Mangyan Heritage Center

CALAPAN CITY – Wagay Yu-ay, 32, a Bangon Mangyan, used to beg during Christmas. But having learned of his dignity as a person and valuing it through group sessions, he stopped asking for money or gifts during the season. "I decided to just stay in my farm and till it," Yu-ay says in Filipino while attending a board meeting of the Kapulungan para sa Lupaing Ninuno (KPLN), a province-wide Mangyan federation in Calapan City. Begging during the Christmas season has become a tradition for the Mangyan natives because they are attracted to the gifts they receive, especially because basic services do not always reach them, according to Ponyong Kadlos, KPLN coordinator. But he clarifies that it's the Bangon people among the Mangyan subtribes who come down in big groups to beg. "It was not really begging in the beginning, but pamamasko (asking for gifts) to sandugo (friends), in the spirit of Christmas. But some Mangyan, not fluent in Tagalog would say palimos," Kadlos says. As early as September, however, they could be seen descending from their mountain villages and crossing the seas to Batangas and other parts of the country.

Exploiting Mangyan? Kadlos expresses alarm that these days, some would bring with them an endorsement letter for "pamasko." "We were told about some Iraya Mangyan going around; we don't know who is behind that, maybe some people are making use of them. We will investigate," he says.

KPLN members are telling fellow Mangyans to stay in the mountains. "We are worried that they will get sick. Some of them who reach Manila are jailed because they're not familiar with traffic rules," Kadlos says. Last month, he says, a Bangon woman was reported missing in Batangas. Her father asked help from the social welfare office. Other Mangyan people are robbed, shortchanged and taken for granted. But Eder Pelegrin, a 78-year-old Iraya Mangyan leader, admits that it was really difficult to break the tradition. "We put our hope on education, particularly for the young generation," he says. Culture damaging Bishop Warlito Cajandig is worried that the ritual and the lowlanders' response to it are damaging to both cultures.

The Mangyan would pick up some vices in the lowland, like gambling, he says. "They're really a burden to some lowlanders because they would just defecate wherever they would be called by nature and this is against sanitation, and people would react," he says. He urges the government to address the problem. "We know that once you give, the Mangyan would tend to become more and more dependent, and the culture of laziness and dependency follows. Sometimes, they earn so much money that they would not work for months and months, they neglect their farms," Cajandig says. Helping upland villages To motivate the Mangyan to stay in the mountain during Christmas, the bishop calls on leaders from institutions and other groups to bring their Christmas gifts and programs to the Mangyan communities. Gov. Arnan Panaligan agrees to the suggestion. While admitting that the government was amiss in serving the Mangyan, he appeals to other groups to also "redirect and reorient efforts to focus also on the poor upland communities so they do not have reason to go down and beg in the lowlands."

"We're trying a scheme by which we can send donations, gifts and other materials to the Mangyan communities," Panaligan says. He adds that his administration has a scholarship program with the Salesian sisters that teach Mangyan youth agriculture technology and agriculture entrepreneurship so they can engage in productive farming right in their upland areas. Kadlos recognizes the efforts of the government but hopes that its workers will really spend time in the communities in order to integrate their program and technology into the Mangyan culture and livelihood. "There should be a long-term plan by different agencies. Like their Mangyan scholars should be motivated to go back to help their tribes by giving them allowance," he says. School for tribe Kadlos also recommends putting up a school for formal and nonformal education for the Bangon tribe, which will serve 23 communities in the towns of Bongabong, Bansud and Gloria. "But, of course, (also open) to all other tribes," he adds.

Panaligan says he "needs more workers who are really well-trained, well-equipped and firmly committed to helping the Mangyan change their negative practices." While there is the mendicancy law that holds liable anyone roaming around as vagrant without legal means of support, it's not strictly reinforced in the case of the Mangyan. "Maybe the police understand the situation of the Mangyan," Panaligan says. Cajandig believes that it will take immersion into the Mangyan community to truly understand their need. "It's our presence that they need more than ever. The impact of our stay there will be so much." He sees the need for a model community with a common life of sharing, which is the original way of life of the Mangyan. He illustrates his point by saying that whenever a pig is slaughtered, it is shared with other

members of the community. This Christmas season, with the help of some sisters, Cajandig is not wasting any time. He will host some Mangyan students.

Change agents "These are prospective change agents whom we'll be sending to the different Mangyan villages," he says. After their graduation, they will put up a farm – a demo or a laboratory – "where we can show to the Mangyans that with the use of modern techniques, a farm of a few square meters could be very, very productive." "And so we hope that their basic needs, especially their need for food, will be met. Then they will no longer be coming down to beg and we hope that they will become self-sufficient," he adds. Having initiated the move to end the Mangyan's tradition of begging during Christmas, the bishop wishes that a common life of sharing will penetrate all aspects of Mangyan life, such as working in the fields and sharing the produce. "In this way we hope that no one will be in need later on because they will be helping each other so the difficulty of one will be the difficulty of the rest and, also, the abundance of one will be the abundance of everybody," Cajandig says.