NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part XII: Once Again, the Zapanta Valley Goes Up in Flames

In my entry, "NPA Armed Contacts for the Second Quarter of 2011, Part VI," I discussed the sad predicament of a band of Mamanwa Tribesmen that had somehow made their way to Surigao City, in Surigao del Norte Province in June of 2011, where they had ended up living under a set of huge blue plastic tarps that had been rendered into a gigantic tent in that city's Barangay Luna. The Mamanwa are Negritos and as such constitute the poorest of the poor on Mindanao. This particular band, under the leadership of Datu Rolando "Lando" Anlagan, also known as "Datu Mahuribok," had encamped on a private lot in Sitio Bacud that had been generously donated by Provincial Councilor Leonilo Aldonza.

Likewise, I covered the tribe's happy return to their homes in the adjacent province of Agusan del Norte, on June 26th. Happy to return to their modest thatched homes where they eeked out a hardscrabble existence in the municipality of Kitcharao. Their small settlement in the Zapanta Valley's Sitio Mahaba, in the upland barangay of Bangayan was shared with Manobo Tribesmen and a tiny minority of Bisaya, Cebuano-speakers, most of whom had inter-married into both tribes. Though the Manobo and Mamanwa tended separate communal plots the community was bereft of any ethnic communal strife with the biggest worry being wild boars who would uproot their crops of dry rice, corn, and ginger...that is until the Armed Forces of the Philippines classified their valley as an NPA Sentro de Grabidad, or Centre of Gravity.

As I have explained in other posts, the phrase "Centre of Gravity" is a generic term that denotes an oppositional force's strongest sector, the geographical in which the opposition, in this case the NPA, holds the strongest amount of influence and finds most of its support. In another recent NPA entry, "NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter, Part XI," I discuss the NPA's methodology of first conquering a small area at a provincial border nexus, and how it uses that border convergence to outwit both the PNP and AFP (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) by simply basing themselves on one side of a border and attacking across the provincial line. So it is for this far end of the NPA's Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee, or NEMRC.


As true as that is, the Zapanta Valley is far from a Centre of Gravity. It is only within the last six months that the single NPA Front operating on both sides of the Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte provincial borders, Front 19A, has re-emerged after nearly a year long hiatus during which the AFP's 4ID (Infantry Division) declared the entire province of Surigao del Norte to be "pacified." Indeed, even as the former Division Commander, Major General Mario Chang, was making that asinine claim, his 30IB (Infantry Battalion) was using the Zapanta Valley as its personal punching bag.

The "Pacification" was declared in the Spring of 2010. In June of that same year the 30IB launched a massive push on that provincial border, aimed at curtailing Front activities in and around the municipality of Kitcharao.


Then, in 2011, the 30IB did this again in May, as noted in that aforementioned Second Quarter entry, and then once again at the end of August, and now once again beginning on November 6th. On the day in question, at 10AM, villagers were startled as 105MM Howitzer shells began pockmarking the ground around their tiny settlement. By the end of the second Howitzer salvo a pair of MG520 helicopter gunships were showering the valley's heavily wooded slopes with 70MM rockets, seven per salvo. The 2.75 inch shells ripped apart everything they touched and while they failed to connect with a single NPA guerilla, they did manage to ruin the Abaca (Manila Hemp) crops of several Manobo families in the village.

As the copters began emptying their 250 round 50 caliber guns the villagers once again packed their most important possessions and began running for their lives. As distraught tribesmen jogged down the rutted dirt trail that serves as the only conduit into and out of the Zapanta Valley, they passed 6 x 6 trucks full of Scout Rangers from the 5th and 6th Companies who were spearheading the ground portion of the operation. This time the 30IB was relegated to flag waving at checkpoints established in the more populated environs of that same barangay, Bangayan, and another in the adjacent barangay of Mara-iging, as if the NPA would now drive out of the Zapanta Valley on the region's single road.

In any event, the PNP also took part in this shindig with the two Public Safety Companies* from PRO-13, or Police Regional Office for Region #13, establishing secondary blocking forces and checkpoints in Barangays Haliobong and Kanaway, which were closer to the town proper on National Hiway, as well as in the municipality of Tubay, an alternative route for anyone lucky enough to have made their way out onto the hiway (*Public Safety Companies, or PSCs, are simply the modernised Philippine Constabulary. When the Constabulary, or PC was de-mobilised, many PC companies were converted into PMGs, or Police Mobile Groups. At the end of 2009 the PNP Director General re-named them "Public Safety Companies" to negate a lot of the baggage associated with their history as counterinsurgency tools).

Back in Zapanta Valley the 6 x 6 trucks disgorged their passengers. The 6th Company, under Lieutenants Marco and Sara-sara was tasked with clearing Sitio Mahaba . At 1115AM they walked into an NPA ambush in which three soldiers were critically wounded:

1) Private First Class (Pfc.) Josel P.Sedrome

2) Pfc.Henry M.Simba

3) Corporal Mabel Sacay

After the NPA broke contact and withdrew the 6th Company set up a security perimeter as they awaited the lone Huey (UH-H1 helicopter) to Medivac the three wounded men to Camp Bancasi, the 4ID annex camp in Butuan City.

The 5th Company meanwhile, under Captain Cimini, began clearing the Mamanwa portion of the valley, Sitio Maribuhok, and were ambushed by a second NPA detachment. The Company Commander, Captain Mark Steve T.Cimini was wounded straight away while one of his men, Pfc.Ninoto C.Gulani was killed. At just before 1130AM both MG520s broke off and headed back to Camp Bancasi for refueling, only to return with the HUEY at just before 1PM. Captain Cimini and the body of Pfc.Gulani were evacuated back to Butuan as both companies of Scout Rangers continued clearing the valley without resistance.

As of today, November 17th, 2011, the push is still taking place. The AFP has killed ZERO, wounded ZERO, and captured ZERO guerillas, ZERO camps, and has otherwise failed to make one iota of progress. The only thing this third major operation in six months has managed to do is create a recruitment pool FOR the NPA. Amazingly, indeed, stupefyingly, the 30IB admits to "Hamletting" the valley. For those unfamiliar with the term, it involves a tight military cordon around a designated settlement. Nothing moves in or out of the cordon without explicit authorisation of the military hierarchy in that particular sector.

When I was in school we were taught that the British perfected the method during the Malayan Emergency of the late 1950s and early 1960s when dealing with the primarily ethnic Chinese Maoist insurgency. In reality the methodology is as old as warfare. In fact, in that very same sector the Americans were Hamletting villages both during the "Insurrecto Insurgency" as well as the so called "Colorum Insurgency," both of which caused heavy fighting in those first years of the 20th Century. The AFP's current protocol revolves around heavy-handed census taking under the guise of its PDT, or Peace and Development Teams. In the case of Hamletted settlements the census includes all food and possessions. Every kilogram of rice must be accounted for. Villagers can only work their fields at certain times of day and there is a 10PM to 6AM curfew. The AFP uses this protocol often enough but to my knowledge has never publicly admitted it until now.

History of Mindanao, Part XIX: The Manobo Tribe in 1925, Part 2

In this, the second part of the series, "History of Mindanao, Part XIX" I will excerpt from an academic treatise presented to the National Academy of Sciences (American) annual meeting in 1929, "First Memoir of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII" (Washington DC: U.S.Government Printing Office) (1933) . Written by the American amateur anthropologist John M.Garvan, "The Manobo of Mindanao" is an incredibly well researched work, all the more so given Garvan's occupation as a teacher, and later a shopkeeper. In this entry, from Chapter 2, Garvan focuses on the label "Manobo" itself.

"The Manobos of Mindanao"

"Present Use of the Word Manobo"

The word "man" seems to be a generic name for people of greatly divergent culture, physical type, language. Thus is it is applied to people that dwell in the mountains of the lower half of Point San Agustin as well as to those people whose habitat is on the southern part of the Sarangani Peninsula. Those again that occupy the hinterland of Tuna Bay* came under the same designation. So it might seem that the word was originally used to designate the pagan as distinguished from the Mohammedanized people of Mindanao, much as the name "Haraforas" or "Alfuros" was applied by the early writers to the pagans to distinguish them from the Moros.

In the Agusan Valley the term Manobo is used very frequently by Christian and Christianized and sometimes by pagans themselves to denote that the individual in question is still unbaptized, whether he be tribally a Mandaya, a Mangguangan, or some other group. I have been told by Mandayas on several occasions that they were still "Manobo," that is, still "unbaptised." Then again the word is frequently used by those who are really Manobos as a term of contempt for their fellow tribesmen who live in remoter regions and who are not as well off in a worldly or cultural way as they are. Thus I have heard Manobos of the Upper Agusan refer to their fellow tribesmen of Libaganon as "Manobos" with evident contempt in ther voice. I asked them what they themselves were and in answer was informed that they were "Agusanon"- that is "Upper Agusan People," not "Manobos."

"The Derivation and Original Application of the Word 'Manobo' "

One of the earliest references that I find of the Manobos of the Agusan Valley is in, "General History of the Discalced Augustinian Fathers (1661-1699)" by Father Pedro de San Francisco de Assis. The author says that "the mountains of that territory are inhabited by a nation of Indians, heathens for the greater part, called 'Manobos,' a word signifying in that language, as if we should say here, 'robust' or 'very numerous people'." I have so found no word in the Manobo Dialect that verifies the correctness of the above statement. It may be said however , in front of this derivation that "manusia" is the word for "man" or "mankind" in the Malay, Moro (Maguindanawon), and Tiruay** language. In Bagobo***, a dialect that shows very close resemblance to Manobo, the word "Manobo" means "Man" and in Maguindanaowan it means "Mountain People"; and is applied by the Moros to all the mountain people of Mindanao. It might be maintained therefore with some semblance of reason that the word "Manobo" simply means "People." Some of the early historians use the words "Manobo," Mansuba," Manubo." These three forms indicate the derivation to be from a prefix "man" signifying "The People" or "Dweller" and "suba" meaning "A River." From the form "Manobo" however, we might conclude that the word is made up of "man" (people) and "hubo" (naked), and therefore meaning the "Naked People." The former derivation appears to be more consonant with the principles upon which Mindanao tribes both general and local are formed. Thus "Mansaka," "Mandaya," and "Mangguangan"**** are derived the first part of each, from "man" (people or dwellers), and the remainders of the words, respectively; from "saka" (interior), "daya" (up the river), and "guanggan" (forest). These names that mean "People of the Interior," "People that Dwell on the Upper Reaches of the River," and "People that Dwell in the Forest" and other tribal designation of Mindanao races and tribes are almost without exception derived from words that denote the relative geographical position of the tribe in question. The "Banuaon" and "Mamanua" are derived from "Banua" (the country) as distinguished from settlements near the main or settled part of the river. The "Bukidnon" are the "Mountain People" (bukid = mountain); "Subanun***** are the "River People" (suba = river), "Tiruay"* means the "Mountain People" (tuduk = mountain) and (eteu = man); "Tagakaolo" are the "People at the Very Source of the River" (taga = inhabitant), (olo = head or source).

The deriviation of the above tribal designations leads us to the opinion that the word "Manobo" means, or is a deriviation of a "River Man" and not a "Naked Man." A further alternative deriviation has been suggested by Dr.N.M.Saleeby, from the word "Tubo," (to grow); the word "Manobo," according to this deriviation, would mean "The People that Grow Up on the Island" as an in indigenous.

"Geographical Distribution of the Manobos in Eastern Mindanao"

"In the Agusan Valley"

The Manobo occupy the whole Agusan Valley as far as the town of Buai on the Upper Agusan with the following exceptions

1) The upper parts of the Rivers Laminga, Kandiisan, Hawilian, and Ohut, and the whole of the River Massam, together with the mountainous region beyond the head-waters of these rivers, and probably the territory beyond in the District of Misamis as far over as the habitat of the Bukidnon Tribe.

The reason for the insertion of this last clause is that the people inhabiting the mountains at the headwaters at the above rivers have the same physical types, dress, and weapons as the Bukidnons, if I may judhe from my slight acquaintance with the latter.

2) The towns of Butuan, Talakogon, Bunawan, Veruela, and Prosperidad.

3) The town of Tagusab and the head-waters of the Tutu and Binungngaan [sic] Rivers.

"On the Eastern Side of the Pacific Cordillera"

In this region I include the upper waters of the Lianga, Hubo, Oteiza, Marihatag, Kagwait, Tago, Tandag, and Kantilan Rivers.

"On the Peninsula of San Agustin"

I had only cursory dealings with the inhabitants of the last named region but both from my own scant observations and from the reports of others more familiar with them. I am inclined to believe that there may be differences great enough to distinguish them from the other peoples if the Agusan Valley as a distinct tribe.

As to the Manobos of the Libaganon it is probable that they have more or less the same cultural and linguistic characteristics as the Manobo that form the subject matter of this paper but as I did not visit them nor get satisfactory information regarding them, I prefer to leave them unoticed until further investigation.

Of the Manobos of the lower half of the Peninsula of San Agustin I know absolutely nothing except that they are known as Manobos. I noted however, in pursuing the Jesuit Letters****** that there were in the year 1891 not only Manobos but Moros, Bilanes*******, and Tagakaolos in that region.

"The Debabaons********"

The Debabaons are probably a hybrid group forming a Dialect Group with the Manobos of the Ihawan, Baobo, and a cultural group in dress and other features with the Mandayas. They claim a relationship with the Manobos and follow Manobo religious beliefs and practices to a great extent. For this reason I have retained the name that they apply to themselves until their tribal identity can be clearly determined. They inhabit the upper half of the Salug River Valley and the country that lies to the west of it as far as the Baobo River.

"The Manobo Conquistas*********"

The inhabitants of all the settlements in the Agusan Valley except Novela, Rosario, the towns of Buai, the towns within the Banuaon habitat and a few settlements of pagan Manobo on the Upper Umaiam, Arfawan, Ihawan, Wawa, and Maitum are Manobo Conquistas.

On the eastern slopes of the Pacific Cordillera in the vicinity of San Miguel (Tago River) on the Marihatag and Oteiza Rivers there are several hundred Conquistas. The towns up the Hinatuan and Bislig Rivers are made up of both Manobo and Mandaya Cobquistas.

"The Debabaon Conquistas"

The Debabaon Conquistas are found in the towns on Moncayo and are also scattered about on the Upper Salug. The missionaries found the Debabaon People very recalcitrant; the comparatively few converts made envinced on the one hand all the fickleness of and instability of the Manobos and, on the other, the aggresiveness of the Mandaya.


******************************************************************************************************************
* "Tuna Bay" is on the southern coast midwat between Sarangani Bay and Parang Bay

** "Tiruay" is usally spelled as "Teduray" and refers to the tribe living today in and around the municipality of Maguindanao Province

*** "Bagobo" are a Lumad Tribe living in the mountains of North Cotabato Province

**** Mansaka, Mandaya, and Mangguangan are all separate tribes centered in ComVal (Compostela Valley) and Davao del Norte Province.

***** "Subanun are today transliterated as "Subanon" and alternatively as "Subanen." Rooted in Indonesia their original home on Mindanao sat where today's Zamboanga City sits. When Muslims began arriving the tribe was pushed up into the mountains of the Zamboagan Peninsula where they remain today

****** "Cartas de los PP.de la Compania de Jesus," 9:335, et seq. (1892)

******* Modern transliteration is almost always "B'laan"

******** "Debabaons" is today transliterated almost always as "Dibabaowans," and is

********* "Conquista" is a Spanish term that literally means "Conquered Ones" and was a social/demographic classification of the Spanish Era that refers to first or second generation Christian converts from Animist tribes. Hence "Manobo Conquista" refers to the Manobo who had accepted Baptism and were now living in diocese and/or mission communities as well as to their children. Usually by the third or fourth generation the progeny had assimilated into the dominant Bisaya Culture so as to then be counted as Bisaya.




Mr.Galvan relied on at least two primary sources for this excerpt, in addition to the Jesuit Letters mentioned above ("Cartas de...") :

1) "The Origin of the Malayan Filipinos" by Dr.Najeeb Mitry Saleeby, a paper read at the Philippines Academy, a subsidiary of the National Academy of Science in Washington D.C. on November 1st, 1911

2) "Etimilogo de los Nombres de Razas de Filipinos ("The Origin of Filipino Tribal Names") by Dr.Trinidad Hermenegilido Gorrico Pardo de Tavera, a paper presented to the (Spanish) Royal Academy of Linguistics in Madrid in 1887

History of Mindanao, Part XIX: The Manobo Tribe, 1925, Part 1

There are basically three major demographical groupings in Mindanao:

1) Filipino Muslim

2) Filipino Christian

3) Lumad

Perhaps it is the last one, the "Lumad," that is the most interesting. Basically analogous to the "Igorot" of Central and Northern Luzon, the term "Lumad" is a generic label applied to a multitude of diverse, mostly Animist Hilltribes that inhabit the interior of the island. The term itself is Cebuano, the lingua franca of non-Muslims on Mindanao and literally means, "of the land," or in an idiomatic English sense, "Indigenous." Like mamy groups who end up adopting contrived labels applied by outsiders, the Lumad themselves finally adopted the label in June of 1986 as a way in which to negate tribal and ethnic differences. In this respect it has a good deal in common with the term "Bangsamoro" (Muslim Bloodline, or idiomatically speaking, "Muslim Heritage") which was invented in the late-1960s for the very same reasons. The term "Lumad," shorthand for "Katawhang Lumad," or, "Person born of this Land" (Indigenous Person) was formally adopted at a conference of Animist Tribes held at the Guadalupe Formation Center in North Cotabato Province's municipality of Kidapawan City, where 15 of the 18 ethno-linguistic groupings (often incorrectly classified as "tribes" of which Mindanao has several dozen). I need to point out that it was the Maoist NPA that was instrumental in that 1986 gathering. Formation Centers were bastions of Liberation Theology and co-incidentally employed NPA cadres such as the infamous "Angie Impong" among others.

The technical description of Lumad Peoples has the following 17 groupings, all of which share three points of commonality:

1) Native to Mindanao

2) Traditional Belief Systems remain intact

3) Malayan and/or Indonesian in descent (meaning Negritos are not included)

However, officialy speaking, there are 18 groupings though academics, politicians and the Lumad themselves cannot reach a consensus on which group constitutes the 18th...The 18:

1) Mandaya

2) Mansaka

3) Manuvu, usually referred to by non-Lumad as "Manobo"

4) Higaon-on

5) B'laan

6) Sangil

7) Bagobo

8) Teduray, or Tiruay

9) Tagakaola, or Kaola

10) T'boli

11) Subanon

12) Mangguangan

13) Dibabawon

14) Talaandig

15) Ubo

16) Banwa'on

17) Bukidnon

Number 18 is a bit of a cypher since it depends entirely upon opinion. The whole concept of "Lumad," or "Indigenous People" is counter-intuitive in the Philippines anyway, since classification can be so fluid as I will show further along in this entry. Basically, Mindanowan demography is skewed along the lines of religion, Muslim, Christian, or Animist. However, due to the quasi-fascist cultural terrorism of mostly Western Christian missionaries the majority of Lumad have at least a nominal affiliation with Christianity. Likewise, Islam is always pressing up against traditional Lumad Culture and beliefs. The best example would probably the Kalagan Tribe of Davao del Norte and ComVal (Compostela) Provinces. As Islam expanded into what we now call the Davao Region the highly marginalised Kalagan converted en masse to Islam in one fall swoop after tribal elders saw it as their best survival strategy. Now the Kalagan are counted as one of the 13 Muslim Tribes. What about individuals within the B'laan or Teduray Tribes? They are Lumad but WHAT IF they individually convert to Islam? Indeed, one of the tribes listed, the Sangil IS Muslim.

Then there is the issue of what constitutes a "tribe." Anthropologically speaking it is very easy to define, a traditional kinship grouping in which the group has reached critical mass as it expands (vis a vis the absolutely "bare bones" definition). But with Lumad we see ethno-linguistic groupings labeled as "tribes." My subject matter in this new series of "History" entries for example, the Manuvu, or as they are much more widely known, the Manobo...There is no "Manobo Tribe." Manobo was a term originally applied by other tribes to tribes whom they deemed inferior. In the early Spanish Era it came to represent so called "un-civilised" tribes. Tribes applied it to Negritos AS WELL AS to fellow Malay slash Indonesian Tribes. Today it has come to represent a disparate group of tribes ranging from the Agusan to the Matigsulag and a whole lot of shadings in between.

Another such quandry are the "Bukidnon Tribe." "Bukidnon" was Cebuano term (just as "Lumad" itself is) that merely denotes. "Those who live in the mountains," or Hilltribesmen. Again we see disparate tribes lumped together under an extrenely generic heading. Confusing the issue is the fact that there is today a Bukidnon Province. Saying "Bukidnon Tribe" can merely refer to a "non-Bukidnon" Tribe that merely dwells within that province, for example, the Manuvu and the Higaon-on both have substantial populations within that province's borders. Even more perplexing is the fact that in Bukidnon Province the "Bukidnon Tribe" does NOT dwell in the highlands but on the province's plains and in its largest valleys. This is because the Spanish tended to apply the label to recently "civilised" "Conquistas," or newly converted Christians that had presumably come down from the mountains. Also worth noting, on Panay Island in the Central Philippines' Visayas Region, the term "Bukidnon" is used to apply to Bisaya who resisted Spanish colonisation and assimilation by receding into the mountainous interior.

Suprisingly in the last couple of years people have mistakenly begun to label Mindanao's Negritos as "Lumad" as well. On the face of it is seems perfectly sensible since Negritos are also Animist Hilltribesmen but they don't meet the stock definition of "Malay and/or Indonesian." Ironically there is a similarly mysterious dynamic with regard to the island's Negritos. According to most academics, all Mindanowan Negritos today belong to the Mamanoa, or as they are more widely known, the "Mamanwa Tribe." However, the term "Mamanwa" is simply a generic label that literally means, "The First to Dwell in the Jungle/Forest." Just as one can find "Bukidnon Tribes" on Mindanao AND on Panay, so one can find "Mamanoa Tribes" on Leyte and Negros Islands AS WELL AS Mindanao. It isn't unheard of for tribes to inhabit different islands but in the case of the Mamanoa on Leyte and Negros, also islands in the Visayas Region, they ARE Negrito but posses a different language, culture and Belief System than the various Mamanoa groups on Mindanao (as do the Bukidnon of Panay when compared to the Bukidnon of Mindanao).

Another perplexing issue with regard to the 18th Lumad Tribe is that increasingly one finds the "Tasaday Tribe" placed on the list. For those who may be unaware, at the beginning of the 1970s, a stone age tribe of Malay descent was found naked and living in a cave in South Cotabato Province. Uncontacted Tribes are not unheard of even today in some parts of the world and Mindanao, until recently, certainly could have harboured such a tribe. The Tasaday were roughly two dozen individuals who knew very little about the outside world. What precious little they did know had been gleaned from a B'laan hunter who claims to have stumbled upon the Tasaday as he stalked a deer deeper into the jungle near his hometown. In turn this hunter told villagers about the Tasaday, or so the story goes, and before too long a Marcos crony, Rene Elizade, came south for a look see. Elizade arrived to meet the tribe in a helicopter which, if the tribe was truly contacted, could have catastrophically changed the tribe's worldview. Deciding that the Tasaday needed protecting Elizade cordoned off a huge swath of jungle and controlled all outside contact including the academic world which understandably was chomping at the bit to examine them.

In the end allegations of chicanery and deception swirled around the tribe after anthropologists and journalists later tracked down the Tasaday, or so they say, only to find that in fact they were T'boli Tribespeople who had been paid to act in a psychodrama meant to deflect Marcos' Martial Law which was declared within that same timeframe (and possibly to fufill some need for attention by Elizade). Later others would argue that the tribe was in fact authentic so that today noone but the Tasaday can say for sure since the hunter and Elizade died long ago. Personally? Well I will save my take on them for a lengthly entry on the issue.

In any event, the book I will be excerpting from in this section is not a book per se but rather an academic treatise presented at the 1929 annual gathering of the National Academy of the Sciences in the United States. Entitled, "The Manobos of Mindanao" by John M.Galvan. Galvan does a magnificent job and to his credit seems to be unblemished with the typical "White Man's Burden" mindset. He approaches his work by considering views other than his own with sincerity and respect. Garvan was a fascinating man. Emigrating to the United States from his native Irelans in 1895, at age 20. Saving gis wages he was able to put himself through university and afterwards spent 5 years teaching in one or another school.

In 1903 Garvan enlisted for service as a teacher in the nascent Americanisation programme being foisted upon the re-conquered people of the Philippines. In 1907 Garvan decided not to re-enlist and instead he opted for a life in the Mindanowan bush, homesteading in what is today Agusan del Sur Province. There Garvan opened up a trading post slash general store and became very well acquainted with the Manobo living in the hills around him. With no formal training as an anthropologist, ethnologist, OR sociologist. He merely had an inquisitive mind with a keen interest in the world around him.

Returning to America in 1925. In 1929, having edited his voluminous notes and journals he produced what became the seminal volume on the Manobo. That November he presented his volume at the annual conference for the National Academy of Science in Washington D.C.

I need to add that while many know of the aforementioned work on the Manobo, Garvan also studied the Negritos and became the first to study all four Negrito groupings in the Philippines:

1) Mindanao in what is today Surigao del Norte Province

2) Negros Island in the Central Philippines' Visayas Region



3) Northern Luzon

4) In what is today Zambales Province

The work was unfortunately published in its entierty after Garvan's death: "The Negritos of the Philippines" edited by Hermann Hochegger (Vienna:Horn) (1969). Portions had appeared a bit earlier but the only one I personally know of is a German language, "J.M.Garvans Materialien uber die Negritos der Philippinen" Fritz Borneman (Anthropos #50, pp899-930)(1955).

Kidnap For Ransom,Second Quarter of 2011,Part II: Agusan del Sur Hostage Crisis

The Second Quarter of 2011 began on April 01, and as the saying goes, "it began with a bang." Students and faculty had just left the Graduation festivities at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School in Sitio Balite, in Purok #7, Barangay La Purisima, Prosperidad, the provincial capitol of Agusan del Sur. As the guests trudged home, up the jungle trails radiating out of the government school's campus an armed band of Manobo Tribesmen were nervously waiting to pounce.

Led by 17 year old Kenken Perez, the 5 gunmen, armed with 1 M16, 1 M14, 1 M1, a 12 gauge and a 45 caliber pistol and all between the ages of 15 and 17 aimed to take hostages so as to finally gain justice for the Perez Clan. KenKen's older brother Joebert"Ondo"Perez was sitting in the provincial jail downhill in the town's Barangay Patin-ay. The family's trouble began in June of 2008 when the Tubay Clan, attacked and killed members of the Perez Clan over illegal logging rights on a particular strand of rain forest. In February, 2009 Ondo, an ex-paramilitary soldier led a group of clansmen in a bid to settle the score, resulting in the killing of 4 Tubay family members. Ironically the Perez Clan wasn't opposed to the Tubay Clan. The Tubay merely entered the fray in support of an ally, tribal chieftain Datu Kalbit.

By December of that year, 2009, authorities were ready to arrest Ondo and several family members over the February killings. As is often the case the PNP (Philippine National Police) contacted barangay officials to try and ascertain both the location of the wanted man as well as up to date intelligence on arms and any potential booby-traps. As is so often the case here on Mindanao, the local officials happened to be related to the Perez family and so he sent word to Ondo that they were about to serve a warrant of arrest on him for Multiple Murder, among other charges.

As one might expect Ondo didn't take the news well, all the more so when no warrants had ever been served against the Tubay Clan, whose murdering of Ondo's family members had sparked the feud. On Thursday, December 09, 2009 just after daybreak Ondo led 15 gunmen downhill to a more settled portion of of the municipality, Sitio Maitum, Barangay San Martin. The men announced to the startled villagers that they should all gather in front of the Barangay Hall for an "Important Announcement" at 6AM. With only about a dozen curious villagers taking the bait Ondo announced that the announcement was that he had kidnapped them, then had his gunmen swarm anyone out and about. All told the armed band ended up taking 125 hostages, mostly young students from Maitum Elementary School, but including school staff and 2 VERY unluck loggers working for a multi-national timber concession, "Casilayan Softwood Development Corporation."

Forcing the terrified hostages uphill at gunpoint the Perez gunmen finally broke camp 2 kilometers up country, north of the sitio in an abandoned cement and cinderblock structure. Realising that 125 people were too many to control Ondo ended up releasing 50 hostages. It was at that point that authorities in the central part of the municipality became aware of a serious hostage situation taking place in the mountains above them, though, the municipal PNP detachment later recalled receivibg reports of gunfire in Barangay La Purisima, near the hostage taking site at about 8AM. After the requisite notifications to authorities higher up the food chain the mayor hastily convened a CMC, or "Crisis Management Committee." Appointing himself chairman he allowed provincial DSWD (Department of Social Welfare) Director, Josefina Bajade taking the actual point position. His rationale was extremely simple, as a Bisaya, a Cebuano speaker, he was unable to communicate with the gunmen who only conversed in Agusan Manobo, their tribal language. Luckily for the mayor, Ms.Bajade is fluent in Agusan- Manobo.

With Ms.Bajade talking directly to Ondo, first by cellphone and then face to face the CMC was able to quantify Ondo's demands. First and foremost Ondo wanted the warrant rescinded. He then said he wanted Jun Tubay, the Tubay clan leader to be arrested for the murders he had committed in 2008, and if that weren't immediately possible he wanted the Tubays disarmed. Allowing Ondo to fully articulate his demands ended up taking a fair amount of wind out of his sails. The adrenaline now waning he quietly complied with Ms.Bajade's gentle suggestion that he free some of the remaining hostages as a goodwill gesture to prove his sincerity to the CMC. At 345PM the gunmen released 18 more hostages, 17 of them children. The 18th, an elderly woman was released because of physical infirmities.

The remaining 57 hostages were all adults, school staff, the 2 loggers and the villagers of Sitio Maitum. By nightfall the incident had reached national proportions with media rushing to the isolated Northeast corner of Mindanao. With that added attention came added pressures for everyone involved. Ondo now seriously faced a very heavy military response. Likewise, the CMC now had President Arroyo and her lackeys breathing down their necks. The Mighty Mental Midget of Malacanang insisted on thorough updates every 15 minutes and woe to the one who had nothing new and substantiative to add. To top things off, Ms.Bajade, terribly out of her element began cozying up to the media. Taking them into her misplaced confidence she crowed about the injustices Ondo had had to deal with. Egging her on the media got Ms.Bajade to tell them all about her deep friendship with Ondo and his family and so she came off looking as if she was coddling a hostage-taking gunman. Worse yet, she had caved into the media's demands and been taking increasingly larger groups of journalists uphill to the cement building, risking having the journalists being taken hostage as well.

By Friday morning, December 10, Josefina Bajade had been sidelined. Taking her place was Tata Perez (no relation to Ondo), another Manobo-speaking Bisaya who was then serving as the Executive Assistant to the provincial governor. The situation became bizarre when Ms.Bajade, possibly seeking attention, corralled the media and "revealed" that during the murder of Jun Tubay's family members Ondo had actually been with Ms.Bajade and her husband. At this point the media derisively dubbed her, "Ondo's Attorney." She had been shelved after angry criticism from PRO (Police Regional Office) Caraga (the region in which Agusan del Sur Province sits) Director, Sr.Supt.Nestor Monton Fajura told the national media that, "she is giving us a headache the way she is negotiating with these criminals." The inference being that "negotiation" should have never taken place. Usually, there is no hostage negotiation to speak of. The general PNP modus operandi is to shoot first, ask questions later and who really cares if hostages end up dead in the process. That semi-retarded reasoning would end up causing a huge political incident with the killing of a group of hostages visiting Manila from Hong Kong but that was still in the future at that point.

It should be noted that Sr.Supt.Fajura made his observations from the comfort of his airconditioned office in Butuan City, 80 kilometers to the north of the hostage situation, never once bothering to visit the site. Even more pathetically, when asked his prediction for the outcome of the hostage drama, he piggishly turned to the cameras and offered that Ondo would hold out until December 14, when Triple M herself, President Arroyo would be visiting Caraga. Asked to explain, Fajura responded that Ondo would do so because he wanted a "dramatic conclusion," one in which he could portray himself as a victim, "as if they are the oppressed."

The Agusan Manobo it should be noted regularly die from malnutrition, rarely obtain 5th grade educations and are generally treated like garbage so Sr.Supt.Fajura really over played his hand that day.

At 7AM a female hostage, Templanza Avenido, asked Ondo if it was OK for her to drop by her house nearby to get a change of clothes and feed her livestock. Amazingly he not only agreed but also released 2 other female hostages sitting next to her:

1) Rita Fernandez

2) Zenaida Maglasang

At 10AM that morning the CMC sank even lower by enlisting not only Ondo's elderly father, Conrado, but Ondo's 10 year old daughter as well in an attempt to emotionally manipulate him into freeing his remaining hostages.
As the day progressed Friday, December 10, 2009 negotiations slowly progressed, with Ondo understandably angry over Josefina Bajade being removed from the equation. Rule 1 in Hostage Negotiation is to employ a point of contact that is able to develop a rapport with the lead hostage taker. Noone can deny that Ms.Bajade had already had that rapport going into the affair though she had been chosen simply on the basis of her language skills. Still, removing her was entirely wrong (an understatement). Her faults were manageable and were more than a fair exchange in return for her unmatched rapport. Still, it didn't propel the drama towards tragedy and so that huge error can be overlooked, as indeed it has. Had Ondo turned around and dispatched his 54 remaining hostages it might be a different story entirely.
As if to prove the stupidity of removing Ms.Bajade, shortly before she left negotiations, at 1PM Ondo agreed, as a concession for the lead. Negotiator, to release 6 more of his hostages:

1) Lillia Caube

2) Benita Dolorito

3) Eloisa Abala

4) Merly Sanchez

5) Mary Jane Goden

6) Felix Lacre

In another huge error of judgement the authorities backed off of negotiations each evening at nightfall, 7PM. That evening after everyone had traipsed back down the mountain Ondo became involved in a conversation with a hostage named Nestor after finding the man near tears. During their talk Nestor revealed that his father's wake was taking place that evening in his home town of Tandag, in neighbouring Surigao del Sur Province. Suprisingly, Ondo told Nestor he was free to attend the wake as long as he promised to return the next day. Nestor, shocked, walked out and into freedom leaving 47 hostages remaining.

After daybreak Saturday, December 11, the CMC added the Bishop of Butuan City, Juan de dos Pueblos as an unofficial member of the negotiating team. Though most Agusan Manobo are Animists they do place great respect in other forms of religion. By the afternoon the Archbishop and Ondo's father were able to relay a breakthrough concerning Ondo's primary demand, the recall of the warrant. Not long after talks broke off with Ondo promising to give his decison at daybreak.

Sunday morning, December 12, Ondo greeted his father and announced that he was willing to end the standoff in exchange for the authorities' guarantee over the warrant, but insisted on a written guarantee (despite his not being able to read in any language, let alone in Cebuano, Tagalog or English, the languages it would be written in). Ondo's father hiked downhill and after relaying his son's message accompanied most of the CMC back up hill where they held a 2 hour meeting with Ondo. The 1 page written agreement had the charges against Ondo being withdrawn from the Regional Trial Court and transferred to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court so that the killings could be judged within the proper cultural context. Before signing off on the document Ondo waited for assurances that a tribal shaman, Datu Josue Duhac had made a ceremonial sacrifice of chickens and a hog to gain spiritual assistance for Ondo and his 15 men. Receiving word that the sacrifice had taken place Ondo happily affixed his thumbprint on the hastily composed document. Signing for the government was the governor of Agusan del Sur Province, Valentina"Tina"G.Plaza, Vice Governor Santiago Cane Jr., PNP PRO-Caraga Director, Sr.Supt.Antonio Paguirigan, Fr.Lito Clase (for the Bishop), NCIP (National Commission of Indigenous People) Caraga Regional Director Jose"Jake"Dumagan and...Josefina Bajade. Smiling, feeling safe, Ondo turned to his gunmen and ordered them to release the remaining 47 hostages.

The hostages joyously walked downhill after slightly more than 75 hours and into a media barrage. Not long after the CMC and Ondo et al walked hand in hand , smiling into the media glare. Ondo was told that he would be driven to the Bishop's Residence in Butuan City so as to assure his safety from the Tubay Clan and its supporters. Tired, but relieved, Omdo climbed into the backseat of the mayor's SUV...and was promptly driven to the Provincial Jail. There he was stripped and thrown into a dungeon-like cell. The double-cross was deftly handled. The authorities pretended that Ondo was safe in Butuan, sometimes giving media soundbites just meters from the jail. Municipal PNP Chief,Sr.Supt. Leonardo Espina had the gall to tell reporters on Wednesday, December 15 that the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples) was just about to get Ondo's warrant rescinded and charges transferred from Regional Trial Court to the Agusan-Manobo Tribal Court. As he was saying this, Ondo had been formally charged the day before, not only in the Multiple Murder case (only 3 of the 4 counts) but with 125 counts of Kidnapping and Illegal Detention as well!

Fast forward to April 01, 2011...As Ondo and 13 of his 15 men (since the ones aged 17 and 16 are "juveniles" and therefore exempt from all prosecution) sat stewing in the provincial jail. Knowing how Ondo had been lied to his brother Kenken devised a way in which to try and remedy the situation. Kenken, along with friends Toto Navarro, Rejoy Brital and Alejandro Brital decided that they would emulate Ondo and take hostages. What better way than to express their frustration over Ondo's treatment? Uneducated, none of the teens having passed 4th grade, its doubtful then that any of them were able to grasp the concept of "irony" and yet they were able to nail it to a tee.

Quickly rounding up 12 people returning from the afore mentioned Graduation Ceremony at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School (named after the governor who signed the fake agreement with Ondo, irony indeed) they began herding the captives at gunpoint when another brother of Ondo's, Allan"Ilag"Perez worriedly ran into the group as they moved up the jungle trails. Unable to dissuade Kenken he then joined them on impulse. It was at this point that Kenken decided to grab 3 "habal-habal" drivers as well, hapless motorcycle taxi drivers who were hoping to pick up a fare as the crowd headed home.

The 15 hostages:

1) Hipolito Lastimado, School District Supervisor

2) Narciso Oliveros, School District Supervisor II

3) Joel Sausa, Values Teacher, Santa Irene Elementary School

4) Apolonio Alibangbang, Head Teacher, La Purisima Elementary School

5) Manuel Moderno, Teacher In Charge, Maasin Elementary School

6) Allan Galdiano, Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School

7) Filipina Quitoy, Teacher In Charge, Inagawan Elementary School

8) Arnold Quitoy, the husband of hostage #7

9) Diosdideth Canbantac, Teacher In Charge, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School Pre-School

10) Mary Jane Bedrijo, Pre-School Teacher, Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School

11) Marvin Jay Corvera, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 12

12) Sirena Fe Cabantac, Student at Valentina G.Plaza Elementary School, age 10

13) Galvan Vocales, habal-habal driver

14) Zaldy Rodriguez, habal-habal driver

15) Ribo Binambang, habal-habal driver

Almost immediately authorities were informed and Mayor Allan Magdamit repeated the steps taken in 2009. Convening a new CMC he suprisingly asked Josefina Bajade to serve as point. All in all it was an intelligent decison (just as it had been in 2009) given that just as in the prior case, none of the hostage takers could speak anything besides their own tribal language, Agusan-Manobo. Joining them on the CMC were:

1) Gilbert Perez, Barangay Captain of Barangay La Purisima (the barangay where the incident took place),

2) Rommel Villamor, Chief Inspector, Commanding Officer of the PNP's Provincial Public Safety Company,

3) Jerone [sic] S.Baxinela, Sr.Supt., Provincial PNP Commanding Officer,

4) Rodrigo P.Diapana, Col., Commanding Officer of the 402nd Brigade (4ID), AFP,

5) Neil Richard Patricio, LTC., Commanding Officer, 26IB (402 Bde,4ID), AFP,

Though not officialy part of the CMC the team did include Chief Supt.Reynaldo Serrano Rafal, Director of the PNP's PRO-Caraga (Police Regional Office).

The first time they all were present was for a 9AM meeting in Mayor Magdamit's office at the municipal hall. Ms.Bajade informed the CMC that per her "negotiations" with Kenken the evening before the immediate demand of the hostage takers was food and drink. Their objective in taking hostages however was to force the government into finally keeping its word and releasing Ondo and his 15 gunmen. Unlike the 2009 incident the gunmen were staying immobile. During the day the hostages were being ferried from clearing to clearing deep in the jungle while at night, thus far, they had encamped in small tribal settlemnts. Ms.Bajade was quickly excused to resume negotiations as the rest of the CMC did what CMCs do best, sat on their thumbs, drinking coffee and giggling in between the calls from Manila.

Almost immediately though some changes were more than apparent. Most noticeably there was no media at the CMC Base Camp in the mountains. Where as Ms.Bajade had been so accomodating in 2009, she was unapproachable now. The Mayor, as Chairman of the CMC, informed the media that they would be confined to the town's basketball court down the street from the municipal hall. Updates would be doled out as the CMC saw fit, non-negotiable. Not used to being marginalised, people got antsy pretty fast. As tempers flared it was journalists themselves who smoothed things over by pointing out that since the "Hong Kong" debacle in Manila, where media interderence directly caused the death of numerous hostages the CMC policy should have been expected. There wasn't much at all for any journalist to complain about after that slap in the face.

That afternoon, Saturday April 02, Ms.Bajade conferred with Mayor Magdamit by cellphone and relayed that Kenken Perez was demanding to speak to his brother Ondo- in person. After first spitting invectives into his handset the mayor hatched an idea of his own. Trying to turn the tables on the hostage takers he quickly made his way to the provincial jail in Barangay Patin-ay and had Ondo brought out to see him. Taking Ondo into an unused office he confirmed what Ondo had already heard in gossip from the police officers guarding the jail (the Philippines doesn't use correctional officers but merely has police officers pull duty as prison guards). Talking to Ondo the mayor tried to communicate the seriousness of the situation. He allowed Ondo to infer that 2 of his teenaged brothers and some of their friends were about to die when the military and police stormed their position. Then Mayor Magdamit laid it all on Ondo, telling him that it was all because of Ondo that more of his family would lose their lives. Desperate now to avert what he perceived as the inevitable conclusion it was Ondo himself that volunteered to bring the drama to a quiet and safe end. The mayor said that he couldn't guarantee any results but IF Ondo was truly serious he would go to bat for him and try to get him the opposrtunity to help his brothers.

It took the mayor all of an hour to get a Regional Trial Court judge to issue a Temporary Release Order that would allow him to take full custody of Ondo for an unspecified period of time. It was at that point that Josefina Bajade informed Kenken Perez that they would fulfill Kenken's demand and brong Ondo to him. They afreed to meet in that same jungle clearing at 8AM the next day, Sunday, April 03.

Very early Sunday morning the mayor and Ms.Bajade took custody on Ondo, along with 2 plainclothes soldiers, and piled into the mayor's SUV for the ride to Barangay La Purisima, Arriving on time at the jungle clearing they were sadly suprised to find the glade empty. Waiting 3 hours, until 11AM, they dejectedly returned Ondo to jail. The rest of the day passed without contact as pressure began mounting in certain corners for the implementation of a military solution (i.e. "Kill the kidnappers and most of the hostages").


On Monday, April 04 the "military option" was gaining support and the media, frustrated on the basketball court was losing patience even more rapidly. As the tension reached fever pitch the CMC met back in the municipal hall, trying to reach a consensus one way or the other. They were shocked when 2 soldiers rushed into the mayor's office blurting out that 2 of the hostages had just casually ridden into Barangay Poblacion on a motorcycle to pick up some medicine at a pharmacy. The CMC rushed outside en masse and to their suprise they found that the soldiers had been right! Hipolito Lastimado and Diosdideth Canbantac had indeed been allowed to come off the mountain. Using 1 of the motorcycles discarded when the 3 habal-habal drivers had been taken hostage they had ridden tandem, with the threat that should they not return hostages would die. Their captors had allowed them to go because they were qorried about the condition of 1 of the 2 children being held. Of course, it is sad indeed that the PNP amd AFP cordon was so inept that 2 hostages on a motorcycle could make their way into the heart of the provincial capitol with noone the wiser.

The mayor quickly ushered the 2 men into his office where he debriefed them. To their horror the CMC then forbade their return. Forgetting that a sick child needed medicine, what about the threat to kill hostages? This simply doesn't factor into the government's thinking. To the gunmens' credit they failed to follow through on their threats and the following afternoon, Tuesday April 05 they released the sick hostage. 12 year old Marvin Jay Corvera. Was immediately hospitalised and went onto make a full recovery.

That evening it was decided, once again, to replace Ms.Bajade with Rolando Brital, father of hostage taker Rejoy Brital, hoping once again to use familial pressure to make some progress. Ms.Bajade remained on the CMC but was removed as the official point of contact in favour of Mr.Brital who appointment as such was pretty much a cosmetic move. It was at that point that the CMC went public with the fact that the kidnappers weren't educated enough to understand that the authorities simply couldn't erase Ondo's charges. The CMC expressed frustration with telling comments that ridiculed not only the gunmen but their families and tribe. "It is extremely frustrating when dealing with people who can't even read, let alone understand the simplest of issues. Of course one cannot blame them, the differences are largely cultural."

It was Monday evening that President Aquino could no longer control himself and entered the fray. Expressing his own ineptitude he warned that the standoff better end soon, "or else." That night he deployed Secretary of Infrastructure and Local Government, Jesse M.Robredo south to Mindanao to further pressure the CMC and antagonise the hostage takers. Of all the things to micro-manage, this wasn't one of them. As Secretary Robredo huffed and puffed local tribal leaders begged for a chance to help solve the standoff. Of course they were ignored and so it continued until 6AM, Wednesday, April 06 at which point the 12 remaining hostages were left in a jungle clearing as the gunmen slipped into the jungle where they remain until now, not only well armed but knowing that should they try and go the straight and narrow they can only hope to join Ondo in jail. Just another group of pissed off young men carrying automatic weapons in the jungles of Mindanao.