3. Socio-historical Context
LOCATION
Occidental Mindoro is the western part of the island of Mindoro,
south of Batangas. It is bounded on the north by the Calavite Passage,
on the east by Oriental Mindoro, on the west by ApoEast Pass, and on
the south by the Mindoro Strait.
THE LAND
Occidental Mindoro consists of high rolling mountains in the east. To
the west are coastal plains where the towns are situated. Numerous
rivers flow from these mountain ranges: Pagbahan and amburao-
Matamayor in the north, Mompong and Amnay in the center, and
Caguray and Busuanga in the south. The climate is dry from
November to April and wet during the rest of the year. The province
lies in the path of destructive typhoons.
5. Brief History of Mindoro
• Mindoro, formerly called Mait, was known to
Chinese traders even before the coming of the
Spanish.
• In 15 70, the Spanish began to explore the island
and named it "Mina de Oro" (mineof gold) after
finding some of the precious metal, though no major
gold discoveries were ever made.
• Missionaries became active around Ilin Island off
the southern tip, Lubang Island off the northern
tip,and Mamburao.
6. Brief History of Mindoro
• Moro raids later forced them to abandon these
places. In 1754, the Muslims established
strongholds in Mamburao and Balete (near
Sablayan). From there, they launched raids
against nearby settlements. An expedition sent
by Governor Simon de Anda put an end to these
raids.
• In the early years, Mindoro was administered as
part of Bonbon, now Batangas.
7. Brief History of Mindoro
• Early in the 17th century, the island was
separated from Bonbon and organized into a
corregimiento.
• In 1902 the island of Lubang, which was formerly a
part of Cavite, was annexed to Mindoro. In the same
year Mindoro and Lubang were annexed to
Marinduque when the latter became a regular
province.
• Mindoro became a regular province in 1921. On
June 13, 1950, under Republic Act No. 505, Mindoro
was divided into two provinces, Occidental Mindoro
and Oriental Mindoro.
8. THE PEOPLE
• The plains of Occidental Mindoro are inhabited by
the Tagalogs and the remote forested interior by the
Mangyans.
• Extensive tribal settlements of Mangyans in the
province belong to such sub-groups as the Iraya,
Alangan, Tadyawan, Buhid, Hanunuo, and Bangon.
The Mangyans are simple people. They were once
coastal dwellers driven into the mountains to avoid
religious conversion by the Spaniards, raids by
Moro pirates, and the influx of recent migrants.
They now lead a semi-nomadic existence.
10. THE PEOPLE
Men wear a loincloth of pounded bark while the
women have a coil of woven nito, a sturdy black
vine, and rattan around their hips.
Mangyans practice animism and are superstitious.
12. Issues
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107
islands with a population of 84 million
speaking over 120 languages.
13. Cultural Preservation &
Marginalzation of Culture
• Out of the 110 indigenous people (IP)
groups in the country today, only four still use
their original scripts. Other ethno-linguistic
groups now write in the Roman alphabet of the
colonizers.
15. Their Distinctive heritage
• Mangyans, with eight different languages
and cultural traditions, possess a rich and
distinctive cultural and literary heritage. One
manifestation is the various traditional musical
instruments used during festivities, special
occasions and for courting: guitar, violin, flute,
gong, and jew’s-harp.
16. • With a pointed knife, Hanunuo Mangyans
inscribe notes and poems on bamboo trees in the
forests or on bamboo slats. These ambahans—written
or recited in poetic language—allegorically express
situations or characteristics.
17. • The Hanunuo and Buhid Mangyans weave and
embroider their own traditional attire.
18. • The Iraya and Alangan Mangyans
skillfully weave nito and rattan into
elaborate baskets. The other groups
also produce baskets, bags, hats,
hammocks and other crafts made of
forest vines, and all the eight tribes
practice beadwork.
19.
20. • Unfortunately they do not have security of land
tenure. Their unrecognized traditional right over
their ancestral domain is evident in the
continuous influx of so-called government
development projects. Private business interests
have also harassed them: mining, tourism, hydro-
power, and even reforestation. Illegal titling of
lands by non-Mangyans also continues.
• The implementation of these projects often
undermines their culture and traditional right to
protect, manage and utilize the resources in their
ancestral domain. More important, the Mangyans
have lost their land to these projects.
21. • The Mangyans’ subsistence-level livelihood is
based on swidden cultivation: planting upland
rice, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, bananas,
cassava, yams and other root crops.
22. Mangyan education
• There are few public elementary schools,
no public high school, and no functional health
center. Public elementary schools in Mangyan
communities usually do not offer all the
elementary grade levels.
• Classes are multi-grade. Teachers do not report
regularly. There are few or no books at all for
students.
23. Mangyan education
• Students walk for hours and make numerous
river crossings to go to school, which can be
dangerous for young children.
24. • Before the last decade, no Mangyan was elected to a
municipal or higher position, further limiting the
indigenous people’s opportunities to be heard and to
participate in decision-making. There are also very few
Mangyan government employees.
• Discrimination by lowlanders hinders Mangyans from
attaining the development level they deserve.
Lowlanders often buy their products at very low prices.
Often the Mangyans are exploited.
25. • The Mangyan situation illustrates the complexity of
heritage conservation. To preserve the endangered
traditional script, language, literature, crafts and
lifestyle, there is need to improve their
education, livelihood and governance.
• However, any government or NGO assistance given to the
Mangyans must not be done in an insensitive manner. Any
kind of help must be granted with vision—in the
framework of true understanding of the Mangyan
culture, ensuring its preservation, but also giving the
people the benefits of the 21st century.
26. Concept Map
• Geography: • Types (Vocal,
Mindoro, Mt. Instrumental)
Halcon
• Kaingin
Socio-
Musical
historical
Forms
Context
Issues
• Marginalization
of culture
• Cultural
preservation
27. Musical Forms
• Igway (song),
• Marayaw (spirit song),
• Pamuybuyen (legend) - it means fear of
water
28. Musical Forms
• Flute (Bangsi),
- is an external duct flute, which
has a chip glued on to the tube of
the flute
• Jaw’s Harp (Subing),
- is a bamboo jaw
harp
29. Musical Forms
• Lute (Gitgit),
- a three-string indigenous
violin with human hair for
strings.
• Gongs (Agong),
- a metal shaped like a pail
with a circle in the middle
30. Musical Forms
• Sticks (Kalutang)
- This is percussion sticks played
in pairs to produce harmonies on
seconds, thirds, and fourths.
Video
32. Musical Context
Marayaw is a genre of Iraya-Mangyan
songs used to communicate with
spirits in rituals for healing the sick or
protecting the community.
33. Musical Context
Music for the Hanunoo is part of celebrating
ordinary and festive occasions. Accompanying
themselves on these instruments as they recite
their love poems, the Hanunoo Mangyan pay
court to the women. During the wedding rituals,
songs are sung, musical instruments are played,
food is eaten, and wine is drunk. The songs of the
Mangyan are lullabies, recollections of war
exploits in the distant past, lamentations,
lovelyrics, and stories based on persona.
