Not too long ago, there were murmurs going around about the existence of a peculiar mountain tribe in Occidental Mindoro, just south of Manila. Now, the existence of a mountain tribe itself wasn't the peculiar part. Mindoro is the home of the Mangyan people, a general name for the 8 indigenous groups living in the island. What intrigued most of the public, and in fact spurred on a team of investigators to go up the mountain in search of them, was the fact that everyone in the tribe was said to be white of skin.

Many theories were made as to how these so-called White Mangyans came to live in Mindoro. Some said they were the descendants of Dutch merchants who traded with the Mangyan people years and years ago. Quite a lot tried to rationalize their existence with science, coming up with equations and explanations about skin pigmentation and sun exposure and other sensible things. Still more were skeptical, claiming that the White Mangyans didn't exist, that they were just the result of overactive imaginations or a rumor gone bad. But, as it goes, the truth proved to be stranger than the fiction.

According to Lolita Delgado Fansler, published writer and President of the Mangyan Heritage Center, Antoon was "immediately captivated with the beauty and richness of their culture." Thirty years after his arrival in Panaytayan, Antoon left the priesthood and married Yam-ay, a Hanunuo-Mangyan. The couple has seven children, all of whom are raised as Mangyans. They speak Hanunuo and go to local schools. From an outsider's point of view, the sight of a white man and several children with light skin among the dark skin of the others is indeed startling, perhaps making all the talk of a tribe of White Mangyans understandable. For the Hanunuo-Mangyans however, it is quite normal. Antoon is fully accepted by the Hanunuo-Mangyans as one of their own, and in fact is called Bapa (uncle) Antoon as a sign of respect. More so, perhaps what makes the story of Antoon even more extraordinary is his work for the Mangyan people, spanning over five decades.

Considered the best paleographer in Asia, Antoon has collected and transcribed over 20,000 Mangyan ambahan (poems), accumulated over 10,000 photographs and artifacts on the Mangyans and Mindoro, and written many books on the culture, ambahan, language and writing system of the Hanunuo-Mangyans. It is also because of his efforts and his dedication to his work that the Northern Script of the Northern Buhid and the Southern Script of the Hanunuo-Mangyan, as well as the paleographies of the Tagbanua and Palaw'an of Palawan, were declared National Cultural Treasures. These ancient scripts are all inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Registers. Antoon is also responsible for deciphering the ancient script of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest existing document found in the Philippines. Discovered in 1989 in Laguna de Bay, it is proof that the islanders had a legal, written culture and partook in trade and commerce with various neighboring Asian civilizations before 900 A.D and predating the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan.

Considered the best paleographer in Asia, Antoon has collected and transcribed over 20,000 Mangyan ambahan (poems), accumulated over 10,000 photographs and artifacts on the Mangyans and Mindoro, and written many books on the culture, ambahan, language and writing system of the Hanunuo-Mangyans. It is also because of his efforts and his dedication to his work that the Northern Script of the Northern Buhid and the Southern Script of the Hanunuo-Mangyan, as well as the paleographies of the Tagbanua and Palaw'an of Palawan, were declared National Cultural Treasures. These ancient scripts are all inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Registers. Antoon is also responsible for deciphering the ancient script of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest existing document found in the Philippines. Discovered in 1989 in Laguna de Bay, it is proof that the islanders had a legal, written culture and partook in trade and commerce with various neighboring Asian civilizations before 900 A.D and predating the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan.

In 2000 Antoon, with German missionary Fr. Ewald Dinter and Filipino-American volunteer Quint Fansler, founded the Mangyan Heritage Center (MHC). They built a small library in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro - now the home of the world's largest collection of materials on the Mangyans. Together with various organizations, they are working on preserving the Mangyan old script and traditions. They aim to spread awareness on the ambahan and the old script to young Filipinos and Mangyans alike. The MHC also has a traveling Photo and Artifact Exhibit on the Mangyans currently touring educational institutions, museums and art centers in the country. Lectures have also been given both here and abroad. The MHC is also responsible for maintaining the library for interested researchers, publishing books on the Mangyans, and digitizing all the collected documents and photographs. "We are also translating into English the Spanish historical documents on the Mangyans which form part of Antoon's comprehensive collection of documents on the Mangyans and Mindoro," Lolita Delgado Fansler said, "Antoon translated over 260 ambahans into English, and they're published in a book called Mangyan Treasures. The MHC will publish these same poems in Filipino and in Spanish."

Given all the contributions and help of Antoon to the Mangyan and Filipino culture, his native country was bound to take notice. In March 2009, Netherlands Ambassador Robert G. Brinks honored Antoon Postma with a Royal Decoration from Queen Beatrix, making him Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. The event was kept a secret from Antoon who was told to come to Manila for an MHC affair and board meeting. The presence of his entire family and the chanting in Hanunuo, English and Dutch of an ambahan especially written for him by his eldest daughter Anya totally surprised this humble man. It was his 80th, and best, birthday.

So that is the true story of the White Mangyan. He might not have fathered a whole tribe of light skinned Mangyans or came from a line of merchants, but what Antoon has done is much more important. Through his life's dedication, he has preserved much of what could have been lost to the Mangyan and Filipino culture. To a nation with much of its own history written by Spanish conquerors, who has been colonized three times by three different nations, and that still struggles with its own identity, Antoon gives a chance - for the preservation of a great tongue, a great tradition, and a great people.