The Panay Bukidnon are indigenous people of the Capiz-Lumbanao mountainous area in Panay, known for their rich cultural traditions and strong community ties. Key aspects of their culture include unique ceremonies that honor relationships with spirits, traditional embroidery and music, and social customs surrounding the upbringing of daughters. The last binukot, Rosita, has passed, but her family aims to preserve Panay Bukidnon traditions through education and cultural practices.

1. TRIBES

2. BUKIDNON
P A N A Y

3. BUKIDNON
P A N A Y
•
•
•
ALSO KNOWN AS
interior barangays of
the four provinces of
, ,
, and

4. • Indigenous people who reside in
the Capiz-Lumbanao
mountainous area of Panay
• The only culturally indigenous
group of Visayan language
speakers in Western Visayas
• Only one indigenous group left in
the Panay highlands
• Descendants of datus
• Dr. Alicia P. Magos coined the
term “Panay Bukidnon” which
translates to People of Panay

5. CULTURE

6. In Panay Bukidnon society, all members care deeply about
the welfare of one’s community.
Require non-family
members to
participate in drink fests,
weddings, religious
celebrations, etc. to
strengthen the
community.
Interaction involves
patterned socio-
ritualistic formalities such as
offering food to the spirits
before starting the feast,
and having the older men
drink or eat first.

7. The most striking feature of Panay Bukidnon culture is the
persistence of ceremonies in every facet of life.
Ceremonies are associated with the belief that relationships between the living
and the spirits of the dead continue, and environmental spirits have influence
over daily affairs.
Deities and
ancestors inhabit
the upper layer of the
world above us, the
langitnon, and the
world below us, the
idalmunon.
Good and evil
spirits called diwata,
who they communicate
with through the
mediation of the baylan
or medium.
Sacrifices are
given to the
spirits for their good
graces.
Beliefs

8. Panay Bukidnon culture is a warrior society.
Evident in their epic stories, in which men are
always considered handsomely attired when
adorned with weapons such as:
Historically, tattooing used to be a
widespread practice and the prevalence of
"skin-painting" led early Spanish chroniclers to
describe the Visayans as "Pintados."

9. TRADITION

10. a tradition where the only daughter or the prettiest daughter
of a family of good standing in the community are kept from
the public eye from the day of birth until she becomes a
young woman or maiden
• She is not allowed to be exposed to the sun, to be seen by others,
or made to work. Instead, she bathes in the river at night and
female servants do the work for her.
• Her feet are not allowed to touch the ground, so she is carried in a hammock when she
goes out.
• She learns traditions like Sugidanon, a long verbal narrative containing the epics of Panay.
She also learns folk dances like Binanog.
• When she reaches the right age, she is allowed to be seen in public to lead the tribal
ceremonies and to entertain her fellow tribesmen.

11. Rosita is the last binukot of the Caballero
family from the Panay Bukidnon tribe in
Iloilo.
She died on July 23, 2017 at the age of
74 after suffering from a gallbladder
rupture.
The family will preserve the traditions and
culture of their tribe amidst Rosita’s
death through a school for living
traditions taught by her husband’s
brother, Frederico Caballero.

12. • the traditional embroidery of the Panay-
Bukidnon women
• comes from the local word “tubok” which
means “to embroider” while the
“manunubok” refers to the “embroiderer”
• designs and patterns are inspired by what
they see in nature
• Many consider the barangay of Tabon in
Tapaz, Capiz, as the birthplace of panubok.
Lore has it that the elder Tabon folks preferred
to stay home, rather than work in the fields
and eventually conceptualized the panubok.

13. music

14. Most bamboo instruments of
the Panay Bukidnon are
played by individual players.
Sometimes, these are played
with an ensemble (a gong and
a drum) particularly used for
their binanong music-dance
tradition.
a percussion and chordophone
made of kawayan, played by
tapping the fingers on the bamboo
lid. This is alternated by strumming
the string. Pang-midya is done by
closing the hole on one side of the
bamboo.
a buzzer, made of bulo, struck
on the palm of a hand. The
hole on one end is where
pang-midya is done using the
thumb so as to vary low or
high pitches.

15. Bamboo musical instruments
are good sources of sound as
well as a channel for learning
many narratives reflective of
the Panay Bukidnon's lives,
pains, and joys.
a bamboo flute made of
bagakay. Air is blown through
a bamboo opening encircled
by a banana leaf. It is turned
according to pentatonic scale
played on four holes.
a two-stringed bowes instrument
made of bulo. Abaca hemp finely
braided is used as strings. It is
mainly melodic although rhythmic
patterns from words are also
employed.

16. costume

17. The native costume or traditional fashion is intricately made by the Panay Bukidnon.
The dominant color of the tribe is red and is designed with panubok and adorned
with jewelries.
a choker-
type
necklace
for women
designed
with
panubok
and coins
usually used
in binanog. The
panyo is
designed with
panubok like a
combination of
matangpunay
and fishbone

18. a blouse embroidered
with designs that
shows the
community’s
traditional life
a skirt worn by women
jewelry made from coins
and beads. The necklace
uses coins to show his or her
family's wealth. The
traditional necklace,
biningkit, is an heirloom from
their grandmother.

19. worn by Panay-
Bukidnon
women. The
headdress is
designed with
old coins and
serves
as a heirloom
from their
grandmothers.
Pudong is also
called as
“tangko”
designed with
panubok.
the
traditional
red blouse
worn by
Panay-
Bukidnon
women

20. Panay-
Bukidnon’s belt
embellished with
coins
a wristband or armband
designed with panubok.
The wristband takes
about 3 days to finish
because of its complex
embroidery
a pouch bag made
of woven dried
pandan strips

21. dance

22. • inspired from the movement of a banog, a Filipino
term for eagle derived from tabanog or kite.
• a courtship dance, it portrays the flight of the bird through
lively choreography with hands and legs
• just like how a male banog follows a female banog, the male
dancer must be observant on the changes of the girl
dancer's steps in order to "pursue" her

23. The rolling of panyo serves as a
signal in the courtship.
If the male rolls the handkerchief
inwards, it means that he likes the
girl. If the girl responds by rolling
the handkerchief outwards, it
means she doesn't like the boy.
When both are rolled inwards, it
means the feeling is mutual.

24. The dance ends
with an enkwentro
or encounter
wherein the girl
will catch the boy
using the
handkerchief.

25. Visual art

26. The panubok motifs represent nature and characters and events from the Sugidanon epic
A design taken
from the skin of
the Magkal (pyt
hon). The
diamond is both
a symbol of
money and also
seen as a
protection
against python
bites if you wear
the sudlikama
pattern into the
forest.
From
sikag-
sikag
grass or
a
fishbone

27. From the eye of the Punay
bird, the Yellow-breasted
Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus
occipitalis), one of the five
endemic fruit-doves
endemic to the
Philippines.
A rounded flower design which
comes from the Roselle (Hibiscus
sabdariffa), a species of
Hibiscus. In Panay and mainly
Ilonggo-speaking parts of
Mindanao, it is known as "Labug or
Labog" and in Rizal province, it is
known as "Guragod."
A triangular flower design.

28. The design comes from
the wild edible
Fiddlehead fern
(Athyrium Esculentum),
locally called pako in
the Philippines.
The design comes from the tuko, a
type of big gecko that lives in the
house and that shouts out its own
name. According to Philippine
folklore, whenever a tuko swallows
anything, it calls its own name five
times. Tukos are often seen as a
symbol of good luck and fertility
throughout Southeast Asia.
From the wing of
araguring insect with
linantay pattern

29. A zigzag design
A design used in weaving bamboo
strips
Vine design that decorates
the edges of
the saypang or sinumbrah
an (traditional Panay
Bukidnon women's blouse).

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