THE TAGBANUA

An Article about the Tagbanua by Fe Tria Fernandez.  LINK HERE . http://www.pia.gov.ph/philtoday/pt03/pt0312.htm The Tagbanuas are original race of people inhabiting Palawan. They are by far the most numerous of the ethnic groups that inhabited Palawan during the pre-Hispanic times. They are the most cultured of the original people because they have an alphabet of their own. Tagbanua music basically makes use of three kinds of musical instrument. Agong is a brass instrument 1½ feet in diameter with a fist-sized node at the center. It is played by beating the node with a stick wrapped with strips of cloth. Babandil, another kind of musical instrument, is similar to the agong but only about four inches in depth. It is played with the use of the beater made of soft wood. The sound is mellower than the gong. The third kind of musical instrument is the gimbal similar to the snare drum. It is a hollow wood 1½ feet tall, five to 10 inches in diameter and covered at one

Seated L-R: Orancaya Rodenio Saco, Ba'e Estela M. Joya, Masikampo Ruben C. Joya, Usba e't Masikampo Leah Joya The Tagbanua today. They stick to "ugali," tradition, and the moral rules of "adat," customary law. Magellan's secretary, Pigafetta, observed the practice of bl ood brotherhood ritual in 1521 just as I did myself in 2009. The chief is named Masicampo. On the picture, he appears with his wife. Her function as the ba'e has even been recorded in early Spanish logs. So this is a pre-colonial cultural tradition still very much alive in the southern Philippines. It has many affinities with lifeways in other parts of Southeast Asia, above all, with Borneo. The lady on the right hand flank of the second row, Dominica, is a chief dancer. She has played an important role in my project, above all, in the translation of ritual speech. A Palawan collection in the Oslo University Museum of Cultural History now holds most of the material culture items