PRIMER ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

1. Who are the present peoples of Mindanaw, Sulu and how may they be distinguished from one another?

In general, the peoples of Mindanaw may be distinguished into two broad categories: indigenous and migrant. The indigenous may be further subdivided, for our convenience, into Indigenous A and Indigenous B, while the migrant may be sub-classified into migrant and migrant-based.

Indigenous A

The Islamized groups are, more specifically, in alphabetical order, the Iranun (also known as Ilanun or Ilanum), Jama Mapun, Kalagan, Kalibugan, Magindanao, Maranao, Sama, Sangil, Tausug and Yakan. They are also generally known as Moro -- or more recently Bangsa Moro -- and constitute about 20 percent of the total population of Mindanaw and Sulu. We also include the Islamized groups of Palawan, namely, the Molbog (also known as Melebugnon) and the Palawani. The Kalagan and the Palawani are partly Islamized and partly not. Although not generally Muslims, the seafaring Badjao of the Sulu Archipelago are also classified in the Moro category by virtue of their long traditional stay in the Sulu seas.

Approximately five percent of the total population of the region, the Lumad groups are individually known, in alphabetical order, as: Ata, Bagobo, Banuaon, Batak, Bla-an, Bukidnon, Dibabawon, Higaunon, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Mangguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Matigsalug, Pala'wan, Subanun, Tagakaolo, Tagbanua, T'boli, Tiruray and Ubo. We must also include here that part of the Kalagan and Palawani population that are not Islamized, although it must be stressed that it is extremely difficult to make a population estimate of them.

Indigenous B

Under Indigenous B we have the Visayan speaking indigenous peoples of Northern and Eastern Mindanaw, and also the Chavacanos of Zamboanga.

There were already Visayan speaking peoples in northern and eastern Mindanaw when the Spaniards arrived on the second decade of the 17th century. They eventually became the Christian communities of the Spanish colonial period. It is no longer easy to identify them because they have assimilated into the migrant Visayan population which now compose the majority in the place. They are known locally by their place names like Davaweñño, Tandagnon, Surigaonon, Butuanon, Camiguinon, Cagayanon, Misamisnon, Iliganon, Ozamiznon, Dapitanon, and so on and by some peculiarity in their respective accents.

Originally Mardicas or Merdicas, meaning "free people" who were natives of Ternate, Tidore, Siao, Manados, Cauripa, Celebes and Macassar, the Chavacanos were soldiers who were brought to Manila by the Spaniards in 1663. Later, some of them settled in Ternate, Cavite; the others must have been assigned to Zamboanga, possibly in 1718. They, too, are now integrated into the majority population.

Migrant or Migrant-Based

These constitute the migrants of the 20th century from Luzon and the Visayas and their descendants. Since 1948, they make up the majority population of the region, and since 1970, about 70 percent of the total population. Included in the count are the Indigenous B and the Chavacanos.

2. Where did the name Moro come from and what does it mean?

It came from the Spanish colonizers.

When the Spaniards arrived in the archipelago in 1565 and discovered that some of the inhabitants were Muslims, they called them Moros, in the same manner that they called those Muslims from North Africa who had conquered and occupied Spain for nearly eight centuries, that is, from 711 to 1492.

It was meant to refer only to the Muslims of the archipelago. But over the years, as a result of the bloody Spanish-Moro war which lasted for 333 years, the name acquired a pejorative connotation, like pirates, and was much disliked by the Muslims themselves until very recently.

It did not begin to be accepted among the Muslims until around the 1900. But with the emergence of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which bannered the name Bangsa Moro, Moro acquired a new dimension. Using it became a source of pride in itself. Also, the population base was expanded by the MNLF, at least in theory, to include all indigenous populations of the region, among others.

3. Where did the name Lumad come from and what does it mean?

Lumad grew out of the political awakening among various tribes during the martial law regime of President Marcos.

Earlier, they were called by various names by outsiders, like paganos by the Spaniards or simply by their tribal identities; Wild Tribes or Uncivilized Tribes or non-Christian Tribes by the Americans; National Cultural Minorities or just Cultural minorities or simply Minorities by the Philippine government, which was amended in the 1973 Constitution as Cultural Communities, then by the 1987 Charter as Indigenous Cultural Communities. Except for paganos, all these denominations also included the Moros. Visayans call them nitibo; Tagalogs call them taga-bundok or katutubo. Christian churches prefer the name Tribal Filipinos.

4. What do all of them, the Moro, the Lumad, and the other settler inhabitants of Mindanaw, Sulu and Palawan have in common?

They all share a common origin in the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages which explains the close similarity among the various languages in use throughout the islands. Also, in their physical appearances.

A recent linguistic study by Richard E. Elkins has concluded:

Present-day Mindanaw languages which are members of the Manobo subfamily include the following: Cotabato Manobo and Tasaday in South Cotabato; Sarangani Manobo in southern Davao; Tagabawa and Obo, west and southwest of Davao City; Dibabawon, Ata, and Matig Salug in northern Davao; Livunganen, Ilianen, and Kulamanen in northern Cotabato; Western Bukidnon Manobo and Tigwa in southern Bukidnon; Binukid in northern Bukidnon; Agusan Manobo with its several dialects in Agusan and Surigao; and Higaonon in Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Agusan. Kinamigin on Camiguin Island north of Mindanaw and Kagayanen on Cagayancillo Island in the Sulu Sea have only recently been identified as members of the Manobo subfamily.

This similarity of origin is acknowledged among the Moro people and the Lumad by their folk tradition. For example, among the Kalibugan of Titay, they speak of two brothers as their ancestors, both Subanun. Dumalandalan was converted to Islam while Gumabon-gabon was not. Among the Subanun of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur, they talk of four brothers as their ancestors. Tabunaway was the ancestor of the Magindanao; Dumalandalan the Maranao; Mili-rilid of the Tiruray, and Gumabon-gabon of the Subanun.

The Manobo of North Cotabato and the Magindanao say that brothers Tabunaway and Mamalu are their common ancestors, although they differ on which of the two was converted to islam. In the Manobo version, it was Mamalu who became Muslim, and in the Magindanao version, it was Tabunaway. The Manobo version further states that they share the same ancestor with the Ilyanun, the Matigsalug, the Talaandig, and the Maranao.

In the Tiruray tradition, the same brothers Tabunaway and Mamalu are acknowledged as their ancestors.

The Higaunon and the Maranao also speak of a common ancestry in their folklore especially in the border areas of Bukidnon and Lanao. This seems more pronounced in the Bukidnon folklore where they speak of two brothers Bowan and Bala-oy.

Among the Bla-an (pronounced by them as two syllables, accent on the second syllable) of Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and Cotabato, they speak of common ancestry with other ethnolinguistic groups. In an interview with a Bla-an tribal leader of Danlag, Tampakan, South Cotabato, this author got the following account:

It was Almabet, their creator, who gave them that name. Almabet created eight people, first the Bla-an, then the others, namely, Tabali (T'boli), Ubo (Manobo), Alnawen (Maguindanao Muslim), Tiruray, Klagan, Matigsalug, and Mandaya. And he called them by these names. They would later be the ancestors of ethnic groups of the same names. Lands were assigned to them. Kolon Nadal (Koronadal) was given to the Bla-an. Almabet ascended from Melbel (Marbel). From here they (Bla-an) went to Kolon Bia-o (Columbio), to Buluan which they partly share with the Alnawen (Maguindanao Muslim), to other parts of the present South Cotabato, and to Datal Pitak in Matanao in the present Davao del Sur. The Tabali went to Lake Sebu. The rest went to their respective places. Although they claim common ancestry with these other groups, their languages are not mutually intelligible.

The Kalagan belong to the same tribe as the Tagakaolo.

All of them, the indigenous population and the migrant and migrant-based inhabitants now share the same land and resources.

5. What factors make them distinct from one another?

The Moro people identify themselves primarily with Islam and their sultanates which have been with them long before the arrival of the Spaniards. They are especially proud of their record of having been unconquered and uncolonized by the Spaniards.

Throughout the long period of Spanish colonialism in the islands, many Lumad tribes remained untouched by foreign culture. They thus retained the peculiar characteristics of their respective ethnic groups.

Among the Christian population, there is a somewhat pronounced attitude which may be described as "Christian chauvinism". The Christian settlers have brought this attitude with them and the local expression is that of an arrogant stance towards the Moro and the Lumad. Their being the numerical and dominant majority in the region adds to the chauvinism.

6. When did Islam come to Mindanaw, Sulu and Palawan?

Islam first arrived in the Sulu archipelago towards the end of the 13th century, estimated to be in 1280, brought by a certain Tuan Masha'ika who apparently got married there and thus established the first Islamic community. Masha'ika was followed by a Muslim missionary named Karim ul-Makhdum around the second half of the 14th century. With Rajah Baginda who came at the beginning of the 15th century was introduced the political element in the Islamization process. It was his son-in-law, Abubakar, whom he had designated as his successor, who started the Sulu sultanate.

Islam came to Maguindanao with a certain Sharif Awliya from Johore around 1460. He is said to have married there, had a daughter and left. He was followed by Sharif Maraja, also from Johore, who stayed in the Slangan area and married the daughter of Awliya. Around 1515, Sharif Kabungsuwan arrived with many men at the Slangan area, roughly where Malabang is now. He is generally credited with having established the Islamic community in Maguindanao, and expanded through political and family alliances with the ruling families.

Maranao tradition speaks of a certain Sharif Alawi who landed in the present Misamis Oriental and his preaching there was said to have eventually spread to Lanao and Bukidnon. There is hardly any evidence of this in the latter, however, except in some border towns adjacent to Lanao del Sur. From the southern end, Islam came through marriage alliances with Muslim Iranun and Maguindanao datus, specifically around the area of Butig and Malabang.

It is not clear when Islam first came to Palawan. Indicators at the arrival of the Spaniards, however, reveal trade and political influences flowing from the sultanate of Brunei, then later, from the sultanate of Sulu.

7. How did Islam come to Mindanaw, Sulu and Palawan?

Islam came with trade.

After the death of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) in 632 A.D., a general expansion movement followed. Through military conquests, the Islamic world turned empire with dominance established in the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The expansion movement likewise took towards Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, made possible either by and through Muslim merchants or missionaries or both. It was through the latter that the Malayo-Indonesian region and Mindanaw and Sulu were Islamized.

The trade route which led to the Islamization of Mindanaw and Sulu was the one that linked Arabia overland through Central Asia and thence overseas to India, China, Southeast Asia and Africa, especially in the period starting from the beginning of the 9th century.

Overseas travel at that time was directly influenced by monsoon winds and merchants had to established trade stations along their route where they tarried for long periods of time. In the course of these stays, merchants-missionaries would marry into the local population thereby creating and establishing Muslim communities.

It was generally assumed that the Islamization process was facilitated and hastened in this way in such places as Malacca, Pahang, Trengganu, Kedah, Java and others. By 1450, Malacca had become a leading center of Islam in the Malay archipelago. It was from the Malay archipelago that Mindanaw and Sulu were Islamized. The establishment of Muslim trading communities in such places as Mindoro, Batangas and Manila in the northern Philippines came from the same direction.

The combination of trade and Islamization created the necessary conditions that enabled the Sulus, and later, the Magindanao, to advance way ahead of the other indigenous inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago.

8. To what extent did Islam revolutionize the recipient communities?

Before the advent of Islam in the Philippine archipelago, no community was reported to be monotheist. The diwata (in the Visayas and Mindanaw) and anito (in Luzon) were essential features of the belief system of the peoples here. Animists, they are called by social scientists nowadays.

Believing that "There is no other god but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet," Islam was the first to bring monotheism to the people of the Philippines.

In the course of its historical development, the Islamic world was able to develop a social system distinctly its own, in consonance with the doctrine revealed in the Qur'an and also embodied in the Hadith or Sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet. Such institutions as the caliphate, the emirate and the sultanate are part of this development.

The religion and the social system brought by Islam were radical departures from the animism and barangay type communities prevalent among the many peoples of the archipelago, specifically the lowlanders. Further, the stimulus provided by the Muslim traders combined to push the Islamized communities far ahead of the others.

There is no question that the centralized system of life introduced by the combined forces of islam and trade provided the greatest source of strength in their 333 years of struggle against Spanish colonialism. Doubtless, too, this fight against foreign domination contributed in no small measure to this strength. And the main explanation why they were able to sustain themselves gloriously against Spain until 1898 is to be found here.

9. Which portions of Mindanaw, Sulu and Palawan are traditionally considered the ancestral homeland of the Islamized people, and which portions that of the Lumad?

Ordinarily, when we speak of ancestral homeland, we refer to that portion of territory traditionally occupied by a tribe or another, or by a community of people, say a clan, bound by ties of common interests. This is normally understood to mean not just land, but also rivers, creeks, seas, mountains and hills, forests and all natural wealth contained therein, including wild game, and, nowadays, also the airspace above. No different, therefore, from the present concept of state domain.

The nature of the occupancy is usually described in modern day legal language as "prior and uninterrupted," meaning, the tribe or community came to the territory in question ahead of any other and their stay has remained unchallenged. "Prior and uninterrupted occupancy" is recognized the world over as the ultimate evidence of possession. The case of the Sulu and Magindanao Sultanates, however, present a more complex situation where (political) dominance attendant to their having attained statehood was added to the matter of occupancy.

Using the territorial jurisdictions of the present 22 provinces and 16 cities that constitute the entirety of Mindanaw and Sulu, there is incontrovertible evidence that from 1596-1898 the Islamized peoples have traditionally lived in an area encompassed within the equivalent of 15 provinces and seven cities; the Lumad in 17 provinces and 14 cities, and the indigenous Christians in nine provinces and four cities. They overlap in many places.

It must be stressed, however, that defining the ancestral homeland of the Islamized people presents some difficulty because aside from being subdivided into 13 ethnolinguistic groups through which the matter of physical occupancy may be determined, they were also identified with one sultanate or the other where the decisive point is, to use a modern terminology, political dominance. The sultanate is a political entity that is by right and as a matter of fact a state, no different, say, from a monarchy, exercising sovereign jurisdiction over the various peoples encompassed within its territory. And in the history of the Moro sultanates, these peoples included communities from the non-Muslim tribes. There were generally two traditional sultanates in Mindanaw and Sulu, the older one of Sulu and that of the Magindanao.

10. Which portions are generally considered to be the traditional territorial jurisdiction of the Sulu Sultanate?

The Sulu Sultanate started formally in 1450 A.D. At its peak, its territory included the Sulu archipelago (covering the present provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi), North Borneo or the present Sabah, Basilan, southern Palawan and Samboangan, roughly equivalent to the present territory of Zamboanga City, and portions of the Zamboanga peninsula where the Tausug and Sama settlements were located. The present towns of Sibuco and Siraway in Zamboanga del Norte could possibly be two of these.

The Islamized tribes in the territory were the Tausug in Sulu and the Sama in Tawi-Tawi; Jama Mapun in Cagayan de Sulu and Southern Palawan; Molbog or Melebugnon and Palawani also in southern Palawan; Yakan in Basilan, and the Kalibugan in the Zamboanga peninsula. The non-Islamized tribes included the Badjao of the Sulu Archipelago, the Batak and Tagbanua of southern Palawan, and the Subanun of the Zamboanga peninsula. We have not included northern Palawan because there is so far no clear cut historical evidence that this portion ever fell within the territory of the Sulu sultanate. Spanish records have shown that Muslim settlements in the province were located generally in the southern part roughly from Aborlan southward to Balabac island.

The whole time that the Spanish colonizers were wreaking havoc in the sultanate domain, from 1565 to 1898, the sultanate machinery remained intact. But certain portions of its territory went to the colonizers. Samboangan was taken over by Spanish armed might in 1635, seized by the Magindanao sultanate after it was abandoned by the Spaniards in 1663, recaptured by the Spaniards in 1718 and remained in their hands until 1898. Palawan had a curious history all its own. It was ceded by the Magindanao sultan to the Spaniards in 1703, yet it was also given away by the Sulu sultan to the Spaniards in 1705 and this was confirmed by his successor in 1717.

An additional factor in the story of Zamboanga may be cited here. The Chavacano speaking population were presumably brought in by the Spaniards in 1718 and have remained there continuously until the end of the Spanish regime, and to the present. [See Appendix C1] From available historical sources, it appears that their arrival caused no dislocation nor displacement on the indigenous population.

To what extent were the Tagbanua, Batak and Subanun peoples subjects of the sultanate? This is not clear in existing documents. No doubt, an extensive research on the oral traditions of these people would help.

The Sulu sultanate's claim to sovereignty over its territory and subjects was challenged decisively by the American colonizers. After the Treaty of Paris in 1898 through which the Americans acquired dubious title to the entire Philippine territory, including the Sulu sultanate, there followed the Bates agreement in 1899 and the Carpenter agreement in 1915 which supposedly marked the Sulu sultan's submission to American sovereignty. The latter was in turn passed on to the Philippine State in July 1946.

The Philippine claim to sovereignty over the territory once held by the Sulu sultanate dates back formally only to the Treaty of Paris.

11. Which portions belonged to the traditional territorial jurisdiction of the Magindanao Sultanate?

The Magindanao Sultanate came into reality around the second decade of the 17th century. Its territory was most extensive in the reign of Sultan Kudarat (1619-1671), particularly in the last twenty-five years. Following was the way Dr. Majul describes it:

"The coastal area from Zamboanga to the gulf of Davao was tributary to him. He was acknowledged the paramount lord of the Pulangi. His sphere of influence extended to Iranun and Maranao territories and even as far as Bukidnon and Butuan in the north of Mindanaw. His rule held sway over Sangil and Sarangani. Except in points like Dapitan, Caraga, and the sites of the present day Butuan and Cagayan de Oro cities, and in the almost inaccessible parts of the interior of the island, practically all of the inhabitants of the Island of Mindanaw had accepted him as suzerain...."

The center of the Magindanao sultanate was in the present province of Magindanao and the southern portions of Lake Lanao, from where it expanded through the use of armed might and traditional alliances, all the way to Davao Oriental in eastern Mindanaw and to Zamboanga del Norte in western Mindanaw.

The Islamized tribes that may be categorized as subjects at one time or another of the Magindanao sultanate included the Maguindanao, Maranao, Iranun and Sangil; the Kalagans are part Muslim and part Lumad. The Lumad tribes found within the territory claimed by the Magindanao Sultanate were the Subanuns in the Zamboanga peninsula; the Tiruray, Ubo, T'boli, Bla-an, Dulangan, Manobo in the Cotabato area (encompassing the present four provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat); the Bagobo, Bla-an, Tagakaolo, Ata, Mandaya and Mansaka and Manobo in the Davao region, and the Bukidnon and Higaunon in the Bukidnon border as well as in Iligan.

It is extremely difficult to determine from historical sources to what extent the non-Islamized groups were subjects of the Sultanate. In the specific case of Zamboanga, no study has yet been made specifying where the Sultanate's suzerainty ended and where the Magindanao's influence began. Nor is it clear to what extent the Subanuns were subjects of or influenced by them. [See Appendix E4] Dr. Majul did mention Bukidnon as falling within the Magindanao sphere of influence but Jesuit writings in the late 19th century indicate that the farthest Muslim outpost in Bukidnon at that time was located at the confluence of the Molita river or in the present border between Bukidnon and Cotabato. Muslim traders, usually Magindanao, reportedly went deeper into Bukidnon upstream of the Pulangi. Not, however, to collect tribute which was the common expression of subjection at that time, but to trade. Twentieth century censuses, however, reveal that until 1948 the municipalities of Pangantukan and Talakag had a relatively high number of Muslim residents, presumably Maranaos since these towns are located at the Bukidnon-Lanao del Sur border.

Of some more than thirty coastal settlements noted in Davao by the Spaniards in the late 19th century, the Moros of Davao occupied nineteen.

These settlements were spread out along the coastal stretch from Mayo Bay in the east coast, roughly where Mati is, westward along the entire length of Davao Gulf's coastline to Sarangani Islands. The non-Muslims were decidedly more numerous. We are told that the Muslims collected tributes from the Mandaya as far as Caraga; controlled the Samals of Samal Island, and were continually at war with the Bla-an, Manobo, Ata and Tagakaolo. It was from this last tribe that the Kalagan Muslims came from. Ka'agan means imitator in the Tagakolo language.

Portions of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and Maguindanao were without doubt open to question, despite very strong Magindanao influence, in the sense that these were traditionally occupied by the non-Islamized tribes whose subjection to Magindanao rule can no longer be gauged at this time. Until 1918, certain towns were predominantly inhabited by them, like Awang (83.75%), Glan (60.76%), Kabakan (66.42%), Kiamba (80.59%), Kidapawan (65.9%), Salaman (64.16%) and Sebu (83.07%), Talayan (56.88%); some others were almost equally shared with the Magindanao, e.g. Buayan (45.14% Muslim & 53.89 Lumad), Kitubod (50.99% Muslim & 49% Lumad), Kling (50.18% Muslim & 49.4% Lumad).

Lanao del Sur is definitely Maranao territory including at least seven border towns in the present Lanao del Norte, namely, Balo-i, Matungao, Pantao-Ragat, Munai, Tangkal, Tagoloan, and Nunungan. The Maranao people generally identify themselves with the Pat a Pongampong o Ranao. Those of Kapatagan Valley in Lanao del Norte, however, speak of their own Pat a Panuruganan sa Kapatagan and claim no allegiance to the Pat a Pongampong.

It is very important to pay close attention to the last 25 years of Sultan Kudarat's history. As it came to pass, sustained Spanish onslaught through 333 years and internal splits among the Magindanao leadership wrought great damage to the sultanate, eroding not only its territory but also its sphere of influence. Worse, its central leadership splintered, after Kudarat's death in 1671, into the Magindanao, Buayan, Kabuntalan and Ganassi sultanates. And within these smaller sultanates, various datuships, supposedly subjects, generally acted with a certain degree of tolerated (or perhaps uncontrolled) independence. Excellent examples were the Muslims of Davao Gulf and Lanao.

Around the second decade of the 17th century, territories in the northern and eastern coasts of Mindanaw, specifically Cagayan de Oro and Caraga which previously paid tributes to either Maguindanao and Buayan datuships, fell into the hands of the Spaniards and remained so till the end of colonial rule. Butuan, Iligan and Dapitan had the same experience.

In 1846, the Davao Gulf area was ceded by the Magindanao sultan to the colonizers; actual conquests followed immediately a year later when Jose Oyanguren efficiently put Datu Bago and his forces out of contention. At around the same time, the Sibugay and Biasungan areas of Zamboanga were also given away to the Spaniards.

American conquest and colonization wiped out what remained of the Magindanao dominance over their ancestral territory in 1898.

12. Which portions are generally regarded as the ancestral homeland of the Lumad peoples of Mindanaw and Sulu?

Traditionally, the Subanon have inhabited the Zamboanga peninsula, with larger concentrations in the following specific areas: Dapitan or Illaya Valley, Dipolog Valley specifically in Diwan, Punta and Sinaman, Manukan Valley, Sindangan, Panganuran in the present town of Gutalac, Coronado in the present town of Baliguian, Siocon, Kipit in the present town of Labason, Malayal and Patalun (now Lintangan) both in the present town of Sibuco, Bolong Valley, Tupilak and Bakalan Valleys in the town of Ipil, Lei-Batu Valley, Sibugai-Sei Valley, Dumankilas Bay, Dipolo Valley, Lubukan Valley, Labangan Valley and Mipangi Valley. Other concentrations are also found in the present towns of Katipunan, Roxas, Sergio Osmeñña, Sr., Leon Postigo, Salug, Godod and Siayan.

The Higaunon and the Bukidnon have occupied the northern portions of Mindanaw from Sulauan Point to Diwata Point including the Tagoloan valley, at the sources of the Pulangi river in Bukidnon, and in Nasipit in Agusan del Norte, then inland to Odiungan river behind Mt. Bolatocan, also Rogongon, Iligan City.

The Manobo are traditional inhabitants of several portions of Mindanaw: at the Agusan river valley, Surigao del Norte and Sur; in Bukidnon south; in Sigaboy north of the Cape of San Agustin in Davao Oriental; along the coastal stretch from Padada in Davao del Sur down to Sarangani Bay in South Cotabato; in Sultan Kudarat, and in Cotabato.

The Banuaon have also lived in the Agusan del Sur area.

The Mamanwa used to live in the territory around Lake Mainit at the Agusan del Norte-Surigao del Norte down to Tago river in Surigao del Norte.

The Mandaya have traditionally occupied the stretch of territory from Tandag in Surigao del Norte down to Mati in Davao Oriental and in the area of Salug river valley in the interior of Davao del Norte. Within the Davao Oriental-Davao del Norte are also to be found the Mansaka-Dibabawon-Mangguwangan populations.

Starting from that part of Davao City bordering Davao del Norte down to Davao del Sur, we have in succession the Ata, the Bagobo, the Tagakaolo-Kalagan, and the Bla-an.

As we move into Cotabato we run into the Bla-an again, then the Ubo, then the T'boli, then the Dulangan, and the Tiruray.

In Palawan, the Batak and the Tagbanua are the more well-known Indigenous Cultural Communities. Other indigenous populations which have been assimilated into the majority culture are the Agutaynon, Kagayanen, Kalamianen and Kuyunon.

Determining the exact boundaries of Lumad tribal territories at present has become extremely difficult. For one thing, a good number of them are now a dispersed people, intermixed in small pockets with settler populations. This dispersion is reflected at the municipal level in the various censuses. Short of another statistical survey with each tribe, we can only rely on the censuses of 1918, 1939 and 1970. But not fully. The 1903 census does not have comparative figures at the municipal level of Muslim, Lumad and Christian population; the details of the 1948 census seem to be unavailable in most big libraries in Manila; the 1960 enumeration has simply eliminated the "Pagan" classification which is the nearest to determining the Lumad population. The censuses of 1975, 1980 and 1990 no longer have any classification that will lead us to any figures on the indigenous cultural communities.

Many of their elders who know their ancient habitat have died, and very little oral tradition affecting territorial boundaries, no matter how vague and general, have been handed down to the present generation. The dominant presence of the migrant-based population which is also concretely revealed in the censuses has made the situation even more complicated.

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