It is a burial Cloth)
MAGAHAT
The Magahats are also known as the Ati-Man and Bukidnon. There
are concentrations of Magahats found in southwestern Negros, Santa
Catalina, Bayawan, and Siaton in Negros Oriental; and in Negros
Occidental. Their language is a mixture of Hiligaynon and
Sugbuhanon. both lowland Christian Filipino languages.
The Magahats refers to the shifting cultivators in the mountainous
areas of Southeastern Negros. Often called Corolanos or Bukidnon of
Panay, Magahats are described the swidden population living in
scattered groups in the municipality of Tanjas, Santa Catalina,
Bayawan (Tolong) and Siaton.
The Magahats' major means of subsistence are food gathering,
swidden agriculture, and animal hunting because their settlements are
in mountainous areas. They harvest main crops such as mountain rice,
maize, manioc, and sweet potato. Gathering fruits, vegetables, and
root crops have become their main food resource. While the gathering
is considered a regular activity, hunting wild pigs, birds, and bats was
seen as one of their important and leisure activities, the most popular
game of men.
Physically, Magahats are predominantly Indonesian (Proto-Malay).
Most of their customs and traditions can be identified with the
traditional practices of the Sulod, an ethnic group of Panay.
ALANGAN MANGYAN
The Alangan are mainly found in the municipalities of Naujan and
Victoria in Oriental Mindoro, and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro.
They speak Alangan and number around 2,150 people in north-central
Mindoro. Alangan speakers throughout the area understand the Ayan
Bekeg dialect spoken on the northeast slopes of Mount Halcon. They
can also be found near Casague, Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, and
Kulasisi (a Mompong River tributary), near Barrio Arellano, Sablayan,
Occidental Mindoro.
On their shifting-cultivation farms, the Alangan tribe of the Mangyan
indigenous population grows sweet potatoes, manioc, beans, and a
variety of fruits in rotation. After burning down the vegetation and
trees, they let the jungle reclaim the field and cultivate a new area after
about two years.
 BATANGAN MANGYAN
The Taw'buid is the largest of Mindoro's eight Mangyan tribes. They
used to live in the lowlands of Mindoro before being pushed deep into
the mountains by both Spanish colonizers and Filipino immigrants.
The Taw’buid are called “batangan” by the lowlanders, which means
“trunk of a felled tree” and a “place,” referring to a place where felled
tree trunks may be found, probably a swidden field. The main
economic activity of the Tawbuid is slash-and-burn farming.
They are the tribe that protects the Tamaraws which are species that are
only found on Mindoro Island in the Philippines.
The Tawbuid are animists. They believe that the spirits control
every part of nature and spend most of their lives in fear, trying not
to offend any of them or, at best, trying to manipulate them. In
these tribes, there is usually one witch doctor for every village or
two. With the Tawbuid, one in every ten people is a witch doctor.
Many warriors from this tribe have special spiritual armor provided
by the spirits, where knives and even bullets will not harm them,
and neighboring tribes and national armies alike fear them.
The Taw’buid are very shy and will usually run away if they see
foreigners, as they have been taught that foreigners might eat them.
Any trade done with the outside world is generally through the
neighboring Alangan villages. They are protective of their land, and
they hire people from neighboring tribes to keep out all visitors.
However, they have allowed visitors to visit them as long as
Alangans accompany them and an invitation is given.
Many people still wear amakan loincloths and hunt game with tulag
spears, gadun bows, and silo spike traps. Unlike other Mangyan who
chew betel nut, nearly all Taw'buid men smoke tobacco, including
children.